New York City FC opened their residency at the 2026 Coachella Valley Invitational with a 1-1 draw with Los Angeles FC on a bright afternoon at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA.
This was NYCFC's third preseason game of the year, but it was the first to be streamed live for the general public, and it gave us a sense of how this squad is shaping up with the season opener just two weeks away. Nico Fernández Mercau scored in the 49th minute to give New York City the lead. But an equalizer from Denis Bouanga in the 88th minute evened the score.
While we shouldn't read too much into the result and the lineup, it's fair to say that this team are in need of a Major League Soccer-caliber striker if they are to compete again in the Eastern Conference.
Here are five thoughts about New York City's 1-1 draw today.
2026 Coachella Valley Invitational
Starting XI
Matt Freese
Tayvon Gray
Nico Cavallo
Thiago Martins
Raul Gustavo
Kevin O'Toole
Keaton Parks
Maxi Moralez
Nico Fernández Mercau
Agustín Ojeda
Hannes Wolf
Substitues
Seymour Reid
Maximo Carrizo
Cooper Flax
Strahinja Tanasijević
1) No striker, no party
It's no secret that NYCFC have a striker-sized hole in the lineup. With Alonso Martínez likely to be out until after the summer, and the deal to add Moussa Sylla from Schalke 04 in the rearview mirror, Head Coach Pascal Jansen opted to open the game with a 4-3-3 formation that saw Nico operating as a False 9.
True, it paid dividends in the second half, when Nico scored NYCFC's only goal of the game. (More on that below.) But it was a labored first half, when New York City's near-best Starting XI had trouble dominating a heavily-rotated LAFC: It was boys against men for the first 45 minutes, and the men failed to score.
More to the point, NYCFC's First Team (stop me if you heard this before) weren't clinical in their finishing. An attack featuring Hannes Wolf on the left and Agustín Ojeda on the right created a fair number of chances, but simply couldn't produce much quality in front of goal.
Where was Talles Magno, who played as a No 9 against Austin FC last week? It's unclear if he remained on the bench, or even dressed for the game. And to think that last year Jansen had too many strikers, and was experimenting with a striker partnership between Martínez and Mounsef Bakrar.
Andrew Leigh
Oliver Strand
2) Keaton Parks is back
Keaton Parks was back in the Starting XI, and he looked good. It's been a minute: The midfielder ended his 2025 season last May, eventually undergoing his third surgery in five years to address blood flow issues.
