It wasn’t a pretty game and the officiating could have been costly to Orlando City, but the Lions (15-11-7, 52 points) managed to earn a 3-1 road win over FC Cincinnati (17-11-5, 56 points) at TQL Stadium. Ramiro Enrique scored a goal in each half, had one chalked off for a controversial foul on a corner kick, and assisted on another by Ivan Angulo. Orlando finished with a 2024 MLS road record of 8-6-3 and improved to 3-1-2 in road matches at Cincinnati.

If New York City does not beat Nashville on Sunday, Orlando City would clinch the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference standings and home field for the first-round, best-of-three series.

“I thought we won a very important game against a very good rival who complicated things in the first half for us,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “Second half, I think we settled and we found the answers that we wanted to have earlier in the first half, and we couldn’t do it. But the second half, we controlled the game. We came back in the ways that we wanted in that control and we had options. And happy for our fans, happy for our club, and we’ll keep pushing. It’s a very, very good match for us.”

Pareja’s lineup included only one change from the starting XI Wednesday against the Philadelphia Union. Pedro Gallese started in goal behind a back line of Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Kyle Smith. Cesar Araujo and Wilder Cartagena started in central midfield behind an attacking line of Angulo, Luis Muriel, and Facundo Torres with Enrique up top. Martin Ojeda made way in the starting lineup for Muriel.

Referee Filip Dujic was a talking point in the first half, and it’s never good for a referee to be a talking point. However, before that happened, Cincinnati started the game on the front foot and earned a couple of early corners but could do nothing with them.

The Lions opened the scoring against the run of play in the 10th minute. Enrique sent the ball wide to Smith on the right. The Cincinnati native sent in a beautiful curling cross as a return pass and Enrique blazed past the defense and directed it in with his foot to make it 1-0. It was Orlando’s 56th goal of the season, setting a new club record in the MLS era, and Enrique’s seventh of the regular season. Orlando set the old record of 55 goals in 2016 and equaled that mark last season.

Ramiro Enrique provides the opener for Orlando! ⚡

📺 #MLSSeasonPass: https://t.co/beUMO9rgkT pic.twitter.com/pxPTgVmi7r

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 5, 2024

“I forget who passed me the ball…but I knew I had the positioning on my defender, so I took a big first touch, and then I saw Ramiro in a perfect spot between the two center backs,” said Smith, who had a lot of friends and family in attendance. “And I just whipped in a ball, and he had a good finish.”

The hosts kept coming and were creating chances, with Kevin Kelsy firing wide of the left post on a spinning effort in the 17th minute. Three minutes later, Acosta sent a curling free kick wide of the right post after Cartagena was booked for a challenge just outside the area. Cartagena will miss the season finale due to yellow card accumulation. It was a foul, but the card seemed a bit harsh, especially given some of the fouls Dujic let go later.

Smith should have done better with a shot on a layoff from Torres in the 24th minute, sending his effort well off target. The flag for offside came up for Torres in the buildup after the shot, but the replay clearly showed the Uruguayan was onside on the play, meaning the goal would have counted had Smith scored.

Moments later, Kelsy fouled Jansson in a manner that should have drawn a yellow card but didn’t. Kelsy ended up committing five first-half fouls, getting booked for the third of those, but three of his fouls could have (and should have) been punished with a booking.

Angulo was pulled back in his own half without a call, allowing Cincinnati to take possession and attack. Schlegel then did the same just outside his box and Dujic gave the free kick. Acosta sent the layoff from Yamil Asad well over the bar and into the crowd.

Pavel Bucha was left alone on a good attacking movement by Cincinnati in the 33rd minute but scuffed his shot and it dribbled wide of the right post. After Kelsy was booked for a foul on Araujo, Bucha sent a volley attempt well over the bar in the 39th minute.

Orlando nearly scored a minute later, taking a free kick quickly at midfield. It was sent over the defense to Enrique, who fired a shot on a bouncing ball. Celentano made a huge save to keep it out, giving up a corner.

The Lions scored on the ensuing corner kick as Enrique blasted in Torres’ service to the back post. Dujic called a foul on Muriel after contact with Celentano. However, Celentano had charged off his line into a barely moving Muriel, who was tracking the cross. It was a harsh call and kept the score at 1-0 in the 41st minute.

Cincinnati took advantage of the break moments later. Acosta received a pass just outside the area in the 45th minute. Torres sagged off of him and Araujo had another man to mark, so Acosta blasted a shot through traffic that beat Gallese, tying the score just before the break.

