Ronald Matarrita celebrates his goal against the Montreal Impact. (Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)
BRONX — New York City FC broke open a scoreless game by connecting for three goals within a 16-minute span in the second to record a 3-0 victory over the Montreal Impact at Yankee Stadium Wednesday night.
Jesus Medina, Ronald Matarrita and Jonathan Lewis did the damage for City, which won for the third time in four games under new head coach Domenec Torrent.
NYCFC (11-4-4, 37) remained unbeaten at home in nine matches (8-0-1) as it moved within three points of first-place Atlanta United FC (12-4-4, 40) in the Eastern Conference.
The game was City’s second of a three-game stretch in which it is playing in seven days. NYCFC hosts Columbus Crew SC Saturday night.
“It wasn’t easy for us because we played two games in three days, but I was impressed by the performance of our players,” Torrent said. “Our players seemed physically better than the Montreal players. I congratulate my players because what they did was amazing, but the most important thing when that happens is to pass the ball and keep the ball.”
After a nil-nil opening half, Medina broke the ice on the hour. The Paraguayan forward possessed the ball on the edge of the penalty area and powered an unstoppable drive into the net with the ball moving so quickly that goalkeeper Evan Bush didn’t not have a chance to dive for.
The next two goals came from second-half substitutes.
First, Matarrita chipped in a score from an acute angle in the 65th minute.
“I saw that the keeper was coming out towards the front post, so I tried to put it over him towards the far post and things worked out,” he said. “I’m very happy that I was able to contribute to the team.”
Lewis headed home his third goal for the club for a three-goal lead in the 76th minute.
“I wouldn’t say I figured it out, but I definitely think I’m learning and processing new information,” said Lewis, who set up Maxi Moralez’s game-winner in the 1-0 Hudson River Derby win over the Red Bulls Sunday night. “I’m learning from my teammates on how to be mature, so when I’m not getting my shot to play, I’m learning from the guys and seeing what they do and I what I can bring different.”
SCORING SUMMARY
60’ – NYC – Jesus Medina (Assisted by: Maxi Moralez)
65’ – NYC – Ronald Matarrita (Assisted by: Jesus Medina)
76’ – NYC – Jonathan Lewis (Assisted by: Ronald Matarrita)
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
11’ – NYC– Tommy McNamara (YC – Simulation)
21’ – NYC – Anton Tinnerholm (YC – Unsporting Behavior)
23’ – NYC – Raheem Edwards (YC – Unsporting Behavior)
LINEUPS
New York City FC: Sean Johnson; Ben Sweat, Alexander Callens, Sebastien Ibeagha, Anton Tinnerholm; Maxi Moralez, Alexander Ring (81’ Kwame Awuah), Ebenezer Ofori; Rodney Wallace (62’ Ronald Matarrita), Jesus Medina Tommy McNamara (67’ Jonathan Lewis)
SUBS UNUSED: Brad Stuver, Maxime Chanot, Saad Abdul-Salaam, James Sands
Montreal Impact: Evan Busch, Jukka Raitala, Victor Cabrera, Rod Fanni, Michael Petrasso; Saphir Taider, Samuel Piette (82’ Ken Krolicki), Shamit Shome; Ignacio Piatti, Anothony Jackson-Hamel (59’ Alejandro Silva), Raheem Edwards (59’ Daniel Lovitz)
SUBS UNUSED: Clement Diop, Matteo Mancosu, Jeisson Vargas, Chris Duvall
