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

The Lions head to the Windy City to face the Chicago Fire.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread and preview for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (4-2-4, 16 points) and the Chicago Fire (3-4-3, 12 points) at Soldier Field (8:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). This is the first of two scheduled meetings between the Eastern Conference rivals in 2024, with Chicago scheduled to make the return trip to Orlando later this month on May 31.

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

History

The Lions are 8-5-7 in 20 MLS meetings with the Fire and 8-6-7 in all competitions. Orlando City is 3-3-4 against the Fire on the road in the regular season and 3-4-4 away in all competitions.

These two teams last met on June 22, 2024 in Orlando, with the Lions capturing a 4-2 home victory. Facundo Torres scored a brace, with Luis Muriel (from the penalty spot) and Ivan Angulo adding goals to offset a penalty by Maren Haile-Selassie (after a Rodrigo Schlegel handball in the box) and Hugo Cuypers.

The two sides clashed at Soldier Field just a few weeks prior to that on May 29, playing to a 1-1 draw. Torres opened the scoring early with a scrappy goal in traffic, and the Lions should have had a penalty late in the first half when Angulo was clipped while in alone on a goal after rounding the goalkeeper, but the video assistant referee did not overturn the no-call on the field, and referee Malik Badawi did not look at the play himself. The Fire tied the match in the final 20 minutes on a Cuypers goal.

The Lions swept the two-game season series in 2023 by identical 3-1 scorelines. On Aug. 21, Orlando City got goals from Wilder Cartagena, Angulo, and Torres (from the penalty spot) to overcome a 1-0 deficit supplied by Mauricio Pineda, winning 3-1 on the road.

When the teams met in Orlando, the Lions rode a Torres brace to a 3-1 win on July 1. Xherdan Shaqiri pulled a goal back from the penalty spot after a Kyle Smith foul in the box against Brian Gutierrez, but Ramiro Enrique added an insurance goal.

Orlando City claimed a 1-0 victory at Exploria Stadium on April 9, 2022 on Ercan Kara’s first MLS goal. The two sides met at Soldier Field just over a month prior to that match and played, officially, to a 0-0 draw on March 5. The game is another Orlando City match that will live in infamy due to the Professional Referee Organization’s statement after the game that Junior Urso’s goal should not have been overturned upon video review by Ismir Pekmic due to Kara not having clearly and obviously handled the ball in the buildup in any of the available replay angles. Alas…

The teams met in Orlando on Aug. 21, 2021, with a second-half Benji Michel strike lifting the Lions to a 1-0 victory. Tesho Akindele set up the play by forcing a turnover. In that year’s meeting at Soldier Field, the Fire got the better of the Lions to the tune of 3-1 on July 7. Andres Perea scored his first career MLS goal to open the scoring, but a defensive lapse in first-half stoppage allowed Boris Sekulic to equalize just before the break. Chicago rode that momentum, adding goals by Robert Beric and Chinonso Offor.

The Lions were 0-4-4 in the eight meetings before smashing the Fire 4-1 in Orlando on Sept. 19, 2020. Orlando City withstood two Chicago penalties and saw two Fire goals overturned by video review in that rain-soaked match. (Weird things usually happen when Chicago visits Orlando.) The Lions got goals from Chris Mueller, Nani, Urso, and Michel, while Chicago had only a Beric penalty to show for an otherwise good offensive performance.

The last meeting of 2019 was the last time the Fire won on the road in the series. It was a debacle for the Lions, who lost defender Robin Jansson to a back/neck injury early and shipped a handful of goals in a 5-2 home loss in the regular-season finale. Orlando got goals from Akindele and Michel but largely played like a team that couldn’t wait to end its season. Chicago got an own goal from Orlando’s Smith and strikes from CJ Sapong, Aleksandar Katai, and Przemyslaw Frankowski (twice) in the rout.

Orlando City was seconds away from a road win on March 9, 2019 before Sapong’s free header in the 95th minute leveled things in a 1-1 draw in Chicago. Dom Dwyer scored Orlando’s goal.

