By James Pendleton
New York City FC claimed a first win in four on Sunday as they defeated a beleaguered Chicago Fire by two goals to nil to reignite their title hopes at Soldier Field.
Goals either side of the break from Gabriel Pereira and Santiago Rodriguez clinched the win for Ronny Deila’s side, who dominated the contest from start to finish.
Deila delight as NYCFC control the first half
The away team made a strong start and took the lead in the 16th minute with their first noteworthy attempt. Gabriel Pereira was set up by Santiago Rodriguez to score. When he passed the ball into his path and from the edge of the area, he unleashed an unstoppable shot past Gabriel Slonina.
Soon after, the visitors should have extended their advantage as Talles Magno made a great turn and found Thiago Andrade open, but Slonina expertly stopped his low shot to keep the score at one.
He was soon called upon again to keep Chiacago in the contest when Pereira fired towards goal in the final minute of the first half, but the 18-year-old got down well to tip the ball around the post.
The Pigeons pru-ve too much for Chicago
His efforts would be in vain, however, as just 48 seconds into the second half, NYCFC doubled their lead as Rodriguez turned from provider to scorer.
Rafael Czichos was under siege from the Brazilian within his own half, but the Fire captain managed to escape danger until the midfielder brought him down. However, referee Rosendo Mendoza didn't see it that way and allowed play to continue.
Rodriguez picked the ball up on the edge of the home box before firing beyond the Slonina, sparking protest from Chicago players but, controversially, the goal stood.
It was all New York, and on the hour mark, it was almost three as the superb Pereira dinked in a searching ball, but Andrade’s header could only find the base of the post before Miguel Navarro cleared the ball to safety.
Despite the controversy surrounding the second goal scored by the visitors, Ezra Hendrickson's team was unable to register a shot on goal for the entire ninety minutes. Jhon Duran came the closest when he headed a Jairo Torres corner onto the crossbar, but the assistant's flag was up in any case.
The win keeps NYCFC in third, five points behind top placed Philadelphia Union with Orland next on the road, while Chicago remain 12th and five points off the play-offs with high-flying Montreal to come.
Line ups
Chicago Fire: Gabriel Slonina, Boris Sekulic, Carlos Teran (Brian Gutierrez 68’), Rafael Czichos, Miguel Navarro, Mauricio Pineda (Fabian Herbers 51’), Federico Navarro, Jairo Torres, Chris Mueller (Victor Bezerra), Xherdan Shaqiri, Kacper Przybylko (Jhon Duran 51’)
New York City FC: Sean Johnson, Anton Tinnerholm, Maxime Chanot, Thiago Martins, Malte Amundsen, Nicolas Acevedo, Justin Haak, Gabriel Pereira (Andres Jasson 89’) (Goal 16’), Thiago Andrade (Tayvon Gray 77’), Santiago Rodriguez (Goal 46’), Talles Magno (Heber 82’)
MATCH STATS
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