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Intelligence Report: Orlando City at New England Revolution

Published

9 years ago

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No fancy intro from me this week. I just have one thing to say: Orlando City plays at New England Revolution tomorrow night and I really want the Lions to win this one. Told you it wasn’t fancy.

Our friend Jake Catanese from The Bent Musket is back again to give us the skinny on New England. I also answered his questions, which you can catch over at their place on game day.

You can be as vague or specific about this question as you like, but what’s the deal with the 2017 New England Revolution?

Jake Catanese: Pretty much the same thing that has been wrong with the Revs for the past few years. They can’t score and they’re still fixing holes on the back line.

Now, as always, the Revolution don’t have any issues creating chances. In fact, they’re really good at that. But they can’t score consistently. They have a lot of players who can score with several players (Kei Kamara, Lee Nguyen, Juan Agudelo — eight goals each) closing in on double-digit goals for the season. Teal Bunbury was on fire there for a while and now has five goals on the year, most of them coming in the last month or so.

Despite these individual successes, a lot of these goals came in big blowouts and the offense as a whole has been inconsistent. Diego Fagundez might be having his most complete season as a pro despite the meager four goals and seven assists on the year. Kelyn Rowe has seven assists and a USMNT debut but zero goals in MLS this year and is pretty much done for the year with injury. It’s not that the offense is bad or without talent, it just lacks consistency.

Defensively, New England has finally gotten around to replacing center back AJ Soares, who left in 2014. Slovenian international Antonio Delamea has been solid all year but the back line around him has been mostly unsettled. Andrew Farrell is still the established right back and is solid defensively while making a few improvements on the offensive end with his crossing, but largely has plateaued in his development. Center back Benjamin Angoua is on loan from France and has had a lot of curious individual errors as well as failing to control his emotions on more than one occasion. Summer addition Claude Dielna has looked the part in his first two games but now the Revs seem to be short a left back. 

Veteran Chris Tierney has been dropped as a starter and now the Revs are rotating in just about everyone to fill the spot. Farrell has moved over to the left side, Angoua has played out wide, London Woodberry has seen some action, but it’s still an unsettled unit that far too often is giving Cody Cropper problems to solve in goal. And while Cropper is pretty good, he can’t bail out the Revs every time.

So what’s the deal with the Revs? Pretty much the same thing that’s been going on the past few years, and if 2017 is more or less over, than the team should be taking steps to prepare for 2018

It seems like there’s a lot of quality in the New England squad when you look at the international and international-adjacent players on the team. What is the biggest reason the Revs have fallen off so much from their MLS Cup final season?

JC: I was browsing the Analytics Evolved website earlier in the week, expected goals are a fascinating thing and I highly recommend reading and browsing articles about “xG.”

Remember how I said the Revs don’t have a problem creating chances, just finishing them? Well, expected goals more or less proves what my eyes are seeing. The Revs should be scoring more goals based on the chances they’re creating and for some reason they aren’t. Andre Blake and Bill Hamid save everything against New England, but the Revs don’t play Philly and DCU every week, so there isn’t really anything specific to point to. The Revs just simply don’t score goals and lose a lot of close games to have a season goal differential of just -2 for a nearly last place team.

The longer answer, the Revs are just far too complacent with their roster. There hasn’t been a lot of turnover from the core team that made the 2014 MLS Cup final. Now, in theory, that’s not a bad thing because that’s a pretty damn good core of players. Yes, there are new center backs, yes Juan Agudelo returned from Europe and wasn’t on that 2014 team and yes the team acquired Kei Kamara and dealt Jermaine Jones. But a lot of the roster holes that existed in previous seasons are still being addressed years down the road. Center back has been a problem and while there are options there now it’s too late to save this season and left back is an issue that was not addressed in the summer window. Xavier Kouassi and Gershon Koffie are a solid platoon at holding midfield, but Kouassi is a DP who’s been oft injured with New England and the Revs had to get Koffie back on loan from Sweden after letting him walk in the off-season.

Related to these roster issues is the lack of development. Homegrown midfielder Zach Herivaux has zero MLS minutes this year and only a handful of appearances on loan in USL. First-round draft pick Brian Wright has a couple of substitute appearances and has been on loan in the USL. Backup left back Donnie Smith also has zero MLS appearances and a handful of USL loan games in Charlotte, but these minutes and appearances in the USOC are too scattered for the Revs to build the back end of their roster.

