Orlando City
Orlando City vs. New York City FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions try to snap their winless streak against their 2015 expansion rivals.
Welcome to your match thread and preview for a midweek matchup between Orlando City (9-5-8, 35 points) and New York City FC (9-8-4, 31 points) at Inter&Co Stadium (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). This is the second of the two scheduled meetings between the Lions and Pigeons this season.
Here is what you need to know ahead of the match.
History
The Lions are 7-10-8 in 25 meetings with NYCFC in the all-time series in MLS play and 7-10-10 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). Orlando is 4-2-6 at home in regular-season games in the all-time series, 4-2-8 in all competitions at home, and 5-2-8 in matches played against NYCFC in Central Florida, which includes the MLS is Back Tournament group-stage game in 2020. Things have trended the Pigeons’ way the last few years, as the Lions are 0-4-2 in the last six meetings between the teams.
The teams last met in Orlando City’s first road game of the 2025 season, falling 2-1 at Yankee Stadium on March 8. Alonso Martinez opened the scoring in the second half, with Luis Muriel equalizing. However, just two minutes after Muriel’s goal, Hannes Wolf scored what turned out to be the game winner.
In the last meeting in Orlando, on July 20, 2024, the two 2015 expansion rivals played to a 1-1 draw. Ramiro Enrique and Wolf traded goals five minutes apart in the second half to account for all the scoring. The Lions and Pigeons met at Yankee Stadium on June 28 of last year, with New York City FC winning 4-2. An early Santiago Rodriguez goal opened the scoring and then things went horribly wrong when an obviously offside Malachi Jones collided hard with Orlando goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar. Both players left the game and both had season-ending surgery to repair broken tibias and fibulas. Javier Otero made his MLS debut in goal off the bench and the Lions allowed two goals in first-half stoppage time to let a close game get out of hand. Orlando pulled two goals back through Dagur Dan Thorhallsson and Duncan McGuire, but Mounsef Bakrar sealed the game late for NYCFC.
The teams met at Citi Field — a different baseball stadium than NYCFC’s usual one — on Sept. 20, 2023. The Pigeons were rude hosts, winning 2-0 on goals by Bakrar and Talles Magno. It snapped Orlando’s five-game unbeaten run but the Lions clinched a playoff spot that day anyway due to other results around the league.
These teams also met in Orlando on May 17, and with the Lions poised for a 1-0 win, NYCFC eked out a late 1-1 draw with an 89th-minute Gabriel Segal goal out of nowhere. Ercan Kara scored for Orlando City early on, but the Lions were wasteful with opportunities for the rest of the match.
The teams faced off at Red Bull Arena (one of NYCFC’s many homes away from home) on Oct. 2, 2022, with the Pigeons erasing a 1-0 halftime deficit that Facundo Torres provided. The “hosts” got second-half goals from Alex Callens and Magno to complete the comeback and win, 2-1. Earlier in the year 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 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. 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.
Overview
Orlando City is coming off Saturday’s disappointing 1-1 home draw against CF Montreal. The Lions struck first through Martin Ojeda, but a late penalty that Rodrigo Schlegel conceded allowed Prince Owusu to equalize on a night of struggles for the OCSC offense. The offense has struggled at home recently, as the Lions haven’t scored more than once in a home match in four consecutive games. May 14 was the last time City scored more than once in an MLS home match. Orlando is 0-2-1 in its last three home games but 5-3-3 at Inter&Co Stadium this season.
New York City FC is coming off a 2-0 loss Saturday in Charlotte, continuing a season of road troubles. The Pigeons are 1-5-4 away from their baseball field this season. NYCFC sits one place behind Orlando in the Eastern Conference standings, four points back but with one game in hand, so tonight’s matchup could have future playoff seeding implications should both teams reach the postseason.
The Lions must try to keep Martinez and Wolf under wraps. Both have hurt Orlando before and the duo lead tonight’s visitors in scoring. Wolf has nine goals and four assists in 2025, ranking first and second on the team in those categories, respectively. Martinez is second in goals (8). Moralez is always a dangerous provider and leads NYCFC with five assists to go along with two goals. At the other end of the pitch, USMNT goalkeeper Matt Freese is having a great season and backstopped the United States to the Concacaf Gold Cup final.
“New York City FC is normally a team that is aggressive going forward, with players who use width and create action,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the game. “They try to maintain that game model, which is a characteristic of their team, and they fight for it in each game. So that is what we normally see. We have a very strong game model as well, so it should be a good match.”
Orlando City will be without Joran Gerbet (thigh), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), Duncan McGuire (shoulder), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee). NYCFC will be without Malachi Jones (leg)
and Keaton Parks (leg).
Match Content
- The most recent episode of the PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s game.
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, Martin Ojeda.
Bench: Javier Otero, Rafael Santos, Kyle Smith, Zakaria Taifi, Colin Guske, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Gustavo Caraballo, Nico Rodriguez, Ramiro Enrique.
New York City FC (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: Matt Freese.
Defenders: Kevin O’Toole, Thiago Martins, Justin Haak, Strahinja Tanasijevic.
Midfielders: Andres Perea, Aiden O’Neill, Maxi Moralez.
Forwards: Hannes Wolf, Alonso Martínez, Augustin Ojeda.
Bench: Tomas Romero, Nico Cavallo, Tayvon Gray, Maximo Carrizo, Jonathan Shore, Sebastiano Musu, Seymour Reid, Mounsef Bakrar, Julian Fernandez.
Referees:
Ref: Jair Marrufo.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Gianni Facchini.
4th: Elvis Osmanovic.
VAR: Kevin Stott.
AVAR: Craig Lowry.
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).
Twitter/Bluesky: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow along at @TheManeLand, as well as Orlando City’s official Twitter feed (@OrlandoCitySC). We’ll also provide live updates on Bluesky Social (@TheManeLand.bsky.social).
Enjoy the match. Go City!