After defeating Columbus Crew 4-3 in a quite remarkable three-goal comeback victory, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC now visit Queens, not The Bronx, for a Wednesday night showdown with 2015 MLS expansion rivals New York City FC at Citi Field.
With City players and supporters running on adrenaline after Ramiro Enrique‘s buzzer beater against Crew, the Lions left everything on the field against quality opposition in undoubtedly one of the craziest and most exciting games of the entire Major League Soccer season so far – a game that’ll live long in the memory.
How can Orlando City SC clinch 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs qualification on Wednesday?
- If Orlando City SC win or draw at New York City FC, or
- If D.C. United lose or draw against Atlanta United, or
- If Charlotte FC lose against Philadelphia Union AND Chicago Fire lose or draw at Columbus Crew
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After Saturday’s unforgettable victory – our 100th within MLS – the Lions climbed to second in the Eastern Conference on 50 points with just six MLS regular season fixtures remaining
City are currently 10 points clear of seventh place and fifteen points clear of ninth place.
As for our midweek opponents NYCFC, The Pigeons sit twelfth in the Eastern Conference on 31 points.
Nick Cushing’s side are 19 points behind City having played one game more game (29) than the Lions (28).
Last meeting each other back on May 17, Orlando City SC painfully conceded an 89th minute Gabriel Segal equaliser to draw 1-1 with NYCFC at Exploria Stadium.
Coming into the game, NYCFC had lost their last four games across all competitions.
With the visitors’ confidence already brittle, Orlando City SC took advantage and scored as early as the seventh minute.
Indeed, Ercan Kara‘s towering header was just what the home crowd needed.
Powerfully swivelling his head to drive a fantastic Gastón González cross past Luis Barraza, it’s a shame we didn’t witness more goals from Kara like this.
Failing to play to the Austrian international’s strengths during his one-and-a-half seasons at Exploria Stadium, the 27-year-old is now a Samsunspor player – recently sealing a move to the Turkish Süper Lig on September 2.
Ercan Kara‘s third goal in four MLS appearances, Kara enjoyed this mini hot-streak earlier this season before Duncan McGuire snatched his starting berth in his meteoric rise.
Early on this season, Orlando City SC‘s problem was scoring enough goals and unfortunately, we never put our home game against NYCFC to bed.
With a one-goal lead always dangerous, the Lions flirted with a draw or worse all second-half long.
Palming away a fierce Gabriel Pereira strike from range on 75 minutes, Pedro Gallese was visibly frustrated, urging City’s outfield to put more pressure on the ball.
Intense New York City FC pressure eventually told on 89 minutes when rookie Gabriel Segal tied the game.
A sloppy and disappointingly all too easy equaliser to concede, Michael Halliday, Dagur Dan Thórhallsson, and Martín Ojeda were all caught watching Talles Magno slalom his way into City’s 18-yard box.
From here, the Brazilian easily cut the ball back to the unmarked Segal who notched his first ever MLS goal.
Casting our minds back to Saturday though, Orlando City SC‘s crazy 4-3 comeback win over Columbus Crew made the entire MLS community sit up and take notice.
Going back to the start, Alexandru Mățan and Cucho Hernández combined impressively to set up Julian Gressel’s 16th minute opener (0-1) – a goal the Crew deserved for their early first-half pressure.
Ramiro Enrique should’ve equalised 10 minutes later however.
After Iván Angulo sent a 90-degree pass right across Crew’s penalty area, Enrique – deputising for the injured Duncan McGuire – shot right at Patrick Schulte with the Crew goal at his mercy.
Trailing 0-1 at half-time, the Lions came out roaring in the second-half however, having the right attitude to equalise just three minutes after the restart.
Making his first City start in three months, Felipe Martins sent a well-measured scooped pass forward to Iván Angulo on the right wing.
From here, the Colombian sent another dangerous ball right across Crew’s penalty area for Martín Ojeda to slam home a timely equaliser (1-1).
In a chaotic start to the second-half, ebbing and flowing with end-to-end action, Columbus Crew ruthlessly retook the lead on 56 minutes however.
With Rodrigo Schlegel‘s positioning brutally punished by Diego Rossi, he slotted home a smart assist (1-2) from Yaw Yeboah who was a menace all night long.