The Revolution should be a playoff team this season, and probably last season too. The talent is there. But something is wrong and not enough on or off the field gets addressed quickly enough to solve the problems and get the team back on a winning track.

How are teams attacking the Revolution successfully in 2017? (Seriously, we are offensively challenged so we need to know this. Please give us pointers.)

JC: There’s no real secret here, the Revs aren’t really susceptible to any specific kind of attacking play but constant pressure and/or patient buildup seems to work fine. The Revs are a pretty solid team overall. Their defensive issues seem to be more individual errors or team mentality than any specific tactic.

Fail to clear a ball from the box? Someone on your team is going to be in the perfect spot to take a shot and it’s going to score past Cody Cropper in goal. Revs sitting back to protect a lead? That’s exactly where you want the Revs’ defense, because they should be trying to attack and counter on you but they never do. This of course assumes the Revs even have a lead, which is something that doesn’t happen all that often and especially on the road.

The Revs have been a good home team, but they look lost offensively without Kelyn Rowe and Lee Nguyen in the middle. Will a home crowd and a week to get healthy be enough for the Revs? Maybe for this game, but it’s hard to see this team making a run to the playoffs.

Any injuries/suspensions/international duty we should know about? Projected starting XI? Score prediction?

JC: International duty: Antonio Delamea (Slovenia), Je-Vaughn Watson (Jamaica).

Injuries — Out: Kelyn Rowe; Questionable: Diego Fagundez, Lee Nguyen, Krisztián Németh.

Projected lineup 4-2-3-1: Cody Cropper; Donnie Smith, Claude Dielna, Benjamin Angoua, Andrew Farrell; Gershon Koffie, Scott Caldwell; Diego Fagundez, Juan Agudelo, Teal Bunbury; Kei Kamara.

With the injuries the Revs have been dealing with, there’s no right answer here. Donnie Smith probably won’t start at left back but I remain hopeful. If Nguyen starts you might see more of a 4-4-2 diamond look with two strikers up top. Nemeth could be available off the bench, we’ll see.

As always, there is only one score to predict in an ORL-NE game, a 2-2 draw.

Big thanks to Jake from The Bent Musket for stopping by and helping us learn more about this weekend’s opponent.

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. New York City FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Lions hit the road for the first time in 2026, hoping to turn things around and get their first win of the season.

Published

30 minutes ago

on

March 7, 2026

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread and preview for a Saturday matinee matchup between Orlando City (0-2-0, 0 points) and New York City FC (1-0-1, 4 points) at Yankee Stadium (2:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the first of the two scheduled meetings between the Lions and Pigeons this season with the return leg in Orlando set for Oct. 24.

Here is what you need to know ahead of the match.

History

The Lions are 7-11-8 in 26 meetings with NYCFC in the all-time series in MLS play and 7-11-10 including one playoff match and one U.S. Open Cup meeting (remember, games that go to penalty shootouts in knockout competitions officially count as draws). Orlando is 2-8-2 on the road in regular-season games in the all-time series. Things have trended the Pigeons’ way the last few years, as the Lions are 0-5-2 in the last seven meetings between the teams.

The teams met twice last year and NYCFC swept the season series. In the most recent matchup, Orlando City blew a late 1-0 lead at home on July 16 through Robin Jansson’s goal. But Rodrigo Schlegel smashed a clearance attempt off Kyle Smith and into his own net just a few minutes before the end of normal time, tying the game. Alonso Martinez scored the winner on a counterattack in stoppage time to end the game 2-1 in favor of the visitors.

In Orlando City’s first road game of the 2025 season, the Lions fell 2-1 at Yankee Stadium on March 8. Martinez opened the scoring in the second half, with Luis Muriel equalizing. However, just two minutes after Muriel’s goal, Hannes Wolf scored what turned out to be the game winner.

In Orlando, on July 20, 2024, the two 2015 expansion rivals played to a 1-1 draw. Ramiro Enrique and Wolf traded goals five minutes apart in the second half to account for all the scoring. The Lions and Pigeons met at Yankee Stadium on June 28, 2025, with New York City FC winning 4-2. An early Santiago Rodriguez goal opened the scoring and then things went horribly wrong when an obviously offside Malachi Jones collided hard with Orlando goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar. Both players left the game and both had season-ending surgery to repair broken tibias and fibulas. Javier Otero made his MLS debut in goal off the bench and the Lions allowed two goals in first-half stoppage time to let a close game get out of hand. Orlando pulled two goals back through Dagur Dan Thorhallsson and Duncan McGuire, but Mounsef Bakrar sealed the game late for NYCFC.

