New York City FC had difficulties breaking through the Orlando City SC defense at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon. And then Orlando let them in with a single mistake, leading to a 2-0 NYCFC win to keep the home side perfect in 2018.
Ismael Tajouri pounced on a mishit Joe Bendik pass for the opening goal in the 62nd minute, and Maximiliano Moralez scored an insurance goal 12 minutes later on a well-crafted move involving multiple NYCFC players.
Orlando had several chances to get on the board — primarily thanks to Justin Meram's innovation — but the loss leaves them winless through three matches in the still-young season.
Goals
Three Things
- The Big Picture: The NYCFC win — without star player David Villa in the lineup — is their third in as many games, and puts them atop the Eastern Conference standings. Meanwhile, Orlando have just salvaged a single point out of their first three matches.
- Moment of the Match: It felt like it would take either a brilliant or a boneheaded play to break the deadlock, and unfortunately for the Lions, it was the latter. Whether you want to point the finger at Yoshi Yotun for the tricky back pass to Bendik, or put the blame all on the goalkeeper, he couldn't have assisted Tajouri better for the opening goal.
- Man of the Match: Moralez was creative and energetic for the entire match — stepping up in Villa's absence — and his goal put an exclamation point on a stellar performance.
Next Up