ACOSTAAAA 🤩

Lucho levels it with his 14th goal and 33rd goal contribution of the season! pic.twitter.com/zpjF93bi6i

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 6, 2024

After Kelsy committed yet another foul, the halftime whistle sent the teams to the locker room, with plenty of animosity being shown between the two benches as the teams went off.

“I thought it was reactions for both benches and the people there — the personnel and the coaches. And I thought both sides were arguing things to the referees,” Pareja said about the kerfuffle. “From our side, it was just asking them to control the yellow cards. We wanted to keep the players in the pitch. And this is football, and we want to accept that this is a contact game, and sometimes things happen, but we cannot just be yellow carding all the time, but that was with all the respect that we have for referees too. Just a comment. From (Cincinnati’s) side, I don’t know what were they arguing. And I have a ton of respect for Pat (Noonan), and what he has done for this club is incredible. The career that he has done so far, and what he has done for Cincinnati, I respect him a lot and his coaches, too.”

With Orlando’s approach to the first half, it’s no surprise that Cincinnati finished with the edge in possession (57.8%-42.2%), shots (8-2), corners (2-1), and passing accuracy (83.2%-80.8%). Orlando City put more shots on target (2-1).

Pat Noonan subbed Kelsy off at halftime, sending on Yuya Kubo and getting away with the incessant fouling from his starting striker throughout the first half. Noonan brought on high-scoring wingback Luca Orellano on 10 minutes after the restart, getting more attacking players onto the pitch.

The Lions were a bit more organized in the second half, despite giving up more shots and shots on target. They mostly kept Cincinnati outside the area and in wider spaces for those shots.

Orlando had the first half-chance of the second half, with Smith whipping in a good ball for Enrique in the 59th minute. Miles Robinson got a touch to it and nearly sent it into his own net but it trickled wide of the left post. Orlando took the corner short, Muriel underhit a backheel pass, and the hosts broke in transition. Smith hustled back to break up the counterattack.

The hosts then won a couple of corner kicks but Jansson headed the first one clear of danger and Orellano put the second one into the outside netting trying for an Olimpico.

Orlando City doubled its lead in the 66th minute. Smith and Enrique were again involved, with the former sending in another good cross to the striker, who had his back to goal. Rather than trying to turn, Enrique laid the ball off to Angulo, who went for goal. Celentano made a mess of the shot and it squirted through him and in to make it 2-0 on Angulo’s fifth goal of the season.

Ivan Angulo takes the Orlando lead back! ☝️ pic.twitter.com/QYmyGDodfQ

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 6, 2024

The Lions created some havoc with their press in the second half and it nearly paid off nicely in the 69th minute. Enrique got to a loose ball on the right side of the box and blasted a shot, however, he missed the net to the right.

Orlando survived a couple of turnovers by Angulo in the defensive end over the next couple of minutes, with Gallese making a save on Orellano’s attempt in the 71st minute. A minute after that, Orlando pulled ahead by two.

Angulo was first to a poor back pass from Orellano toward Celentano, touching the ball to his right for Enrique to tap home in the 72nd minute. It was Enrique’s second of the night and eighth of the season, with the foul called on Muriel preventing a hat trick, and the pass gave Angulo his 10th assist of the regular season.

Ramiro Enrique e Iván Angulo no desaprovechan y amplían la ventaja de Orlando. pic.twitter.com/ucujbQGyLj

— MLS Español (@MLSes) October 6, 2024

As Cincinnati poured numbers into the attack, Gallese was called into action more often down the stretch. He did well to track a deflected Kubo shot in the 74th minute. Just seconds later, Gallese made two of his best stops of the night to deny Asad and Orellano.

Orlando’s tired legs were starting to show late in the team’s third match in eight days. Pareja’s only substitution to this point was sending on Nico Lodeiro for Muriel in the 73rd minute. Acosta worked his way past five or six defenders in the 76th minute as several Lions had a clear chance to dispossess the Cincinnati talisman, but none could take it away. Once he found some space, Acosta shot wid of the right post.

Torres nearly put the game completely to bed in the 80th minute when he ran onto a pass that Lodeiro headed in behind on the right. Torres fired, but Celentano made a good save and didn’t allow a rebound.

Orellano tried his luck from extreme distance in the 86th minute, but Gallese was there to catch it. Three minutes later, Kubo got free of late substitute Michael Halliday but he headed off target.

Orlando City did well to waste the six minutes of stoppage time indicated but Dujic made one more curious call late. Lodeiro went to ground and stacked his legs on the ground in what appeared to be a clean and excellent tackle. Dujic awarded a free kick instead and Jansson was booked for dissent. Orellano sent the free kick high and wide, and that was the final play of the match.

