New York City FC earn hard-fought road win in Toronto

New York City FC ended April with a thoroughly professional, hard-fought victory against Toronto FC, 1-0 at BMO Field.

Alonso Martínez drew a penalty and converted from the spot in the 64th minute and New York City's defense held Toronto's attack in check, earning the team's third clean sheet of the season.

This was also the Pigeons' first road win of the season. Going into this game against the Reds, the Pigeons held a big advantage in the recent head-to-head series, having won the last four games against Toronto, and their good results continued.

The win gives New York City 14 points after 10 games as the team heads into a jam-packed month of May that includes seven scheduled matches in MLS and US Open Cup play.

They move up slightly in the Eastern Conference standings from tenth to ninth and hold a record of 4W-2D-4L heading into their next match at Citi Field vs FC Cincinnati on Sunday, May 4 at 3:00 pm ET.

Chances hard to come by

The first half was a tightly-wound affair. Neither New York City nor Toronto could seem to edge ahead; the conditions at BMO Field made aerial passing quite difficult, with the wind repeatedly blowing passes off course or straight down.

Moreover, both teams played a tight, man-marking game, which made offensive chances hard to come by. Toronto seemed to control the game a bit early on, but the first good chance of the game came to New York City in the 17th minute, as Alonso Martinez got a shot on target against former New York City keeper Sean Johnson; Johnson made the save easily. The Reds got their best chance in the 31st minute, a Federico Bernadeschi attempt was blocked. 

Both teams had chances to score before the first half closed – Theo Corbeanu for Toronto, then Hannes Wolf for New York City – but nothing came of either opportunity and the half ended scoreless.

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A penalty from Alonso Martínez, a clean sheet from Matt Freese: New York City earned the win on a blustery afternoon in Canada.

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Stalemate broken

The stalemate was finally broken in the 64th minute. Alonso Martinez charged into the penalty area, was triple-teamed by Toronto defenders, then was fouled by Kosi Thompson as he squared himself to shoot.

Martinez had made one penalty and missed one penalty this season as he walked up to the spot for this opportunity against onetime NYCFC penalty shootout hero Sean Johnson. Remember, Santiago Rodríguez almost exclusively took New York City's penalties a season ago, so Martínez is new to PK duty this season.

Any doubts raised by the miss from the spot against Minnesota got quieted as Martínez stepped up and slotted home with ease from the spot to give the Pigeons their 1-0 advantage. 

Alonso Martínez on target from the spot! 🎯@newyorkcityfc in enemy territory!

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— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 26, 2025

New York City hangs on

From that point on, the game opened up. Toronto desperately sought to end their scoring drought and both coaches made changes.

New York City’s Pascal Jansen was the first to move, withdrawing Agustín Ojeda and Kevin O’Toole off for Julian Fernandez and Nico Cavallo. Reds coach Robin Fraser countered by substituting Alonso Coello for Deybi Flores and high-priced Designated Player Lorenzo Insigne for Maxime Dominguez. 

New York City 1-0 Toronto: 5 Thoughts

The big takeaways from New York City FC’s first road win of 2025, which was decided by another Alonso Martínez goal and a bend-but-don’t-break defensive performance.

Hudson River BlueAndrew Leigh

New York City had chances to ice the win following Martínez's goal, with Sean Johnson doing his part to masterfully keep Toronto in the game. In the 75th minute, Johnson made Julian Fernandez miss high and wide to the left. In the 82nd minute, he denied Hannes Wolf as he shot point-blank from the right side of the six-yard box, and in the 93rd minute, SeanJohn deftly kept Alonso Martinez from notching a second goal by charging out to deny him off a breakaway.

Despite the tactical adjustments from both coaches, Toronto was unable to cash in on repeated chances to tie the game; their best chances came in the 81st minute as former No 1 overall MLS SuperDraft Pick Tyrese Spicer had his shot blocked in the penalty area, then again in the 87th minute as Spicer missed to the right following a corner, and finally in the 91st minute, Sigurd Rosted muffled a header high and wide to the left off an excellent corner whipped in by Jonathan Osorio.