{"id":184307,"date":"2026-03-09T16:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T16:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/184307\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T16:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T16:00:08","slug":"nycfcs-keaton-parks-brace-vs-orlando-a-major-high-amid-continuous-health-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/184307\/","title":{"rendered":"NYCFC\u2019s Keaton Parks brace vs. Orlando a major high amid continuous health concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Keaton\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Mar 7, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York City midfielder Keaton Parks (55) celebrates with teammates after scoring his second goal of the match against Orlando City during the second half at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Keaton Parks scored his first goal in 335 days, and his first brace since June 2019, against Orlando City during New York City FC\u2019s 5-0 home-opening win over the weekend. He was awarded Man of the Match on his first return to Yankee Stadium since a health scare in which he encountered blood flow issues in his leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fun,\u201d Parks told amNY after the match. \u201cThe whole team performed well tonight, obviously took advantage of the red card, but it\u2019s always fun to score.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was the only Boy in Blue to get on the scoresheet twice before being substituted in the 70th minute for Raul Gustavo. NYCFC were up by three in the first half after Orlando goalkeeper Maxime Cr\u00e9peau was sent off for handling the ball outside of the box.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The midfielder returned to the team this season after being sidelined for most of the 2025 season, coming off the bench against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Matchday 1 and starting against the Philadelphia Union last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI absolutely had thoughts like that, which I think was the toughest part of all,\u201d Parks said. \u201cI still have doubts some days that I\u2019ll be able to do this for as long as I want to, and we\u2019ll just see where it goes. But it\u2019s for now, out of my control. I\u2019m doing everything I can to stay healthy and to continue to be healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parks faced an uphill battle to return after being a \u201cunique case.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to [the doctors at Montefiore Einstein], there\u2019s nobody in sports that\u2019s had three of the same surgery, so it\u2019s all theoretical guesswork by very educated people, of course,\u201d Parks said. \u201cBut as of right now, we\u2019re just doing everything we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

It only seemed fitting that his first goal since April 2025 was in front of the bouncing supporters\u2019 section at the same stadium he last scored in against Minnesota United. It was also his first brace in his MLS career, and a career second after notching one against North Carolina FC in the U.S. Open Cup in 2019.<\/p>\n

A poor Orlando clearance fell to Tayvon Gray, who also had a spectacular game following his injury-time winner against Philadelphia<\/a> last weekend. The right-back bombed forward immediately, taking a good first touch to set himself up for a cross with his second touch. A knee-height pass was blasted towards Parks, who duly tapped it into the back of the net from six yards out.<\/p>\n

After celebrating with his teammates, he turned around to face the supporters\u2019 section in the north end of the stadium, who roared their approval in return.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very pleased that he got himself into the box and scored,\u201d head coach Pascal Jansen said after the match. \u201cThe timing of the run was good, and that\u2019s good for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The right wing was productive all afternoon for NYCFC, with Gray and Agustin Ojeda terrorizing Orlando\u2019s left flank for the first four goals. The fifth, and Parks\u2019 second, came from the right wing again \u2014 Maxi Moralez drifted out wide to swing in an early cross into the box.<\/p>\n

Parks nodded the ball on towards Hannes Wolf, but the Austrian winger couldn\u2019t take the ball down well. However, Griffin Dorsey made a mess of the clearance, only clearing it three yards into Parks\u2019 stride.<\/p>\n

The No. 55 took a touch with his right foot and swept the ball into the far right corner with his left foot in one swift move. Parks raised his head into the sky like he could not believe he had scored again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d Parks said. \u201cComing back from my injury and everything, to be able to do that \u2014 score two goals, it\u2019s just exciting\u2026I\u2019ve been working hard for this. I\u2019m going to keep working hard to see if I can keep this flow going.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more on Keaton Parks and NYCFC, visit AMNY.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mar 7, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York City midfielder Keaton Parks (55) celebrates with teammates…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[86311,5692,26609,139,141,140,2062,110],"class_list":["post-184307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-keaton-parks","tag-mls","tag-nycfc","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}