FC Cincinnati finished with the advantage in possession (55.7%-44.3%), shots (20-6), shots on target (6-5), and passing accuracy (84.4%-80.8%). Each team earned five corners on the night.

“I thought we played well,” Smith said. “We had to absorb a lot of their pressure in the first half. They were kind of putting it on us with the pressure. But I thought in the second half we came out and we did well keeping the ball, and then we took advantage of our opportunities and scored three goals and held them to one. So, it was a big one for us.”

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The Lions will have next weekend off and will conclude the regular season at home on Saturday, Oct. 19 against Atlanta United.

Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (14-11-7, 49 points) and FC Cincinnati (17-10-5, 56 points) at TQL Stadium (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). It’s the second of the two scheduled meetings between the teams this season.

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

History

Orlando City leads the all-time series, 4-3-3, with a 2-1-2 mark on the road. The teams last met on May 4 in Orlando with FC Cincinnati claiming a 1-0 road win on a first-minute goal by Luciano 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 last meeting in southwest Ohio took place 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 the most recent meeting in Central Florida.

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 in the 42nd minute.

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 goal in the 13th minute. 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 2-1 home win over the Philadelphia Union, building a two-goal lead in the second half and then hanging on after the Union got back in the game. Luis Muriel set up both goals and has been in a great run of form since MLS play restarted after the Leagues Cup break. Orlando City has won five out of seven matches since the restart, however, both losses were away from home. City is 7-6-3 on the road in 2024, so a win or draw would secure a winning away record for the regular season.

FC Cincinnati lost Wednesday night on the road against New York City FC at…ahem…Red Bull Arena and is 0-2-1 in its last three matches. However, the two losses were each by one goal to current playoff sides NYCFC and LAFC. Last year’s Supporters’ Shield winners are better on the road this season (10-4-2) than at home (7-6-3), but they’re always formidable.

Acosta paces tonight’s hosts with an incredible 32 goal contributions on 13 goals and 19 assists. The club has scored 55 times in 2024, so he’s been involved in 58% of Cincinnati’s goals, meaning the key to shutting down FCC is to stop Acosta, but that’s much easier said than done. Meanwhile, Kubo has 10 goals and two assists and Luca Orellano has 10 goals and seven assists, so Cincy has a trio of double-digit goal scorers, making it difficult to stop everyone. Nevertheless, that’s what the Lions must try to do on the road.

“It’s a game where two rivals at this stage of the season know about each other, but I think momentum is different,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “Our preparation is just on the present and it’s trying to be healthy in the next two days. Prepare the most we can in this short time and the proximity of the games. Try to keep the team with this momentum. We don’t want to get distracted by other things. We have an objective to accomplish now, which is to qualify the highest we can in the standings, and we will fight for that.”

The Lions will be without Duncan McGuire (yellow card suspension), Mason Stajduhar (lower leg), and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson (lower leg), while David Brekalo (thigh) has been upgraded to questionable. Cincinnati will be without Chidozie Awaziem (leg), Isaiah Foster (knee), Nick Hagglund (leg), Alec Kann (hip), Matt Miazga (knee), and Sergio Santos (concussion protocol).

Match Content

• Our Intelligence Report provides more info about FC Cincinnati from Jacob Clary of Cincinnati Soccer Talk.
• The most recent episode of The Mane Land PawedCast features our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match.

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Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Kyle Smith.

Defensive Midfielders: Cesar Araujo, Wilder Cartagena.

Attacking Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Luis Muriel, Facundo Torres.

Forward: Ramiro Enrique.

Bench: Javier Otero, Luca Petrasso, Michael Halliday, Heine Bruseth, Felipe, Nico Lodeiro, Yutaro Tsukada, Martin Ojeda, Jack Lynn.

FC Cincinnati (3-4-1-2)

Goalkeeper: Roman Celentano.

Defenders: Teenage Hadebe, Miles Robinson, Alvas Powell.

Midfielders/wingbacks: Yamil Asad, Obinna Nwobodo, Pavel Bucha, DeAndre Yedlin.

Attacking Midfielder: Luciano Acosta.

Forwards: Nico Gioacchini, Kevin Kelsy.

Bench: Kipp Keller, Luca Orellano, Ian Murphy, Bret Halsy, Evan Louro, Malik Pinto, Gerardo Valenzuela, Corey Baird, Yuya Kubo.

Referees

REF: Filip Dujic.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Brian Dunn.
4TH: Calin Radosav.
VAR: Chris Penso.
AVAR: Joshua Patlak.

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How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: TQL Stadium — Cincinnati, OH.

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

Radio: Real Radio 104.1 FM (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).

