NYCFC Shuts Out Leon As Leagues Cup Rolls On

NYCFC celebrating their goal in the opening minutes. Photo by Jason Schott.

New York City Football Club scored a pair of early goals on the way to a 2-0 win over Club Leon SIS on Friday night at Sports Illustrated Stadium in their second Leagues Cup match.

After they were shutout 3-0 by Puebla on Tuesday night, NYCFC took just seven minutes to get on the board in this one.

Maxi Moralez took a corner kick, fired it towards the box, where Justin Haak deflected it, and Alonso Martinez got it on the doorstep of the net, where he flicked it in to make it 1-0.

Then, in the 32nd minute, it was Martinez who snuck past the Leon defenders along the right side, and he dropped it back to a trailing Agustin Ojeda coming down the center of the field, and he buried it to make it 2-0 NYCFC. This was Ojeda's first career goal in Leagues Cup action.

The goal and assist for Martinez give him the ninth-most goal contributions in NCYFC history in all competitions, with 36 (31 goals and 5 assists). Next upm on the list is defender Anton Tinnerholm, who had 37 (9 goals and 28 assists), right up to the top two, David Villa, who had 106 (80 goals, 26 assists), and Maxi Moralez, who is of course still active and has 133 (39 goals and 94 assists).

The game remained 2-0 NYCFC into halftime, and Leon got a big chance in the 56th minute when James Rodriguez took a free kick and sent one toward the box.

It was ruled that Strahinja Tanasijevic committed a handball as his outstretched arm made contact with the ball going across the box.

Rodriguez took the penalty kick and fired a shot to the top right of the net, where NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese punched it away for the save.

Matt Freese making the save. Provided by NYCFC.

Freese said of his instincts, "It worked out well. Ton of respect for him (James Rodriguez). He's a big-time player with a huge career and that was one to remember."

"Massive" was how NYCFC Head Coach Pascal Jansen described it afterwards. "That was a moment - and we spoke about this during halftime as well. There were just a few moments in the game - or areas, if you will - that they were looking for to get more involved. It was the set pieces, the corners. They tried to beat us in behind a few times, and when we allowed them to switch from left to right or the other way, to get their wingers in 1v1 situations - those were the moments we really had to be switched on. They didn't have a single shot on target in the first half, and I believe that penalty kick was their first one on frame. So, Matt's save was huge because that could have given them momentum to fight their way back into the game. And we denied it - or Matt denied it."

NYCFC Head Coach Pascal Jansen. Photo by Jason Schott.

Freese would finish with four saves on the night, while Leon had four shots on target and nine overall.

NYCFC poured in 11 shots, with eight of them on net, and that made up for Leon's 53.2 percent possession advantage. NYCFC also was able to control the pace of the game, and not let them turn it into the fast-paced style that Mexican teams are known for.

NYCFC's next Leagues Cup match will be against Toluca at Yankee Staodium this Tuesday night, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m.

James Rodriguez taking a corner kick in the fifth minute. Photo by Jason Schott.