Saad Abdul-Salaam looked at ease in his New York City FC debut.
The pacey right back filled in for injured starter Anton Tinnerholm, who was ruled out late Saturday, and provided an assist on Maxi Moralez’s goal in the 2-0 win against Orlando City on Saturday at Yankee Stadium.
Tinnerholm was still nursing an injury suffered in the 2-1 win against the LA Galaxy on March 11, head coach Patrick Vieira said after the game. That enabled Abdul-Salaam to grab his first appearance — and a timely first assist — for NYCFC.
Abdul-Salaam placed an inch-perfect in the Orlando City box to Jesus Medina, who dropped a perfect touch to Moralez before Moralez easily scored his second goal of the season in the 74th minute.