BRONX, NY – New York City FC win their first game of the 2024 MLS season with a 2-1 win over Toronto FC on Saturday night at Yankee Stadium. A second half header from Kevin O’Toole carried them to victory while the team played 20 plus minutes with 10-men due to Keaton Parks’ red card.
NYCFC didn’t start the game as well as they would have hoped. Despite moving the ball well it was Toronto who struck first in the eighth minute. Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty scored his first MLS goal when he dribbled past the City defenders and beat goalkeeper Matt Freese. The move left City in shock until the equalizer in the 24th minute. After a foul, Santiago Rodriguez stepped up to the spot and fired a screamer past Toronto goalkeeper Luka Gavran.
The second half saw the game take a physical turn with both teams attempting to impress themselves onto the game. In particular, NYCFC turned up the pressure, with Keaton Parks garnering a yellow card in the 63rd minute. Two minutes later, Julian Fernandez put a cross into the box that found the head of O’Toole. The 25 year-old Montclair native, buried the effort off the woodwork and into the back of the net for his first goal in MLS.
The tension grew for the remainder of the game as Parks drew his second yellow card following a rash tackle that required a video review. Despite being down a man, City remained defensively stout and took all three points for the first time this season. Next up for City is trip to Cincinnati to play the reigning Supporters Shield winners.
STARTING XI:
New York City FC: Freese; Illenic, Thiago, Risa, O’Toole, Rodriguez, Sands, Parks, Fernandez (70’ Perea), Wolf, Bakrar (89’ Haak), Wolf (83’ Gray)
Toronto FC: Gavran; O’Neill, Long, Rosted (75’ Spicer), Marshall-Rutty (93’ Kerr), Coello (75’ Akinola), Flores, Bernadeschi, Insigne, Longstaff (46’ Franklin), Owusu (57’ Thompson)
SCORING SUMMARY:
7’ (Toronto FC) Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty assisted by Alonso Coello
24’ (NYCFC) Santiago Rodriguez (2)
65’ (NYCFC) Kevin O’Toole (1) assisted by Julian Fernandez
DISCIPLINE:
23’ (Toronto FC) Kevin Long – YELLOW CARD
28’ (Toronto FC) Federico Bernadeschi – YELLOW CARD
42’ (NYCFC) Birk Risa – YELLOW CARD
63’ (NYCFC) Keaton Parks – YELLOW CARD
68’ (NYCFC) Keaton Parks – RED CARD
72’ (Toronto FC) Shane O’Neill – YELLOW CARD
94’ (NYCFC) Justin Haak – YELLOW CARD
95’ (NYCFC) James Sands – YELLOW CARD
97’ (Toronto FC) Kosi Thompson – YELLOW CARD
97’ (Toronto FC) Lorenzo Insigne – YELLOW CARD