Orlando City

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

The Lions are back on the road up north as they look to rebound in Toronto.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread for a midweek matchup between Orlando City (5-9-6, 21 points) and Toronto FC (7-11-3, 24 points) at BMO Field (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+). It’s the second and final scheduled meeting between the Eastern Conference rivals this season.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.

History

Orlando is 8-9-3 in the evenly split all-time, regular-season series. The Lions had a four-game winning streak and an eight-match unbeaten run (6-0-2) in the series snapped back in April (more on that below). Orlando is 3-4-3 on the road in the series, however, one of those “road” wins came in the Lions’ home stadium while Toronto was living a nomadic existence during COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions.

The teams met in Orlando on April 27 and the Lions led most of the match on a Duncan McGuire goal. However, the Reds flipped the game on its head late, scoring twice in the final three minutes of normal time. Tyrese Spicer and Prince Owusu scored to lift Toronto to a 2-1 win.

The most recent meeting in Toronto came on Decision Day of last season on Oct. 21, when McGuire came off the bench and scored twice to beat Toronto 2-0. The teams met in Orlando on July 4, 2023, with Orlando City putting the Reds to the sword on Independence Day, beating the Canadian side, 4-0. Cesar Araujo, McGuire, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, and Ercan Kara scored for the Lions, and Toronto finished with 10 men after Federico Bernardeschi was shown his second yellow card just past the hour mark.

Orlando City also romped 4-0 over the Reds in the previous meeting, Sept. 17, 2022 at Exploria Stadium. Facundo Torres, Kara, and Tesho Akindele scored for the Lions to go along with a Lukas MacNaughton own goal. The Lions won on May 14, 2022 at BMO Field, 1-0, thanks to a 92nd-minute goal from Kyle Smith, who flicked a header from a corner kick cross inside the far post to lift the Lions to victory.

The Lions went 2-0-1 in three meetings with Toronto FC in 2021. The teams played to a 1-1 draw at BMO Field on July 17, 2021. Jozy Altidore came off the bench to score the opener but Nani equalized from the penalty spot minutes later. Benji Michel drew the penalty, which was originally ruled a foul on the Orlando winger but was overturned after video review by referee Marcos de Oliveira.

The other Toronto “home match” in the 2021 season series came on June 19 at Exploria Stadium. The Reds were dealing with pandemic restrictions in Canada that forced the team to play home games in the United States. Orlando City built a 2-0 early lead on goals by Akindele and Nani, only to see Toronto tie the match by halftime on goals by Ayo Akinola and Jonathan Osorio. Junior Urso scored late to lift the Lions to a 3-2 victory. The teams first met that year on May 22, with Orlando City claiming a 1-0 win on Akindele’s goal.

The teams did not play in 2020 due to the pandemic. Prior to the MLS stoppage for the pandemic, the teams met most recently in Toronto on Aug. 10, 2019, with the Lions grabbing a point at BMO Field in a 1-1 draw. Michel opened the scoring in the 69th minute but the Reds equalized off a scramble following a set piece in the 77th. The other matchup between the sides that season came on May 4, 2019, when the Reds walked out of Orlando with a 2-0 win on goals by Osorio and Jay Chapman.

The teams split their season series in 2018. Orlando City captured a 2-1 win at home in James O’Connor’s first home game as head coach of the Lions on July 14, 2018. Chris Schuler and Dom Dwyer staked City to a 2-0 lead and Nick Hagglund ruined the shutout in the 94th minute off a Sebastian Giovinco free kick delivery. The 2018 meeting in Toronto saw the Reds get a 2-1 win at BMO Field on Ryan Telfer’s 87th-minute goal.

Toronto shredded Orlando in a 3-1 win on July 5, 2017. Altidore and Giovinco combined to score Toronto’s three goals. Carlos Rivas gave Orlando a consolation goal. In the first meeting of 2017, Orlando out-possessed, out-shot, and out-passed the hosts, and played like the better team on the night. However, the Lions could not overcome a two-goal deficit and Giovinco’s first-half brace led Toronto to a 2-1 win.

