Eager to erase memories of last weekend’s 4-1 defeat to CF Montréal, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC now face fellow Canadians Toronto FC at BMO Field.
Desperately seeking some consistency right now, Orlando City SC‘s 2022 MLS campaign has looked convincing at times and not so convincing at times also.
Last Saturday at Stade Saputo, Wilfried Nancy’s CF Montréal were good value for their 4-1 victory.
Outshooting Orlando City SC 20 to 2 overall with 10 to 1 shots on target, it was grim watching for City supporters.
The 4-1 victory saw CF Montréal leapfrog the Lions into third place in the Eastern Conference. CFMTL have played a game less too.
One of Orlando City SC‘s main concerns right now is getting their dynamic-looking frontline to click more often.
When the team sheet came in at CF Montréal, City’s frontline appeared dangerous but in reality, Alexandre Pato and co looked isolated for large periods.
All in all, Orlando City SC just couldn’t get on the front foot all afternoon in Quebec and the timing of Djordje Mihailovic’s goal proved brutal.
Scoring just seven minutes into the second-half to make it 2-0, the Lions had a mountain to climb.
There was some hope when João Moutinho cut arrears to one with a well-placed header on 72 minutes.
However, this was to prove a false dawn with Joaquín Torres, a menace all afternoon, and Zachary Brault-Guillard running up the score in the final 10 minutes.
Now playing down Ontario Highway 401 at Toronto FC, The Reds have just endured a miserable run of four consecutive MLS losses.
With Bob Bradley placing his faith in youth at TFC this season, Canadian rivals Vancouver Whitecaps scored a stoppage time winner to beat The Reds 1-0 last weekend.
To make matters worse, it was a former Toronto FC player in Tosaint Ricketts too.
Toronto FC vs Orlando City SC – 2015/21 head-to-head stats
Last meeting in July 2021, Orlando City SC were far from their best at BMO Field but stole a road point north of the border.
After sub Jozy Altidore gave Toronto FC a 72nd minute lead, it was difficult to predict Orlando City SC equalising.
A game that TFC bossed in large spells, both Nani and Mauricio Pereyra struggled to pull the strings in a bitty affair.
Fortunately, Orlando City SC found a timely response.
On 73 minutes, Robin Jansson sent a searching ball upfield that Auro Jr. made a complete hash of.
With the pacy Benji Michel smartly getting in between Auro Jr.’s misplaced back pass and the onrushing Alex Bono, Bono crashed into Michel.
Despite TFC players pleading their innocence, referee Marcos de Oliveira consulted VAR before awarding Nani a 77th minute penalty kick.
The perfect route back into the game for a below-par Orlando City SC, Nani got lucky.
With Alex Bono getting a left hand to Nani‘s penalty kick, the Portuguese exerted just enough power to beat the TFC stopper.
Toronto FC 1 Orlando City SC 1 – Highlights – July 17, 2021 (Credit: Major League Soccer)
Toronto FC have dominated this Eastern Conference game series with EIGHT victories to Orlando City SC’s FOUR.
However, Orlando City SC have been turning the tide more recently.
After all, the Lions were unbeaten in three regular season meetings last season, earning TWO wins and ONE draw.
In the second 2021 meeting, Orlando City SC won a crazy game 2-3 thanks to a late 84th minute winner from Júnior Urso.
Home supporters were locked out of Exploria Stadium as it was officially a Toronto FC home game due to COVID-19. But this didn’t prevent a fast start with three goals in the opening 10 minutes.
After Tesho Akindele scored Orlando City SC‘s second fastest ever MLS goal (50 seconds), Nani doubled City’s lead by the eighth minute.
This was a handsome lead considering Toronto FC looked bright too. However, Ayo Akinola and Jonathan Osorio goals dragged Chris Armas’ side back into the game by half-time.
After half-time instructions from Oscar Pareja, Orlando City SC tightened up in the second-half and hung tough before Júnior Urso swept home a memorable game winner.
Cue the amazing scenes of Orlando City SC players chanting with the adoring Iron Lion Firm and Ruckus on a terrace high above West Church Street post-game.
Toronto FC 2 Orlando City SC 3 – Highlights – June 19, 2021 (Credit: Toronto FC)
A Canadian international himself, Tesho Akindele performed admirably against Toronto FC last season.
In 2021, the Calgary-born striker scored against TFC in two of the three head-to-heads, helping City to TWO victories.
Both strikes came within the opening 15 minutes too.
In the clubs’ first 2021 meeting, on May 22, Akindele’s 12th minute strike was enough to overcome The Reds 1-0.
Toronto FC form
Orlando City SC are meeting Toronto FC at a time where confidence is low in The Reds’ locker room.
Enduring a miserable run of FOUR consecutive MLS defeats, THREE of them have been by painful one-goal margins too.
On April 24, TFC lost a crazy game 5-4 at New York City FC.
This was before losing 1-2 and 2-0 to FC Cincinnati, and then 1-0 to Vancouver Whitecaps last weekend.
Bob Bradley’s side are a wounded animal right now and an early Orlando City SC goal at BMO Field would damage morale even further.
Vancouver Whitecaps 1 Toronto FC 0 – Highlights – May 8, 2022 (Credit: Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
Orlando City SC form
As we alluded to at the beginning of this blog, Orlando City SC have struggled to get their frontline firing consistently.
One positive however is that goals have been shared around the starting eleven this term.
So much so that THREE of the Lions’ last FIVE Major League Soccer goals have been scored by defenders.
Besides Ercan Kara and Facundo Torres‘ strikes against Columbus Crew and Charlotte FC, Rodrigo Schlegel, Ruan and João Moutinho have all found the net in recent gameweeks.
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Don’t forget, Toronto FC Orlando City SC will be shown LIVE on FreeSports at the early time of 20:05 (GMT) on Saturday evening.
You can view our TV Fixture Tracker by clicking here.
GOOD NEWS 🚨 | @TorontoFC 🆚 @OrlandoCitySC is LIVE on @FreeSports_TV on Saturday. 😄📺⚽👏🏽
VIEW TV TRACKER 📺: https://t.co/KV9JvpSaRW#OCTwitter #TORvORL #TFCLive #OrlandoCity #MLSUK pic.twitter.com/zZDwi95T2c
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) May 9, 2022
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