ORLANDO, Fla. – Oct. 15, 2015 – As the team continues to battle for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth, Orlando City SC (11-13-8, 41 points) will aim to extend its winning streak to five games when the Lions host fellow expansion club New York City FC (10-15-7, 37 points) on Friday night in the team’s final regular season home game.
Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Tickets to the game are still available and can be purchased by visiting www.OrlandoCitySC.com or by calling 855-ORL-CITY.
The match will broadcast live nationally on UniMas. In addition, the game will be transmitted in English on Real Radio 104.1 FM and in Spanish on La Grande 1030 AM.
“We’re looking forward to the game because we’ll probably get 40,000 plus, which would make it over 100,000 for both games against them. So obviously there’s a little bit of a rivalry starting there,” said Head Coach Adrian Heath. “I know that before the season they probably wanted to finish above us, and we wanted to finish above them and that will still hold true now. It’s been a difficult year for both of us but we want to finish it well and take it to the last game of the season.”
The Lions enter the match as the hottest Club in MLS – holding the longest active winning streak in the league with four. Additionally, Heath’s side enters Friday’s game undefeated in the previous six home fixtures – the third longest active streak in MLS.
After overpowering Sporting KC 3-1 at home, City obtained back-to-back victories on the road, defeating the Fire 1-0 and the New York Red Bulls 5-2. Most recently, Orlando returned home to defeat the Montreal Impact 2-1 in a thrilling match on Oct. 3, as defender Seb Hines scored in the waning moments of the game.
New York City FC visits the Orlando Citrus Bowl for the second time this season, after drawing Orlando 1-1 in front of 62,510 fans in their first match-up on March 8.
Mix Diskerud scored the first goal of the game in the 76th minute of play. However, Kaka’s free-kick in the 90th minute delivered a dramatic finish as the Brazilian leveled the score line in the final minute of the game, sending fans into a frenzy.
During Friday’s contest, former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard and Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo are expected to make their first appearance at the Citrus Bowl this season, after joining New York City during the summer.
Currently eliminated from the playoff race, NYCFC has accrued one road victory in its previous seven games. After collecting three points against Toronto FC, the San Jose Earthquakes and the Vancouver Whitecaps, New York’s three-game win-streak was snapped by D.C. United at RFK Stadium – losing 2-1.
Forward David Villa leads the team in scoring with 17 finishes on the season, while also creating the most goals on the team with eight assists. Pirlo has produced five assists in 12 games played with the club.
