New York City FC 3 - 1 Chicago Fire FC 2025 MLS Regular Season - Matchday 15 Date: Sunday, May 25, 2025 | Kickoff: 3:10pm ET Location: Yankee Stadium | The Bronx, NY Attendance: 18,524
New York City FC recorded an impressive 3-1 comeback victory over the Chicago Fire at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. Despite falling behind to a long-range strike from Phillip Zinckernagel in the first half, City responded after Chicago’s Brian Gutiérrez was sent off in the 31st minute. Second-half goals from Mounsef Bakrar, Hannes Wolf, and Alonso Martínez—via the penalty spot—followed, with Djé D’Avila also seeing red late on.
UP NEXT: The ‘Boys in Blue’ are back at Yankee Stadium once again for a midweek clash, this time facing Western Conference side Houston Dynamo FC on Wednesday, May 28, at 7:30pm ET. | Apple TV: MLS Season Pass | Radio (English/Spanish) newyorkcityfc.com/radio
Forward Mounsef Bakrar scored his first goal of the 2025 MLS season, netting the equalizer for New York City FC in the 58th minute.
Bakrar’s goal also marked the Club’s first goal of the season by a substitute.
Midfielder Justin Haak assisted New York City FC’s first goal, giving him two assists in his last two matches.
Prior to these two matches, Haak’s last goal contribution came on July 8, 2023, when he scored against the Columbus Crew.
That goal was also the first goal by a Homegrown
Midfielder Hannes Wolf scored the winning goal for New York City in the 70th minute, in addition to an assist on City’s opener in the 58th minute.
It marked the first time the Austrian midfielder had multiple goal contributions in a single match since March 29, when Wolf scored a brace against Atlanta United.
The ‘Boys in Blue’ have scored multiple goals in each of their last two matches and for the sixth time this season.
New York City FC came from behind to win for the second time this season, with the previous instance occurring on March 15 in a comeback victory over the New England Revolution.
New York City FC holds a commanding lead in the all-time series with a 12-3-8 (W-L-D) record through 23 matches.
New York City has earned at least one point in 20 of 23 all-time matches against Chicago.
City has scored 37 goals and conceded 23 in its all-time series against Chicago.
Forward Alonso Martínez leads all current New York City FC players in goals against Chicago, scoring three in three appearances.
Five other current New York City players have each scored once against Chicago: Forward Julián Fernández, Bakrar, Wolf and Midfielders Keaton Parks and Andrés Perea.
Additionally, Parks has two assists against Chicago, while Perea, Fernández and Haak each have one.
The ‘Boys in Blue’ have maintained an unbeaten home record against the Chicago Fire, posting an 9-0-3 mark through 12 matches.
City has scored 22 goals and conceded eight at home against the Fire.
The team has played five matches at Yankee Stadium, moving its record at the venue to 3-2-0.
Five players have scored the team's eight goals at Yankee Stadium: Martínez (3), Wolf (2), Fernández (1) Parks (1), and Bakrar (1).
Players who have assisted goals, including through second assists are: Wolf (2) Fernández (2), Haak (1), Moralez (1).
From games at Yankee Stadium, the Club has captured nine points out of a possible 15.
In Sunday’s match, Chicago Fire FC were reduced to 10 men in the 32nd minute following a red card.
It marked the second time this season an opponent has gone down a player against the ‘Boys in Blue.’
The previous instance came during the season opener on February 22 in a 2-2 draw at Inter Miami CF.
Over the last 13 matchdays, Julián Fernández and Hannes Wolf have formed a prolific partnership, combining for four goals during that span.
Wolf has scored in three different matches—against Orlando City SC, Atlanta United and Chicago Fire FC—with Fernández assisting each of those goals. Fernández also found the back of the net against the New England Revolution, with Wolf providing the assist.
In two of those matches—Matchday 3 against Orlando and Matchday 4 against New England—the goal contributions were consecutive.
With his 24 goals scored during his time at the Club, Martínez is tied for the fifth most goals scored in Club history.
He is now two off fourth (26 goals, set by former Midfielder Ismael Tajouri-Shradi).
Martínez now has eight goals in 2025, tied for fourth most leaguewide in goals scored this season.
Mounsef Bakrar notched his first goal of the season, equalizing the score in the 58th minute of play.
Through 52 games played, this is Bakrar’s eighth goal with the Club.
Additionally, Bakrar’s goal marks the first time this season that a substitute has come off the bench to score for New York City FC.
Hannes Wolf scored the go-ahead goal for the Club in the 71st minute, putting New York City in the lead for the first time this afternoon.
Wolf recorded both a goal and an assist in this match. The last time Wolf did this was May 18, 2024, against the New York Red Bulls, where he scored and assisted in a 2-1 win.
Julián Fernández provided an assist on Wolf’s goal, recording his second assist of the season.
Midfielder Maxi Moralez was credited with a second assist for Wolf’s goal, which marks his second goal contribution in the last two matches.
