After a rousing 2-1 win against Inter Miami in the #MLSisBack Tournament, Orlando City SC face their next Group A game against 2015 MLS expansion rivals New York City FC.
A familiar foe to Lions supporters everywhere, The Pigeons hit the turf at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex after losing 0-1 against Philadelphia Union in their first group game.
Now managed by former Celtic boss Ronny Deila, New York City FC entered the #MLSisBack Tournament under the cloud of two losses prior to the regular season postponement.
Losing 1-0 to both Columbus Crew and Toronto FC, and now Philadelphia Union too, it hasn’t been the ideal start for the Norwegian head coach.
In truth, Deila always had a tough act to follow the popular Domènec Torrent.
Reaching the MLS Cup Playoffs in four of their five complete Major League Soccer campaigns so far, NYCFC has succeeded where Orlando City SC has failed.
While the Lions have moved into their purpose-built Exploria Stadium home since 2015, New York City FC has managed to make their small baseball field advantage count at Yankee Stadium.
With Eastern Conference standings forgotten for now, all eyes are on picking up three points towards knockout stage progression.
After Orlando City SC dumped NYCFC out of the 2019 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarter-final, the side from The Bronx will be plotting revenge here.
But following the high of bragging rights over new Florida rivals Inter Miami, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC have early momentum in Group A.
And remember, Group A is now a four-team group after the July 9 announcements of Nashville SC withdrawing from the #MLSisBack Tournament and Chicago Fire switching to Group B in place of the absent FC Dallas.
This means Orlando City SC will now face Philadelphia Union on July 20 and not Nashville SC as originally scheduled.
The top two teams in Group A will advance to the knockout stage. Results of the third-placed teams of Groups A to F will be compared against each other. The top four teams of this ranking will also advance to the Round-of-16.
New York City FC vs Orlando City SC – 2015/19 head-to-head stats
Almost a year exactly since the club’s last meeting, Orlando City SC supporters won’t be forgetting that game in a hurry.
Meeting at Exploria Stadium in the quarter-final stage of the 2019 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the 90 and 30 extra-time minutes were more gutsy than spectacular.
However, what followed was amazing from a City perspective. With the game tied 1-1 after extra-time, a place in the semi-finals went to penalties at the south end of Exploria Stadium.
The famous Running of The Wall ensued with Orlando City SC supporters relocating on mass to roar on Adam Grinwis in goal.
With nine of 12 penalty kicks converted by either side, Adam Grinwis crucially saved Maxime Chanot’s penalty to set up a semi-final with rivals Atlanta United.
Orlando City SC 1 New York City FC 1 (A.E.T.) (5-4 on penalties) – Highlights – July 10, 2019 (Credit: Major League Soccer)
Back over in league play, no Major League Soccer side has faced Orlando City SC more times than 2015 expansion rivals New York City FC.
With FOURTEEN head-to-heads taking place in MLS so far, everything is deadlocked to date.
Perhaps Orlando City SC‘s true league rival given the history and competitiveness of the fixture, that aforementioned cup triumph edges the Lions ahead in all major competitions.
New York City FC 1 Orlando City SC 1 – Highlights – April 27, 2019 (Credit: New York City FC)
Some cause for concern lay in the fact that New York City FC are undefeated against Orlando City SC in the last SIX MLS head-to-heads.
Despite both clubs swapping head coaches in that time, NYCFC has gotten the better of the Lions way too often.
Orlando City SC‘s last MLS victory over The Pigeons came back in April 2017 when a Cyle Larin brace earned City a 1-2 victory at Yankee Stadium.
New York City FC form
New York City FC supporters must be hugely frustrated right now after The Pigeons lost their first three games of 2020, 1-0 / 0-1.
All under new head coach Ronny Deila’s watch, the Norwegian oversaw 1-0 losses at Columbus Crew and Toronto FC before the 0-1 #MLSisBack Group A defeat to Philadelphia Union.
With star striker Héber still awaiting his first MLS goal of 2020, NYCFC need to get him firing if they are to stand any chance of progressing from Group A.
To make matters worse for The Bronx side, NYCFC also lost their final two games of 2019 by a one-goal margin too.
Losing 1-2 at Philadelphia Union on October 6, 2019, The Pigeons were then dumped out of the MLS Cup Playoffs by Toronto FC at Citi Field by a 1-2 scoreline.
Orlando City SC form
Disciplined, organised and tough to beat. How often have Oscar Pareja‘s sides been described just like this?
On the early evidence of three games so far this year, Pareja’s Orlando City SC has been exactly that.
Riding our luck at times in the 2-1 victory over Inter Miami, the Lions gave very little away in the first halves of all three 2020 fixtures so far.
Drawing 0-0 at half-time in our games against Real Salt Lake, Colorado Rapids and Inter Miami, this tells you all you need to know about keeping things tight early on.
Orlando City SC 2 Inter Miami 1 – Highlights – July 8, 2020 (Credit:
Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami)
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Don’t forget, New York City FC vs Orlando City SC will be shown LIVE on FreeSports in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
In the UK, it will kick-off just after 01:00 (GMT) and not just after 03:30 (GMT) as originally scheduled.
You can view our TV Fixture Tracker by clicking here.
NEW #OrlandoCityUK blog | After the #MLSisBack Group A schedule changes, @FreeSports_TV are showing LIVE coverage of:@OrlandoCitySC 🆚 @NYCFC @OrlandoCitySC 🆚 @PhilaUnion
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READ 📕: https://t.co/Q3vaZm4fVp#OCTwitter #OrlandoCity #MLSUK pic.twitter.com/BPtf5tePCG
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) July 11, 2020