Following its 1-0 home victory against the New York Red Bulls, Orlando City SC (3-1-0, 9 points) hosts the LA Galaxy (2-3-0, 6 points) on Saturday, April 15, looking to extend its perfect home record. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. ET at Orlando City Stadium.
The match will be nationally televised on FOX. It will also be transmitted locally on Real Radio 104.1 FM in English and on La Nueva 990 AM in Spanish. It is the third consecutive national TV broadcast for Orlando City and the fourth of the season.
“I’m really, really pleased with a lot of things about the [previous] game, most of it being on the defensive side of things,” Lions Head Coach Jason Kreis said. “I think it’s actually a positive as well that we look at it and say we know we need to improve. I don’t think anyone’s hiding from that. That’s a pretty good place to be, to have nine points in your pocket and say we need to get better and we can get better.”
In the Lions’ most recent victory, Servando Carrasco headed home the game-winner off a Will Johnson corner delivery in the 34th minute for his first goal in purple and the second of his MLS career. City earned its second clean sheet in three games at Orlando City Stadium riding three saves from goalkeeper Joe Bendik and another excellent defensive performance. City has only allowed one goal in three games at home. Defenders Tommy Redding and Scott Sutter made their first starts of the season and Luis Gil's Orlando City debut.
Saturday marks the third all-time meeting between both teams. In May 2015, Orlando City earned its first home win in its MLS era with a 4-0 domination of the then-defending champion Galaxy. Kaká scored and assisted Cyle Larin’s goal as over 40,000 fans cheered the victory. The Lions then fell, 4-2, at StubHub Center in September 2016.
Cyle Larin leads Orlando City with three goals and Carlos Rivas leads the team with two assists. Bendik has 11 saves and two shutouts this season and has played every minute in goal for City since the beginning of the 2016 season. Romain Alessandrini leads the Galaxy with three goals while Emmanuel Boateng leads the team with two assists.
