Before the international break, Orlando City SC bounced back from a disappointing performance at Sporting Kansas City with a decisive 3-0 victory over Nashville SC at Inter&Co Stadium. Iván Angulo opened the scoring, followed by a Facundo Torres brace, as the Lions secured their fifth consecutive shutout against Nashville SC – a team we’ve quite simply owned in recent times!
Now, with New England Revolution visiting Central Florida, Orlando City SC face the second of three consecutive home fixtures. At this late stage of the MLS regular season, this stretch is crucial, and we need to capitalise on our home advantage to secure as many points as possible.
Right now, the Lions are quietly going under the radar when it comes to climbing the Eastern Conference standings. As MLSsoccer.com’s Matt Doyle wrote recently, “the Lions and Oscar Pareja are doing that thing again” and “no one above them seems interested in doing much about it”. Indeed, Orlando City SC are currently just one point below sixth, two points below fifth, and six points below fourth. “There’s a world here where Orlando somehow end up hosting in Round One”, Doyle continued with City “salvaging a season that felt rough for a while”.
As for Saturday’s opponents, New England Revolution, Caleb Porter’s side currently sit twelfth in the Eastern Conference (27 points), only a point above joint-bottom sides Chicago Fire and Nashville SC (26 points). It’s been a challenging first season in charge for Porter, with the team coming off a 2-2 draw against St. Louis CITY SC last weekend during the international break. Porter will serve a one-match touchline ban at Inter&Co Stadium this Saturday after he called referee Timothy Ford “a complete coward” for consulting VAR but failing to award a penalty to the Revs in last weekend’s game against St. Louis CITY SC.
With just over 10 minutes left, the ball clearly struck Kyle Hiebert’s right arm as he contested a header with Nacho Gil, but referee Ford deemed his arm to be in a “justifiable position”, and play continued with the match tied 2-2. For what it’s worth, Timothy Ford is the same referee who had a mare of a performance during Orlando City SC’s 2-3 win at Philadelphia Union back on May 11. With Revs having only won one of their last seven MLS matches (1-2-4), this game is another big opportunity for City to pick up all three points.
Last time out
Back on August 31, Orlando City SC bounced back from their 3-0 defeat at Sporting Kansas City with a dominant 3-0 victory over Nashville SC at Inter&Co Stadium.
Facundo Torres led the charge with two goals after Iván Angulo opened the scoring, propelling the Lions to their fifth straight shutout against Nashville SC.
Nashville SC’s struggles continued as they suffered their eighth consecutive MLS defeat and their second straight loss under new head coach B. J. Callaghan.
On the night, Oscar Pareja made two adjustments to the lineup from the previous week’s loss to Sporting Kansas City.
Rodrigo Schlegel and Rafael Santos came into the defence in place of David Brekalo and Kyle Smith.
Orlando City SC initially struggled, mirroring their lacklustre performance in Kansas City for the first 10 minutes.
Nashville SC capitalised on this slow start, creating early chances in the game.
Just three minutes in, a corner kick found Alex Muyl, who nearly scored but sent his header onto the roof of Pedro Gallese’s net.
It was a real heart in mouth moment for The Wall!
Four minutes later, Muyl had another golden opportunity after Rodrigo Schlegel was caught out of position, but Pedro Gallese made a crucial save to keep the score level.
The Lions’ first serious threat came on 10 minutes, with Martín Ojeda’s shot aimed directly at Nashville SC goalkeeper Joe Willis.
However, moments later, Nashville SC shot themselves in the foot when making a real mess of playing out from the back.
A poor clearance from Willis allowed Ojeda to intercept and set up Iván Angulo, who coolly slotted home to put Orlando City SC ahead (1-0).
A strike that came against the run of play, the goal was Angulo’s fourth of the MLS season and his second in three games against Nashville SC.
He just loves facing the Boys in Gold!
Just four minutes later, Orlando City SC doubled their lead.
Martín Ojeda, breaking free from Nashville SC’s press, passed to Facundo Torres, who combined with Dagur Dan Thórhallsson on the right flank.
Enjoying a telepathic relationship on the field, Thórhallsson’s cross found Torres at the back post, and Facu volleyed it in to double the Lions’ lead on 14 minutes (2-0).
A special shout-out goes to Martín Ojeda who made an absolute fool of Tah Anunga in the build-up!
Nonchalantly knocking the ball through the legs of the Cameroonian, this cheeky nutmeg drew ooh’s and ahh’s from our very own Miguel Gallardo who was back home to co-commentate on the game for Apple TV.
On 20 minutes, Nashville SC nearly responded when Sam Surridge’s header hit the post after a well-timed cross from Hany Mukhtar.
As the visitors continued to press, Orlando City SC’s defence continued to hold firm, thwarting several dangerous set-piece opportunities.
