Orlando City (4-5-4, 16 points) vs Columbus Crew (5-2-6, 21 points)
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m
Where: INTER&Co Stadium
Radio: Real Radio 104.1 FM, (English), Mega 97.1 (Spanish)
Everything you need to know for the Lions' home matchup with the Columbus Crew in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestones
- Pedro Gallese’s next clean sheet will be his 40th for Orlando City. El Pulpo picked up his second shutout in a week in Saturday night’s 1-0 win over San Jose. Gallese achieved three consecutive clean sheets twice during the 2023 season; first when the Lions shut out the New York Red Bulls, FC Cincinnati, and Tigres UANL to open the campaign, and then when Orlando blanked Toronto FC on Decision Day and Nashville SC twice in a row in their first round playoff series.
- Rafael Santos’ next appearance will be his 50th in all competitions for Orlando City.
- Duncan McGuire’s next goal will see him tie Chris Mueller for sixth on the Lions’ all-time scoring charts.
- Facu Torres’ next goal (his 32nd) will put him second all-time in club history, passing Nani. Cyle Larin has the club record with 44 career goals.
Stats & Storylines
- Orlando City left it late once again, but the Cardiac Cats came through when Jack Lynn buried MartÃn Ojeda’s scuffed shot in the 89th minute to take down the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0. The Lions have now scored in the 88’ or later to change a result in three of their last four away games.
- Lynn, who entered in the 16’ for the injured Duncan McGuire, has now scored in both of his first team appearances that have gone longer than 20 minutes. The 2022 first round pick also notched a goal in a start against Austin in March.
- The Lions are now 2-0-1 since switching to a 3-5-2 formation against the Philadelphia Union on May 11. The back three of Rodrigo Schlegel, Wilder Cartagena, and David Brekalo completely dominated San Jose, winning 19 of 24 duels collectively while securing four tackles won and five interceptions.
- Moving inside for the first time this season, Iván Angulo completed 91% of his passes, directly created two chances, completed three dribbles, won two tackles, and picked up a secondary assist on the winning goal while creating the play with a full-field counterattack. Angulo is the only Lion to start every regular season game this year.
Series History
All-time vs. Columbus - 10-7-4, +2 GD (8-3-2, +5 GD home)
MLS only vs. Columbus - 9-6-3, +2 GD (7-2-2, +5 GD home)
2015 - L 3-0 (A), D 2-2 (H), W 2-0 (H/USOC), W 5-2 (H)
2016 - D 2-2 (A), L 1-4 (H)
2017 - L 2-0 (A), D 1-1 (H), L 0-1 (H)
2018 - L 3-2 (A), W 2-1 (H)
2019 - W 0-2 (A), W 1-0 (H)
2020 - W 2-1 (H)
2021 - W 3-2 (H), L 3-2 (A)
2022 - W 0-2 (A), W 2-1 (H)
2023 - D 2-2 (A), W 4-3 (H), L 0-2 (H/MLS Cup Playoffs)
Meet the opponent: Columbus Crew
- Orlando’s six-year home winning streak against Columbus came to a disappointing end during the 2023 Eastern Conference Semifinals. While Orlando City was able to get through the 90 minutes at 0-0, Rodrigo Schlegel’s second-half red card ultimately proved too much to overcome as the Crew scored twice in extra time to win. Columbus would go on to win MLS Cup, their third league title and second in four years.
- One of either Orlando City or Columbus head coach Wilfried Nancy have ended the other’s season three years running. The Lions beat Nancy’s CF Montréal at the Stade Saputo on Decision Day in 2021 to keep Nancy’s side from the postseason, but Nancy has gotten his revenge and then some, knocking Orlando out of the MLS Cup Playoffs in each of the past two years.
- The big match history between these sides goes even further – Orlando City also took out Nancy’s Montréal in the MLS is Back Tournament knockouts in 2020, and City ended Columbus’ season on Decision Day 2022 in a win-or-go-home scenario.
- Despite last year’s playoff defeat, Orlando still has an impressive overall record against Columbus. The Lions have beaten the Crew ten times, the most of any individual City opponent, and are 5-2-1 against Columbus under Oscar Pareja.
- The last regular season meeting between the two at Inter&Co Stadium was arguably the MLS game of the year. Down 3-1 with less than 20 minutes to play, Orlando City rallied to score three goals and take all three points, with Ramiro Enrique scoring the equalizer in the 86’ and the winner on the game’s final play.
- The defending champs have lost just twice in 13 MLS games this season while balancing league play with a run to the CONCACAF Champions Cup final. The Crew first knocked out fellow MLS side Houston Dynamo in the Round of 16, then beat Liga MX powers Tigres UANL and CF Monterrey back-to-back in the quarters and semis, respectively. Columbus will face Pachuca on the road at the Estadio Hidalgo on Friday, June 1 in their next match after playing Orlando City.
- Columbus is led by DP strikers Cucho Hernández and Diego Rossi. Cucho (6 G/2 A in all competitions this season) has not played in either of Columbus’ last two games due to a back injury, while Rossi (4 G/5 A) has stepped up massively with 3 G/2 A over his past four games, including three goal contributions in the Crew’s midweek win over Chicago.
