By Shane O’Brien
AMNY.com
New York City FC (NYCFC) debuted the 2026 season at home with a resounding 5-0 victory against 10-man Orlando City SC at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The expulsion of Orlando goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau in the 16th minute was crucial, with goals from Agustín Ojeda, Nicolas Fernández and Maxi Moralez before half-time sealing the match.
Keaton Parks scored twice five minutes into the second half to add shine to the scoreboard, as an impressive NYCFC crushed a hapless Orlando.
Pascal Jansen’s team has added 7 points in its first three games and shone from start to finish against an Orlando that has yet to score any points in the MLS this season.
This victory marked the 11th time NYCFC has scored five goals in an MLS match and the third time it has done so against Orlando. It is also the club’s biggest victory in the league since its 6-0 win over Real Salt Lake in April 2022.
“They were hungry today,” Jansen said after the game. “They were very aggressive, they created many scoring chances, even when the score was 11 against 11 and 11 against 10.”
Crépeau’s sending off marks the third consecutive time that NYCFC has faced 10 men this season, but the difference in level between the two teams was evident, as the hosts got off to a good start in the first quarter of an hour.
Jansen’s team created many chances against Orlando’s porous defense, even before Crépeau’s sending off in the 16th minute.
Ojeda, very active throughout the match, created the best play in the 14th minute when he went to the baseline and assisted Moralez inside the six-yard box. However, the Argentine veteran shot high when it seemed easier to score than miss.
But it mattered little when Crépeau was sent off two minutes later, sealing Orlando’s victory with 75 minutes remaining.
Orlando’s goalkeeper ran to prevent Fernández from reaching a through ball from Moralez, but drove the ball out of the box, leaving referee Guido González with no choice but to send him off for denying him a scoring opportunity.
His replacement, Javier Otero, who had not played in an MLS game since last July, had only been on the field for 30 seconds when he was knocking the ball out of the net.
The backup goalkeeper was caught off guard when Ojeda’s deflected volley sailed over him and into the net, giving NYCFC the lead and Ojeda the goal his performance deserved. The Argentine had not scored a goal in MLS since June 2024, also against Orlando City at Yankee Stadium.
Jansen’s team doubled their lead three minutes before the break when Fernández Mercau jumped highest to expertly guide a Moralez cross into the bottom corner.
The locals still had time to score another goal before half-time and put the game away when Fernández Mercau was brought down by Luis Otavio in the Orlando area in added time. Moralez sent the penalty past Otero, scoring his first goal of the season.
After the break, there was no let up, and Parks scored two quick goals to score his first goals for the club since returning after a long absence last season.
Parks’ first came in the 49th minute, when he took advantage of a suggestive cross from Tayvon Gray and beat Otero.
His second goal came five minutes later, when Griffin Dorsey botched his clearance and the ball fell to the feet of the NYCFC midfielder on the edge of the box. Parks fired a left-footed shot into the bottom corner, beating the desperate dive of Otero, who stopped the shot with his hand and probably should have done better.
Jansen praised his team for continuing to attack after the break. “We were ready to attack them again and again and not let them catch their breath,” he said.
At the time, NYCFC’s record MLS victory (6-0 against Real Salt Lake and DC United) seemed on the verge of unraveling, but Jansen’s team was unable to add to its tally in the final half hour, despite chants of “we want six” from the Yankee Stadium crowd.
Even the referees seemed to have compassion for Orlando, when González whistled the end of the game at exactly 90 minutes, despite a series of substitutions in the second half.
The next game for New York City FC, undefeated leader of the MLS Eastern Conference, is this Saturday, March 14, hosting the Colorado Rapids from 7:30 PM at Yankee Stadium.