The teams met at Citi Field — a different baseball stadium than NYCFC’s usual one — on Sept. 20, 2023. The Pigeons were rude hosts, winning 2-0 on goals by Bakrar and Talles Magno. It snapped Orlando’s five-game unbeaten run but the Lions clinched a playoff spot that day anyway due to other results around the league. These teams also met in Orlando on May 17, and with the Lions poised for a 1-0 win, NYCFC eked out a late 1-1 draw with an 89th-minute Gabriel Segal goal out of nowhere. Ercan Kara scored for Orlando City early.

The teams faced off at Red Bull Arena (one of NYCFC’s many homes away from home) on Oct. 2, 2022, with the Pigeons erasing a 1-0 halftime deficit that Facundo Torres provided. The “hosts” got second-half goals from Alex Callens and Magno to complete the comeback and win, 2-1. Earlier in the year at Exploria Stadium, the Lions got a Tesho Akindele goal at the death, stunning NYCFC as Orlando City won 2-1 on Aug. 28, 2022. Junior Urso and Maxi Moralez had scored early in the first and second half, respectively.

Orlando City had a five-game unbeaten streak in the series (1-0-4) absolutely demolished on July 25, 2021 in a 5-0 OCSC loss at Yankee Stadium. The Lions started a makeshift lineup, and it showed, as the Pigeons got goals from Jesus Medina, Ismael Tajouri-Shradi, Moralez, Malte Amundsen, and Valentin Castellanos. Why the makeshift lineup? That match was sandwiched between home games against Philadelphia and Atlanta, with quick turnarounds for each. The strategy was sound, as Orlando won the other two games in that nine-day span.

The teams met in Orlando on May 8, 2021 and drew 1-1. Nani smashed a golazo in the second half to put the Lions on top, but Joao Moutinho fouled Tajouri-Shradi in the box and Castellanos scored from the spot to equalize.

The last meeting of the 2020 season happened in the postseason and things got weird. Orlando City ultimately prevailed in penalties after a 1-1 postseason draw on Nov. 21, 2020. Nani put Orlando ahead from the penalty spot, only to see Maxime Chanot equalize on a set piece. Extra time couldn’t settle it, so to penalties we went, and the Lions advanced thanks to a save by Schlegel — after goalkeeper Pedro Gallese was sent off with a second yellow for coming off his line early. Benji Michel’s blast was the difference in the shootout. (Seriously, just click the above link in this paragraph and relive that madness.)

The Lions and Pigeons wrapped the 2020 season series on Oct. 14 at Exploria Stadium, playing to a 1-1 draw. Chris Mueller opened the scoring but Keaton Parks equalized just before halftime. The first meeting of 2020 also took place in Central Florida in the MLS is Back Tournament on July 14, when Mueller’s brace and a late Akindele insurance goal led Orlando to a 3-1 win. Medina scored for NYCFC. That win snapped Orlando City’s 0-4-3 streak in the previous seven competitive meetings with the Pigeons. The last match in that winless streak against NYCFC was a 1-1 draw, with the Lions then dispatching NYCFC from the U.S. Open Cup in a penalty shootout on July 10, 2019. That night has been immortalized for the running of The Wall and Adam Grinwis’ heroics in goal.

The teams drew both regular-season meetings in 2019, 1-1 on April 27 at Yankee Stadium, and 2-2 on opening day at Exploria Stadium. NYCFC took all three meetings in a dismal 2018 season series. The Lions went 2-1-0 against New York City FC in 2017, including a win to christen the stadium now known as Exploria with Cyle Larin scoring the only goal in a 1-0 OCSC win. Orlando was 3-1-2 in 2015 and 2016 in the first six meetings with NYCFC.

Overview

Orlando City opened the season with two consecutive losses for the first time in club history. The Lions have played one good half and one bad one in each match but have yet to put a full 90 minutes together. Perhaps getting away from home would be a recipe to change the energy, but in this case, the club travels to one of its least-successful away venues. Orlando has been a decent road team since Oscar Pareja took over, but Yankee Stadium is still a difficult place for the Lions to pull points out of.

New York City FC, meanwhile, has opened the season unbeaten through two games with a win and a draw, and the Pigeons will be at home for the first time. This start is despite Martinez being out of the lineup due to injury. NYCFC opened the season with a road draw against the LA Galaxy and followed with a 2-1 win at Philadelphia. Like Orlando, the Pigeons have had three different goal scorers through two matches.