As half-time approached, Surridge came close again, shooting wide in the first minute of stoppage time.
The Lions maintained their 2-0 lead going into the break, despite Nashville SC having more total shots (4-7) and corners (1-3).
To protect our lead, Oscar Pareja subbed on David Brekalo for Rodrigo Schlegel, who was on a yellow card, at the start of the second half.
City nearly extended their lead early in the second-half when Facundo Torres attempted to chip Joe Willis on 51 minutes, but the keeper managed to deflect the shot onto the roof of the net.
Just minutes later, Ramiro Enrique’s soft shot nearly sneaked past Willis, only for the ball to strike the post.
The Lions continued to create chances, including a clever back-heeled attempt by David Brekalo following a corner on 61 minutes, but the ball stayed out.
The match became more of a midfield battle as both teams struggled to create clear opportunities.
Nashville SC relied on direct play, but Orlando City SC’s defence remained resolute.
Facundo Torres sealed the victory on 85 minutes, capitalising on a well-orchestrated move by substitutes Nicolás Lodeiro and Duncan McGuire.
Lodeiro cut inside from the right and found McGuire, who patiently set up Torres for a powerful finish under the crossbar, bringing El Cuervo’s MLS tally to 10 goals this season.
In the build-up, Big Dunc demonstrated great spatial awareness by passing up a shot and delivering a perfect pass to an unmarked Facu out wide.
Significantly, Facundo Torres’ brace saw him reach 52 goal contributions for the Lions, surpassing Nani (51) for the most in Orlando City SC history.
Facundo Torres has made a habit of finishing MLS regular seasons strong and we hope this trend continues in the remaining gameweeks.
As for Lodeiro’s assist, this not only marked his tenth of the MLS season.
It also meant that Nicolás Lodeiro became the 12th player in MLS history to total at least 90 career regular season assists.
McGuire almost added a fourth goal in stoppage time, but Joe Willis managed to stop his near-post effort.
Nashville SC’s Forster Ajago found the net deep into second-half stoppage time, but the goal was disallowed for offside, preserving the Lions’ shutout.
It was a great night at the office and a fantastic way to bounce back from our disappointing 3-0 defeat at Sporting Kansas City.
Significantly, Orlando City SC’s fifth consecutive MLS victory over Nashville SC tied the club record for consecutive wins against a single opponent, with all five matches impressively ending in clean sheets.
Last head-to-head
The last time that Orlando City SC faced New England Revolution in MLS, City achieved their very first victory at Gillette Stadium – 10 league seasons in!
Back on July 13, an impressive second-half performance saw the Lions overturn a 1-0 half-time deficit to win 1-3 in Foxborough.
In the first-half however, our performance really lacked energy, urgency, and tempo.
This was super disappointing, especially after finally sneaking above the red line following our 5-0 victory over D.C. United.
Not taking proper care of our passing or shooting, we struggled to get a genuine foothold on Gillette Stadium’s artificial turf.
And on 23 minutes, it was New England Revolution who seized the advantage.
When Esmir Bajraktarević stood up a cross to Orlando City SC’s back post, it reached DeJuan Jones who dangerously laid the ball back across City’s box from the byline.
Tapped home from point-blank range by the in-form Giacomo Vrioni, it was the Albanian’s sixth goal in six MLS games (1-0).
After a lethargic 40 minutes or so, Orlando City SC finally started to make some attacking inroads late in the first-half.
Leading by example, Iván Angulo shimmied past Ian Harkes and laid a dangerous cross into the Revs’ box on 42 minutes.
Dagur Dan Thórhallsson connected with it one-time but unfortunately, his low shot was fired straight into Aljaž Ivačič’s palms.
Then, on 44 minutes, it was that man Iván Angulo causing havoc down the left wing yet again.
Fearlessly striding past Brandon Bye and Dave Romney, the Colombian delivered another dangerous cross into the box, but Revs managed to head the ball away from danger.
Despite Orlando City SC outshooting Revs 2-7 by half-time, City only managed to fashion low-quality chances with just two struck on target.
Indeed, on 33 minutes, Ramiro Enrique fired a disappointing tame shot at Aljaž Ivačič following a dangerous-looking breakaway.
Needing a reaction early in the second-half, this fortunately came our way on 52 minutes.
Given his deep forays into Revs territory late in the first-half, it felt like a goal was bound to come through Iván Angulo.
It proved so when the Colombian executed a neat one-two with Ramiro Enrique in the Revs’ box.
With the ball fortuitously bouncing into the path of Facundo Torres, he was exactly the man you wanted the ball to reach.
Striking a left footed shot from the centre of the Revs’ box, the ball nestled into Aljaž Ivačič’s bottom left corner to level the game (1-1).
Whatever Oscar Pareja said at half-time clearly had the desired effect.