NEW YORK CITY FC COACH PASCAL JANSEN
On the character the ‘Boys in Blue’ showed in the second half...
“I’m very happy with the character the team showed in the second half. But to be fair, we made it very hard on ourselves. Being a goal down at halftime with the chances that we missed in the first half is tough, but it's the reality. So, with the red card for the opponent, we switched gears, brought another attacker, and had to take Defender Tayvon [Gray] off. The decision was made based on his yellow card because sometimes you might have to take a little bit more risk and chase the goal. You could see once we had the equalizer, things started to settle down and then we could go and look for the second one. But there’s one moment that made it very, very clear what our determination was about in the second half, and that is the moment that Forward Mounsef Bakrar—coming on as a second striker—did the dirty labor trying to prevent them from scoring. In that moment, he intercepted in the box, and that shows everything we were about in the second half.”
On Forward Mounsef Bakrar’s performance and goal... “It’s a game changer because it’s one of those moments where they intercept and they go for the counterattack. And if I’m not mistaken, Mounsef [Bakrar] ran—I think—17 yards without the ball to intercept at the edge of the box, or even in the box. And that shows great determination but also sacrifice for the team. I referred to a moment in the dressing room just now that I showed the guys after preseason. There’s a moment with Luis Díaz from Liverpool doing exactly the same—intercepting a ball in the box and then going to the crowd—and that is exactly this moment. So, they all knew what I was talking about just now because we refer to that moment, and that defines our dressing room at the current moment. It shows how important it is that you stay focused, even though you’re not a starter, because you always have your moment in the game. Today, Mounsef had two crucial ones. I’m very happy for him.”
NEW YORK CITY FORWARD MOUNSEF BAKRAR
On today's win and scoring his first goal of the season... “I'm so happy for the win, for getting the three points and everything. Thankful to my teammates that helped me to score my first goal for the season. And yeah, it wasn't an easy game, it was tough. We conceded the first goal and then we turned on and we put more aggression in the front, and we got our first, second, and third goal. I'm so happy about that.”
On the strategy of playing in a two-forward system along Forward Alonso Martínez... "We've been trying to do this the last few games, but it didn’t work. Forward Alonso [Martínez] is doing really good now, and they needed us to play with two. Head Coach [Pascal Jansen] knew I had a good week in training, and I just went in and tried to do whatever I could. I got the first goal, and it changed the game.”
NEW YORK CITY FC MIDFIELDER HANNES WOLF
On coming back after being down a goal in the first half... "I think we went down unnecessarily and then with the red card it was clear we would get opportunities. I think we had a lot of clear opportunities in the first half, but we didn’t score. And at halftime we knew we just needed that one goal, and then the game would probably be ours. And yeah, that’s what happened. I think we played a good second half.”
On the importance of scoring today, and if he thinks tonight’s goal will help his confidence in upcoming matches... “To be honest, there were some games where I played a bit more defensively than usual, but I know people expect me to score—and I expect that from myself as well. Today I had some good opportunities, and I’m happy I scored once. I’ll keep going because the confidence is big...It’s always a mental thing when you don’t score for some games. It’s not easy—you want to force it sometimes. But now I’ve got the momentum, and I’ll keep going. I think it will help me in the next few days.”
NEW YORK CITY FC FORWARD ALONSO MARTÍNEZ
On how the team reacted and came back after being down one goal... “I think the team reacted well. Head Coach Pascal Jansen saw we were losing in the first half and put in another forward [Mounsef Bakrar], and I think tactically he did a great job. We came away with the perfect result.”
Sobre cómo reaccionó el equipo y logró remontar después de ir abajo por un gol... “Creo que el equipo reaccionó bien. El profe [Pascal Jansen] en el primer tiempo vio que íbamos perdiendo y metió otro delantero [Mounsef Bakrar], y bueno, creo que tácticamente el profe hizo un buen trabajo. Sacamos el resultado perfecto.”
On if he believes that their win against the New York Red Bulls gave them the confidence going into today’s match... “Yes, absolutely. I think that the win [against the New York Red Bulls] gave us momentum. Now we have another home match [on Wednesday against Houston Dynamo FC], and we’ll try to get the three points and use the next few days to fix the mistakes we made today so they don’t happen again.”
Sobre si cree que la victoria contra los New York Red Bulls les dio la confianza para el partido de hoy... “Sí, por supuesto. Creo que esa victoria [contra New York Red Bulls] nos dio para seguir. Ahora tenemos otro partido en casa [el miércoles contra Houston Dynamo FC] que trataremos de sacar los tres puntos y, bueno, mejorar en estos días los errores que cometimos hoy para que no vuelvan a pasar.”
19’ - CHI - Philip Zinckernagel [11]
Scored with a right-footed shot from the central position outside the box with an xG of 7% to the lower left zone. Assisted by Jonathan Dean [24], second assist by Andrew Gutman [15].
