ORLANDO, Fla. (August 12, 2016) – Following Sunday’s match against Seattle, Orlando City SC (5-6-11, 26 points) begins a two-game road trip on Sunday, Aug. 14, at the Chicago Fire (4-2-4, 18 points). Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. ET at Toyota Park and will be nationally televised on UniMás.
The Lions’ 12th nationally televised fixture of the season will also be transmitted on Real Radio 104.1 FM in English and on La Grande 1030 AM in Spanish.
"The team continued making strides and had another very good week of training, so we’re hoping we improve off of last week’s performance.” Lions Head Coach Jason Kreis said. “Chicago is a team in transition and they are extremely capable. They have extremely gifted attacking players and a lot of speed. We will need to be on top of our game if we are to reach our objective this weekend."
City enters the game coming of a 3-1 loss against the Seattle Sounders. Kaká found Seb Hines for the defender’s third goal of the season in the seventh minute but U.S. national team captain Clint Dempsey scored his first hat trick in over two years to lead Seattle to the win. Recent acquisition Matías Pérez García made his Lions debut, coming in in the 55th minute to replace Hadji Barry.
Captain Kaká’s seventh assist tied him with Kevin Molino for the team lead. Canadian striker Cyle Larin leads the Lions and, entering the weekend’s slate of matches, is fifth in MLS with 11 goals. Goalkeeper Joe Bendik is third in MLS with 81 saves and has won MLS Save of the Week four of the last six weeks.
Chicago is coming of a 3-1 loss to the New England Revolution in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal on Tuesday. David Accam flicked a right-footed goal in the 39th minute to equalize but two Revolution goals eliminated the Fire.
Chicago dropped its third decision in four MLS games Saturday with a 3-1 loss to Real Salt Lake. Arturo Alvarez pulled the Fire within one in the 58th minute but Javier Morales scored his second goal six minutes later to ice it.
This is the second match of the season between these two teams after previously playing to a 1-1 decision on March 11. Orlando City jumped out to an early lead in that match when Molino found Larin in the fourth minute but Accam sprinted down the field to equalize in the 14th minute. The Lions are 2-0-2 all-time in MLS play against Chicago and have won both meetings in Illinois.
City finishes the road trip on Saturday, Aug. 20, with a 9 p.m. ET kickoff against the Colorado Rapids. The Lions return to Camping World Stadium on Wednesday, Aug. 24, when they host Toronto FC. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
