Alonso Martinez scored from the penalty spot for his team-leading sixth goal and New York City FC held on to a 1-0 victory at Toronto FC on Saturday.
Martinez’s goal was his second from the spot in three attempts for NYCFC (4-4-2, 14 points), which halted a five-match away winless streak to begin the season.
Matt Freese earned his third clean sheet for the club and became the fourth goalkeeper to keep Toronto scoreless.
Toronto manager Robin Fraser dropped Italian star Lorenzo Insigne to the bench for the first time since Insigne made his season debut on March 22 as Toronto extended its winless start at home to four matches.
The Reds (1-5-4, 7 points) have scored only once in those four games, and on Saturday directed only one of their 12 shot attempts on target.
Three minutes after Insigne entered in the second half, his fellow countryman Federico Bernardeschi was forced into a 70th-minute, injury-related exit.
Toronto keeper Sean Johnson made two stops against his former club.
Martinez’s match-winner came six minutes earlier, after he somewhat cleverly drew a foul on Toronto’s Kosi Thompson by dribbling into the penalty area.
With Thompson trying to provide defensive help, Martinez appeared to stretch his right leg outward and allow Thompson to clatter into it.
Several Reds players protested vehemently that referee Pierre-Luc Lauzierre should check a replay of the sequence, but he was not summoned to the screen by his video assistant referee.
Martinez drove his penalty into the bottom left corner beyond Johnson’s dive.
Thompson had played the hero only a few minutes earlier when he scrambled to head Hannes Wolf’s goal-bound chip off the line in the 54th minute.
Toronto had the majority of possession after going behind, but it was City with the best late chances on the counter.
Johnson reacted well to deny Wolf’s 82nd-minute effort and was even better when he lunged to take the ball off Matinez’s foot on a breakaway in second-half stoppage time.
–Field Level Media
