In what feels like a strong contender for "Worst Loss of the 2026 Season," New York City FC threw away a first-half lead and an 11v10 advantage and conceded twice in the second half to lose 2-1 to Chicago Fire FC.
Hannes Wolf gave the visitors a big boost early, bagging his first goal since a Mother's Day hat trick in the 19th minute. Chicago's Dje D'Avilla then got sent off after seeing a second yellow card in the 43rd minute, so it looked like NYCFC was well-positioned to pick up valuable road points as the club chases qualification for the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Instead, New York City produced an abysmal performance after halftime, playing nothing like a team with a man advantage and conceding backbreaking goals with ease.
Anton Salétros headed home an equalizer in the 55th minute after floating unmarked between two would-be NYCFC defenders, then Matt Freese committed a grievous error in possession, passing the ball directly to Chicago's Maren Haile-Selassie directly in front of the NYCFC goal, with Haile-Selassie netting the match-winner in the 87th minute.
Perhaps most frustratingly, NYCFC rarely caused Chicago any problems after halftime. There were a few late chances in front of goal not cashed in by New York City, like an open header for substitute Raul Gustavo in the 82nd minute, and a 1v1 chance for another Brazilian substitute, Luighi, to try to beat Fire keeper Chris Brady in the 92nd minute, but those stand as the most dangerous opportunities, and they came deep into a full half spent playing up a player.
Instead it was a Matt Freese error that sealed NYCFC's fate and put a huge dent in the club's hopes of qualifying for the MLS Cup Playoffs, given this result was theirs for the taking, at least before that limp second half performance.
New York City: 1.40 xG, 12 shots, 6 shots on target, 53% possession, 418 passes, 80% pass accuracy, 10 fouls, 4 corners, 2 saves
Chicago: 1.38 xG, 14 shots, 4 shots on target, 47% possession, 377 passes, 79% pass accuracy, 18 fouls, 4 corners, 5 saves
Goals:
• New York City, Hannes Wolf, 19'
Chicago, Anton Salétros, 55'
Chicago, Maren Haile-Selassie, 87'
Alonso starts, makes an impact
Before everything went awry for New York City, there was an undeniable bright spot early in this match, and it was Alonso Martínez making his first start for NYCFC since the ACL injury he suffered last November.
Jueves 13 de Noviembre 2025, mi última Titularidad. Hoy va a ser un día especial ⚽️😀 pic.twitter.com/jnsO1OmrQx
— Alonso Martínez (@_alonso11) October 10, 2026
From the jump, Martínez looked like he added something to the NYCFC attack that had been missing. Thiago Martins picked him out in space with a nice long pass from the back, forcing Chicago's excellent center-back, Mbekezeli Mbokazi, to go step-for-step with the Costa Rican striker in order to snuff out the danger created by Martínez's directness.
Opening up space for his teammates was part of Martínez's impact, and that was evident on the Wolf goal, as the Fire's defense concentrated its focus on the middle of the box in front of Chris Brady, looking to cancel out the threat of Alonso while Agustín Ojeda played a cross in from the right. The cross eluded everyone central, be they from the Fire or Martínez himself, but that's where Wolf came in, popping up in a pocket of space and perfectly arching his shot up and over Chris Brady and into the top-corner of the net.
Hannes Wolf lofts it home! 🐺 @newyorkcityfc lead in Chicago. https://t.co/dUWnbFZnbA
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 10, 2026
Martínez had his best individual scoring opportunity in the 24th minute not long after Wolf's opener. The returning striker had a golden chance to bury a first-time finish after being found unmarked and in on goal by Nico Fernández Mercau, but Martínez's attempt to guide the ball into the net instead sent it wide of the post and let the Fire off the hook, still only trailing by one.
That miss looms large knowing how the match ended, but also, this was Martínez's first start since November 13, 2025, when he tore his ACL playing for Costa Rica. He'd only played a little over 30 minutes for NYCFC since completing his rehabbing coming into this game, and he was removed in the 60th minute while likely still operating on a minutes' restriction, so rust and a lack of a clinical finishing edge aren't the most surprising things — though that missed chance did end up costing them dearly in the end.