Twitter: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow along at @TheManeLand, as well as Orlando City’s official Twitter feed (@OrlandoCitySC).

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Enjoy the match. Go City!

Orlando City did a good job of taking care of business during its midweek victory over the Philadelphia Union, but the job isn’t done yet. The Lions need to keep picking up victories if they want to stay ahead of the chasing pack and keep hold of fourth place and the home field advantage during the first round of the playoffs that comes with it. That won’t be easy though, as OCSC will travel Saturday to face FC Cincinnati, the team sitting directly above it in the standings. The Lions can’t catch Cincy but they’ll want to show they can play with the top teams in the conference.

A match against FCC means I spoke to Jacob Clary, one of the writers over at the always excellent Cincinnati Soccer Talk. He was kind enough to provide some great information on The Knifey Lions, and helped bring us up to speed on how Cincy has fared since these two teams last met.

Cincinnati has played some tough teams since coming back from Leagues Cup and a record of 2-3-2 reflects that. Is there any concern over the slight dip in results, or is there an understanding that some of that simply may be down to an unforgiving part of the schedule?

Jacob Clary: There is definitely a pretty big dip in form for the team lately. The team has not been performing as well lately as fans have hoped, losing their last two games and just not playing to the team’s standards. The offense is the biggest part of it, but the defense is also not the greatest due to the multitude of injuries it has sustained. FCC is struggling to get a lot of chances going forward, and it doesn’t have a clear no. 1 striker. Because of that, if Lucho Acosta and Luca Orellano are not performing, FCC will find it difficult to score.

Luciano Acosta is obviously the straw that stirs FCC’s drink, but who are some players that maybe don’t get the same amount of attention but have still been key contributors for the team?

JC: The biggest offensive contributor aside from Acosta is Orellano. He has played in many different spots for FCC this season, but he most often finds himself at left wingback in a 5-3-2. This role has seen him more often go forward and attack rather than go back and defend, which can hamstring the team, but he is wonderfully composed when he has the ball at his feet. If Orlando gives up any free kicks at the top of the box to FCC, be fearful if Orellano is set to take it, because he has scored multiple times this season from there. He has also chipped the keeper from extremely long-range. Needless to say, Orellano is able to take some of the load from Acosta when needed.

Yuya Kubo is also a contributor on the offensive attack that can at times look like a great player. He is a pretty good finisher, so if he gets a chance, I think the ball will finish in the back of the net.

Talk to me about the postseason expectations for this team. What do you believe the bare minimum goal should be, and how far does Cincinnati need to go in order to consider the season a success?

JC: The postseason expectations for this team are at the moment slightly muted due to the form of the team and the two teams leading the charge in the Eastern Conference, Inter Miami and the Columbus Crew. Miami destroyed FCC a few matches ago without Lionel Messi and Columbus is one of the teams in the best form and knows how to win those critical matches. I think FCC should be expected to at least advance on from the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs, and depending on who they play following that round, it could be difficult for the team to advance unless it gets red hot in the next couple matches.

Will any players be unavailable due to injuries, suspensions, etc.? What is your projected starting XI and score prediction?

JC: The current starting 11 for FCC is pretty fluid because of some of the injuries at the center back position and also trying to work guys into full fitness after signing them in the summer window. Teenage Hadebe played the first 45 minutes of Wednesday’s match, so I might expect to see him play alongside Ian Murphy and Miles Robinson in the CB trio. Orellano, LWB, and former USMNT player DeAndre Yedlin, RWB, will most likely finish the back line unless Head Coach Pat Noonan decides to rest any players. The midfield trio for the significant amount of matches this season has been defensive midfielder Obinna Nwobodo, midfielder Pavel Bucha, and 2023 MLS MVP Acosta. Up top at striker has been in flux ever since the team lost Brandon Vazquez and Aaron Boupendza left the team. Nico Gioacchini and Kevin Kelsy have split minutes, with Kubo and Sergio Santos getting the most play in terms of real contribution. I would say we could see Santos and Kubo get the start against Orlando.

Lineup: Roman Celentano; Luca Orellano, Teenage Hadebe, Ian Murphy, Miles Robinson, DeAndre Yedlin; Obinna Nwobodo, Pavel Bucha, Luciano Acosta; Sergio Santos, Yuya Kubo.

FCC really hasn’t been in good form lately, leading to the muted hope for postseason performance, so if the team wants to try to get going, it will need to start against Orlando. I wouldn’t be surprised if this game went either way, so I’ll say a 2-2 draw, with FCC getting a goal before stoppage time to get a point.

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Thank you to Jacob for the excellent information on FC Cincinnati. Vamos Orlando!