FC Cincinnati returned to Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night for its first trip back to the Bronx since 2023, meeting New York City FC in the first midweek match of the 2026 MLS season. The ball rolled back at 7:30 on Apple TV, and the matchup quickly became a familiar kind of exam for a visiting team trying to solve one of the league’s most unusual road settings.
Yankee Stadium’s pitch is cramped because the venue is built around baseball, and New York City FC plays home matches on baseball fields between Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. Those dimensions are the narrowest in MLS by far, and FC Cincinnati had already felt that difference six times before this meeting, going 1-4-1 in those games. Coach Pat Noonan said the club spent more time studying those baseball-field matches because “it looks a little different,” and added that while the structure may seem similar, the speed of play changes quickly and teams must be cleaner on one and two touches.
The timing mattered for Cincinnati, too. Last Saturday, Evander scored his first goal of the 2026 MLS season on a penalty kick in the 79th minute, helping Cincinnati draw after trailing 3-1. It was his first goal in seven MLS matches and his first in 11 matches across all competitions, a drought that had hung over a 2-time MLS MVP finalist who has usually supplied the attack that drives this team.
That goal also pushed Evander to 43 MLS goals across his time with the Portland Timbers and FC Cincinnati, tying Wélton for the most by a Brazilian player in league history. His next goal for Cincinnati would make him the lone record-holder, which gives the midfielder another milestone to chase even as the club tries to navigate one of the league’s strangest road environments. For Cincinnati, the assignment in the Bronx was never just about the standings. It was about whether a team that has struggled on these narrow baseball-field pitches can finally turn preparation into points away from home.