BRONX, NY — Mitja Ilenič’s confidence never wavered, not in his club down a goal at halftime Sunday, and not in his friend, forward Mounsef Bakrar, in search of his first goal of the season.
Ilenič, his hair cut and bleached for the New York summer, told Bakrar as much as they were both subbed in for the second half of New York City FC’s 3–1 win Sunday against Chicago Fire FC, trailing 1–0.
“I told him he will score,” Ilenič said.
Now, Bakrar owes him dinner.
“We have this bet,” Ilenič continued. “I scored against Miami, I paid. Today, he will pay.”
Despite conceding the opening goal in the 19th minute, NYCFC did all the right things in the first half on Sunday. Thirteen of City’s 21 attempts came in the opening 45. Alonso Martinez had two of the club’s best chances in short order. In the 23rd minute, he missed high. A minute later, he hit the crossbar.
The momentum further turned on City’s side in the 31st minute, when Chicago midfielder Brian Gutiérrez was given a red card for elbowing Aiden O’Neill in the face
“He just came in quite aggressively,” O’Neill said. “The referees made a decision. He definitely caught me pretty flush on the jaw. It hurt a bit.”
After Gutiérrez made the long walk of shame across Yankee Stadium’s infield and down the steps of what is usually the visitors’ dugout, and City up one man for the remaining 59 minutes, New York led Chicago in almost all major statistical category, including possession percentage, shots, shots on goal and passing accuracy.
In the remaining minutes of the first half, City kept pressing. Julián Fernández, Maxi Moralez, and Hannes Wolf all missed the goal. Jonny Shore’s attempt was blocked. Fernández and Maxi Moralez both had corners. Wolf and Moralez won free kicks. None of them could solve Chicago keeper Chris Brady, who made five saves.
I want to see the expected goals,” Tayvon Gray said. “We had, I think, four clear chances in the first half. They were on the ropes, especially after the red. I think, second half, we just ran with it.”
The expected goals? Not far off from the final score: New York 3.4, Chicago 0.4.
In the locker room, the message to City’s players was positive. They’d created chances. They were up a man for the next 45 minutes. If they just kept pressing, the chances would start to go their way.
“The positives were we created chances,” O’Neill said. “And obviously, when they went down to 10 men, we knew that we could really go for it.”
“Trying to get as many balls in the box,” Shore said. “Trying to put stress on their back line and try to finish chances.”
“Just keep on going,” Birk Risa added. “We had our chances in the first half as well. It wasn’t completely off, but we had to grind out for it.”
Head coach Pascal Jansen shifted his formation at the start of the second half for a more aggressive approach, opting for a two-striker structure. He replaced Gray, a right back, with Ilenič, a midfielder. He replaced Shore, a midfielder, with Bakrar, a striker.
The two-striker system is exactly what it sounds like. Jansen replaced a midfielder (Shore) with a second forward (Bakrar). He compensated for the midfield void by replacing a defender (Gray) with a midfielder (Ilenič). These moves shifted City’s structure forward, creating more pressure on Chicago’s back end.
Bakrar said after the match that the club had been trying this tactic for the past few games, but it hadn’t worked. Normally, he said, the club’s roster construction only necessitated one striker. But with New York in need of a big goal, and in search of his first since last August, Bakrar had been waiting in the wings.
It worked. In the 58th minute, Bakrar, in perfect position in front of the goal, tapped in a ball from Justin Haak to bring City even and a sense of relief over himself.
“If the coach puts you for the start of the second half, he trusts you,” Bakrar said. “So I have to give it back to him.
“I’ve been waiting for my chance, and it came now, and I’m glad that it’s come, my first goal, and hopefully we keep going like that, even as a sub or a starter, I don’t care.”
Twelve minutes later, a second City player ended his scoring drought. Wolf, who hadn’t scored since City’s March 29 match against Atlanta United FC, hit the bottom right corner to give the Boys in Blue the lead. Wolf’s goal stood as the winner.
“Always nice to score,” he said. Especially in a tight game, leading us to the right direction. Like I said, good feeling and hope for more goals in the future.”
Wolf said that in some matches, he played more defensively, but also expects to score. Netting the winner, he said, gave him some confidence. When asked if it could lead to more goals in the future, he said, “of course.”
“When you don’t score for some games, it’s not so easy,” he said. “Because you want to force it sometimes. But yeah, if you have that moment now, you keep going, and I think it will help me for the future.”
City have a quick turnaround, as they face Houston Dynamo FC at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. Some much needed rest is in order for their second match in four days. But the tight schedule didn’t excuse Bakrar from his bet. He was still on the hook for a meal with Ilenič.
What Ilenič would not provide was where Bakrar was taking him for dinner.
“This stays between us,” he laughed.