Losing all defensive discipline, the game started to get away from Orlando City SC on 68 minutes.
With flying winger Alexandru Mățan catching City’s defence sleeping, the Romanian squared an unselfish pass to Cucho Hernández who simply tapped into an empty net (1-3).
Just as Exploria Stadium had that sinking feeling that it wasn’t going to be our night, there was hope.
Combining on the edge of Crew’s penalty area, Ramiro Enrique laid in Martín Ojeda who then laid in substitute Facundo Torres for a timely response.
Making it a one-goal game (2-3), El Cuervo’s strike tied him level with Chris Mueller – now joint-fifth in Orlando City SC‘s all-time MLS goalscoring stakes with 21 goals.
On 86 minutes, Exploria Stadium exploded back into rapturous applause following a Martín Ojeda free-kick.
After a misplaced Yevhen Cheberko header in Crew’s own penalty area, Ramiro Enrique quickly capitalised, swivelling to slam home a late equaliser (3-3) – a goal that sealed a mighty impressive two-goal comeback against quality opposition.
One heck of a game with two of the Eastern Conference’s top sides slugging it out in an enthralling encounter, it was an incredible spectacle for neutrals.
With Orlando City SC supporters’ struggling to catch their breath in a scintillating second-half, there were hearts in mouths as six minutes of stoppage time were called.
Even Oscar Pareja was shown a yellow card on 92 minutes!
This dramatic fixture really had it all.
At the end of a sensational game, there was one final triumphant stanza.
As the story goes, fortune fell the way of the good guys!
With Martín Ojeda standing over a 97th minute free-kick by the near touchline, a play that would definitely be the last of the game, “Tincho” sent in a dangerous cross that caused pure panic for the Crew.
As Exploria Stadium held its breath, Ramiro Enrique emerged on the edge of a gigantic penalty box scramble, coolly slotting home the glorious game winner (4-3) – past Patrick Schulte who was caught in no man’s land – to send The Wall absolutely bananas!
A buzzer beater scored beyond the allotted six minutes of stoppage time, referee Rubiel Vazquez’s full-time whistle sounded right after the City celebrations to cap an unbelievable night.
Living up to his fox in the box reputation, Enrique’s second goal of the night not only sealed a quite remarkable three-goal turnaround – completed in just 29 minutes – but ensured that Orlando City SC have now reached the milestone of 100 victories in Major League Soccer.
Talk about doing it in style!
A comeback for the ages, the Cardiac Cats were back, extending their home unbeaten streak in MLS to nine games.
Considering City had already come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Lower.com Field earlier this season, Columbus Crew must be sick of the sight of the Lions who made stoppage time count in both MLS head-to-heads this year.
Saturday’s unforgettable victory also helped Orlando City SC climb to the lofty heights of second in the East – eight points behind leaders FC Cincinnati.
Later that same evening, Colorado Rapids defeated New England Revolution 2-1 in a shock result – only Rapids’ fourth MLS victory all season long.
This favour ensured that Orlando City SC stay second in the East with Revs currently two points behind in third place.
As one final footnote prior to the NYCFC game, Orlando City SC will likely be without Antônio Carlos yet again.
Plagued by a right lower leg injury, the Brazilian has been out of action for over a month and last featured in our 3-1 defeat at Inter Miami in the 2023 Leagues Cup Round of 32.
A key cog in the City machine, Oscar Pareja will hope the 30-year-old still has a big role to play this season with the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs looming.
New York City FC vs Orlando City SC
Last 3 head-to-heads
- August 28, 2022: Orlando City SC 2 New York City FC 1 (MLS)
- October 2, 2022: New York City FC 2 Orlando City SC 1 (MLS)
- May 17, 2023, Orlando City SC 1 New York City FC 1 (MLS)
2015/23 head-to-head stats
- It was 1-1 the last time the sides met (May 2023)
- Played NYCFC 22 times in MLS – NYCFC 7, Draws 7, Orlando 8
- Orlando have taken the lead in 8 of the last 9 MLS head-to-heads
- NYCFC have failed to win 18 of their last 20 MLS fixtures
- Orlando are undefeated in their last 4 away fixtures in MLS – winning 3 of them
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Watching the game
New York City FC vs Orlando City SC will be shown live on Apple TV at 00:30 (GMT) on Thursday, September 21.
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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