The Lions must try to keep Wolf at bay, as he’s hurt Orlando before and has one of his team’s goals already this season. Nicolas Fernández Mercau is another attacking player to watch. Moralez is always a dangerous provider and he too has hurt the Lions in the past. Defensive midfielder Keaton Parks has returned after blood clot issues a year ago and has picked up where he left off. In the back, Matt Freese is one of the league’s top goalkeepers, and Orlando will need to be clinical to beat him.

“First, we know in terms of results that we can bounce back. I think our team, in the last game, already gave us signs of improvement, cohesiveness, and doing what we need much more efficiently in order to win,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the game. “Now we need to keep doing that but win games. And there’s no doubt that we are urgent to get results, and on a field this weekend that is a challenge, but I think we have a good mentality and that the boys are ready.”

Orlando City will be without Colin Guske (suspension), Joran Gerbet (knee), Wilder Cartagena (thigh), and Jansson (foot), while Adrian Marin (thigh) remains questionable. The good news is that center back Nolan Miller, who left last weekend’s game with a knock, is not on the availability report. NYCFC will be without Martinez (leg), Malachi Jones (leg), and former Lion Andres Perea (leg).

Match Content

Projected Lineups

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Tahir Reid-Brown, Nolan Miller, David Brekalo, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Marco Pasalic.

Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Duncan McGuire.

New York City FC (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Matt Freese.

Defenders: Kevin O’Toole, Raul Gustavo, Thiago Martins, Tayvon Gray.

Defensive Midfielders: Aiden O’Neill, Keaton Parks.

Attacking Midfielders: Agustin Ojeda, Maxi Moralez, Hannes Wolf.

Forward: Nicolas Fernández Mercau.

Referees:

REF: Guido Gonzales Jr.
AR1: Gerard-Kader Lebuis.
AR2: Ben Pilgrim.
4TH: Ricardo Montero Araya.
VAR: Geoff Gamble.
AVAR: Tom Supple.

How to Watch

Match Time: 2:30 p.m.

Venue: Yankee Stadium — The Bronx, NY.

TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Orlando City

Intelligence Report: Orlando City vs. New York City FC

Get up to speed on this year’s NYCFC team, courtesy of someone who knows them best.

Published

23 hours ago

on

March 6, 2026

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Another weekend brings another opportunity for Orlando City to pick up its first points of the still-young 2026 Major League Soccer season. To do that, OCSC will need to beat a team that is unbeaten through its first two games, as the Lions are heading to Yankee Stadium to take on New York City FC on Saturday.

A trip to the baseball diamond means I took the time to catch up with Matthew Mangam, who is one of the senior writers over at the independent and always excellent Hudson River Blue. He was kind enough to help us refamiliarize ourselves with the Pigeons, and I also answered some of his questions about Orlando City, which you can find over at their place.

Talk me through NYCFC’s off-season transfer business. Who went out the door, and who arrived to replace them?

Matthew Mangam: NYCFC’s biggest loss this off-season was Justin Haak, who joined the LA Galaxy as a free agent. Defensive midfielder and center back Kai Trewin joined the club from Melbourne City, serving as the unofficial replacement for Haak. Alonso Martínez, who tore his ACL, and Andrés Perea, who fractured his lower right leg, aren’t official departures but will spend most of the season recovering from their respective injuries. NYCFC also loaned out Julián Fernández and Mitja Ilenič. 

Of those new arrivals, who has been the most impressive through the first two games of the season?

MM: I’m going to cheat a little bit here and say Keaton Parks — he missed most of last season after undergoing surgery to address blood flow issues in his right leg. Since appearing in the season opener and starting the last game against Philadelphia, Parks looks like he hasn’t missed a beat. He’s contributed on both sides of the ball, bringing great energy and consistency. 

Who is an NYCFC player with the potential to be an X factor in this game, and why?

MM: Hannes Wolf. He scored the opening goal against Philadelphia in true Hannes Wolf fashion: opportunistically pouncing on a deflection in the box and burying it in the back of the net. The only issue is that Wolf struggles with consistency, but in his two seasons at NYCFC, he started each year in good form. I would say Nico Fernández Mercau could also be an X-factor, but he’s playing as the No. 9 — not his natural position — which has clearly affected him a bit.

Will anyone be unavailable due to injury, suspension, etc.? What is your projected starting lineup and score prediction?

