Pirlo debuts as NYCFC defeats Orlando City

Andrea-Pirlo

New York City FC's Andrea Pirlo. (Jason DeCrow/AP)

NEW YORK — David Villa scored two goals to help New York City FC overcome a hat trick by Canadian Cyle Larin and beat Orlando City 5-3 on Sunday.

Villa’s second goal, his 12th of the season, broke a 2-2 tie in the 67th minute, Thomas MacNamara added another in the 71st and NYC FC (6-9-6) led the rest of the way.

Larin, of Brampton, Ont., scored his last goal to pull Orlando City (6-9-6) within 4-3 in the 85th, but after Kaka hit the post on a free kick that would have tied it in stoppage time, Mix Diskerud broke out and capped the scoring seconds later.

The teams combined for seven second-half goals, the most in a single half in the MLS this season.

After Villa opened the scoring in the 45th, Larin scored in the 50th from just inside the top of the box, breaking a scoreless drought of 316 minutes for Orlando City. But Javier Calle put away a cross from Thomas MacNamara, just two minutes later, to put New York City back on top.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.