Orlando City vs. New York City FC | MLS Match Preview

MLSsoccer staff

ORLANDO CITY vs. NEW YORK CITY FC
ORLANDO CITRUS BOWL, Orlando, Fla.
October 16, 2015 (WEEK 33, MLS Game #322)
7 p.m. ET (UniMás)

The race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference could be decided in this one match when Orlando City meet New York City FC in the third matchup of the expansion class of 2015 on Viernes de Fútbol at the Citrus Bowl. For Orlando City to keep their playoff ambitions alive in their first MLS season, the task is simple – they must extend their winning streak to five games with a victory, coming off of a 2-1 home win against the Montreal Impact. New York City FC saw their bid for a postseason berth in their inaugural season come to an end last week, following their 2-1 defeat by D.C. United.

REFEREE: Allen Chapman.
MLS Career: 70 games; FC/gm: 23.6; Y/gm: 3.7; R: 17; pens: 29
AR1 (bench): Jeff Muschik; AR2 (opposite): Kevin Klinger; 4th: Daniel Radford

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SUSPENDED: ORL: Kaká (caution accumulation; through Oct. 18); Brek Shea (caution accumulation; through Oct. 18) … NYC: R.J. Allen (caution accumulation; through Oct. 18); Jason Hernandez (caution accumulation; through Oct. 18)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: ORL: Luke Boden, Rafael Ramos … NYC: Andrew Jacobson, Kwame Watson-Siriboe
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: ORL: Darwin Ceren, Kevin Molino, Seb Hines, Servando Carrasco … NYC: Mix Diskerud, Kwadko Poku, Josh Saunders, David Villa, Shay Facey, Andrea Pirlo, Chris Wingert
DISABLED LIST: ORL: Kevin Molino (season-ending injury)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (2 meetings): Orlando City SC 0 wins, 4 goals … NYCFC 1 win, 6 goals … Ties 1
AT CITRUS BOWL (1 meeting): Orlando City SC 0 wins, 1 goal … NYCFC 0 wins, 1 goal … Ties 1
2015 (MLS) 3/8: ORL 1, NYC 1 (Kaká 91+ -- Diskerud 76) 7/26: NYC 5, ORL 3 (Villa 45, 67; Calle 53; McNamara 71; Diskerud 93+ -- Larin 50, 61, 85)

The teams are meeting for the third time this season. On July 26 at Yankee Stadium, Orlando City’s Cyle Larin scored a hat trick, but David Villa scored a pair of goals and set up another as NYCFC claimed a 5-3 win. In the first match in both clubs’ MLS history in the first meeting, Orlando City’s Kaká scored a dramatic free kick goal in stoppage time, answering a Mix Diskerud strike for NYCFC earlier in the second half, leaving the teams in a 1-1 draw March 8 at the Citrus Bowl.
The first meeting was the first time in MLS history two incoming expansion teams faced each other in their first league match.
Coaches' records:
Jason Kreis vs. ORL: P2 W1 L0 T1
Adrian Heath vs. NYC: P2 W0 L1 T1

LAST MEETING (MLS)

David Villa put NYCFC ahead in the 45th minute, taking down a long ball from Angelino with a sublime first touch before tucking the ball inside the near post from 16 yards.
Cyle Larin equalized for Orlando City in the 50th minute when he took a long pass from the midfield off his head, turned a defender and fired a low shot inside the near post.
Three minutes later, Thomas McNamara was led to the end line by Andoni Iraola and sent a low cross to an unmarked Javier Calle, who tipped in from just inside the six-yard box to give NYCFC the lead. But a wide-open Larin knocked in his second goal of the game in the 61st minute off a pass from Carlos Rivas to tie the match.
Villa netted his second in the 67th minute after receiving a slipped pass from Kwadwo Poku, then cutting inside a defender and scoring on a deflected shot from just outside the area. Four minutes later, McNamara made it 4-2 on a similar setup from Poku, ripping the ball in from 12 yards out.
Larin completed the hat trick five minutes from full time when he received the ball from Kaká and buried an instinctive right-footed blast past Josh Saunders from just inside the area to make it 4-3. But Mix Diskerud put the game away off of Poku’s third assist, tapping home from close range to finish off a counterattack.
NEW YORK CITY FC (4-2-3-1): Josh Saunders - Andoni Iraola, Shay Facey, Chris Wingert (Jefferson Mena 14), Angelino - Mehdi Ballouchy (Andrea Pirlo 57), Andrew Jacobson - Javier Calle (Mix Diskerud 68), Kwadwo Poku, Thomas McNamara - David Villa.
ORLANDO CITY SC (3-4-2-1): Tally Hall - Aurelien Collin, Seb Hines, Sean St. Ledger - Eric Avila (Martin Paterson 74), Servando Carrasco, Darwin Ceren, Corey Ashe - Kaká, Carlos Rivas (Pedro Ribeiro 83) - Cyle Larin