Alexander Callens struck for the game-winner in the 85th minute. (Adam Hunter/USA TODAY Sports)

By Michael Lewis
FrontRowSoccer.com Editor

BRONX — Desperately needing a goal or two against a hot goalkeeper, New York City FC managed to find them from a pair of unlikely sources Saturday afternoon: both of their center backs.

Maxime Chanot and Alexander Callens tallied in the final 10 minutes — the game-winner in the 85th minute — to lift City to a 2-1 comeback triumph over the Philadelphia Union at Yankee Stadium.

Until then, Union goalkeeper Andre Blake was superb, denying several NYCFC attempts.

Trailing 1-0 entering the final 10 minutes, NYCFC finally solved the Jamaican international on Maxi Moralez’s corner kick. The Colombian midfielder lofted his service into the area as Luxembourg international Chanot leaped between two defenders and headed in home from point-blank range for a 1-1 deadlock in the 79th minute.

Callens would have his moment in the sun five minutes later, scoring a rebound shot during a scramble in the box off another Moralez corner kick to allow NYCFC escape the embarrassment of leaving points on the table for the second consecutive home match in four days.

City twice lost the lead in a 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution here Wednesday.

NYCFC played without forward Rodney Wallace, who is in Costa Rica prepping for a pair of World Cup qualifiers, and midfielder Yangel Herrera, who was preparing to face the United States along with his fellow Venezuelan Under-20 national team teammates for Sunday’s quarterfinal clash at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Korea.

The first half wasn’t much of anything to write home about as chances were few and far between.

In fact, Philly forced the issue in the early going, taking four corner kicks in the opening 45 minutes, but had nothing to show for it.

It took longer for City to get going. It’s best sequence in the half occurred in the 34th minute when Alex Ring, back from a yellow-card suspension from Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution, ripped a shot from atop the right side of the box off the right post. The rebound eventually came to David Villa in the penalty area and he fired a shot that goalkeeper Andre Blake produced a two-handed save on.

A minute into stoppage time, Blake denied Villa again, knocking away his close-range bullet of a shot.

Villa became the second NYCFC player to hit the woodwork when his drive from the penalty arc bounded off the crossbar in the 68th minute.

More than a minute later, the Union made sure of its shot as Fafa Picault finished off several nifty passes on the left side past keeper Sean Johnson for his seventh goal this season and a 1-0 lead in the 69th minute.

Blake continued to show he was the top 2016 MLS goalkeeper, denying Villa from close range and Ring from just outside the box within seconds in the 74th minute.

 

SUMMARY
 
New York City FC – 2, Philadelphia Union – 1
Saturday, June 3, 2017 – 1:00PM
MLS Regular Season – Game 15
Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY
 
Scoring Summary:
69’ – PHI: Fabrice-Jean Picault (Assisted By: C.J. Sapong)
80’ – NYC: Maxime Chanot (Assisted By: Maxi Moralez)
85’ – NYC: Alexander Callens
Disciplinary Summary:
30’ – NYC: Miguel Camargo (Yellow Card)
64’ – PHI: C.J. Sapong (Yellow Card)
78’ – NYC: Maxi Moralez (Yellow Card)
83’ – PHI: Roland Alberg (Yellow Card)
Lineups:    
New York City FC: Sean Johnson; Ben Sweat,  Alexander Callens, Maxime Chanot, Ethan White (73’ Sean Okoli); Maximiliano Moralez, Thomas McNamara (79’ Jonathan Lewis), Alexander Ring; Miguel Camargo (60’ Ronald Matarrita),  Jack Harrison, David Villa
Substitutions Not Used: Eirik Johansen, RJ Allen, Frederic Brillant, Mikey Lopez
Philadelphia Union: Andre Blake; Raymon Gaddis, Jack Elliot, Oguchi Onyewu (39’ Richie Marquez), Fabinho; Warren Creavalle (71’ Joshua Yaro), Haris Medunjanin, Chris Pontius, Illsinho (79’ Roland Alberg), Fabrice-Jean Picault; C.J. Sapong
Substitutions Not Used: John McCarthy, Keegan Rosenberry, Marcus Epps, Jay Simpson

 

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.