Defeating one bogey opponent – Nashville SC (0-1) – in another statement road win last night, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC now face another – New England Revolution – in our final home fixture of the 2023 MLS regular season. Just our second win over the Music City side in nine league meetings, yesterday’s victory means City are now the outright best team on their travels in MLS. Indeed, we’ve earned eight wins and four draws (28 points) across 16 away fixtures this season – a mightily impressive tally that is just one point fewer than the 29 points we’ve collected at Exploria Stadium.
Also conceding the joint second fewest amount of goals (37) in the Eastern Conference, the Lions are full of hope, optimism, and belief ahead of the post-season, and are hitting form at exactly the right time. While the wind is firmly in City’s sails, a top four seed isn’t clinched just yet. Despite Atlanta United losing 3-2 at Philadelphia Union, Columbus Crew’s late 1-2 victory at New England Revolution means we are still patiently waiting to lock in the hosting of two home games in the Round One Best-of-3 series of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs.
How can Orlando City SC clinch a top four seed in the Eastern Conference – and subsequent 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup qualification – on Saturday?
- If Orlando City SC win or draw against New England Revolution, or
- If Columbus Crew lose at Atlanta United
How can Orlando City SC clinch a top two seed in the Eastern Conference on Saturday?
- If Orlando City SC win against New England Revolution, AND
- Philadelphia Union lose or draw against Nashville SC
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Right now, the Lions remain second in the Eastern Conference on 57 points with just two MLS regular season fixtures remaining
City are currently just three points above third-placed Philadelphia Union and four points above fourth-placed Columbus Crew as they aim to lock down a coveted top four position.
Clinching a top four seeding doesn’t just mean City will host two home games in the newly revamped Round One Best-of-3 series of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs.
It also means we’ll qualify for the rebranded 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup and make our second successive tournament appearance following our 2023 debut.
With first-placed FC Cincinnati already qualified by virtue of winning the 2023 Supporters’ Shield, and third-placed Philadelphia Union already qualified by virtue of winning the 2023 Leagues Cup third-place play-off, this effectively leaves two 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup qualification spots open.
As for our weekend opponents New England Revolution, Revs currently sit fifth in the Eastern Conference on 52 points.
After suffering a 1-2 loss to Columbus Crew last night – their first home defeat of the MLS regular season – interim head coach Clint Peay and his side have slipped five points behind City, although they have played one game fewer (31) than the Lions (32).
Therefore, this weekend’s head-to-head at Exploria Stadium is massive in terms of helping determine the Eastern Conference classification – and top four seeds.
Last meeting each other back on June 17, Orlando City SC were comfortably beaten 3-1 in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
A game interrupted by several international call-ups and suspensions, Orlando City SC still fielded a competitive eleven – at least on paper.
With Mason Stajduhar, Michael Halliday, Rodrigo Schlegel, Felipe Martins, and Martín Ojeda all starting, Revs were already unbeaten at Gillette Stadium this year – an impressive record they held all season up until last night.
A tough proposition, New England Revolution were the protagonist all evening. They bossed possession 59% to 41% with captain Carles Gil a constant menace throughout.
In the end, Bruce Arena’s side had far more attacking ingenuity and quality in the final third.
With City steady in a scoreless first-half in Foxborough, the timing of Emmanuel Boateng’s 51st minute opener was brutal.
The Ghanaian connected perfectly after Mason Stajduhar parried away a dangerous Gustavo Bou cross.
The mountain became even bigger to climb by 69 minutes.
After more attacking impetus from Orlando City SC who chased an equaliser, Revs’ second goal came against the run of play.
Gustavo Bou unleashed a fierce left-footed strike outside the Lions’ 18-yard box.
Mason Stajduhar had no chance with the ball perfectly cannoned inside his side netting.
It’s true; Orlando City SC could’ve capitulated by this point.
However, they rallied and had a glimmer of hope when Duncan McGuire scored his fifth City goal on 80 minutes.
