Julian Fernandez scored his second goal of the season early on and New York City FC held on for a 1-0 victory over visiting FC Cincinnati on Sunday in Flushing, N.Y.
Matt Freese made four saves to preserve a second consecutive win by the same score after the Cityzens (5-4-2, 17 points) won at Toronto FC last weekend.
Not counted in those stops was a late-game scramble where Freese reacted superbly to prevent a game-tying goal attempt off the back of his own defender Tayvon Gray.
City preserved the win despite leading scorer Alonso Martinez striking the woodwork from the penalty spot for the second time in three matches.
The hosts also saw influential midfielder Keaton Parks forced off with an injury in the 26th minute.
Cincinnati (7-3-1, 22 points) saw its five-match winning streak and six-match unbeaten run halted while being shut out for only the second time this season.
The hosts dominated the opening stages, barely letting Cincinnati out of its own half, and capitalized nine minutes in.
After a Cincy turnover in its own half, Martinez had a diagonal pass inside the penalty area deflected toward the top of the penalty arc.
That’s where Fernandez met it with a low first-time shot powered into the bottom left corner beyond Roman Celentano’s dive.
Martinez earned his own penalty kick only three minutes later when he got behind Cincy’s backline and drew a foul in the area from the retreating Matt Miazga.
But Martinez struck the right post with his penalty, making the second time in three attempts from the spot that he hit the woodwork.
The Costa Rican international missed another excellent chance from open play in the 61st minute when he drifted in at the back post wide open, but headed a perfectly measured cross from the right over the crossbar.
Cincy improved in the second half, but it rarely translated into a clear opportunity.
The best probably arrived in the 79th minute, when Gerardo Valenzuela got free on the right side of the penalty area but saw his effort smothered by the charging Freese.
–Field Level Media
