Orlando City (1-1-0) at New York City FC (0-1-1)
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m
Where: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
Radio: AM 810 Fox Sports Radio, (English), Mega 97.1 (Spanish)
Everything you need to know for the Lions' first away match of the season in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestones
- Orlando City has scored six goals through its first two MLS games of the season, by far the most through two regular season matches in club history. Even if they fail to score against NYCFC on Saturday, the Lions have already broken the record for most goals through three league games (four). One goal on Saturday will break the all competitions record of six through three games, set last year.
- Rafael Santos’ next appearance will be his 80th for Orlando City in all competitions.
- Martín Ojeda has pulled even with Chris Mueller for fourth in Orlando City history in assists at 24. His next assist will tie him with Facundo Torres for third, and he’s two away from matching Nani in second. Iván Angulo enters the weekend one assist behind Ojeda for his career.
Stats & Storylines
- Orlando City demolished Toronto FC last weekend for its first win of the year, dropping four goals on the Reds in a thrilling performance. The Lions received goals from César Araújo, Alex Freeman, Martín Ojeda, and Dagur Dan Thórhallsson in the rout.
- Going back to the halfway point of the 2024 season, Orlando City has scored 48 goals in its past 19 MLS regular season games, a rate of more than 2.5 per contest. The Lions have notched three goals or more in 10 of those 19 games and hold a 12-5-2 record in that span, a 2.0 point-per-game pace.
- Through two games in 2025, Orlando is tied for second in MLS with six goals scored, trailing only the Philadelphia Union, who followed up their win over the Lions last weekend with a 4-1 thumping of popular Supporters’ Shield pick FC Cincinnati. Orlando ranks third in MLS in expected goals (5.22) and second in both shots and shots on target.
- On the individual side, Ojeda is tied with Seattle’s Albert Rusnák for the league lead in key passes with eight, while Marco Pašalić ranks third in MLS in non-penalty expected goals with 1.75. Per Opta’s data set, Luis Muriel is third in MLS in expected goals and assists per 90 minutes through two substitute appearances.
- Defensive midfielder César Araújo, playing his 123rd game as a Lion, produced his second match ever with both a goal and an assist, scoring a free kick golazo in the 32nd minute and badly fooling Toronto center back Zane Monlouis with his eyes to free up Ojeda for the Lions’ third goal. Araújo’s other 1 G/1 A match came on July 4, 2023, also against Toronto FC. The Uruguayan was named to the MLS Team of the Matchday for his performance.
- Joining Araújo on the Team of the Matchday (albeit on the bench) is right back Alex Freeman, who was voted Heineken Star of the Match by the Orlando CIty supporters in a sensational first MLS start. Freeman, a 20 year-old Homegrown out of the Orlando City Academy, scored his first MLS goal in the 34th minute on a beautiful longball from Kyle Smith and showed off his explosive pace and skill throughout the 90 minutes.
- Orlando City will look to build upon its recent road success in this week’s first away game of 2025. The Lions are 17-10-7 in MLS regular season road games over the past two seasons, good for 58 points over 34 matches. Only FC Cincinnati (63 points) earned more away points over the 2023 and 2024 seasons than Orlando City.
Series History
All-time vs. NYCFC - 7-9-10, -14 GD (2-7-2, -15 GD away)
MLS only vs. NYCFC - 7-9-8, -14 GD (2-7-2, -15 GD away)
2015 - D 1-1 (H), L 5-3 (A), W 2-1 (H)
2016 - W 0-1 (A), D 2-2 (A), W 2-1 (H)
2017 - W 1-0 (H), W 1-2 (A), L 0-3 (H)
2018 - L 2-0 (A), L 3-0 (A), L 0-2 (H)
2019 - D 2-2 (H), D 1-1 (A), D 1-1 (5-4) (H/USOC)
2020 - W 3-1 (N), D 1-1 (H), D 1-1 (6-5) (H/MLS Cup Playoffs)
2021 - D 1-1 (H), L 5-0 (A)
2022 - W 2-1 (H), L 2-1 (A)
2023 - D 1-1 (H), L 2-0 (A)
2024 - L 4-2 (A), D 1-1 (H)
Meet the opponent: New York City FC
- The quintessential baseball movie is Field of Dreams, but the diamond has been more like a nightmare for Orlando City in recent years. The Lions have not earned a single point at either Yankee Stadium or Citi Field under Oscar Pareja, losing four times by a combined 13-3 scoreline since 2021. Orlando’s last win in the Bronx came all the way back on April 23, 2017, when a Cyle Larin brace lifted the Lions to a 2-1 victory. Orlando City is 2-4-5 overall against NYCFC under Pareja.
- Orlando City and NYCFC, who came into the league together back in 2015 and played their inaugural matches against each other at Camping World Stadium, have played 26 times across the past ten seasons, the most of any Orlando City opponent. If you count both knockout draws as wins for Orlando (penalty shootout victories in the 2019 U.S. Open Cup and the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs), the series is exactly even, with each team winning or advancing nine times.
- Among current Lions who will be available on Saturday, only Ramiro Enrique and Dagur Dan Thórhallsson have scored against NYCFC in their Orlando careers. Martín Ojeda has provided two assists in four appearances. Orlando’s all-time leading scorer against the Pigeons is Larin, who feasted on NYCFC to the tune of nine goals in eight games from 2015-17.
- 38 year-old NYCFC legend Maxi Moralez, who left the club in the 2023 winter window only to return later that summer, is still starting at the No. 10 for the Pigeons. Moralez has 27 G/75 A in 185 MLS appearances, including an assist in the 2025 season opener against Inter Miami. “El Frasquito” has 6 G/6 A in 15 appearances against Orlando City in all competitions.
- Orlando City will also see a first-year head coach for the third straight week, as Dutchman Pascal Jansen has replaced Nick Cushing on the touchline for NYCFC. Jansen last coached Hungarian side Ferencváros in 2024 and also managed Dutch side AZ for parts of four seasons from 2020-24.
- NYCFC followed Orlando City in selling a young Uruguayan star to Brazil this winter, as Santiago Rodríguez joined reigning Copa Libertadores champions Botafogo in a deal that could reportedly be worth up to $17 million. Rodríguez produced 24 G/32 A in 116 MLS games over four seasons. The former Nacional starlet was a longtime youth rival of former Orlando star Facundo Torres, who joined Palmeiras in Brazil this winter.
