As Orlando City prepares to host FC Cincinnati in its second regular season match, let's take a look at The Road Ahead driven by Audi:
Orlando City SC (1-0-0) vs. FC Cincinnati (1-0-0)
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Exploria Stadium, Orlando
TV/streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV (subscription required)
Radio: 96.9 The Game (English) and Acción 97.9 FM (Spanish)
Tickets: View seats
Milestone watch
➖ Mauricio Pereyra is set to make his 100th appearance for Orlando City (all competitions) this weekend against FC Cincinnati at Exploria Stadium. Pereyra will become the eighth player in club history to reach the milestone -- joining Cristian Higuita, Chris Mueller, Robin Jansson, Benji Michel, Tesho Akindele, Kyle Smith and Junior Urso -- and the first to do so as club captain. Pereyra is the all-time franchise leader in assists with 35.
➖ Pedro Gallese’s next win will be his 40th as the starting goalkeeper.
About last week
➖ Orlando City’s win against the New York Red Bulls was their second straight on Opening Day and stretched their famous run of unbeaten home openers to nine consecutive MLS seasons. Orlando is now 3-0-6 all-time in opening games.
➖ Facundo Torres joined Cyle Larin and Alexandre Pato as players to score game-winners for Orlando City in a home opener.
➖ Pedro Gallese continued his incredible streak of home opening shutouts, posting a fourth clean sheet in four starts in Week 1. The Lions have never conceded a goal in an opener under Oscar Pareja.
➖ The all-time record unbeaten streak on opening day is 14, held by Real Salt Lake (2010-23). Thirteen of RSL’s 14 results came away from home, including a pair of draws in Orlando in 2016 and 2020.
➖ Per MLS Communications, Torres was one of six players named to a 2022 FIFA World Cup roster that scored on opening weekend. The others were Thiago Almada (ATL/Argentina), Mark-Anthony Kaye (TOR/Canada), Jordan Morris (SEA/USA), Cristian Roldan (SEA/USA), and Walker Zimmerman (NSH/USA).
➖ Four of Orlando City’s 10 new signings for 2023 made their club debuts against the Red Bulls. Martín Ojeda and Luca Petrasso started the match, while Ramiro Enrique and Dagur Dan Thorhallson both appeared as substitutes. Duncan McGuire, Felipe, Abdi Salim, and Rafael Santos were unused subs.
➖ Orlando City was one of seven teams to earn a clean sheet on opening weekend.
➖ The Lions will host two consecutive matches to start the season for the fourth time in club history, and the first time since 2018. Orlando drew Chicago 1-1 in the second game of the 2016 season, beat Philadelphia 2-1 in 2017, and fell 2-1 to Minnesota in 2018.
Series history vs. FC Cincinnati
Orlando's all-time record vs. FC Cincinnati is 3-2-2, +4 GD (2-1-0, +6 GD home), having only faced FCC in MLS competition.
➖ 2019 - W 5-1 (H), D 1-1 (A)
➖ 2021 - W 3-0 (H), D 1-1 (A), W 0-1 (A)
➖ 2022 - L 1-2 (H), L 1-0 (A)
Battling the blue and orange
➖ Orlando City had been unbeaten against Cincinnati through the first three years of their series, but like they did to so many teams last year, Cincy turned the tables on Orlando in 2022. The Blue and Orange picked up their first win of the season in Orlando last March, with Brandon Vazquez enjoying a breakout game and the Lions unable to turn chances into goals in a 2-1 Cincinnati win. Cincy won the return game in June on a second-half Brenner goal at TQL Stadium.
➖ Prior to 2022, Orlando had dominated Cincinnati. Nani scored four times against Cincy in five games, while Tesho Akindele and Junior Urso both struck three times each against the Blue and Orange.
➖ Felipe Martins is the only player on Orlando’s roster with a goal against Cincinnati, scoring against them in 2019 while a member of the Vancouver Whitecaps. Facundo Torres has an assist.
➖ Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta has 3 G/3 A in 10 career appearances against Orlando, including his infamous game-winner from Wayne Rooney while with D.C. United in 2018. Brenner and Vazquez have two goals each against the Lions, while forward Dom Badji and defender Nick Hagglund have one goal each.
