Mounsef Bakrar, Hannes Wolf, and Alonso Martínez each scored in the second half Saturday as New York City FC overcame a first-half deficit and nine absentees to beat Chicago Fire 3-1 — their second straight win since the World Cup hiatus ended.

Alonso Martínez converted a penalty into the top-left corner in the 88th minute Saturday night at Yankee Stadium to seal a 3-1 comeback victory over Chicago Fire, and New York City FC are now 2-for-2 since returning from the 60-day World Cup break. The fulcrum of the game arrived not on the scoreboard but on Brian Gutiérrez's elbow, in the 31st minute, when the Chicago midfielder caught Aiden O'Neill in the face and was shown a straight red card.

Chicago had actually led. Phillip Zinckernagel placed a low drive from distance past Matt Freese in the 19th minute — a clean strike that City had no real answer to — and NYCFC went into the locker room at halftime trailing, one man up but no goals to show for it.

Head coach Pascal Jansen pulled the trigger on a double substitution at the break, sending Mitja Ilenič and Mounsef Bakrar on in place of Tayvon Gray and Jonathan Shore. The adjustment paid out almost immediately. In the 58th minute a left-flank combination between Hannes Wolf and Justin Haak produced a low cross that Bakrar turned home from close range to level the match.

Wolf did not stop there. Twelve minutes later he recovered a cross from Julián Fernández in a tight position, manufactured a yard of space, and curled an effort into the bottom right corner — 2-1. Then Jansen introduced Agustín Ojeda for Fernández in the 79th minute. Within five minutes Ojeda drew a foul from Chicago's Djé D'Avila inside the area; D'Avila collected his second yellow for the challenge, and Martínez stepped up with his eighth goal of the season.

The crowd had reason to enjoy it. This was NYCFC's first home game since the World Cup break — the one that prompted a supporters' march from Stan's Sports Bar on River Avenue, organized in part around the novelty of live soccer returning to the South Bronx — and it followed a 2-1 road win at Columbus earlier in the restart. Nine players remained unavailable, per the pre-match availability report, yet the team absorbed an early deficit and managed the numerical advantage without surrendering momentum to a Chicago side that still produced half-chances through Hugo Cuypers late on.

Two games, two wins, six goals scored, two conceded. Whether that reflects the post-break form table or a schedule that opened with road-weary opponents is a question the next few fixtures will answer. Etihad Park opens in Queens in July 2027; the argument for a full house on opening night starts being made in these ninety minutes.