In 2018, the Fire swept the season series. Orlando fell 2-1 at home on May 26, 2018, with Alan Gordon’s wondergoal breaking a 1-1 deadlock. The return leg in Chicago that September was an abysmal performance by Orlando in a 4-0 Fire victory.

Chicago went 1-0-1 in 2017, with the teams playing to a 0-0 draw on June 4, 2017, with the Lions reduced to nine men. The previous 2017 meeting was the Fire’s 4-0 beatdown of Orlando on June 24 of that year. David Accam figured in all four goals, with a hat trick and an assist on Nemanja Nikolić’s goal.

The teams split the points in 2016, drawing both meetings. Cyle Larin and Accam traded goals in a 1-1 draw in Orlando on March 11. The Fire again came from behind to draw, 2-2 in the return leg that August.

The teams met once in Orlando in 2015, with the Lions and Fire battling to a 1-1 draw. You may recall that five-hour, weather-delayed affair with Eric Gehrig’s own-goal canceling out an Accam strike. The other three meetings came in Chicago, with City winning 3-2 and 1-0 in MLS matches and falling 3-1 in U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal action.

Overview

The Lions are coming off a 3-0 home win over Atlanta United a week ago, snapping a three-match winless streak but extending their unbeaten run to seven matches (3-0-4). Orlando City is 1-1-3 on the road this season, having gone four consecutive away games without a loss (1-0-3). Orlando no longer has Torres, which is too bad, considering he scored in each of the last four meetings between the teams, including two braces, for six goals in his last four games against the Fire. Torres’ replacement, Marco Pasalic, leads the Lions in scoring, with five goals, adding two assists early in the season. Angulo has goals in two of the last three meetings with the Fire, so he should be looking forward to tonight as he has yet to find the net in 2025.

Chicago is winless in its last five matches (0-3-2) and is coming off a 7-2 beatdown at Nashville SC last weekend. The club is also winless at home so far this season (0-1-3) despite several close calls. Still, the Fire look like an improved team overall under new coach Gregg Berhalter, having played Inter Miami to a 0-0 road draw recently and losing just by one goal against FC Cincinnati during the current skid. Only two teams in the Eastern Conference have scored more goals than the Fire, while Chicago has conceded 22 goals, tying D.C. for the league’s worst defensive record in 2025 — although it is important to note that seven of those goals came in a single match.

Beating Chicago means trying to contain Cuypers, who is currently leading the MLS Golden Boot race with seven goals to go along with his two assists this season. Midfielder Jonathan Bamba is tied for fourth in the league in assists (5), while midfielder Philip Zinckernagel has contributed three goals and four assists on the season. Orlando City will need to maintain its recent defensive form to bring points home from the Windy City.

“First, we want to maintain that balance that we’ve been searching for or trying to achieve with the team. It seems like we found it against Atlanta United. We kept the solidness of our defensive phase and got back to scoring more, especially with the guys that have more influence in our team up front,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “So, we reached it, and now we need to keep it. That has been the mentality we have worked on during the week. We are doing our regular drilling and seeing what condition Chicago is in and all those things. That’s our preparation so far.”

The Lions will be without Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), Yutaro Tsukada (knee), and Joran Gerbet (lower leg), while Favian Loyola (thigh) is questionable. Chicago will be without Leonardo Barroso (lower body), Chase Gasper (lower body), Rominigue Kouamé (lower body), David Poreba (lower body), and Carlos Terán (yep, you guessed it…lower body). Additionally, former Lion Chris Mueller has been away from the team following the birth of his second child.

Match Content


Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Alex Freeman.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Cesar Araujo, Kyle Smith, Marco Pasalic.

Forwards: Luis Muriel, Duncan McGuire.

Bench: Javier Otero, Rafael Santos, Thomas Williams, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Colin Guske, Gustavo Caraballo, Nico Rodriguez, Martin Ojeda, Ramiro Enrique.

Chicago Fire (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Chris Brady.

Defenders: Andrew Gutman, Jack Elliott, Christopher Cupps Jonathan Dean.

Midfielders: Mauricio Pineda, Brian Gutierrez, Sergio Oregel.

Forwards: Jonathan Bamba, Hugo Cuypers, Philip Zinckernagel.