The Lions got their first victory in the series on June 25, 2016, winning 3-2 at Camping World Stadium. Kaká scored from the spot in the 10th minute of stoppage time to win it. Cyle Larin and Adrian Winter each gave OCSC leads in the game, only to see Jordan Hamilton and Justin Morrow equalize until the captain’s late winner. The Reds took the second 2016 matchup in Orlando with a 2-1 victory, scoring late through Altidore. Tosaint Ricketts gave Toronto an early lead but the Lions fought back on a Larin goal. The teams also drew 0-0 on Sept. 28 of that year, with Toronto able to fend off the Lions with 10 men over the final 20 minutes of the match.

In 2015, Toronto took home all nine points in the three meetings, beating Orlando by a combined score of 11-1.

Overview

Orlando City enters on the heels of a brutal 4-2 loss at New York City FC on Saturday, with goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar leaving the match on a stretcher after a collision with Malachi Jones early in the game. Both players had surgery for broken tibias and fibulas and both are out for the season. The Lions fell behind early, collapsed in first-half stoppage time to concede twice more, then pulled two goals back before giving up a fourth at the death. It snapped a modest two-game unbeaten run and dropped Orlando to a losing record on the road (3-4-3).

The Lions have struggled to score in 2024, but have managed to find eight goals in the last three games. The problem is that Orlando City has also conceded eight times in that span, going 1-1-1 in the last three.

Toronto FC has shown tremendous improvement under John Herdman early in the season despite missing several key players with injuries. The Reds, however, have lost four straight matches and are winless in their last seven (0-5-2). Then again, NYCFC had lost three straight and hadn’t scored a goal in its previous two games until the Lions came to town Saturday, as Orlando continues to be a team that struggles against ailing teams. Toronto FC is 5-5-0 at home this season.

The Lions will have to keep tabs on Bernardeschi, as the Italian paces the Toronto attack, leading the Reds in goals (8) and assists (5). He shares the club lead in the latter category with countryman Lorenzo Insigne, who has added four goals to Toronto’s attack this season. Owusu is another scoring threat and sits second on the team in goals (6), although he has scored just once since his winning goal against Orlando City in April.

“Toronto has a game mode we know already; we faced them at home already. We saw them play against Atlanta,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “Normally, they play with a defensive five. We know the challenges and the opportunities that these things can provide to us and affect the way we do things.” 

Orlando City will be without Stajduhar (lower leg), Michael Halliday (knee), and David Brekalo (international duty), while Homegrown fullback Tahir Reid-Brown (thigh) is listed as questionable. The good news is that Pedro Gallese, Wilder Cartagena, and Ramiro Enrique are off the availability report and were training with the Lions earlier this week. As of this writing, Toronto had not yet posted the club’s game notes, but as of the weekend listed Alonso Coello (thigh), Brandon Servania (knee), and Tyrese Spicer (back) as out and Matty Longstaff (knee) as questionable, although Longstaff started against Atlanta in the Reds’ 2-1 loss. In addition, Sean Johnson, Richie Laryea, and Jonathan Osorio are all away on international duty — the latter two with Canada, which reached the knockout stage.

Match Content


Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

Defensive Midfielders: Wilder Cartagena, Cesar Araujo.

Attacking Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, Facundo Torres.

Forward: Duncan McGuire.

Bench: Carlos Mercado, Rafael Santos, Alex Freeman, Felipe, Jeorgio Kocevski, Nico Lodeiro, Ramiro Enrique, Luis Muriel, Jack Lynn.

Toronto (3-4-3)

Goalkeeper: Sean Johnson.

Defenders: Raoul Petretta, Aime Mabika, Nicksoen Gomis,.

Wingbacks/Midfielders: Kosi Thompson, Deybi Flores, Matty Longstaff, Federico Bernardeschi.

Forwards: Lorenzo Insigne, Prince Owusu, Derrick Etienne, Jr.

Bench: Luka Gavran, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Shane O’Neill, Kobe Franklin, Deandre Kerr, Markus Cimermancic, Sigurd Rosted, Cassius Mailula, Nathaniel Edwards.

Referees

REF: Mark Allatin.
AR1: Chris Wattam.
AR2: Gianni Facchini.
4TH: Filip Dujic.
VAR: Jorge Gonzalez.
AVAR: Peter Balciunas.


How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: BMO Field — Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.

Radio: FM 96.9 The Game (English), Mega 97.1 FM (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!

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