After collecting four out of six points on the road, New York City FC (NYCFC) returns to Yankee Stadium for the first time in 2026 to face Orlando City SC on Saturday afternoon.
Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
After collecting four out of six points on the road, New York City FC (NYCFC) returns to Yankee Stadium for the first time in 2026 to face Orlando City SC on Saturday afternoon.
“We’re very happy to be back at one of our own stadiums and to see our fans again,” head coach Pascal Jansen said before the match.
The Boys in Blue want to carry the momentum of their 2-1 smash-and-grab win against the Philadelphia Union back to the Big Apple. Tayvon Gray headed home the winner from an Agustin Ojeda cross in the dying minutes at Subaru Park, showing that “bulletproof mindset” Jansen has emphasized since he took the job in 2025.
“The guys felt they had to put more into it and not settle for less as a final result, even if that could mean conceding a counterattack and possibly losing 2-1,” Jansen said. “But it’s the mentality and the discipline you could see in those final minutes. We were never going to concede another counterattack. If one team was going to score again, it was going to be us.”
The Pigeons did well to quell the Philadelphia onslaught throughout the 90 minutes and showed their compact defensive organization in California on Matchday 1, but the top end of the pitch very much remains the focus of NYCFC’s front office and coaching staff.
The Boys in Blue want to carry the momentum of their 2-1 smash-and-grab win against the Philadelphia Union back to the Big Apple. Tayvon Gray headed home the winner from an Agustin Ojeda cross in the dying minutes at Subaru Park, showing that “bulletproof mindset” Jansen has emphasized since he took the job in 2025.Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Alonso Martínez is out until the second half of the season, and NYCFC has found a “solution that came out of necessity,” Giovanni Savarese, former Portland Timbers manager and MLS match and studio analyst, told amNY. He credits Jansen for being tactically flexible and keeping the attacks “proactive.”
Nicolás Fernández Mercau has started in the false nine role up front, and his ball-carrying and play-making abilities make him an extra body to overload the midfield with. Ojeda and Hannes Wolf started on the wings in both matches and acted as runners to penetrate the opposition’s backline. It’s worked well so far, and NYCFC have remained unbeaten with this system.
“The only thing I have right now about it is I just don’t know the longevity of it,” MLS play-by-play announcer Callum Williams told amNY. “I don’t know how long it’s going to be able to last, because it’s limited, right? You can do this against certain opponents, but you can’t run the whole season doing it this way.”
It helps that Talles Magno and 17-year-old Seymour Reid, who is the team’s only natural striker, have been waiting on the bench for their chance, and provide other ways the team can go forward when Jansen needs it.
On the other side of the matchup, Orlando City’s backline faces a stark test after conceding six goals in its last two matches.
They have lost their first two games, both at home. Red Bull New York’s “baby bulls” stunned Orlando in the first half on opening day, and after going 2-0 up at halftime, the Lions conceded four consecutive goals to lose to Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.
“I think it’s this inconsistent version of themselves that is not allowing Orlando to be able to be a team that can, at the moment, get the points that they have shown in some moments in the games,” Savarese added.
This is a results business after all, and although it is “very, very early in the season,” the two teams have shown glimpses of what they aim to challenge for when results start to matter more.
“New York City FC has a lot of questions to answer right now,” Williams said. “What they have proven is that they are willing to adapt and they can find results when they need to.”