After beating Chicago Fire 3-1, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC stay at Exploria Stadium for a July 4 Independence Day showdown with Toronto FC.
Recently relieving Bob Bradley of his duties on June 26, Terry Dunfield is now interim head coach of TFC who face a Lions side placed seventh in the Eastern Conference, currently just three points behind fourth-placed Columbus Crew.
Casting our minds back to Saturday, Orlando City SC faced Chicago Fire on a typically sweltering summer night in Central Florida.
With the mercury hitting 88°F by kick-off, this admittedly made for a sluggish and unspectacular first-half.
That said, Orlando City SC did limit Fire to few opportunities and looked the more likely side to open the scoring.
The crucial opener came on 38 minutes when Facundo Torres leapt highest to head home a well-placed Kyle Smith right wing cross.
His sixth MLS goal of 2023, this strike saw El Cuervo pull level with Duncan McGuire as Orlando City SC‘s joint top goalscorer.
A fitting contribution on his 50th MLS regular season start for the Lions, Torres was involved in another flashpoint right before half-time.
Facing up Carlos Terán inside Fire’s penalty area, the Colombian’s late lunge on the Uruguayan was clearly a foul.
As the play went to VAR, a penalty call seemed to be a mere formality – at a crucial stage.
Not for Nima Saghafi and PRO Referees though!
Ridiculously, they waved away the clear penalty with Carlos Terán breathing a huge sigh of relief.
An Orlando City SC penalty did come just 10 minutes into the second-half however.
With Robin Jansson flicking the ball up in Chicago Fire’s penalty area, it struck Fabian Herbers’ hand.
A fortuitous break for the home side, Facundo Torres emphatically slammed the resulting penalty past Chris Brady – right down the middle.
Ever dependable from 12 yards, this spot kick saw Torres become City’s top scorer this season with 7 MLS goals.
Coming just a minute after Kei Kamara thought he’d equalised with a bullet header, VAR ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the Sierra Leonean’s header had crossed Pedro Gallese‘s line.
Had it stood, this goal would’ve pulled Kamara level with Landon Donovan (145 goals), currently placed second in the all-time MLS top goalscorers’ list.
As has been customary at Exploria Stadium this season, Orlando City SC lazily handed the visitors a lifeline on 65 minutes.
With Kyle Smith clumsily felling Brian Gutiérrez in City’s penalty area, Xherdan Shaqiri converted Chicago Fire’s spot kick.
Making for YET ANOTHER nervy finish, City supporters had that all too familiar sinking feeling – as they did when blowing home leads against New York City FC, Atlanta United, and Philadelphia Union.
This was until 75 minutes when sub Ramiro Enrique slammed home a deadly accurate strike to relieve the tension.
With Enrique smart to realise he was initially offside before re-entering the play in the second phase, he cleverly allowed Iván Angulo to make the assist, crucially helping this buffer goal stand.
On 85 minutes, Orlando City SC‘s task became even easier when Chicago Fire’s Arnaud Souquet was sent off.
Receiving a second yellow and red for clumsily clipping Wilder Cartagena, this only helped City to close out the game.
From here, there was a heartfelt moment for Homegrown Player Favian Loyola who finally made his long awaited Major League Soccer debut.
Entering the field in stoppage time in place of Man of the Match Facundo Torres, 18-year-old Loyola will never forget this moment.
As for Tuesday’s opponents Toronto FC, The Reds lost 0-1 in stoppage time to Real Salt Lake on Saturday – on Canada Day no less.
With Anderson Julio’s 92nd minute strike ruining Terry Dunfield’s first game in charge, TFC still languish in fourteenth place.
Nothing but three more points will be the expectation for a confident Orlando City SC side in this one.
Orlando City SC vs Toronto FC
Last 3 head-to-heads
- July 17, 2021: Toronto FC 1 Orlando City SC 1 (MLS)
- May 14, 2022: Toronto FC 0 Orlando City SC 1 (MLS)
- September 17, 2022: Orlando City SC 4 Toronto FC 0 (MLS)
2015/22 head-to-head stats
- It was 4-0 to Orlando the last time the sides met (September 2022)
- Played TFC 17 times in MLS – Orlando 6, Draws 3, TFC 8
- Orlando have won 3 of the last 4 MLS head-to-heads
- Orlando are unbeaten in their last six home fixtures in MLS
- TFC have lost their last 3 consecutive MLS fixtures
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Watching the game
Orlando City SC vs Toronto FC will be shown live on Apple TV at 00:30 (GMT) on Wednesday, July 5.
Remember, UK supporters can watch all of Orlando City SC‘s 2023 MLS regular season fixtures by subscribing to Apple TV’s “MLS Season Pass”.
Subscribe now by clicking here.
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