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

Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (12-10-7, 43 points) and the Columbus Crew (15-5-8, 53 points) at Lower.com Field in Ohio’s capital city (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). This is the second of the two scheduled meetings between the two Eastern Conference rivals this season.

Here’s what you need to know about the match.

History

The Lions are 9-7-4 in the all-time, regular-season series and 2-4-2 in Columbus. Orlando City is 10-8-4 overall against the Crew in all competitions when counting a home loss in the playoffs and a home win in the U.S. Open Cup.

The last time these teams met was back on May 25. As has been the case with so many matches between Orlando and Columbus, there was controversy in the Crew’s 2-0 win in Orlando. The opening goal came in the second half on a penalty kick that was awarded after a video review following a penalty call at the other end of the pitch. Referee Jairo Marrufo awarded the Lions a penalty for a foul on Steven Moreira against Luis Muriel in the box late in the first half. Before Orlando could take the spot kick, Marrufo went to the monitor and ignored a blatant foul by Diego Rossi in the buildup, ruling it a different attacking phase, despite the Lions never regaining clear control of the ball before the next attack, in which the referee ruled a routine shirt pull by Cesar Araujo — embellished significantly by Aidan Morris falling away from the direction of the tug — was clear-cut enough to wipe out the penalty seconds later at the other end. Rossi converted the penalty in first-half stoppage time, adding a second goal just past the hour mark.

The most significant meeting between the teams came in the 2023 Eastern Conference semifinals on Nov. 25 of last season. The teams played scoreless through the 90 minutes plus injury time, with Orlando City defender Rodrigo Schlegel getting sent off late with a second yellow card. The Crew were able to bundle home a goal in extra time and add an insurance marker for a 2-0 win en route to an eventual MLS Cup championship. Christian Ramirez and Cucho Hernandez scored for the Crew.

The most recent regular-season clash between the Lions and Crew in Orlando was a memorable game at Exploria Stadium on Sept. 16, 2023, with Orlando coming from behind to snatch a stunning 4-3 victory at the death. Julian Gressel gave Columbus an early lead that held up through the first half. Martin Ojeda equalized just after the restart, but Rossi and Hernandez staked the Crew to a two-goal lead. Facundo Torres pulled one back and Ramiro Enrique bagged his first MLS brace, with a goal just a few minutes from the end of normal time and another late in stoppage.

The teams met in Columbus on May 13 of last season, playing to a 2-2 draw. Orlando City fell behind 2-0 by halftime on goals by Darlington Nagbe and Jacen Russell-Rowe, but Ercan Kara pulled one back just a few minutes after the restart and Duncan McGuire leveled the game in stoppage time.

The two sides met in Orlando on Decision Day 2022, with Orlando City erasing a 1-0 deficit on a Derrick Etienne Jr. goal to win 2-1 and clinch a playoff spot. Junior Urso leveled the game in the second half and Torres struck from the penalty spot late. The meeting in Columbus that year took place on April 16, 2022, with the Lions winning 2-0 on goals by Schlegel and Kara.

The 2021 season series concluded on Oct. 27 in Columbus with the Crew winning 3-2. Columbus had lost five straight to Orlando prior to Lucas Zelarayan’s one-goal, two-assist performance. Miguel Berry and Etienne also scored for the Crew. Daryl Dike pulled a goal back from the spot and Robin Jansson struck late but it wasn’t enough.

The teams met at Exploria Stadium on Sept. 4, 2021, with the Lions winning 3-2. Orlando was cruising and built a 2-0 lead on goals by Dike and Silvester van der Water, but a bizarre own goal by Antonio Carlos threw the Crew a lifeline, and a Berry equalizer turned the game around. Urso provided the winner in the 69th minute.

City won the only meeting of the 2020 pandemic season when the 10-man Lions got a late Benji Michel goal to defeat the Crew 2-1 on Nov. 4. Chris Mueller gave Orlando the lead in that game but Harrison Afful was able to equalize just moments after referee Ramy Touchan sent off Nani on a ludicrous call that was overturned by the MLS independent panel a few days later. Thanks to Michel’s goal, the officiating error didn’t end up costing the Lions, who clinched their first-ever MLS playoff spot with the win.

The Lions swept the season series in 2019, defeating the Crew 1-0 on a Michel goal on July 13, 2019, and two weeks previously getting their first road win in the series, 2-0. Nani assisted on goals by Mueller and Tesho Akindele in that one.

