Club & Country
After Saturday’s match, M Yoshi Yotún (Peru), D Amro Tarek (Egypt) and D Mohamed El-Munir (Libya) will join their respective national teams. The trio will miss City’s match at Sporting KC on Sept. 8.
Yotún and Los Incas will look to build on their first World Cup appearance in 36 years when they take on the Netherlands on Sept. 6 at 2:45 p.m. at the recently renamed Johan Cruijff ArenA in Amsterdam. Peru will then take on Germany on Sept. 9 at 2:45 p.m. at Rhein-Neckar Arena in Sinsheim.
Tarek and the Pharaohs take on Niger in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying on Sept. 8 at 2 p.m. ET. Egypt currently sits 4th in Group J after a 1-0 loss to Tunisia.
El-Munir and the Mediterranean Knights take on South Africa in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying on Sept. 8 at 9 a.m. ET. Libya currently sits atop Group E following its 5-1 win over Seychelles. El-Munir started and played 90 minutes in that match on Sept. 6, 2017.
Milestone Tracker
The Lions are 2 goals away from their 50th at Orlando City Stadium all-time. City is also 8 goals away from its 200th all-time across all competitions.
- F Dom Dwyer’s next goal will be his team-leading 12th of the season and tie F Cyle Larin (12, 2017) for 3rd-most MLS goals in a single season in Club history. Larin holds the top 3 spots with 17 in 2015 and 14 in 2016.
- GK Joe Bendik’s next appearance will be his 89th for City in MLS, tying M Cristian Higuita for the Club record. Bendik passed F Cyle Larin (87) with his 88th MLS appearance for City last Friday against Atlanta. Higuita is the Club’s all-time leader with 92 appearances across all competitions.
- M Sacha Kljestan’s next assist will be the 91st of his regular-season career and tie M Cobi Jones for 8th-most in MLS history.
Spoiler Alert
This is the 3rd meeting of the season between the Lions and Union. Orlando City took the first meeting 2-0 on April 13 in Chester, Pa. F Dom Dwyer scored the eventual game-winner in the 38th minute. It was Dwyer’s 4th goal in 3 appearances in 2018; Dwyer eventually scored on April 21 against San Jose to set the Club record with goals in 4 straight games.
F Chris Mueller also scored on April 13. It was the 2nd goal of his career and his 2nd in a stretch of 3 goals in 3 games.
On July 18, Philadelphia topped City 1-0 in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals. The Union visit the Houston Dynamo in the final on Sept. 26.
City won the 2017 series with 2 wins and a loss. The Lions went 1-1-1 against the Union in 2016 and 0-1-1 in 2015. City has won 3 of its last 4 MLS matches against Philadelphia.
Sutter Strikes Again
D Scott Sutter scored his 2nd goal of 2018 and his 3rd as a Lion last Friday against Atlanta. It was Sutter’s 2nd goal in 3 games after his stoppage-time equalizer on Aug. 4 against New England. Sutter’s goal against Atlanta made SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays and was nominated for MLS Goal of the Week.
Sutter became the first Lions’ defender to score 2+ MLS goals in a single season since D Seb Hines scored 3 in 2016. The other defender with multiple MLS goals was D Aurélien Collin, who had 2 in 2015.
Sutter’s was the 5th MLS goal by a Lions defender this season, which is a new Club record. The previous high was 4 in 2015. D PC also scored for City in the U.S. Open Cup against Miami United FC, giving the Lions 5 defenders with goals across all competitions, which is also a Club record.
In The Limelight
Orlando City had 2 debutants on Friday against Atlanta. M Pierre Da Silva made his season debut when he came on for M Josué Colmán in the 61st minute. It was Da Silva’s first MLS appearance since March 18, 2017, against the Philadelphia Union, and his first with the First Team since June 14, 2017, against Miami FC in the U.S. Open Cup.
D Carlos Ascues made his Club debut in the match. Ascues played 67 minutes, played the pass to F Chris Mueller that turned into D Scott Sutter’s goal and drew praise from HC James O’Connor after the match. “To be fair to him, he battled away… All things considered, he can be pleased. He gave a very encouraging performance, for sure.”