Bench: Jeffrey Gal, Omar Gonzalez, Omari Glasgow, Sam Rogers, Rominigue Kouame, Sam Williams, Dje D’Avilla, Maren Haile-Selassie, Tom Barlow.

Referees

REF: Victor Rivas.
AR1: Corey Parker.
AR2: Kyle Atkins.
4TH: Luis Diego Arroyo.
VAR: David Barrie.
AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert.


How to Watch

Match Time: 8:30 p.m.

Venue: Soldier Field — Chicago.

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).

Social Media: 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 game. Go City!

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Portland Timbers: Five Takeaways

Here’s what we learned from a tight 1-0 win against Portland.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

During a week that saw the official opening of Orlando’s newest theme park, it was fitting that the Lions had a roller coaster-like run of results, going from the high of the win over Miami to the low of the loss to Nashville in the U.S. Open Cup, and then ending high with Saturday night’s 1-0 win over the Portland Timbers. The win made it 12 straight MLS games without a loss, tying the club’s all-time record and sending the fans home happy. Here are my five takeaways from Saturday night’s match.

Iron Lion Defense Stayed Firm

Despite a tense and emotional rivalry game last Sunday and a midweek U.S. Open Cup match on Wednesday, Óscar Pareja chose not to rotate the defensive group, starting the usual back line of David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel and Alex Freeman, with Pedro Gallese in goal. You would not have known that this group had also played nearly every minute during those two matches by how they played Saturday night, as they kept Portland from mounting nearly any serious attacks throughout the game. Despite completing nearly 200 more passes than Orlando City, the Timbers only managed seven shots, rarely troubling Gallese throughout the match, thanks to the back line’s cohesive play and excellent partnership. When he was called upon, Gallese was quick off his line to gather the ball, and he also had several key punches on crosses, and it was a strong overall performance by the defensive group to earn the clean sheet.

Atuesta Was an Ace in the Hole

Joran Gerbet was outstanding during his run of games while Eduard Atuesta was out, but it was a boon to have a fresh Atuesta on the field for this match after being out for several weeks. The Colombian playmaker went the full 90 minutes, leading the team in completed passes with 47 and playing the keyest of key passes late in the first half, a seeing-eye pass that split five Portland defenders and rolled right into a perfect position for Duncan McGuire to slam home his first goal of the MLS season. It was a great pass when I saw it live in the stadium, and watching it again, and again, and again on replay now, it is reminiscent of a perfect back-door pass in basketball that leads to a dunk. But in this case, it led to a Dunc, and what turned out to be the winning goal. Atuesta’s calmness on the ball and ability to think one play ahead kept the ball moving for the Lions throughout the night, and it was great to see him back healthy and pulling the strings for the Orlando City offense.

Muriel Off by A Millisecond and a Millimeter

Luis Muriel was perhaps the game’s most active player during his 67 minutes on the field, but he just had one of those nights when the final product was always off ever so slightly. He would build up a head of steam and be thundering toward the goal, but then wait just a bit too long before releasing the ball, and the attack would fizzle out. Opta’s tracking had Muriel as going 1/5 on attempted take-ons, and I think most, if not all, of those four times when he did not beat his defender he almost did, but he just got the ball twisted in his feet or just failed to get around the defender. Close, but no cigar. The same was true with his passing attempts — they were either a little too early or a little too late, as the Colombian only completed 16 passes on the night at a low 61.5% completion rate, and many of his passes were oh so close to turning into something special…except they were just slightly off. The effort was there, and you could see how much Muriel wanted it in this game, but in the end he was unable to deliver a goal contribution.

Don’t Forget About the Blue M&M

That would be former Creighton Blue Jay McGuire, who received his third start of the season and bagged his first MLS goal of 2025. The three Designated Player M&Ms (Marco Pašalić, Martín Ojeda and Muriel) could not really get untracked in this game, but as he has done throughout his Orlando City career, McGuire showed off his finishing touch, scoring a goal without ever even looking at his target and relying on his positional awareness and power to place the ball into the net. Big Dunc did get knocked down and required medical attention in the second half, but he was able to return and seemed to be fine, and if he starts to get going, then Orlando City’s opponents are going to find themselves having M&M nightmares before and after playing the Lions.

