Nicolas Fernandez tallies twice as NYCFC knock out Charlotte FC

New York City FC scored a pair of breakaway goals just before and shortly after halftime, then held off a late rally from host Charlotte FC to advance in the MLS Cup playoffs with a 3-1 decision on Friday.

Nicolas Fernandez scored twice for New York City in the decisive third game of a best-of-three first-round series. Eastern Conference No. 5 seed NYCFC advance to oppose the top-seeded Philadelphia Union in a single-match conference semifinal.

NYCFC (2-1) built a two-goal cushion in a matter of minutes of game time.

The scoring opened in first-half stoppage time. New York City's Nico Fernandez won possession from Tim Ream deep on the visitors' side of the pitch, coming out of the exchange with an open lane to run down the right side.

Byrne bore down and attempted to disrupt Fernandez with a desperation slide tackle, which nearly paid off. But despite initially appearing to stumble, Fernandez recovered to blast a shot from the right side of the box that beat Kahlina to the upper left corner of the net.

In the 50th minute, a shot attempt by Charlotte's Wilfried Zaha from beyond the box was deflected nearly at the point of contact, setting up NYCFC's Maxi Moralez with possession.

Moralez lobbed a deep pass to a streaking Alonso Martinez, who won a foot race with Nathan Byrne to get to the ball. Martinez fired off a shot just as Charlotte FC goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina came off his line.

NYCFC controlled possession in the first half and looked poised to threaten multiple times.

Charlotte FC struggled to find a clean shot attempt, with none of its first 11 on-goal. The home club finally broke through in the 81st minute when Idan Toklomati came up with a carom just in front of the net and snapped a shot past goalkeeper Matt Freese.

NYCFC players contended Toklomati was offside, but to no avail.

The score came after a lengthy delay when NYCFC midfielder Andres Perea sustained a gruesome injury, appearing to break his leg upon coming down to the turf while jumping to contend for possession.

Perea's injury resulted in 15 minutes of extra time, during which NYCFC denied Charlotte FC a clean look. Fernandez slammed the door shut definitively when he looped a shot into the goal off of a well-placed assist from Hannes Wolf 10 minutes into stoppage time.

--Field Level Media