Last Wednesday, Orlando City SC comprehensively defeated Cavalry FC 0-3 in leg one of our 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup Round One tie. Now contesting leg two at Inter&Co Stadium, the Lions are coming off a frustrating 0-0 draw against CF Montréal in our 2024 MLS home opener on Saturday.
Considering the Canadian Premier League is only five seasons old, there was a huge gulf in quality between Cavalry FC and Orlando City SC at Starlight Stadium. In this return leg, Oscar Pareja will be demanding another professional performance to finish off the job and seal our passage through to the Round of 16 where Tigres UANL await – just as they did last year – in a much more difficult proposition.
Reflecting on game one in Langford, British Columbia, bleach blonde Duncan McGuire got the ball rolling on 21 minutes.
Prodding home a pin-point Martín Ojeda cross at Marco Carducci’s near post, McGuire timed his run to perfection.
For McGuire, it must’ve felt amazing scoring again, especially after the rigmarole of seeing his six-month loan move to Blackburn Rovers collapse.
Hopefully the first of many more goals for Orlando City SC this season, it was great to see McGuire knuckle down and get back to doing what he does best – rippling the opposition net.
Facundo Torres then doubled our advantage on 38 minutes.
Facing up William Akio on the right wing, he cut inside the South Sudan international before striking a fierce left-footed strike beyond Carducci.
With Cavalry FC having a mountain to climb, Orlando City SC‘s superior quality told at Starlight Stadium.
In the second half, City’s loyal band of traveling supporters celebrated one more goal.
It was that man Facundo Torres yet again who headed home the Lions’ third on 75 minutes.
Despite some rather comical Cavalry FC defending, the build-up to this goal was beautiful.
Starting the play within his own half, a determined Iván Angulo beat two Cavalry FC players before combining with Nicolás Lodeiro and Ramiro Enrique.
With Enrique reversing a smart pass to Angulo on the byline, the Colombian stood up a perfect cross for El Cuervo to duly head home.
A super unique away day that’ll live long in travelling supporters’ memories, it’s now time to professionally take care of business in leg two.
Barring a miracle, Cavalry FC are effectively out of the tie after leg one.
So, this Inter&Co Stadium fixture is something of a free hit for Tommy Wheeldon Jr.’s side.
That said, Orlando City SC will be looking to strike early to ward off any chance of an unlikely comeback.
With our 2024 campaign in its embryonic stages, Oscar Pareja will be praying his entire squad gets through this second 90+ minutes unscathed.
Injuries and suspensions
Heading into this game, Oscar Pareja has the luxury of picking from a fully fit roster.
Reassuringly, new boy Luis Muriel is now available for selection after his P-1 Visa was finally approved on Monday.
Tommy Wheeldon Jr. has a fully fit Cavalry FC roster too.
After all, Cavalry FC won’t kick off the new Canadian Premier League season until April 13 when they visit Ontario to take on arch-nemesis Forge FC in their 2024 opener.
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Orlando City SC vs Cavalry FC
2023/24 stats
- It was 0-3 to Orlando the last time the sides met (February 2024)
- Prior to this two-legged tie, Orlando have won 19 and lost 14 knockout fixtures since 2015*†
- Prior to this two-legged tie, both sides have scored in 5 of Orlando’s last 10 knockout fixtures**
- Prior to this two-legged tie, Orlando have only scored 3 goals in their last 6 knockout fixtures**
- Cavalry FC went 16-7-5 in their 2023 Canadian Premier League regular season, losing the fewest games (5) of all 8 teams
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Key
* Our two victories (1-0 and 0-1) over Nashville SC in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs Best-of-3 series have been counted as one win
† Our two-legged defeat to Tigres UANL (0-0 and 1-1) in the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 has been counted as one loss
** Excludes game one of our 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs Best-of-3 series against Nashville SC
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Watching the game
Orlando City SC vs Cavalry FC will be streamed live on the CONCACAF YouTube channel at 23:00 (GMT) on Tuesday, February 27.
Subscribe (for free) now by clicking here.
Click here for the Orlando City SC vs Cavalry FC YouTube live stream link.
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