Toronto FC II Goals: Mark Fisher 25', Julian Altobelli 26', Hassan Ayari 90+1’
New York City FC II Goals:
Quick Read
New York City II locked horns with Toronto FC II for the second time this week, traveling north of the border to face the Young Reds at York Lions Stadium. Quickfire goals from Mark Fisher and Julian Altobelli saw the hosts race into a two-goal first-half lead, after a missed City penalty, before Hassan Ayari added gloss to the scoreline in injury time to seal the points in Canada.
Match Recap
The two sides met again in Ontario, having played out a 1-1 draw at Icahn Stadium on Wednesday – Matthew Leong’s late opener canceled out by Altobelli, before Toronto edged the penalty shootout to take home the bonus point.
NYCFC II Head Coach Matt Pilkington made three changes from his midweek starting XI, as Máximo Carrizo, Julien Lacher, and Chris Tiao replaced Jonathan Jimenez, Jonathan Lopez, and Camil Azzam Ruiz for Sunday’s afternoon clash.
The hosts started brightly, and looked to put the City backline under pressure in the early exchanges. Steven Bednarsky had to be alert from the off, blocking a Fisher shot inside the first minute.
The first real chance of note drew a fine stop from Alex Rando, as Altobelli tested the City shot-stopper for the first time with a low drive on 11’.
City responded well, threatening on the flanks, while Samuel Owusu looked to catch goalkeeper Abe Rodriguez off-guard with a long-range effort, which bounced wide.
Rando produced another smart save to tip over Nathaniel Edwards’ curling effort, before New York were handed the chance to open the scoring from the spot.
Pilkinton’s side had continued to look dangerous on the wings, and were awarded a penalty on the 21st minute after good play down the left, when Tiao was upended by Marko Stojadinovic. Owusu stepped up to strike but unfortunately lifted the ball over the crossbar.
Luck would not prove to be on City’s side, as Toronto took advantage of two kind deflections to storm into a quickfire two-goal lead. Rando had done well to deny a rasping Charlie Staniland shot after a clever corner routine, but there was nothing he could have done about the opener, as Ayari’s delivery took cruel ricochets off the goalkeeper, then Owusu, landing perfectly for Fisher to tap into an empty net.
A minute later, it was 2-0. Ayari was again involved, dispossessing Leong and driving forward. Owusu did well to block the shot, but again, the ball fell kindly for the hosts, and Altobelli pounced to clip in his second goal against City in a matter of days.
The Boys in Blue dusted themselves off to fight back, and came inches away from halving the deficit with Ronald Arevalo just unable to convert as he slid in at the backpost. Piero Elias also forced Rodriguez into action with a low effort from distance, and Jake Rozhansky curled just wide after promising build-up play from Carrizo.
At the other end, Altobelli drilled an effort wide, and Rando plucked a deflected looping effort out of the air to keep City in the contest at the break.
The visitors’ shot-stopper was called upon a minute after the restart to thwart Ayari, and City rallied to try and claw a route back into the game.
Substitute Niko Kapanadze almost made an instant impact with a teasing delivery which was beaten away at the nearpost, before Arevalo drilled just off-target. Taylor Calheier – the league’s third-highest scorer – then came within a whisker of finding the net, only to see his strike bounce agonizingly off the post.
In reply, Toronto went in search of a third on the hour, but again Rando was equal to an Altobelli effort.
As City continued to press, Pilkington introduced Klevis Haxhari, Azzam Ruiz and Zidane Yanez from the bench, and the away side again almost found a breakthrough, but for an excellent stop from Rodriguez, who tipped Arevalo’s curler wide of the post.
A spell of end-to-end action saw Altobelli, Elias and Carrizo all fire over in a flurry of chances for both sides. Rando then produced another great stop one-on-one against Ayari, but the Toronto man would not be denied in stoppage time, latching onto Andrei Dumitru’s through-ball and firing in the third of the afternoon, sealing the triumph for the hosts.
City remain third in the MLS NEXT Pro East with three games remaining – just three points behind FC Cincinnati 2 and four shy of leaders Philadelphia Union II.
How We Lined Up
What’s Next
The Boys in Blue are back in action on Monday, September 23 with a trip to Philadelphia Union II, in a 4:00PM ET kick-off at Subaru Park.
