Orlando City vs New York Red Bulls (MLS Cup Playoffs)
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m
Where: Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando, Fla
TV: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Radio: Real Radio 104.1, (English), Mega 97.1 (Spanish)
Everything you need to know for the Lions' Eastern Conference Final match on Saturday night vs New York Red Bulls in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestones
- With a win on Saturday, Orlando City would reach MLS Cup for the first time in club history. The Lions are set to play in their first-ever Eastern Conference Final this weekend.
- César Araújo (107 minutes away) and Facundo Torres (111) have a chance to reach 10,000 minutes for the club in all competitions on Saturday if the match goes into extra time. The Uruguayans both signed for Orlando in the 2021-22 primary transfer window and have each made at least 120 appearances for the club.
- Dagur Dan Thórhallsson and Wilder Cartagena will each make their 80th appearances for Orlando City in all competitions should they play on Saturday.
- Pedro Gallese’s next win will be his 75th as Orlando City goalkeeper. Gallese is two clean sheets away from 50 in his Orlando career after blanking Atlanta United this past Sunday.
- Orlando City assist tracker:
- 2. Nani - 26
- 3. FACUNDO TORRES - 25
- 4. Chris Mueller - 24
- T-5. MARTÍN OJEDA - 23
- T-5. IVÁN ANGULO - 23
Stats & Storylines
- Orlando City avenged this year’s regular season sweep at the hands of Atlanta United by ending their Cinderella run on Sunday, knocking off the Five Stripes 1-0 to advance to its first-ever Eastern Conference Final. Ramiro Enrique scored his 12th goal of the season late in the first half to secure the win.
- 11 of Enrique’s 12 goals in all competitions this season have come since July 1. Enrique scored in a club-record six consecutive games that month. The Argentine ended a four-game scoreless streak with his tally on Sunday, scored off a deflection from a Martín Ojeda corner kick.
- Orlando did not allow a single shot on target on Sunday, holding Atlanta to just 0.38 expected goals on eight total shots. The Lions have conceded just one goal in four playoff matches thus far, the fewest of any team in the conference finals.
- The Lions are now 9-1-4 with a +22 goal difference in their last 14 home matches since June 22, redeeming their only loss in that stretch (to Atlanta on Decision Day) on Sunday. The Eastern Conference Final will be the Lions’ final home match of the season, as both Western Conference finalists (LA Galaxy and Seattle) have hosting priority for MLS Cup thanks to their higher place in the Supporters’ Shield standings.
- Orlando City is looking to follow in the footsteps of the Orlando Pride, who completed a historic 2024 by winning the NWSL Championship last Saturday night. No city has ever won both the NWSL title and MLS Cup in the same season.
Series History
All-time vs. Red Bulls - 9-10-3, +2 GD (5-4-2, +2 GD home)
2015 - L 0-2 (H), W 2-5 (A)
2016 - L 3-2 (A), D 1-1 (H)
2017 - W 1-0 (H), L 3-1 (A)
2018 - W 4-3 (H), L 1-0 (A)
2019 - W 0-1 (A), L 0-1 (H)
2020 - W 3-1 (H), D 1-1 (A)
2021 - L 2-1 (A), L 1-2 (H)
2022 - L 0-3 (H), W 5-1 (H/USOC), W 0-1 (A)
2023 - W 1-0 (H), W 0-3 (A)
2024 - D 1-1 (H), L 1-0 (A)
Meet the opponent: New York Red Bulls
- After winning four in a row against New York from July 2022 through the 2023 season, Orlando City took just one point from two games with the Red Bulls this year, though both came before the Lions’ dramatic turnaround began in late June. Orlando stole a point thanks to an 89’ own goal by RBNY center back Noah Eile at home in March before dropping a 1-0 result in New Jersey on June 1.
- Saturday’s Eastern Conference Final will mark the first-ever postseason meeting between the two sides, despite the fact that Orlando and New York are the only two teams to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs in each of the past five seasons.
- While Orlando City will play in the conference finals for the first time on Saturday, the Red Bulls – an MLS original as the NY/NJ Metrostars in 1996 – have been here five times before, most recently in 2018. The Red Bulls are 1-4 in the conference final round but have never won an Eastern Conference Final – when they advanced to their only MLS Cup appearance in 2008, RBNY were seeded into the Western Conference side of the bracket as a wild card team, beating Real Salt Lake in the conference final before falling to Columbus in MLS Cup.
- Though this is the first MLS Cup Playoffs match between the teams, Orlando and New York have played in a tournament semifinal before. On July 27, 2022, the Lions and Red Bulls met at Inter&Co Stadium in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semis. After the Red Bulls opened the scoring late in the first half, Orlando City answered with five unanswered goals, taking the match 5-1 on their way to the title later that year.
- The Red Bulls are the 7-seed in the East this season. While Atlanta’s upset of Inter Miami received most of the headlines, New York’s first round sweep of Columbus was perhaps equally impressive, with the Crew picked by many to repeat as MLS Cup champions. RBNY then saw off local rivals New York City FC 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to reach Saturday’s pivotal match.
- New York is led by MLS Comeback Player of the Year Lewis Morgan, who scored 13 goals and added seven assists in 29 matches this season. Morgan suffered through an injury-riddled 2023 that concluded with a hip injury that left him with a 20-to-25 percent chance of ever returning to peak performance. Morgan has 3 G/2 A in 13 appearances against Orlando City in his career.
- The Red Bulls have been lifted through the postseason by goalkeeper Carlos Coronel, who has kept two clean sheets under immense opposition pressure while also winning a penalty shootout against Columbus. Coronel made seven saves worth more than two expected goals on target in the conference semis against NYCFC.
- On the offensive side, summer loan signing Felipe Carballo has contributed two goals from central midfield, while striker Dante Vanzeir has scored twice as well. Attacking midfielder Emil Forsberg, RBNY’s big offseason addition, has thrived in the postseason as an offensive fulcrum after missing much of the second half of the regular season through injury.
- On the Orlando side, Facundo Torres has scored five times against the Red Bulls in six appearances, while Nicolás Lodeiro has two goals and an assist in five games against RBNY in his career.
