Orlando City

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

Orlando heads to Columbus to try to figure out the puzzle known as the Crew.

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6 months ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread for a Friday night matchup between Orlando City (10-6-8, 38 points) and the Columbus Crew (12-4-8, 44 points) at Lower.com Field in Ohio’s capital city (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). This is the first of two scheduled meetings between the two Eastern Conference rivals this season, with the Crew scheduled to make the return trip to Central Florida on Oct. 4.

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

History

The Lions are 9-8-4 in the all-time, regular-season series and just 2-5-2 in Columbus. Orlando City is 10-9-4 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 on Sept. 21, 2024 in Columbus. It was a wild back-and-forth game, with the Crew winning 4-3. Diego Rossi, Christian Ramirez, and Cucho Hernandez staked Columbus to a comfortable 3-0 lead by the 71st minute, and the game seemed over. But Ramiro Enrique’s goal three minutes after Hernandez scored sparked the Lions, who added a Luis Muriel penalty goal to make it a match again. Miscommunication and a poor back pass from Felipe led to a turnover that led to an Aziel Jackson transition goal that made it 4-2. Muriel scored late in stoppage time, but the Lions ran out of clock and couldn’t complete the comeback.

The teams opened the 2024 season series against each other 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 Jair Marrufo awarded the Lions a penalty for a foul on Steven Moreira against 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 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. Ramirez and Hernandez scored for the Crew.

The teams played 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 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 July 13, 2019, and two weeks previously getting their first road win in the series, 2-0.

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 tonight’s match after sneaking out of Gillette Stadium with a 2-1 win over the New England Revolution on Saturday night. Ojeda’s brace offset a goal by Tomas Chancalay as the Lions won a road game against the Revs for just the second time. That win snapped a four-game winless skid (0-2-2) that included a pair of late meltdowns that led to a draw against Montreal and a loss to New York City FC — both at home. Orlando is 5-2-5 on the road this season, which is better than the team’s record at home.

Meanwhile, the Crew are excellent everywhere, but especially at home, where they are a sparkling 8-1-4 on the season. Columbus is coming off a 2-1 home win over D.C. United on Saturday and is 6-0-2 in its last eight home games. Wilfried Nancy’s club will present one of the toughest obstacles the Lions have faced this season, with quality at every level of the formation.

The Crew figure to have a lot of the ball, so Orlando City must be organized and concentrated to deal with the likes of Rossi, Russell-Rowe, and USMNT fullback Max Arfsten. They also have a Lion killer named Daniel Gazdag on the team now. Columbus typically 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 is also a player who has hurt Orlando many times ni the past, so it’ll be a difficult match.

“Columbus Crew is a team that we know pretty well, and they know us as well,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “I think about the two systems and the two ways to play. It’s about who can perform the best during the game. We’re very clear.”

The Lions will be without Joran Gerbet (thigh), Duncan McGuire (shoulder), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee). Columbus will be without Mohamed Farsi (pelvis), Rudy Camacho (thigh), and Nicholas Hagen (thigh), while Malte Amundsen (knee) 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: Martin Ojeda, Luis Muriel.

Bench: Javier Otero, Rafael Santos, Zakaria Taifi, Kyle Smith, Colin Guske, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Nico Rodriguez, Gustavo Caraballo, Ramiro Enrique.

Columbus Crew (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Patrick Schulte.

Defenders: Max Arfsten, Yehven Cheberko, Sean Zawadzki, Steven Moreira.

Midfielders: Ibrahim Aliyu, Darlington Nagbe, Dylan Chambost, Daniel Gazdag.

Forwards: Diego Rossi, Jacen Russell-Rowe.

Bench: Evan Bush, Lassi Lappalainen, Derrick Jones, Cole Mrowka, Taha Habroune, Abraham Romero, Tristan Brown, Cesar Ruvalcaba, Amar Sejdic.

Referees

Ref: Timothy Ford.
AR1: Lyes Arfa.
AR2: Jeffrey Swartzel.
4th: Joshua Encarnacion.
VAR: David Barrie.
AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Lower.com Field — Columbus, OH.

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!

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