58’ - NYC - Mounsef Bakrar [9]
Scored with a right-footed shot from the center of the box with an xG of 50% to the central zone. Assisted by Justin Haak [80], second assist by Hannes Wolf [17].
70’ - NYC - Hannes Wolf [17]
Scored with a right footed shot from the left side of the box with an xG of 6% to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Julián Fernández [11], second assist by Maxi Moralez [10].
89’ - NYC - Alonso Martínez [16]
Scored from a penalty with a right-footed shot with an xG of 77% to the upper left central zone.
[24] Jonathan Dean (76’ - [7] Maren Haile-Selassie)
[5] Sam Rogers
[3] Jack Elliott (C)
[15] Andrew Gutman
[35] Sergio Oregel (76’ - [26] Omari Glasgow)
[17] Brian Gutiérrez
[22] Mauricio Pineda (41’ - [42] Dje D’Avilla)
[11] Philip Zinckernagel (58’ - [2] Leonardo Barroso)
[9] Hugo Cuypers
[19] Jonathan Bamba (46’ - [6] Rominigue Kouamé)
Subs Unused
[18] Greg Ranjitsingh
[19] Strahinja Tanasijević
[29] Máximo Carrizo
[30] Tomás Romero
Subs Unused
[23] Kellyn Acosta
[12] Tom Barlow
[25] Jeffrey Gal
[38] Christopher Cupps
NYC Yellow Cards (4)
14’ - Justin Haak [80] - Bad Foul
20’ - Maxi Moralez [10] - Bad Foul
45+3’ - Tayvon Gray [24] - Reckless Offense
56’ - Thiago Martins [13] - Tactical Foul
Red Cards (0)
CHI Yellow Cards (3)
45+1’ - Jonathan Dean [24] - Tactical Foul
60’ - Dje D’Avilla [42] - Bad Foul
84’ - Dje D’Avilla [42] - Bad Foul
Red Cards (2)
31’ - Brian Gutiérrez [11] - Violent Conduct
84’ - Dje D’Avilla [42] - Second Yellow
Referee: Rosendo Mendoza
Ast. Referee 1: Adam Wienckowski
Ast. Referee 2: Gianni Facchini
Fourth Official: Thomas Snyder
VAR: Jorge Gonzalez
Ast. VAR: Joshua Patlak
New York City FC entertained the Chicago Fire on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
The Boys in Blue were hoping to build on an impressive Hudson River Derby victory last time out. Head Coach Pascal Jansen made one enforced change to the team that beat the Red Bulls, as Andrés Perea was replaced by Jonathan Shore.
City flew out of the blocks early, and Alonso Martínez tested Chris Brady within the opening five minutes. It was one of a string of chances for City early on that they were unable to convert.
Chicago responded in the 10th minute through Brian Gutiérrez, but his effort was blocked well by Thiago Martins.
Martínez then managed to test Brady again after a clever run in behind the Chicago defensive line. Unfortunately, Chicago’s shot stopper was able to deny the forward.
Despite enjoying the better of the chances early on, City fell behind in the 19th minute when Phillip Zinckernagel placed a low drive from distance past Matt Freese.
City were quick to respond, and Martínez almost equalized from close range after the ball popped out to him—his first-time effort flying over the crossbar.
The game was flipped on its head in the 31st minute when Chicago were reduced to ten men. Gutiérrez was shown a straight red card after catching Aidan O’Neill with an elbow to the face.
Hannes Wolf was presented with a great chance to level the game on the stroke of halftime, but he could not find the target when it mattered most.
The second period saw two changes for City as Mitja Ilenič and Mounsef Bakrar replaced Tayvon Gray and Shore.
Maxi Moralez registered City’s first chance of note in the half via an audacious volleyed attempt that whistled just wide of Brady’s post.
City would find an equalizer four minutes later thanks to Bakrar. A move instigated by good play down the left involving Wolf and Justin Haak saw the latter fire in a low cross that Bakrar calmly turned home from close range.
With momentum behind them, City set about trying to break through a dogged defensive line from Chicago. With space at a premium, Birk Risa opted to take a more direct route with a shot from distance that forced Brady into a good save.
The go-ahead goal would come for City not long after thanks to a great effort from Wolf. The winger did well to recover a cross from Julián Fernández, and after engineering a yard of space, he drove inside and curled an effort low into the bottom right corner.
Chicago were by no means out of the game, however, and a dangerous cross almost allowed Hugo Cuypers a look at goal, but the Belgian failed to make clean contact.
Jansen turned to his bench in the 79th minute to introduce Agustín Ojeda in place of Fernández.
The winger managed to make an impact just five minutes later, winning a penalty after being fouled by Djê D’Avila—who was shown a second yellow card for the challenge.
Martínez then stepped up and fired the ball into the top left corner for his eighth goal of the season.
In the wake of the goal, two further changes arrived for City as Keaton Parks and Nico Cavallo replaced Martínez and Haak. That would prove to be the last act of note, and confirmed an important 3-1 win for City at home.