Awful after the half
There was no arguing over Dje D'Avilla's sending off, as the Fire midfielder fully earned both his yellow cards with reckless first-half challenges on Aiden O'Neill, then James Sands.
Coming out of halftime, the expectation would be that NYCFC would try to amp up the pressure in search of a second goal. Instead, it was Chicago that came out on the front foot, and stayed there for the entirety of the second half, despite only having 10 men.
Anton Salétros gets 🆙 for his first @ChicagoFire goal! 🔥 Tie game at Soldier Field. https://t.co/titwYlbh56
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 10, 2026
NYCFC's defense got burned for being disorganized first on the Fire's equalizer, as Salétros had an easy time running into unoccupied space and getting up to connect with a precise cross from Maren Haile-Selassie, the undisputed Player of the Match for the Fire in their comeback win.
Pascal Jansen remade his backline on the fly in this game, swapping Nico Cavallo out for Kevin O'Toole at halftime, then bringing on Raul Gustavo shortly after the Fire equalized, a move that pushed James Sands up into the midfield — that was before Sands eventually was removed, even from the midfield, a rare off day and a rare match in which Sands didn't go the full 90 minutes for NYCFC.
Once the score was level, it was Chicago continuing to generate the danger and continuing to look like the team set to find a winner. New York City had to block shots and get some key saves from Matt Freese while clinging to a 1-1 scoreline, but in the end, it was more carelessness from Freese that would cost NYCFC even one point.
Quick turnover and Maren Haile-Selassie capitalizes! 👏 Down to ten players, @ChicagoFire take the lead late on! 🔥 https://t.co/btxMYu19Zd
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 10, 2026
Freese's errant pass out of the back that went straight to Haile-Selassie and then straight into the back of the net in the 87th minute wasn't a new or novel phenomenon. We've recently seen Freese not be on the same page while passing to his central defenders, like in the 0-0 draw with Nashville SC, when Hany Mukhtar had himself a wide-open net to aim at but missed, after a Freese pass bounced off Raul Gustavo and right to Mukhtar. That time, Freese got away with it, but not this time.
Only gets harder from here
Before the trip to Atlanta on Matchday 27, the math looked like NYCFC would need three or, ideally, four wins from its last eight matches to hit the points threshold that usually guarantees teams spots in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Andrew Leigh
It's been one draw and now one soul-crushing loss in the time since that projection, and New York City looks less and less like a playoff-caliber team as the end of the regular season draws nearer.
This performance was wholly disappointing outside of Wolf breaking a 13-match goalless drought, and outside of Martínez playing 60 minutes and looking a lot like his old self, just without the sharpness and without the ball hitting the back of the net.
The defense still looks very unsettled and incapable of seeing out the kind of results NYCFC desperately needs. Matt Miazga still hasn't gotten up off the bench and tried to add anything to that defensive equation, while NYCFC's big summer signings, Bénie Traoré and Luighi, came on in the second half against the Fire and didn't make much of an impact, though Luighi still looked great in flashes while holding the ball up and getting into dangerous areas.
The rest of this three-match week is a straight-up gauntlet, as NYCFC will try to shake off the disappointment of this loss in Chicago by traveling to South Florida to play Inter Miami CF and Leo Messi on short rest on Wednesday night. No rest after that, either, as NYCFC then hosts LAFC at Citi Field on Saturday, October 17.
Maybe it's a positive that the team has so many opportunities in short order to right what's gone wrong, but the fact remains: NYCFC has one win in its last 11 MLS matches played and continues to drop points from eminently attainable positions. They led twice in Atlanta and settled for a 2-2 draw, and for the first time in club history (as far as your author can tell), they had a one-goal lead and a one-man advantage in Chicago and still managed to lose.
With only six games now left this season, it will require a hot streak not seen yet this season for NYCFC to drag itself across the playoff line. It's getting late early for this New York City FC season, and this loss at Soldier Field, the first loss to Chicago in 11 meetings, might have been the lowest point of the season.
