New York City FC Goals: Medina '53
Toronto FC Goals: Shaffelburg 74'
Quick Read
New York City FC welcomed Toronto FC to Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon as they aimed to extend their unbeaten run to four games. TFC arrived at Yankee Stadium after a midweek victory against the Columbus SC, and knew a win would see them jump into the top six in the East. Ultimately both teams took a point away from the match. A poacher's effort from Jesus Medina in the 53rd minute gave NYCFC the lead, but was cancelled out by a Jacob Shaffelburg strike in the 74th minute.
Starting brightly, NYCFC almost took the lead in the 7th minute when a Jesus Medina cross from the right hand side narrowly missed the head of Taty Castellanos.
Toronto fired back in the 11th minute with their first real chance of note when Yeferson Soteldo drove inside from the left before firing a shot that Sean Johnson palmed around the post.
Ronny Deila was then forced into an early change after Alex Callens picked up a knock. The Peruvian defender being replaced by Sebastien Ibeagha.
Chances were few and far between as TFC maintained a compact shape – Ismael Tajouri-Shradi producing a tame effort from distance in the 20th minute.
At the other end, the visitors almost found their opener after some smart build-up allowed Richie Laryea to get in behind down the right hand side.
The Canadian full-back then attempted to find Ayo Akinola in the middle, but a smart intervention from Maxime Chanot stopped Akinola converting the chance
The half-hour mark saw the first NYCFC player enter the book after Nicolas Acevedo was adjudged to have fouled Laryea with a sliding tackle.
The home team’s best efforts were falling to Tajouri-Shradi. First through a free-kick that went over the bar, and then minutes later via a Castellanos cross that landed on the Libyan’s head.
NYCFC’s best chance of the half came in the 41st minute when a beautiful flowing move saw Medina chip the ball onto the head of Keaton Parks. He flicked it into the path of Castellanos but his half-volley attempt failed to hit the target.
Thorarinsson pulled it back to find Tajouri-Shradi, but he failed to connect with the ball and it trickled wide.
The hosts would then break the deadlock with their next attempt after a Thorarinsson free-kick in the 53rdminute bounced deceptively in front of TFC goalkeeper Alex Bono.
He failed to keep a hold of it and Medina was on hand to gobble up the rebound and give NYCFC the lead.
The Boys in Blue were starting to create more chances on the counter-attack, but going the other way Soteldo was proving a threat for TFC with his pace and trickery.
Medina almost added a second in the 65th minute from a freekick on the edge of the penalty area, but Bono did well to parry the ball away.
It appeared that NYCFC had doubled their lead in bizarre fashion after a quick kick from Bono cannoned off the back of Medina’s head and into the goal.
The play was called back, however, after the referee adjudged Medina to have interfered with the kick by jumping in front of Bono.
The visitors then found a route back into the game in the 74th minute from a long ball that landed at the feet of Patrick Mullins.
The former NYCFC forward played a pass into the path of Jacob Shaffelburg and he slotted it into the bottom corner.
Momentum was now with TFC and a Nick De Leon cross found Michael Bradley in the box, but he failed to connect properly.
Keen to make some changes, NYCFC introduced Malte Amundsen and Tony Rocha in place of Thorarinsson and Tajouri-Shradi.
The 83rd minute saw Parks collect a yellow card for a foul on Bradley.
Deila was then forced to turn to his bench again in the 87th minute Deila when Chanot pulled up injured, Vuk Latinovich taking his place.
Joining Latinovich on the field was Chris Gloster as he came on for Jasson after a solid shift in an unfamiliar role.
That finished the scoring and forced NYCFC to share the points with TFC.
Heineken Man of the Match
How We Lined Up
What's Next
Next up for New York City FC is a meeting with the Columbus SC at Red Bull Arena on Saturday, May 22 with kickoff taking place at 7:30 PM ET (YES Network/NYCFC.com/Radio).