The Dribbling Was Dreadful

I mentioned earlier that Muriel was only 1/5 in his attempted take-ons, but he was far from the only Orlando City player who struggled with the ball at their feet on Saturday. Opta’s tracking on fotmob.com had Orlando City going 7/24, their second-worst performance of the season. Pašalić, who is usually a wizard with the ball at his feet, was 2/6, Freeman was 1/4, and Iván Angulo was 1/3. Despite the aforementioned huge disparity in passes completed, Orlando City had far more opportunities to score than Portland, but the Lions gave away many with poor dribbling. Perhaps it was tired legs, or perhaps it was Portland’s defense, but either way the Lions were dispossessed on 70% of their attempts to beat their defenders. Thankfully, those losses of the ball did not turn into dangerous counterattacks, and ideally a team with as many skillful dribblers as this Orlando City team has will not have another performance this poor for a while.


Those are my takeaways from Orlando City’s 12th straight MLS game without a loss and third straight win in MLS play. That win did not fully wash away the pain from being eliminated in the U.S. Open Cup by Nashville, but it definitely helped, and it will put the team in a good frame of mind when the Lions travel to face their southern rivals Atlanta United on plastic grass on Wednesday.

Let us know your thoughts about the Portland match in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City vs. Portland Timbers: Final Score 1-0 as Lions Tie Club-Record 12-Game Unbeaten Streak

It wasn’t always pretty, especially in the second half, but it was an effective night for Orlando City in a win over Portland.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City got a goal in the first half from Duncan McGuire and held on for a 1-0 win over the Portland Timbers tonight in front of an announced crowd of 21,256 at Inter&Co Stadium. The Lions (7-2-6, 27 points) were pressured throughout the second half, but held on to extend their unbeaten run in the regular season to 12 games (6-0-6) in the regular season, tying the club record set in 2020. With the win, Orlando also remained perfect (3-0-0) at home against Portland (6-4-5, 23 points).

“First, I would like to recognize the effort of the players today for that incredible first half that we had, and the tactical discipline that they kept in the second half when we needed it,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “And our energy to push and press started getting lower for the simple reason that we played two days ago and we bet hard on the Cup. So, all of that let us feel so proud about the effort, the performance, and beating a good rival as well, because I consider that a very good team.”

Pareja’s lineup featured Pedro Gallese in goal behind the usual back line of David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Alex Freeman. Eduard Atuesta returned to the lineup, joining Cesar Araujo in central midfield with attacking midfielders Ivan Angulo and Marco Pasalic, with Luis Muriel and McGuire up top.

The Lions spent much of the first half working the ball into great positions, but making poor decisions, poor passes, or poor shots once they got into the final third. Portland was content to sit back in its 5-4-1 formation and defend, leaving little space for Orlando to work through. Still, the Lions were able to generate the best chances in the opening half, and had enough good looks at goal to put the game to bed before the break.

The second half was mostly a battle of attrition, as the Timbers were able to keep the ball, but struggled to create much danger against the Orlando defense, attempting just seven total shots and putting only two on target. Gallese made two saves to keep his seventh clean sheet of the 2025 season.

Muriel, in particular, looked just a bit off throughout the opening 45 minutes, making a good read to thread a ball through to Pasalic’s diagonal run in the third minute, but sending the pass just a few inches out of the Croatian’s reach right in front of goal. Atuesta took a pass from Freeman in the sixth minute but fired wide. Two minutes later, Pasalic got free at the top of the box and fired, but Maxime Crepeau made a good diving save to keep the game scoreless.

Angulo found some room on the left in the 13th minute, but he sent his shot weakly toward the near post and it posed no trouble for Crepeau. Five minutes later, Muriel took a shot that came close, but his blast was just wide of the right post.

Portland got its first prolonged spell of possession after Muriel’s chance, but didn’t create much with it, despite winning a series of set pieces. On the third of those, the Lions cleared after the service into the area was knocked away by Gallese, and Angulo broke in transition behind the Portland defense. The Colombian got into the box but sent his shot wide of the left post in the 29th minute.

