Alonso Martínez sets playoff tone for NYCFC with "special" goal | OneFootball

By Ben Wright

Take a bow, Alonso Martínez.

New York City FC's star striker scored a spectacular solo goal on Tuesday night to give the Cityzens a 1-0 victory at Charlotte FC in their Round One Best-of-3 opener.

The result sets up a potential series-clinching scenario for NYCFC in their return home to Yankee Stadium for Game 2 on Saturday (3:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV).

Magnificant Martínez

Martínez is no stranger to providing big-time moments for New York.

Tuesday's goal was his 11th game-winner of the season, six of them coming on the road. And with 33 regular-season tallies over the past two years, the Costa Rica international continues to establish himself as one of the premier No. 9s in MLS.

"He's been magnificent for us," beamed head coach Pascal Jansen after the match. "The growth he's shown throughout the season is tremendous. His mentality in order to become better every day is what I see in training, and that's what gets him to this level today."

That level allowed Martínez to deliver a moment of brilliance in the 34th minute - a remarkable individual display that overwhelmed a Charlotte defense that had posted seven clean sheets over the club's previous 10 games.

"A special goal at a special moment in a special game," said Jansen. "Hopefully he can continue this and keep us at a good level during the playoffs."

Goal-scoring machine

Martínez's 17 goals in the regular season accounted for 34% of NYCFC's attacking output. Among Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs teams, only Nashville SC's Sam Surridge (41%), LAFC's Denis Bouanga (37%) and Inter Miami's Lionel Messi (36%) had a more outsized impact on their team's scoring than Martínez.

Now, in the postseason, when it matters most, he's keeping up the form.

"We're not here without Alonso, for sure," said Kevin O'Toole. "The goal tally is incredible. He's so good at hitting teams in behind with his speed and the timing of his runs, but you can also see the quality that he has on the ball dribbling and taking guys on.

"The goal we scored today was, yeah, it was top level."

New York City FC make Game 1 statement at Charlotte FC

Defense delivers

At the other end of the pitch, New York put in a solid defensive shift. Playing on the road in front of 33,709 fans, they held Charlotte to just four shots on target and 0.5 expected goals, generally nullifying their attack with superstar winger Wilfried Zaha suspended.

Winning in Bank of America Stadium, where Charlotte posted a 13W-3L-1D record in MLS play this season, is no easy feat, and one that points to the mentality of the group.

"The bulletproof mindset is something we've been discussing since preseason," said O'Toole. "I think that was maybe the first slide [Pascal Jansen] ever put up on a board for us, was having that bulletproof mindset. I think there was a narrative in past years where we struggled on the road and we wanted to rewrite that in a big way.

"... We can feel confident walking into any arena and putting in a performance and getting a result."

Conference semis in sight

With a win under their belts, New York have the shortest turnaround in Round One, heading home for Game 2 on Saturday. The focus on Tuesday quickly turned from celebration to ensuring that they end the series at Yankee Stadium.

A victory would send the Cityzens to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where'd they'd face the Supporters' Shield-winning Philadelphia Union or Chicago Fire FC.

"The only pressure, if there is any pressure for us, is to make sure that we go to the next round," said Jansen. "So if that's going to be in Game 2 or Game 3, we'll have to see. But the mentality that we have going into this sequence of games is that we're going to try and finish it off in two games.

"Like I said to my guys just now, it's only the first half."

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