Orlando City
Orlando City vs. FC Cincinnati: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions look to keep the good vibes of the last two road games going when they return home tonight to face Cincinnati.
Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (9-4-6, 33 points) and FC Cincinnati (11-5-3, 36 points) at Inter&Co Stadium (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). It’s the first of the two scheduled meetings between the teams this season. The return match in Cincinnati is scheduled for Sept. 27.
Here’s what you need to know for the match.
History
Orlando City leads the all-time series, 5-3-3, with a 2-2-1 mark at home. The teams last met on Oct. 5, 2024 at TQL Stadium, with the Lions leaving southwest Ohio with a 3-1 victory in their final road match of the regular season. Ramiro Enrique scored twice and had a third chalked off for a controversial foul on a corner kick. He also assisted on a goal by Ivan Angulo in an impressive performance. Luciano Acosta scored Cincinnati’s goal.
These two sides also met on May 4 of last year in Orlando with FC Cincinnati claiming a 1-0 road win on a first-minute goal by Acosta. The Lions went down a man early in the game when Rodrigo Schlegel was called for denial of a goal-scoring opportunity on Yuya Kubo. Orlando City had a second-half goal waved off for an offside in the buildup. Cincinnati lost Bret Halsey to a second yellow card late but the Lions couldn’t take advantage.
The teams met in Ohio on Sept. 2, 2023, with the Lions claiming a 1-0 win on enemy soil, becoming the first road team to beat FC Cincinnati all season. Facundo Torres scored the game’s only goal. Orlando had to hold on down a man late when Wilder Cartagena was sent off. The teams played to a 0-0 draw in Orlando on March 4, 2023 in Orlando.
The Lions fell 1-0 at TQL Stadium on June 24, 2022. A second-half goal from Brenner represented all the offense, but it could have been worse for Orlando City as Pedro Gallese made eight saves in the match. The first meeting of 2022 took place in Orlando on March 12, with FC Cincinnati notching its first win in the all-time series, 2-1 at Exploria Stadium. The Lions were more in control but were wasteful, despite dominating the stat sheet. The visitors got a brace from Brandon Vazquez to offset Junior Urso’s goal.
The final meeting of 2021 was on Oct. 16 in Cincinnati, when Orlando City got its first road victory in the series, 1-0 on Urso’s early goal. Tesho Akindele should have scored a second off the crossbar late in the game, but the play was never reviewed, despite video evidence that the ball was completely across the line.
On Aug. 7, 2021, the match in Cincinnati ended up in a 1-1 draw. Nani’s strike rescued a point after Brenner had opened the scoring for the hosts just before halftime, taking advantage of an obviously injured Uri Rosell, who subbed off moments later. The first of the three meetings in 2021 came on May 21 in Orlando, with the Lions posting a 3-0 win. Akindele scored in the first minute and Nani and Urso each added a goal.
In Orlando’s first trip to the banks of the Ohio River, the match ended in a 1-1 draw at Nippert Stadium on Sept. 29, 2019. Benji Michel’s goal in stoppage time rescued a point for the Lions after Allan Cruz had given the hosts a lead. The draw officially eliminated Orlando City from playoff contention that year, but realistically the Lions had been out of it for a while.
The first ever meeting between the two sides took place on May 19, 2019, when the Lions pummeled the expansion side, 5-1. Both Nani and Akindele bagged braces in the match and Dom Dwyer added a goal as well.
Overview
The Lions are coming off a 4-2 road victory at St. Louis City Wednesday night. Enrique and Marco Pasalic each scored twice, and the former could easily have finished the night with five or six goals if not for two near-misses, a great save by Roman Burki, and the absolute refusal by Angulo to make a simple pass for him to tap in while there was still time to do so. It was Orlando’s second straight win after a two-game losing streak. The Lions are 5-2-2 at home this season, and they’ll need to win a proverbial six-point game against second-place Cincy to make it three wins in a row.
FC Cincinnati is coming off Wednesday’s 3-1 win at Montreal and has won its last two matches — both on the road. FCC is 6-4-1 away from home this season and has seemingly gotten better after trading Acosta to FC Dallas. That’s largely due to the acquisition of Evander from the Portland Timbers and the signing of Kevin Denkey, who leads the club with 11 goals. Evander is second with nine goals and he’s added seven assists for a whopping 16 goal contributions in his first 17 matches with the club. Fullbacks Luca Orellano and DeAndre Yedlin each have four assists on the year, meaning tonight’s visitors can work the ball into dangerous areas from the flanks.
To win tonight, the Lions will have to stay organized defensively and keep a lid on Cincinnati’s dangerous goal-scoring threats. At the other end, Roman Celentano is a difficult goalkeeper to beat and Matt Miazga is a tree in front of the net, making aerial balls a low-percentage game for opposing attackers.
“FC Cincinnati is a team that has reinforced its squad with two or three very good players this year. At the same time, I see a structure very similar to what they normally have, and we know them,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “I think it’s a matter of us having a good day, executing our proposal on the pitch, and trying to impose our will against them. There’s no doubt it’s going to be a hard game, but we are prepared to get the win.”
The Lions will be without Alex Freeman (international duty), Duncan McGuire (shoulder), Joran Gerbet (thigh), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee). FC Cincinnati will be without Miles Robinson (international duty), Nick Hagglund (chest), Yuya Kubo (ankle),
Obinna Nwobodo (leg), and Sergio Santos (leg), while Orellano (ankle) is listed as questionable.
Match Content
- Our Intelligence Report provides more info about FC Cincinnati from Jose Guerra of Cincinnati Soccer Talk.
- The most recent episode of The Mane Land PawedCast features our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match.
Official Lineups
Orlando City (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.
Defenders: David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.
Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Cesar Araujo, Eduard Atuesta, Marco Pasalic.
Forward: Martin Ojeda, Ramiro Enrique.
Bench: Javier Otero, Rafael Santos, Kyle Smith, Zakaria Taifi, Thomas Williams, Colin Guske, Gustavo Caraballo, Nico Rodriguez, Luis Muriel.
FC Cincinnati (5-3-2)
Goalkeeper: Roman Celentano.
Defenders: Lukas Engel, Teenage Hadebe, Gilberto Flores, Matt Miazga, DeAndre Yedlin.
Midfielders: Pavel Bucha, Brian Anunga, Evander.
Forwards: Kevin Denkey, Gerardo Valenzuela.
Bench: Evan Louro, Brad Smith, Alvas Powell, Stiven Jimenez, Stefan Chirila, Corey Baird, Kei Kamara.
Referees
REF: Marcos DeOliveira.
AR1: Jose da Silva.
AR2: Bruno Rizo.
4TH: Benjamin Meyer.
VAR: Geoff Gamble.
AVAR: TBA.
How to Watch
Match Time: 7:30 p.m.
Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.
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 match. Go City!