Brawl ensues as New York City FC beats Toronto FC 3-2 – full game recap and aftermath

Rookie Malachi Jones and Andres Perea scored in the second half and Matt Freese made nine saves as New York City FC held on for a 3-2 win over Toronto FC on Saturday night with a brawl that took place after the final whistle.

A melee ensued after the match involving players from both sides. Toronto goalkeeper Sean Johnson, a former New York player, was in the middle – apparently trying to play peacekeeper.

There was bad blood between the two teams dating back to New York’s 2-1 victory on March 16 when there was a change in the tunnel at halftime at Yankee Stadium.

First-year New York coach Nick Cushing played down that incident when asked about it before the rematch, “There was nothing. It was two teams fighting for three points.”

First-year Toronto coach John Herdman and captain Jonathan Osorio had very different memories.

Osorio said Cushing crossed the line with his speech in the tunnel and then got physical.

“Then when we hear that the coach and three of their players are going over our 19-year-old player, alone. That’s when there’s a problem,” Osorio said. “And I think that kind of carried this game, maybe from their side as well. We were just telling them that we didn’t forget that.”

Osorio did not name the 19-year-old, but the age matches Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, who scored in the 7th minute at Yankee Stadium. Herdman said that player “said he was hit and punched in the face.”

Herdman said there was no impact from the March game because “the cameras weren’t working in a certain area of ​​the stadium,” a comment that drew a snicker from his captain.

Cushing denied hitting the Toronto player.

“I can honestly say as a head coach – I’ve played 348 games – I’ve never laid a finger on a player,” he said after Saturday’s game when told of Toronto’s allegations.

However, the cowboy pointed the finger at Cushing.

“You don’t want to see those scenes in football but it’s a passionate group,” Herdman said. “There was definitely bad blood from the first game they had their head coach in.”

Santiago Rodriguez gave New York City (5-5-2) a 1-0 lead on a penalty kick in the 25th minute. Rodriguez scored for the fourth time this season – sending a right-footed shot into the bottom right corner of the net after a foul handball by Toronto midfielder Matty Longstaff.

Jones’ first career goal gave NYCFC a 2-0 halftime lead. Fellow rookie Hannes Wolf was assisted when Jones – a 20-year-old forward – scored in the 44th minute.

Toronto (6-5-1) pulled within a score early in the second half on an unassisted goal by Federico Bernardeschi in the 55th minute. Bernardeschi scored his first two goals of the season last week in a 3-1 win over FC Dallas.

NYCFC regained a two-goal lead in the 78th minute on Perea’s first score of the season. Wolf and rookie Agustin Ojeda assisted him. Ojeda’s assist was the first of his career and Wolf’s was the third in his first season.

Toronto pulled a goal back when defender Raoul Petretta found the net for the first time in his career – in the 89th minute – assisted by Longstaff.

Bernardeschi was shown a second yellow card two minutes after Petretta’s goal, forcing Toronto to play one in stoppage time. Bernardeschi and Kevin Long will miss the next game – Long for a collection of yellow cards.

Freese finished one save shy of matching his career high.

Johnson converted one shot for Toronto.

Toronto saw its three game winning streak come to an end. Toronto has gone from the worst team in the league last season to third place in the Eastern Conference at the start of the day. The club already have 19 points this season after finishing the 2023 campaign with 22.

Lorenzo Insigne saw his first action for Toronto since March 23rd. Insigne, who had not played since suffering a thigh injury in a 2-0 win over Atlanta United, signed for Derrick Etienne Jr. in the 76th minute and missed his only shot.

NYCFC’s win over Toronto in the first game earned Cushing his first win and handed Herdman his first loss

NYCFC leads the all-time series 11-9-7. NYCFC has won the last four in the game by a combined score of 13-3.

New York City stays on the road to play the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday. Toronto travels to play Nashville SC on Wednesday.