Over the next 10 minutes, Orlando City had some chances to create something dangerous, but Muriel wasn’t able to find the final ball to unlock the Timbers’ defense. However, at the end of that 10 minutes, the Lions broke through.

Atuesta worked the ball right and left at the top of the area, looking to free himself for a shot, but then he picked out McGuire with a great pass. The big forward turned and smashed a shot past Crepeau for his first goal of the regular season in the 39th minute.

“Obviously a great ball from Eduard. I don’t think the defense expected it,” McGuire said. “He always told me he’s going to look for me, so I was anticipated the ball, and he played an incredible ball, so I owe him dinner for that beautiful ball.”

“Their line tried to press after the rebound (from a previous ball into the box),” Atuesta said of the play. “Duncan made a magnificent movement. And thank God he shot on the first (touch), because maybe if he controlled, the defender would slide tackle or something or block the shot, but he was very good, very smart to shoot the first time, and we won with that goal, so very good for us.”

Atuesta, who hadn’t played since April 26, had a terrific game in the Orlando midfield, helping connect the lines and to win the ball back from the Timbers repeatedly.

“Eduard has a special characteristic. The way he connects us all on the pitch, so the sequence is very clean,” Pareja said. “I was doubtful too, about how much he can last, but Atuesta hasn’t stopped training. He is a player who’s technical, and the way he sees the game for us is great.”

Following his goal, McGuire celebrated with Freeman as the two players did the Griddy.

Three minutes after McGuire’s goal, Angulo slipped in, took a Freeman pass, and put the ball in the net, but he didn’t hold his run long enough and was a step offside.

Kevin Kelsy blasted a shot over Gallese’s crossbar at the end of the half on the final chance of the half.

The Timbers had the halftime edge in possession (50.9%-49.1%), passing accuracy (90.2%-88.3%), and corners (2-1), while Orlando City finished with more shots (11-2), and shots on target (3-1).

“I may not exaggerate when I say this is one of the best performances in the first half that we have had,” Pareja said. “And it’s true that the second half was not similar. We started losing territory. Portland had the ball — not the opportunities but they had the ball and the initiative — we couldn’t get out from there.”

“Oobviously with the (five-man back line), I feel like they did a good job to get numbers behind the ball, but I feel like we had our chances when we got the ball behind their midfield four to go quickly,” McGuire said. “And I think we had a few opportunities that we could have capitalized on, myself included, but at the end of the day, we got the three points, and that’s what matters.”

Portland’s David Da Costa had the first look of the second half, picking up the ball in the left corner of the box and curling a shot just wide of the right post in the 50th minute.

Orlando got a rare attacking move in the 66th minute, resulting in a Muriel shot from the top of the area, but the Colombian sent his shot over the bar.

There was a scary moment for McGuire a moments later, when he was sandwiched between two Portland defenders and went down hard. He rolled over holding his wrist in visible discomfort. After receiving treatment, he was able to continue, but he came off in the 67th minute for Ramiro Enrique, and Martin Ojeda replaced Muriel, who had a tough night with his final ball in the attack.

Gallese helped his own cause in the second half by aggressively coming off his line to deal with Portland crosses. He got to a dangerous one in the 71st minute, catching it just before Kelsy’s arrival.

Orlando City fans held their collective breath in the 76th minute, when Brekalo went to ground in the box and Portland’s Ariel Lassiter went to ground. The play was reviewed, but Brekalo got a touch of the ball with his right foot, and Lassiter appeared to already be going to ground before contact, so the no-call on the field stood.

Gallese had to be sharp on a ball headed for the upper left corner on a header by Finn Surman in the 79th minute, tipping it over the crossbar.

On the ensuing corner, Gallese again came off his line and swatted the cross away. Portland recycled, and Antony fired a shot well over the bar from outside the box on the recycle.

The Lions got forward sparingly in the second half, and when they did, they often dribbled straight into a defender and turned it over, but in the 82nd minute, Ojeda got an opportunity from a good position on the left side of the box, but Crepeau fought off the shot attempt. The rebound fell for Enrique, but the Argentinean forward saw his shot blocked by Claudio Bravo.

