Newbie nets 2 in NYCFC tie
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Newcomer Ismael Tajouri-Shradi scored two goals and Sean Johnson had five saves to help New York City FC play the New England Revolution to a 2-2 draw Saturday.
The 23-year-old Tajouri, a Libyan international, has appeared in four MLS games since signing in January and has three goals in the last two matches while filling in for the injured David Villa.
“You can see we have a big mentality. It is not easy to come back and win in New England,” Tajouri-Shradi said. “We knew that before, but we were able to come back twice. It is very big-time for us to do that. It shows how good we are, and now can focus on the next game.”
Yangel Herrera threaded a pass between two defenders to Tajouri, who turned and blasted a rising leftfooter into the net to cap the scoring in the 76th minute.
Diego Fagundez bent a shot from well outside the box off the post to give New England (1-1-1) a 1-0 lead in the 11th. Tajouri tied it early in the second half, first-timing a cross from Saad Abdul-Salaam past a diving Matt Turner from near the penalty spot and Juan Agudelo’s header in the 63rd put the Revolution back in front. Cristian Penilla played a perfect cross from the left side to Agudelo who finished from the top of the 6-yard box.
NYCFC (3-0-1) is off to its best start in history and has won a franchise-record five in a row, dating to the 2017 playoffs.