Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions host the Crew in a critical match for Eastern Conference playoff positioning.
Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (14-7-10, 52 points) and the Columbus Crew (13-8-11, 50 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 two Eastern Conference rivals this season.
Here’s what you need to know about the match.
History
The Lions are 10-8-4 in the all-time, regular-season series and 7-3-2 at home in MLS play. Orlando City is 11-9-4 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 Lions’ record in all competitions against the Crew at home is 8-4-2.
The last time these teams met was on July 25 in Columbus, just prior to the Leagues Cup break. The Crew took the lead from the penalty spot shortly after the hour mark on Diego Rossi’s spot kick after Marco Pasalic was called for a handball in the box. Ramiro Enrique struck 10 minutes later and again three minutes after that to turn the game around. Martin Ojeda added an insurance goal in stoppage time as the Lions won 3-1.
The two sides faced each other on Sept. 21, 2024 — also in Columbus. It was a wild back-and-forth game, with the Crew winning 4-3. Rossi, Christian Ramirez, and Cucho Hernandez staked Columbus to a comfortable 3-0 lead by the 71st minute, and the game seemed over. But 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 allowed Aziel Jackson to score in transition, making 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 upon 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, 2023. 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. 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, 2023, 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 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 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 a second straight goal at the death, with the most recent coming Sunday at FC Cincinnati. Alex Freeman’s goal late in stoppage time turned what would have been a 1-0 loss into a 1-1 road draw. That came in the wake of a late goal deep in stoppage time from McGuire that turned a 2-2 home draw vs. Nashville SC into a 3-2 Orlando victory. The Lions are 1-0-2 since their run in Leagues Cup ended, earning five points. Orlando has won three straight home MLS matches, five consecutive at Inter&Co in all competitions, and has gone 8-4-3 at home in the 2025 regular season.
Columbus enters tonight on the heels of a 2-0 road loss to the Chicago Fire a week ago. The Crew have gone three games without a win (0-2-1) but have a respectable 5-5-6 record away from Lower.com Field this season. Columbus likes to have a lot of the ball, so Orlando City must be organized and concentrated to deal with the likes of Rossi (if he plays; he is listed as questionable), Russell-Rowe, and USMNT fullback Max Arfsten. They also have Lion killer Daniel Gazdag on the team. Columbus typically features solid defensive positioning and an opportunistic attack that can win the ball in dangerous areas and exploit transition opportunities.
“Columbus is a team that likes to elaborate the game and show the spaces. Nothing different I have seen in the last few games,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “They’re a team that wants to demand the ball all the time and try to get into the spaces that they like. We will be prepared. We will have our game plan. And as we always do, just trying to put our strength in front. We have the guys in the mode of possessing the ball and trying to hurt the other group.”
The Lions will be without Rodrigo Schlegel (yellow card suspension), Tahir Reid-Brown (thigh), Zakaria Taifi (thigh), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee), while Cesar Araujo (back) is questionable. Columbus will be without Mohamed Farsi (pelvis), Rudy Camacho (thigh), and Wessam Abou Ali (ankle), while Rossi (thigh) and Sean Zawadski (knee) are questionable.
Match Content
- Our Ben Miller wrote about why disclipline is more important than usual in tonight’s match.
- The most recent episode of The Mane Land PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match.
- Our David Rohe provides his three keys to an Orlando City victory vs. Columbus.
Official Lineups:
Orlando City (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.
Defenders: Adrian Marin, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Alex Freeman.
Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Eduard Atuesta, Joran Gerbet, Marco Pasalic.
Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Luis Muriel.
Bench: Javier Otero, Kyle Smith, Thomas Williams, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Colin Guske, Gustavo Caraballo, Nico Rodriguez, Tyrese Spicer, Duncan McGuire.
Columbus Crew (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: Patrick Schulte.
Defenders: Max Arfsten, Malte Amundsen, Steven Moreira, Andres Herrera.
Midfielders: Sean Zawadski, Darlington Nagbe, Dylan Chambost.
Forwards: Lassi Lappalainen, Diego Rossi, Hugo Picard.
Bench: Evan Bush, Yehven Cheberko, Derrick Jones, Tristan Brown, Cesar Ruvalcaba, Amar Sejdic, Ibrahim Aliyu, Daniel Gazdag, Jacen Russell-Rowe.
Referees
Ref: Victor Rivas.
AR1: Ryan Graves.
AR2: Diego Blas.
4th: John Matto.
VAR: Jorge Gonzalez.
AVAR: Tom Supple.
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!