From that point on, Portland passed the ball around the top, looking for an opening to exploit, but they were only able to send in crosses that were either caught by Gallese or headed away by the Orlando defense.

Schlegel and Jansson both picked up yellow cards for dissent in stoppage time, but other than that, the added minutes were mostly uneventful, and the Lions held on for the win.

Portland finished the game with the edge in possession (54.5%-45.5%), passing accuracy (89%-85.7%), and corners (4-1). Orlando City attempted more shots (14-7) and shots on target (4-2). It wasn’t the most clinical night for the Lions in the attacking half, but the defense stayed organized and kept Portland off the scoreboard.

“It was hard to keep the ball (in the second half), to keep the ball longer. It was hard for us to find our connections that we found in the first half,” Pareja said. “It was hard to retain the ball, especially in the last 10-15, minutes. Our sequences were shorter, but again, the way the team defended was super and let us have the feeling of solidness that we need when these scenarios happen, or these games come, or (there are) performances from the other team. So again, I’m proud. The boys deserve all the credit.”

“It was a tough game. Portland obviously tested us in the second half a lot,” McGuire said. “But I think we responded well and did a good job to keep them out of our goal, and glad to get the three points.”


The Lions have yet another short turnaround as they hit the road Wednesday with a road match at Atlanta United.

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

Two teams still smarting from midweek U.S. Open Cup defeats look to get back in the win column.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your preview and match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (6-2-6, 24 points) and the Portland Timbers (6-3-5, 23 points) at Inter&Co Stadium. It’s the only scheduled meeting between the cross-conference opponents in 2025 and the first time the teams have met since the 2022 MLS season.

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

History

The Lions are 3-1-2 against the Timbers in the regular season since joining Major League Soccer and 3-2-2 in all competitions. Orlando holds a record of 2-0-0 at home in the series.

The last time the teams met was at Providence Park on March 27, 2022, when they played to a 1-1 draw. Orlando City was ahead on a second-half goal by Junior Urso and up a man after Josecarlos Van Rankin picked up a second yellow card in the final quarter of an hour. However, Andres Perea committed a foul in the penalty area, allowing Cristhian Paredes to equalize from the spot just 10 minutes from the end of full time.

Prior to the 2022 meeting, the teams played for a trophy in the championship match of the MLS is Back Tournament on Aug. 11, 2020. The Timbers were successful on two set pieces in a 2-1 win over the Lions. Center backs Larrys Mabiala and Dario Zuparic got on the end of those set pieces to score, and Mauricio Pereyra put one in the net for Orlando on a wasteful night by the Lions, who put only one of their 14 shots on frame against the Timbers’ low block defensive formation.

The two sides also met on July 18, 2019 at Providence Park, with a largely second-choice Orlando lineup playing to a 1-1 draw against a mainly full-strength Portland side. The Lions were outshot 26-2 but managed the road point anyway, thanks to a Santiago Patino goal that was offset by a late Jeremy Ebobisse equalizer.

The last time the teams met in Orlando’s home stadium saw Orlando City rally with three goals in seven minutes to erase a 2-0 deficit and win, 3-2. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer scored in the 80th, 82nd, and 87th minutes, respectively, to overcome a hole created by goals from Portland’s Diego Valeri and Bill Tuiloma.

The Lions’ only regular-season loss in the series came at Providence Park in a game they’d rather forget, as they ended up getting two men sent off on the way to a 3-0 loss to Portland in 2018. Goals from Valeri (twice) and Darren Mattocks got Timber Joey’s chainsaw heated up. Jonathan Spector got sent off for two yellow cards and PC saw a straight red.

In 2016, Orlando City thumped the defending MLS champion Timbers, 4-1, with four different Lions scoring — Seb Hines, Kaká, Kevin Molino, and Brek Shea. Joe Bendik stopped a Fanendo Adi penalty kick, but Jack McInerney’s late goal spoiled the shutout.

