Chicago Fire Goals: Beric 14’, Collier 54’
New York City FC Goals: Own Goal 1’
New York City FC kicked-off their preseason campaign with a 2-1 defeat against the Chicago Fire in Orlando on Saturday afternoon.
The Boys in Blue made a goalscoring start to the game thanks to a mistake from Chicago goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth inside the first minute. The shot-stopper misjudged a routine backpass and saw the ball roll under his foot and into the net.
The game began at a frenetic pace with both sides pressing intensely. That saw the first yellow card of the game awarded to the Fire’s Przemysław Frankowski for a foul on Andres Jasson.
The youngster was a bright spark for Ronny Deila’s side during the first half, with his direct running a persistent threat. Just before the fifteen-minute mark, The Fire found their way back into the game when a turnover on the halfway line facilitated a counter-attack that was eventually finished off by Robert Beric.
Both sides continued to try and establish a rhythm, and in the 32nd minute, Taty Castellanos found himself with the ball in the left channel after a sweeping counter-attack. He quickly shifted the ball inside and curled an effort just past the right-hand post.
The second half brought a number of changes for both sides, and in the 54th minute, Elliot Collier gave Chicago a 2-1 advantage with a curled effort from the left-hand side.
NYCFC then introduced a further batch of changes midway through the second half, which saw five of the club’s academy players handed a chance to impress. The game finished 2-1 to Chicago, and next up for NYCFC is a meeting with Orlando City on March 18.
NYCFC XI | Johnson (Barraza); Di Rosa (Gray), Chanot (Haak), Ibeagha (Latinovich), Thórarinsson (Dobruna); Sands (Parks), Acevedo (Flax), Medina (Rossi), Tajouri-Shradi (Rocha), Jasson (Armellino); Castellanos (Ponce-Ocampo)