With the game stretched, Carles Gil extinguished any chance of a comeback by 85 minutes.
Making it 3-1 late on, the talented Spaniard has been a goalscoring nemesis to Orlando City SC over the years.
By extension, New England Revolution remain a real bogey side to the Lions.
This win ensured that Revs are now undefeated in the last 10 MLS head-to-heads with City last defeating Revs (6-1) way back in September 2017 – still our joint biggest MLS victory ever and the game where Kaká scored his final two Orlando City SC goals in purple.
Casting our minds back to last night though, Orlando City SC demonstrated superb defensive discipline and excellent game management to win 0-1 at a notoriously tough away venue – Nashville SC’s GEODIS Park.
Stopping nemesis Hany Mukhtar from scoring too, it was only Nashville SC’s third home defeat of the entire regular season.
Beyond the importance of putting three more points on the board, City’s shutout victory was significant on two fronts.
Our 0-1 win saw Pedro Gallese become the first goalkeeper in Orlando City SC history to produce 10 clean sheets in a single season.
Furthermore, Duncan McGuire‘s goal saw him become only the fifth player in MLS history to score at least 10 goals in the year they were first drafted out of college.
Speaking of Duncan McGuire‘s 44th minute game-winning strike, his double digit goal was surrounded by some controversy.
In the build-up, Rafael Santos got his head up before intelligently laying the ball out wide to Mauricio Pereyra who had Martín Ojeda sprinting down the wing to his left.
Ojeda then sent a wicked one-time cross into Nashville SC’s penalty area, a cross that Duncan McGuire dispatched off the post down to Joe Willis’ right.
Initially, replays confirmed that McGuire was offside at the time of Pereyra’s secondary assist into Martín Ojeda.
It was awfully close whether McGuire was behind the ball at the time of Ojeda’s decisive assist, however.
A play reviewed for possible offside, the goal fortunately stood and Orlando City SC took a vital one-goal lead into half-time – a score they held all the way through 11 minutes of agonising second-half stoppage time.
Martín Ojeda‘s assist was his tenth of his debut MLS season too – certainly not bad for a bit-part member of the squad, albeit a Designated Player.
As far as final footnotes go, Orlando City SC gladly welcomed Antônio Carlos back into the team at Nashville SC in a timely boost.
Injured since our 2023 Leagues Cup elimination at Inter Miami back on August 2, Antônio Carlos replaced Martín Ojeda on 85 minutes at GEODIS Park.
Elsewhere, Facundo Torres now sits four goals behind new MLS Golden Boot race leader Denis Bouanga who plundered a timely first-half hat-trick for Los Angeles FC against Minnesota United (5-1) last night.
Additionally, Oscar Pareja must choose whether to recall Dagur Dan Thórhallsson and Iván Angulo to the starting eleven against Revs.
With Kyle Smith and Martín Ojeda handed rare starts over the duo in midweek, you’d imagine that Papi will revert back to his familiar and strongest lineup at home.
Orlando City SC vs New England Revolution
Last 3 head-to-heads
- June 15, 2022: New England Revolution 1 Orlando City SC 1 (MLS)
- August 6, 2022: Orlando City SC 0 New England Revolution 3 (MLS)
- June 17, 2023: New England Revolution 3 Orlando City SC 1 (MLS)
2015/23 head-to-head stats
- It was 3-1 to Revs the last time the sides met (June 2023)
- Played Revs 17 times in MLS – Orlando 2, Draws 7, Revs 8
- Revs are unbeaten in the last 10 MLS head-to-heads – winning 6 of them
- Orlando are unbeaten in their last 11 home fixtures in MLS – winning 7 of them
- Tomás Chancalay has scored in 2 of Revs’ last 3 MLS fixtures
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Watching the game
Orlando City SC vs New England Revolution will be shown live on Apple TV at 00:30 (GMT) on Sunday, October 8.
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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