Orlando won the inaugural MLS meeting in 2015 at Providence Park, 2-0, with Cyle Larin scoring the first of his league rookie record 17 goals, chesting home a wicked cross from Molino. Kaká scored the second goal from the spot to provide the final margin after Carlos Rivas drew the first penalty in Orlando City’s MLS history.

Overview

Orlando City is coming off a frustrating 3-2 home loss to Nashville SC Wednesday in the U.S. Open Cup. Marco Pasalic opened the scoring and Ramiro Enrique equalized after the Lions fell behind on two poor goals by the defense, but a legitimate penalty shout against Nashville for a handball was ignored and the visitors got a late goal from fullback Wyatt Meyer to knock Orlando out of the competition. That snapped the club’s 12-game unbeaten streak in all competitions. However, the Lions still enter tonight on an 11-match unbeaten run in MLS games.

The Lions are 4-1-2 at home in the regular season. However, to improve upon that record, Head Coach Oscar Pareja must ensure his team has more legs under it tonight than it had on Wednesday, when multiple players — notably, Martin Ojeda, David Brekalo, and Cesar Araujo, among others — appeared sluggish after playing heavy minutes in Sunday’s emotional road win at Inter Miami. This is Orlando’s third match in seven days, so running the mostly the same lineup out there against Portland is likely not the best idea.

At the same time, it should be noted that the Timbers are playing their third match in eight days, with the most recent of those — a Tuesday night 1-0 loss after extra time to San Jose in the U.S. Open Cup — on the road. Portland is one extra day removed from both USOC play and MLS play than the Lions, but the Timbers have logged some travel miles, flying to both San Jose and Orlando.

Portland’s most recent league match was a hard-fought 1-1 home draw in the Cascadia Cup rivalry against the Seattle Sounders. The Timbers are 0-1-2 in their last three games in all competitions, but they sit fourth in the Western Conference and have been good on the road, taking points in five of seven away league matches with a 3-2-2 mark away from Providence Park.

Tonight’s visitors have multiple players who can inflict damage in the attack. Four players have at least four goals, led by Felipe Mora’s five, while Antony has scored four times and is tied for the Portland lead in assists, with seven. Kevin Kelsy and Santiago Moreno also have four goals apiece, with David da Costa sitting on two goals to go along with his seven assists.

Orlando must battle fatigue as well as the varied Portland attack. At the same time, the Lions must take their chances better than they did on Wednesday, as the Timbers have conceded more goals (20) than all but four teams in the Western Conference.

“Portland is a team that has been growing in this season. We don’t play in the same conference, but we have seen their growth lately,” Pareja said ahead of the match. “The preparation has been intense for us in such a short period of time. Knowing that they [Portland] have that game model that has been growing lately. We respect them and we’ll be ready.”

The Lions will be without Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), Nico Rodríguez (thigh), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee), while Eduard Atuesta (neck) and Gustavo Caraballo (lower leg) are questionable. The Timbers will be without Diego Chara (lower body), Zac McGraw (back), and James Pantemis (leg), while Jonathan Rodriguez (lower body) is questionable.

Match Content


Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Alex Freeman.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Cesar Araujo, Eduard Atuesta, Marco Pasalic.

Forwards: Luis Muriel, Duncan McGuire.

Bench: Javier Otero, Rafael Santos, Kyle Smith, Zakaria Taifi, Joran Gerbet, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Shak Mohammed, Martin Ojeda, Ramiro Enrique.

Portland Timbers (5-4-1)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Omir Fernandez, Jimer Fory, Finn Surman, Dario Zuparic, Juan Mosquera.

Midfielders: Santiago Moreno, Cristhian Paredes, David Ayala, David da Costa.

Forward: Kevin Kelsy.

Bench: Trey Muse, Kamal Miller, Claudio Bravo, Ian Smith, Eric Miller, Joao Ortiz, Ariel Lassiter, Antony, Felipe Mora.

Referees

Ref: Jair Marrufo.
AR1: Eric Weisbrod.
AR2: Kevin Klinger.
4th: Ricardo Montero Araya.
VAR: Kevin Terry Jr.
AVAR: Joshua Patlak.


How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.

TV/Live Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).

Social Media: 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 game. Go City!

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