Freese's Blunder Seals Ugly NYCFC Loss

New York City FC goalkeeper Matt Freese committed a costly error in the 87th minute of a 2-1 loss to the Chicago Fire on Saturday, a mistake that coach Pascal Jansen described as "strange" and that mirrors a previous high-profile gaffe Freese made during the World Cup.

The decisive goal came when Freese, attempting to play a pass from teammate Raul Gustavo near the net, underhit his attempt to move the ball to Thiago Martins. Chicago Fire midfielder Maren Haile-Selassie intercepted the pass and scored, dealing a significant blow to NYCFC's playoff aspirations.

"The second goal is something I don’t understand, because just prior to the moment of conceding this second goal there’s a brilliant save from Matty Freese inside the box," Jansen said after the match. "For Matty to make this call in this moment during the game is a strange one for me and that is something we have to discuss, because obviously something that backfired to us."

Freese, who did not speak to reporters after the game, faced similar criticism earlier in 2026 for a glaring error in the U.S. men's national team's 4-1 loss to Belgium in the World Cup Round of 16. In that match, he misplayed a ball, allowing an easy open-net goal that extended Belgium's lead to 3-1.

The loss to Chicago extended NYCFC's winless streak to three games, with only one win in their last 10 matches. Jansen expressed significant disappointment with his team's overall performance, particularly a "terrible" second half. The situation was compounded by the fact that NYCFC held a man advantage after Chicago's Dje D’Avilla was sent off in the 43rd minute.

"You see a pattern on pitch where people back down, they don’t challenge maximum, they don’t go for full-intensity press," Jansen said. "We get done in on the right side on [the Fire’s first goal], and that is, for me, the example of what happened in the second half, because we challenged that ball with no intensity. … A very bad second half."

Hannes Wolf opened the scoring for NYCFC in the 19th minute, but Chicago's Anton Salétros equalized 10 minutes into the second half before Haile-Selassie's late winner.