With the wind in Orlando City SC’s sails, we turned the entire game on its head just seven minutes later!
When Martín Ojeda sent a deep corner to New England Revolution’s back post, it was César Araújo who headed the ball back across the Revs’ box.
Flicked home by Ramiro Enrique, the Argentine capped his start with the go-ahead goal (1-2) – Orlando City SC’s sixth set-piece goal of the MLS season.
It was a real poacher’s effort!
Making the most of his start in Duncan McGuire’s absence, Enrique was subbed off by Oscar Pareja on 69 minutes, as was Martín Ojeda.
With Nicolás Lodeiro and Luis Muriel replacing the pair, the Lions certainly weren’t lacking in quality reinforcements from the bench.
Looking back, 1-2 could’ve become 1-3 on 62 minutes when César Araújo’s left footed shot sailed just over Aljaž Ivačič’s bar off another Martín Ojeda corner.
Then, just two minutes later, Jack Panayotou almost tied the game with a left footed shot that was fired just inches wide of Pedro Gallese’s right hand post.
However, Orlando City SC did grab a third on 81 minutes to cap a truly fantastic second-half performance.
It all started when Nicolás Lodeiro bravely stole in to win a 50-50 challenge with Mark-Anthony Kaye midway into the Revs’ half.
With the ball falling to Luis Muriel, he then faced up Dave Romney and DeJuan Jones before unselfishly laying the ball wide to Facundo Torres who was menacingly bearing down on goal.
Beautifully curling the ball one-time inside Ivačič’s far post, it was a superb finish from Facu who started finding form after his slow and sluggish start to 2024 (1-3).
With Orlando City SC managing the second-half excellently, an understrength New England Revolution seemed shellshocked and powerless to halt the tide.
On the night, Facu’s brace won him “Star of the Match” honours but Iván Angulo deserves a special mention for his relentless endeavours all night long.
After Oscar Pareja subbed Angulo off for David Brekalo on 84 minutes, City reverted to a back three to lock our two-goal lead down.
Easily navigating six minutes of second-half stoppage time, it was yet another important victory.
With no love lost between Oscar Pareja and Caleb Porter in years gone by, this comeback victory would’ve been particularly satisfying for Papi, even if he didn’t show it publicly.
What’s at stake this time?
Right now, Orlando City SC are still crucially in seventh place and the last automatic qualification spot for the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Reflecting on the last full round of MLS fixtures, it was a fantastic weekend for the Lions – not just because of our victory, but also due to favourable results elsewhere.
City are just four points above eighth-placed Toronto FC, but significantly, TFC have played one game more (28) than Orlando City SC (27).
With TFC losing 1-3 at home to D.C. United on August 31, Orlando City SC’s 3-0 win over Nashville SC saw us gain further ground on The Reds.
Importantly, we now trail sixth-placed Charlotte FC by just ONE point.
On August 31, Atlanta United achieved a 0-1 victory at regional rivals Charlotte FC to keep their own hopes of reaching the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs alive.
Coupled with Orlando City SC’s 3-0 win over Nashville SC, Atlanta United’s win at Bank of America Stadium saw City close the gap on Charlotte FC to just a single point.
With Charlotte FC set to visit Inter&Co Stadium on September 18, it’s crucial for us to remain within reach of surpassing Dean Smith’s team.
D.C. United is another team on the rise, with Troy Lesesne’s side overtaking Atlanta United into ninth place – and the final MLS Wild Card match spot – after a 1-2 win at Chicago Fire last weekend, marking their fourth victory in five MLS matches.
Considering just seven regular season fixtures remain, we must capitalise on our three-game home stretch to solidify our position above the red line.
Especially because the teams above us are faltering.
As MLSsoccer.com’s Matt Doyle pointed out, Orlando City SC are currently just one point below sixth, two points below fifth, and six points below fourth in the East.
Had it not been for Julian Hall’s 89th minute equaliser against Sporting Kansas City (1-1) last Saturday, our gap to fourth-placed New York Red Bulls would’ve only been five points.
But having only taken 16 points from a possible 39 at Inter&Co Stadium (4-4-5), we need to finish the season with a flourish at home to further reinforce our positive mindset.
And who knows? We might just make a late surge for a coveted top four position and secure home field advantage in the Round One Best-of-3 Series of the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs.
After all, Orlando City SC have won six of their last nine MLS fixtures and our “final seven games are relatively manageable” according to Matt Doyle.
Finishing in the top four seemed unthinkable all season, but now it’s back within reach, it’s no longer an impossible goal!
Reassuringly, since June 1, across all competitions, Facundo Torres (9 goals, 6 assists), Martín Ojeda (4 goals, 5 assists), and Ramiro Enrique (6 goals, 1 assist) have all been on fire.
With this South American trio playing with supreme confidence, hopefully their combined goal contributions can push us to the post-season promised land.
