Embed from Getty Images
After the furore and injustice of a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat at Columbus Crew last weekend, Orlando City SC must clear their heads for a rare Thursday night test against New York City FC at Orlando City Stadium.
With Silviu Petrescu’s horror decision to hand Crew a penalty in the 88th minute begging belief, Wil Trapp’s last gasp wonder strike stole all three points in a loss that was incredibly difficult to swallow.
With Montreal Impact, New England Revolution, Philadelphia Union and Chicago Fire all dropping points last weekend, Orlando City SC really could’ve done with a victory to make up some ground in the Eastern Conference standings.
Despite top goalscorer Dom Dwyer not starting, it was very encouraging to see goals come from different sources in the form of Sacha Kljestan and Stéfano Pinho.
Crucially scoring the first goal for only the FOURTH time so far this season, the fact heads didn’t drop when regaining the lead just seven minutes after Gyasi Zardes equaliser spoke volumes about the work James O’Connor has put in on the training field.
In terms of the dreadful refereeing decision that turned the entire complexion of the game, I think you’ve already gathered my thoughts about this…
The morning after the night before… 😑
Still livid! 😡 My take on THAT penalty decision in @ColumbusCrewSC vs @OrlandoCitySC! 🏊♂️
The officials should hang their heads in shame… 🙈#CLBvORL #OCSC #MLS pic.twitter.com/ZPNJUzrHzs
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) July 22, 2018
Now to draw a line under that devastating result, it’s time to face New York City FC for the third and final time this season.
This time however, NYCFC won’t be managed by Patrick Vieira but rather Domènec Torrent with the Spaniard replacing the Frenchman at the helm of the Yankee Stadium-based club back on June 11th.
With Torrent winning four games and losing just a single fixture since taking over last month, New York City FC are very much in-form as they aim to hunt down Atlanta United who they trail by just four points.
2015/18 head-to-head stats
A comprehensive looking defeat on paper, the final outcome could’ve been so different for Orlando City SC had the fine margins fallen in our favour at Yankee Stadium in June.
Had Josué Colmán‘s first-half strike off the post and Sacha Kljestan‘s missed penalty been placed inches to the left, we could’ve been talking about a different game.
Unfortunately enough, NYCFC took their chances when they came with a brace from Ismael Tajouri-Shradi and a strike from Maxi Moralez completing a 3-0 victory for the home side.
New York City FC 3 Orlando City SC 0 – Highlights – June 2, 2018 (Credit: Major League Soccer)
A game series that Orlando City SC were initially dominating, New York City FC have come back fighting in games played over the past year or so.
While the Lions still marginally lead this game series with FIVE victories to NYCFC’s FOUR, the side from the Big Apple have won the last THREE head-to-heads.
We mentioned New York City FC have won the last three head-to-heads with Orlando City SC and to make matters worse, the Lions haven’t laid a glove on The Pigeons in that time!
Scoreless against NYCFC in all three of those fixtures, our 2015 MLS expansion rivals won those games 0-3, 2-0 and 3-0.
With Maxi Moralez scoring in both fixtures played so far this season, the diminutive Argentine has been influential this season, not to mention Paraguayan arrival Jesús Medina and of course David Villa.
New York City FC 2 Orlando City SC 0 – Highlights – June 2, 2018 (Credit: New York City FC)
Orlando City SC form
Orlando City SC have been involved in plenty of goal crazy Major League Soccer encounters since we entered the league in 2015.
With no sign of that changing following last weekend’s dramatic 3-2 loss at Columbus Crew, we have now witnessed OVER 2.5 GOALS being scored in THIRTEEN of the Lions’ last FOURTEEN league fixtures.
Columbus Crew 3 Orlando City SC 2 – Highlights – July 21, 2018 (Credit: SportUpdates)
New York City FC form
New York City FC have definitely been making home advantage count recently with three back-to-back clean sheet victories at Yankee Stadium.
With NYCFC stopper Sean Johnson not picking the ball out of his own net in 270 minutes of league play, he has great defensive cover in front of him in the form of Alexander Callens and one of Maxime Chanot or Sebastien Ibeagha.
Boasting the second best defensive record in the Eastern Conference with just 24 goals conceded so far this season, this is all part of the reason why The Pigeons sit second in the standings.