MM: Besides Martínez and Perea being out with long-term injuries, NYCFC is healthy. Talles Magno is coming off a calf injury, which happened in preseason, but he will likely play at least 10 minutes off the bench. Jonny Shore is also working back to full fitness, so it’s unclear if he’ll get any time as a substitute on Saturday.

I expect NYCFC to keep its lineup the same from the win over Philadelphia:

Matt Freese; Kevin O’Toole, Raul Gustavo, Thiago Martins, Tayvon Gray; Aiden O’Neill, Keaton Parks; Agustin Ojeda, Maxi Moralez, Hannes Wolf; Nicolas Fernández Mercau.

I think NYCFC wins 2-0, with Wolf and Parks getting on the score sheet.

Thank you to Matthew for the excellent info on NYCFC. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 3/6/26

Leagues Cup schedule unveiled, Orlando Pride sign Reagan Raabe, USWNT prepares for Colombia, and more.

Published

1 day ago

on

March 6, 2026

By

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Happy Friday! It’s been a bit of a hectic week but I’m looking forward to spending the weekend enjoying some soccer and visiting my family for a birthday. Hopefully Orlando City can get a win on the road on Saturday and bring points back to the City Beautiful. Before we get started, we want to give a shout out to “Flip,” the latest subscriber at the TAM Player level in our Buy Me a Coffee membership program. Thanks for your support and welcome to The Mane Land family! Now, let’s jump right into today’s links!

Orlando City’s Leagues Cup Schedule Revealed

The schedule for this summer’s Leagues Cup is out and we now know which Liga MX teams Orlando City will play against. All three of Orlando’s games in the first phase of the tournament will be at Inter&Co Stadium, starting with a match against Monterrey on Aug. 5. The Lions will then take on Club Leon on Aug. 8 before playing San Luis on Aug. 12. Of the 18 MLS clubs taking part in the Leagues Cup, only the top four will advance to the knockout stage. Last year, the Lions went unbeaten across their four matches against Mexican teams before falling in the semifinals and the third-place match.

Orlando Pride Sign Reagan Raabe 

The Orlando Pride signed forward Reagan Raabe to a short-term contract that will last through June of this year. The 24-year-old has been with the club throughout its preseason as a non-roster invitee. Raabe joins the Pride following a collegiate career with the University of Nebraska, recording four goals and six assists in her final season after missing a couple of years due to injury. Hopefully she can continue to impress the coaching staff and make an impact this year.

Analyzing Colombia Ahead of USWNT Match

The United States Women’s National Team will play Colombia on Saturday in the final game of this year’s SheBelieves Cup. Colombia lost 4-1 to Canada in its first match but bounced back with a 1-0 win over Argentina. One of the top nations in South America, Colombia finished second in last year’s Copa America and boasts a versatile attack that does well with possession or in transition. The U.S. will need to limit Real Madrid forward Linda Caicedo as much as possible. The 21-year-old has scored in both of Colombia’s games this tournament and has the talent to create opportunities out of seemingly nothing.

WAFCON Postponed Until July

The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, which was set to begin on March 17, has been postponed until July 25 and is set to last through Aug. 16. This decision comes amid reports that Morocco wished to withdraw as the tournament’s host and it’s unclear at this time if Morocco will still host it later this year. Many NWSL players are impacted by this change, including Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda, whose Zambian side will face Nigeria, Malawi, and Egypt in the group stage. The tournament doubles as qualifying for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, with the quarterfinalists directly securing a spot in Brazil next summer.

Free Kicks

  • We have some rumored numbers to put to how much Orlando City was offering to pay Atletico Madrid attacker Antoine Griezmann. Even if the move doesn’t come to pass, I can appreciate the club taking a big swing.
  • Nothing is official yet, but the United States Men’s National Team’s jersey for the upcoming World Cup may have been spotted in the wild. It looks like the Waldo kit with a twist, literally.
  • Toronto FC officially added center back Benjamin Kuscevic on loan from Fortaleza in Brazil’s second division.
  • Walid Regragui stepped down as Morocco’s head coach with only a few months to go before the World Cup. Mohamed Ouahbi will take over for Regragui and it will be his first time coaching a senior team.
  • Relegation is growing into a real possibility for Tottenham, which lost its fifth-straight match after a 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace.
  • Cristo Fernandez, who plays Dani Rojas on Ted Lasso, made a splash with a pair of goals in an exhibition match while training with Chicago Fire II.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend. Go Orlando!

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