ORLANDO, Fla. (September 26, 2016) – With just four games remaining in the regular season, Orlando City SC (7-10-13, 34 points) continues its playoff push and finishes its two-game road trip when it travels to Toronto FC (13-8-9, 48 points) on Wednesday, Sept. 28. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET at BMO Field.
The match will be nationally televised on FS1 and transmitted on Real Radio 104.1 FM in English and on La Grande 1030 AM in Spanish.
"It's a very, very difficult team [to play against] as we know. Top of the table for a reason so we come here with a massive challenge in front of us but still a team that I think we can beat," Lions Head Coach Jason Kreis said. "I thought that we played very well against them a month ago at home. In a lot of ways I thought we out-played them but didn't win the game and so we look to do the same here and hope for a better result.”
Playoff Picture: Important Midweek Matchups
Wednesday will mark the third meeting of the season between the two teams. The Lions will look to take six points from the season series with a win. City could move into a tie with D.C. United for the sixth and final playoff spot depending on D.C.’s result Wednesday against Columbus.
In the first meeting of the season, the Lions opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Kevin Molino played a one-touch pass across the box to a sliding Cyle Larin. After a goal from Toronto, Molino earned his second assist of the game in the 83rd minute when he hustled onto a loose ball and chipped in a cross for Adrian Winter. The Reds followed with an equalizer in the 90th minute before City captured a last-second victory in stoppage time when Kaká converted from the penalty spot. On Aug. 25, the Lions fell to the Reds 2-1 despite former Toronto goalkeeper Joe Bendik’s five saves.
The Lions are coming off of a hard-fought loss to D.C. United. The Lions pushed the attack and dominated the possession until the 34th minute when Patrick Mullins captured the lead for D.C. The Lions battled on despite being reduced to 10 men and in the 72nd minute Brazilian supersub Júlio Baptista fired a free kick off of the crossbar and into the goal for his fourth of the season.
Larin leads the Lions with 14 goals on the year and has scored a goal in each of the first two meetings against Toronto. Molino has scored 10 goals and Kaká leads the Lions with eight assists. Bendik is third in MLS with 105 saves and has recorded nine saves in two games against TFC.
The Reds are coming off two consecutive draws at home against the New York Red Bulls and the Philadelphia Union. In its last match, TFC rebounded after an early goal from U.S. international Alejandro Bedoya with a strike inside the box from Morrow in the 70th minute. Toronto goalkeeper Clint Irwin returned to the starting XI after being sidelined nearly three months with an injury he suffered in the team’s first meeting against the Lions. Sebastian Giovinco leads TFC with 16 goals and 13 assists on the year. Irwin leads the team with 46 saves.
The Lions come home to host the Montreal Impact on Sunday, Oct. 2. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET. City then goes to Philadelphia for its final road game of the regular season on Oct. 16, before returning to Camping World Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 23, when it hosts D.C. United.
