Orlando City
Orlando City vs. New York City FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions return home looking to get back into the win column.
Welcome to your match thread and preview for a midweek match-up between Orlando City and New York City FC at Exploria Stadium (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+). This will be the first of the two scheduled meetings between the Lions (4-4-3, 15 points) and Pigeons (4-5-3, 15 points) this season. The Lions will make the return trip to New York City on Sept. 20, with that match scheduled to take place at Citi Field.
Here is what you need to know ahead of the match.
History
The Lions are 7-7-6 in 20 meetings with NYCFC in the all-time series in MLS play and 7-7-8 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), so the series between the two 2015 expansion sides has proven to be a competitive one. Orlando is 4-2-4 at home in this series in MLS play and 4-2-6 at home in all competitions — 5-2-6 if you count the 2020 MLS is Back Tournament game as a “home” contest.
The most recent meeting took place at Red Bull Arena (one of NYCFC’s many homes away from home) on Oct. 2 of last year, with the Pigeons erasing a 1-0 halftime deficit that Facundo Torres provided. The “hosts” got second-half goals from Alex Callens and Talles Magno to complete the comeback and win, 2-1. In the last meeting 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, to set up Akindele’s dramatic late winner.
Orlando City had a five-game unbeaten streak in the series (1-0-4) absolutely demolished in 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 defender Rodrigo 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. That draw on opening day snapped the Pigeons’ four-game series win streak, in which they’d outscored the Lions 10-0 in that span.
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.
Match Overview
Orlando City rallied from a 2-0 deficit on Saturday night in Columbus to draw the Crew, 2-2. Ercan Kara and Duncan McGuire lifted the Lions to a road point to snap a two-match losing streak on the three-game road trip (two MLS matches and one U.S. Open Cup game). City is just 2-3-1 at home this season, but one of those wins — a 2-0 victory over the LA Galaxy — came in the club’s last match in Exploria Stadium. Orlando will be looking to halt a slide of 0-2-1 in its last three competitive matches when the men in purple take the pitch tonight.
New York City FC is level on points with Orlando but has played one more match, and lost that extra game. The Pigeons enter with a road mark of 0-5-2 on the season, with the last three away efforts being losses, but will likely feel good about their chances against an Orlando side that has struggled at home the last two seasons. We will likely see their ‘A’ game.
Tonight’s visitors will look a bit different than what we’re used to. Several of the team’s stalwarts are gone, including Callens, Moralez, Castellanos, Anton Tinnerholm, and USMNT goalkeeper Sean Johnson. However, the Pigeons will play the way they usually do. They’ll be difficult to break down and look to pressure for chances to win the ball and go forward in transition. Santiago Rodriguez leads the team with four goals. Magno and Gabriel Pereira have chipped in three goals each and the latter can also play a setup role, with a team-high three assists to his credit already in 2023. Newcomer Richard Ledezma also has three assists on the season and will be a player for the Lions to watch.
“It is a tough league with difficult matches that come every three days in these moments,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said. “We need to recognize that it was the quality of our execution in the second half that brought us back in the game (at Columbus) because in both halves I can’t complain about energy or willingness or desire or discipline. We just need to execute much better. Let’s be ourselves and do the right things. We have to keep that feeling and that emotion and execute the right things. We have the quality to do it. This is not just running, it is the quality of our execution that needs to be improved and let’s see if we can keep the momentum from the last 45 minutes.”
Orlando City will be without Luca Petrasso (thigh) and Thomas Williams (U-20 international duty), while Mauricio Pereyra (thigh) and Felipe (lower leg) are questionable. As of this writing, NYCFC’s game notes don’t seem to include an availability report, which seems like it should be some kind of league rules violation, however, Alfredo Morales (lower body) was out this past weekend.
Match Content
- Our most recent PawedCast includes our key match-ups and score predictions for the New York City FC game and a preview of NYCFC with Andrew Leigh from Hudson River Blue.
- Our Intelligence Report by Ben Miller provides the latest info on New York City FC from Hudson River Blue’s Oliver Strand.
Official Lineups
Orlando City (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.
Defenders: Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, Michael Halliday.
Defensive Midfielders: Cesar Araujo, Wilder Cartagena.
Attacking Midfielders: Gaston Gonzalez, Facundo Torres, Ivan Angulo.
Forward: Ercan Kara.
Bench: Mason Stajduhar, Rafael Santos, Rodrigo Schlegel, Felipe, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Mauricio Pereyra, Martin Ojeda, Ramiro Enrique, Duncan McGuire.
New York City FC (3-4-3)
Goalkeeper: Luis Barraza.
Defenders: James Sands, Maxime Chanot, Thiago Martins.
Wingbacks / Midfielders: Kevin O’Toole, Keaton Parks, Santiago Rodriguez, Tayvon Gray.
Forwards: Matias Pellegrini, Richard Ledezma, Gabriel Pereira.
Bench: Mitja Ilenic, Stephen Turnbull, Andres Jasson, Braian Cufre, Gabriel Segal, Matt Freese, Tony Alfaro, Justin Haak, Talles Magno.
Referees:
REF: Sergii Boiko.
AR1: Corey Parker.
AR2: Kevin Klinger.
4TH: Lukasz Szpala.
VAR: Jorge Gonzalez.
AVAR: Logan Brown.
How to Watch
Match Time: 7:30 p.m.
Venue: Exploria Stadium — Orlando.
TV/Live Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.
Radio: FM 96.9 The Game (English), Accion 97.9 FM and 810 AM (Spanish).
Twitter: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow along at @TheManeLand, as well as Orlando City’s official Twitter feed (@OrlandoCitySC).
Enjoy the match. Go City!