Chicago Fire beat New York City FC 2-1 with ten men, Haile-Selassie scoring late in the match
Chicago Fire came back from 1-0 down after Anton Jonsson Saletros equalized in the 55th minute, and Maren Haile-Selassie's late goal, after a New York City FC goalkeeping error, gave the team its third straight win.
Match result and Lewandowski's role
Chicago Fire beat New York City FC 2-1 in Major League Soccer, a result that moved the club into second place in the Eastern Conference table, according to Polsat Sport. Robert Lewandowski started the match and stayed on the pitch until the 71st minute, finishing without a goal or an assist. The win was Chicago's third in a row.
How the first half turned
Hannes Wolf, an Austrian with past experience in European club football, gave New York City FC a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute with a technical strike after receiving the ball on the 16-metre line, according to Przeglad Sportowy and sportowefakty.wp.pl. Dje D'Avilla was shown a second yellow card shortly before halftime, when referee Brandon Stevis sent him off, leaving Chicago to play with ten men after the break. Polsat Sport reports that Chicago did not record a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes.
- Hannes Wolf gives New York City FC a 1-0 lead
- Dje D'Avilla is sent off with a second yellow card
- Anton Jonsson Saletros equalizes to make it 1-1
- Lewandowski is replaced by Johan Gomez
- Maren Haile-Selassie scores the winner after a goalkeeping error
The equalizer
After the restart Lewandowski began to influence the game more directly, playing the ball out to Maren Haile-Selassie on the wing. Haile-Selassie crossed into the penalty area, where Anton Jonsson Saletros struck the ball into the net in the 55th minute to level the score at 1-1. Przeglad Sportowy counts Lewandowski's pass as a second-level assist, the kind the league tracks in its statistics.
Substitution and the winning goal
Lewandowski was replaced by Johan Gomez in the 71st minute, and he played roughly a quarter of an hour after the equalizer. Late in the match, New York City FC goalkeeper Matt Freese played a pass only about three metres straight to Haile-Selassie, who did not waste the chance and scored the winner. Sources differ on the exact minute: Polsat Sport gives the 88th minute, while sportowefakty.wp.pl gives the 87th.
Context from the sources
Before the match Lewandowski had left Poland's national team camp early after reaching the limit of yellow cards, which allowed him to join Chicago sooner. Three days earlier he had come on late against the Vancouver Whitecaps and registered an assist. Coach Gregg Berhalter's side now sits second in the Eastern Conference, and the next Chicago home match is set for Soldier Field.