Lastly, following his brace against Nashville SC, Facundo Torres (41) is now only three goals away from tying Cyle Larin (44) as Orlando City SC’s all-time leading goalscorer across all competitions.
Opposition danger men
Injured for this season’s first head-to-head with Orlando City SC, Carles Gil is undoubtedly New England Revolution’s best player.
A menace to all Major League Soccer defences, the Spanish attacking midfielder has particularly enjoyed facing Orlando City SC having scored six career goals against the Lions to date.
Now 31-years-old, club captain Carles Gil has still been New England Revolution’s talisman with six goals and eight assists this MLS season.
This is despite missing several games through injury too.
The darling of Gillette Stadium having joined the Foxborough side back in January 2019, Carles Gil now has a hugely impressive 38 MLS goals and 71 MLS assists overall.
Elsewhere, Giacomo Vrioni leads the line for Caleb Porter’s Revs.
Struggling early on in his Revs career, the Albanian international striker has clicked into gear in 2024.
Scoring nine MLS goals and tallying one MLS assist this season, the 25-year-old Italian-born striker is another one to watch.
As is new signing Luca Langoni who has made an impressive start, tallying two goals and one assist in his first three Major League Soccer matches since joining the Revs for a club-record fee of around $7 million on August 2.
Last but not least, teenage Homegrown Player Esmir Bajraktarević has been tipped for a bright future in the game too.
Earning one USMNT friendly cap before switching his international allegiance to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bajraktarević has made 18 starts for Revs this MLS season.
Another young talent the Revolution have high hopes for is Noel Buck, but he won’t be available on Saturday.
Buck’s potential is so promising that the England Under-20 international joined Premier League club Southampton’s Under-21 side on August 30.
New opposition faces
Since Orlando City SC last faced New England Revolution, Caleb Porter’s side have been very busy recruiting new players in the MLS Secondary Transfer Window.
Back on July 31, New England Revolution acquired American left back Will Sands and $600,000 in General Allocation Money from Columbus Crew in exchange for DeJuan Jones.
Then, on August 2, Revs signed Argentine winger Luca Langoni from Boca Juniors for a club-record fee reported to be between $7 million and $7.3 million.
Just a day later, on August 3, Revs acquired former USMNT centre back Tim Parker and $600,000 in 2025 General Allocation Money from St. Louis CITY SC in exchange for Henry Kessler.
And on August 12, Revs signed Nigerian international midfielder Alhassan Yusuf from Royal Antwerp.
Lastly, although he isn’t a new signing for New England Revolution, 16-year-old Peyton Miller has broken into the Revs’ first team following DeJuan Jones’ July trade to Columbus Crew.
The teenage left back / right back is a USMNT U-17 international and has been trusted multiple times by Caleb Porter despite his tender years.
On June 12, 2023, at just 15-years-old, Peyton Miller signed his first professional contract at Gillette Stadium, making him the youngest-ever Revs player to sign a Major League Soccer contract.
Injuries, new signings, international returnees, and suspensions
Heading into this game, Mason Stajduhar (right lower leg) is definitely out for the Lions.
But after missing the SKC and Nashville SC games, new signing Heine Gikling Bruseth should be in contention to make his MLS debut.
Elsewhere, Pedro Gallese, David Brekalo, Wilder Cartagena, and Facundo Torres all got through recent international duty unscathed and should be fit to play.
As for New England Revolution, Tomás Chancalay (knee) is definitely out while Brandon Bye (ankle) and Will Sands (foot) are questionable.
And earlier this week on Tuesday, MLS fined New England Revolution head coach Caleb Porter $20,000 and issued him a one-match suspension for his comments about the officiating after Revs’ match against St. Louis CITY SC on September 7.
These comments were in violation of Major League Soccer’s public criticism policy and Porter will serve his suspension this Saturday against Orlando City SC.
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Orlando City SC vs New England Revolution
Last 3 head-to-heads
- June 17, 2023: New England Revolution 3 Orlando City SC 1 (MLS)
- October 7, 2023: Orlando City SC 3 New England Revolution 2 (MLS)
- July 13, 2024: New England Revolution 1 Orlando City SC 3 (MLS)
2015/24 head-to-head stats
- It was 1-3 to Orlando the last time the sides met (July 2024)
- Played Revs 19 times in MLS – Orlando 4, Draws 7, Revs 8
- After a 10-game winless streak against Revs, Orlando have won the last 2 MLS head-to-heads
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 10 of Orlando’s last 11 MLS fixtures
- Revs have lost their last 3 away fixtures in MLS by an aggregate score of 9-1
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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, September 15.
Remember, UK supporters can watch all of Orlando City SC’s 2024 MLS regular season fixtures by subscribing to Apple TV’s “MLS Season Pass”.
Subscribe now by clicking here.
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