Watch: NYCFC's Medina hit by beer can after celebrating Castellanos' MLS Cup final goal vs Portland Timbers
New York City FC's joy in taking the lead in the MLS Cup final was tempered by an ugly incident as Jesus Medina was hit by a missile during celebrations.
The club went ahead 1-0 against Portland Timbers when Valentin Castellanos nodded them into the lead in the first half.
But even as the Argentine celebrated, his team-mate fell to the floor after being struck in the chest by a beer can.
Watch NYCFC's opener and the attack on Medina
There goes that man!@tatycaste11anos opens the scoring in #MLSCup! pic.twitter.com/xD4JS0dTZq
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) December 11, 2021
The bigger picture
NYCFC went on to record their first-ever MLS Cup victory in their sixth season as a franchise.
The closest the club has previously come was the quarter-final stage, while in 2020 it failed to progress past the first round of the play-offs.
Timbers forward Felipe Mora frustrated their victory celebrations with an equaliser deep into injury time but NYCFC recovered to take the title on penalties, coming out on top by a 4-2 margin in the shoot-out.
Castellano, who first joined NYCFC from fellow City Group outfit Torque in 2018, proved key to their progress across the season.
The Argentine took his MLS tally in 2021 (including play-offs) to 22 with this latest strike and takes the league's top scorer title.