NYCFC hope to build on history of strong home openers vs. Orlando

New York City FC's time at Yankee Stadium is coming close to its end.

Until NYCFC move into their new stadium next year, they hope to continue their strong performances in home openers Saturday when they host Orlando City and attempt to maintain an unbeaten start.

New York City (1-0-1, 4 points) is slated to play two more home openers at Yankee Stadium before moving to its own stadium in Queens in the summer of 2027. Since entering the MLS as an expansion team, NYCFC are 8-1-2 with six clean sheets in home openers, and they're facing Orlando for the second straight time in a home opener after beating them 2-1 last season.

NYCFC return home after scoring three goals in their first two games. After rallying for a 1-1 draw against the Los Angeles Galaxy, NYCFC earned a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union on Sunday.

Hannes Wolf scored late in the first half and Tayvon Gray scored in the ninth minute of second-half stoppage time after NYCFC conceded the tying goal in the 89th.

"It's good to start off with a bang," Gray said. "Momentum going forward is important. We're heading into our home opener now, our first home game, so it really can't get much better than this."

Orlando (0-2-0) is attempting to avoid starting with three straight losses for the first time in team history. After giving up two goals in the first half in a 2-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls on Feb. 21, the Lions lost a two-goal lead and were handed a 4-2 setback to Inter Miami on Sunday when they allowed two goals to Lionel Messi.

Marco Pasalic and Martin Ojeda scored six minutes apart to give Orlando a lead in the opening 24 minutes. The advantage was gone by the 57th minute and Orlando allowed two goals in five minutes in the final minutes before stoppage time.

"It was a much better version of us (Sunday)," Orlando coach Oscar Pareja said. "Obviously, not getting the result in front of our fans and conceding those goals in the second half was painful for us. But overall, it was a much better version of our team."

--Field Level Media