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Going undefeated in three of our last four MLS fixtures, James O’Connor‘s Orlando City SC played out a keenly contested 1-1 draw at New York City FC last weekend.
It’s a sign of the improvement the Lions have made that some City supporters felt disappointed to depart Yankee Stadium with just a single point with all three within our grasp.
Despite New York City FC bossing proceedings in the way of chances, Orlando City SC had chances of their own to kill the game, none more so than Dom Dwyer who somehow missed an open net from six yards out in the 68th minute.
With the game tied 1-1 at the time, this was an agonising miss from Orlando City SC‘s perspective who in the first-half thought they had earned a 0-2 lead prior to VAR ruling out Tesho Akindele‘s 32nd minute strike following Nani‘s opener.
A game that ebbed and flowed on the small field at Yankee Stadium, there was no reply to Héber’s 51st minute equaliser as the Lions tied with NYCFC for the second and final time this season.
Now heading back to the familiar surroundings of Orlando City Stadium, Orlando City SC face a tough looking matchup against Toronto FC.
Coming into this fixture with two games in hand on Orlando City SC, the Canadian side sit fourth in the Eastern Conference but suffered their first home loss to Portland Timbers (1-2) last weekend.
Perhaps a good time to be facing Toronto FC, there is still no denying the quality Greg Vanney has at his disposal, particularly big name winter arrival Alejandro Pozuelo who has taken Major League Soccer by storm with four goals and five assists just five games into his TFC career.
With Orlando City SC looking far more competitive this year and having won our last two consecutive home games in Central Florida, this looks an intriguing matchup.
2015/18 head-to-head stats
Orlando City SC‘s 2-1 victory over Toronto FC in July 2018 was the diamond in the rough of a simply awful May to October period for the Lions.
James O’Connor‘s first win in charge of the Lions was also City’s sole victory in a desperate period stretching all the way from May 13 to October 17.
With Jason Kreis sacked and James O’Connor appointed in that timeframe, goals from Chris Schuler and Dom Dwyer against Toronto FC halted a devastating nine-game losing streak that quickly removed the Lions from any post-season discussions.
Orlando City SC 2 Toronto FC 1 – Highlights – July 14, 2018 (Credit: Toronto FC)
This particular MLS matchup is very much lopsided in Toronto FC’s favour ten head-to-heads deep.
Indeed, The Reds have won SEVEN of those games contested so far with Orlando City SC only earning their second three-point haul over TFC in the aforementioned 2-1 win of last season.
While Sebastian Giovinco – a constant menace to the Lions – is no longer around, another key threat and current player Jozy Altidore could be missing too in what would be a boost for City.
With the United States international suffering a hamstring injury late last month, Jordan Hamilton deputised for Altidore against Portland Timbers last weekend.
Two-one results are a reoccurring theme in fixtures involving Orlando City SC and Toronto FC from previous years.
Two-one was the full-time scoreline in THREE of the last FOUR league head-to-heads in May 2017 (2-1), May 2018 (2-1) and July 2018 (2-1).
With Toronto FC the runaway goalscoring leaders in the Eastern Conference right now with 19 strikes, Orlando City SC know where the goal is too with 13 of their own so this one could produce plenty of goalmouth action.
Toronto FC 2 Orlando City SC 1 – Highlights – May 18, 2018 (Credit: Major League Soccer)
Orlando City SC form
The recent goalscoring form and impact of Nani is something drawing league-wide attention right now.
When signed in February, some MLS analysts questioned whether the 32-year-old was the right kind of Designated Player signing to catapult Orlando City SC into the post-season reckoning.
On the evidence of nine games so far, the former Manchester United man is proving any doubters wrong having scored FIVE goals in his last FOUR consecutive Major League Soccer outings.
Not simply a goal threat, Nani visibly thrives as being Lions captain and has already taken full accountability over his and his team-mates’ performances.
With plenty of fight and determination left in him, lets hope his MLS career proves a roaring success with Orlando City SC.
Toronto FC form
A huge positive for Orlando City SC heading into this fixture is the fact Toronto FC have travelled poorly, both at the end of last season and the start of this.
Losing FIVE of their last SIX road fixtures in Major League Soccer, Greg Vanney’s side won 1-3 at Philadelphia Union in their season opener but lost 3-2 at Seattle Sounders on April 13.
Tagging on the end of last season, TFC suffered the other losses at Portland Timbers (2-0), New York Red Bulls (2-0), D.C. United (1-0) and Montreal Impact (2-0).
Seattle Sounders 3 Toronto FC 2 – Highlights – April 13, 2019 (Credit: Major League Soccer)
Don’t forget, Sky Sports Football are showing LIVE coverage of Orlando City SC versus Toronto FC this Saturday evening.
GOOD NEWS 🙌🏽 | @SkyFootball are showing LIVE coverage of @OrlandoCitySC vs @torontofc this Saturday at 2️⃣1️⃣:0️⃣0️⃣! 😁
🦁🆚🇨🇦
Our FOURTH televised game already this season! 👏🏽👏🏽
SKY SPORTS TV TRACKER 📺: https://t.co/KV9JvpAA0o#ORLvTOR #OCSC #MLS pic.twitter.com/ER7upIgAn7
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) April 30, 2019