Orlando won 2-1 on Oct. 21, 2018 to start a five-game winning streak against the Crew on a pair of penalty kick goals. Yoshimar Yotún and Sacha Kljestan provided the spot kicks to offset Federico Higuain’s opening goal.

The last Crew win in the series prior to the Orlando winning streak was assisted by a horror call by Silviu Petrescu in the 88th minute on July 21, 2018, giving Columbus an equalizer from the penalty spot. Wil Trapp then scored the kind of goal in stoppage time that he’ll probably never score again to lift the Crew to a 3-2 victory in a game the Lions had stolen away from them on a call that Petrescu’s own organization said was an error.

Columbus got the better of Orlando in 2017, going 2-0-1. The Lions were 0-1-1 against Columbus in 2016 and 1-1-1 in the series in 2015, with a home U.S. Open Cup win that season against the Crew as well.

Overview

Orlando City enters on a three-game winning streak, outscoring its opponents 8-0 in that span. Orlando hasn’t conceded in 270 minutes. The three wins were all against teams below the Lions in the table, but teams have to play who the schedule puts in front of them. Tonight’s match will be Orlando’s third in eight days (the Crew’s too), as Orlando comes off Wednesday’s 2-0 home win over Charlotte FC. Torres and McGuire scored second-half goals to lift the Lions. City is 6-5-3 on the road this season, which includes a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Sporting Kansas City in the Lions’ most recent away match.

This match will be against the defending champions and one of the league’s best teams in their house. As such, it will present a much bigger challenge than recent home wins over Charlotte, New England, and Nashville.

The Crew enter this matchup as one of three teams 10 or more points ahead of fourth-place Orlando in the Eastern Conference. Columbus sits third in the table and rides a modest two-game unbeaten streak (1-0-1). Like Orlando, the Crew enter with a shutout streak. Columbus beat Toronto on the road Wednesday night by an identical 2-0 scoreline, following a scoreless draw at rival Cincinnati a week ago. The Crew haven’t conceded in 200 minutes and enter with a 7-2-4 home record, although Columbus dropped its last home game 4-0 to Seattle on Sept. 7.

The Crew are a rare combination of great offense and possibly better defense. Only four teams in MLS have scored more than the 54 Columbus has amassed this season. No team in the league has conceded fewer than the Crew’s 28. In short, Columbus will be a tough nut to crack. (That’s a Buckeye joke and it’s hilarious. Trust me, I grew up in Ohio, so I know. Please proceed once you stop laughing. Thank you.)

Crew Head Coach Wilfried Nancy is one of the best tacticians in MLS and he has the talent and depth to employ it in Columbus, whereas he didn’t quite have all the pieces he needed to do it while he was in Montreal. His system features a three-man back line with solid defensive positioning and an opportunistic attack that can win the ball in dangerous areas and exploit transition opportunities. Rossi, and Ramirez are obvious threats but obviously Hernandez is the biggest weapon when it comes to goal contributions. Orlando City will need to not only limit Hernandez, Rossi, Ramirez, and company, but will have to find a way through the league’s best defense.

“The rivals, we know them [Columbus Crew] already, and I think we know each other,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “We have had competitions already not long ago. I know this is a new game, but we’re trying to be faithful in what we do. This is going to be a match that will have its challenges, but we try and find potential or ways to hurt them and see if we can get our results.”

The Lions will be without David Brekalo (thigh), Mason Stajduhar (lower leg), and Cesar Araujo (yellow card suspension). The Crew will be without Evan Bush (arm).

Match Content

• Our Intelligence Report provides more info about Columbus with the help of Caleb Denorme from the independent Crew SC blog, Massive Report.
• The most recent episode of The Mane Land PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match.

Projected Lineups:

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

Defensive Midfielders: Wilder Cartagena, Nico Lodeiro.

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

Forward: Ramiro Enrique.

Columbus Crew (3-4-2-1)

Goalkeeper: Patrick Schulte.

Defenders: Malte Amundsen, Rudy Camacho, Steven Moreira.

Wingbacks / Central Midfielders: Max Arfsten, Darlington Nagbe, Alexandru Matan, Andres Herrera.

Attacking Midfielders: Diego Rossi, Christian Ramirez.

Forward: Cucho Hernandez.

Referees

REF: Sergii Boiko.
AR1: Corey Parker.
AR2: Zach McWhorter.
4TH: Fotis Bazakos.
VAR: Kevin Stott.
AVAR: Fabio Tovar.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Lower.com Field — Columbus, OH.

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!