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MLS Orlando City SC

Preview: Orlando City Face Road Test at Toronto on Saturday

August 8, 2019 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Orlando City SC News Release


ORLANDO, Fla. - Orlando City SC (8-11-5, 29 points) travel to face Toronto FC (9-10-5, 32 points) on Saturday, August 10, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET at BMO Field.

Saturday's match will be locally televised on My65 and available on YouTube TV, while being broadcasted on FM 96.9 The Game.

"It will be a tough game but one that we're excited to go and play at a nice stadium and play such a good team. They have a lot of attacking options, they've got [Jozy] Altidore, [Alejandro] Pozuelo, [Michael] Bradley. They've got a lot of quality, I mean they've obviously got some really good players, so I don't think it will be just one specific area," Head Coach James O'Connor said. "We are trying to make sure that there is an understanding of attacking principles and make sure that we have a good idea of what we want to do when we have the ball. I think like everywhere there is a balance to everything, we just need to make sure that we are focused on what we need to do to go and get a positive result there."

The Lions enter Saturday's match after falling to Atlanta United in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal by a score of 2-0 on Tuesday. The Five Stripes scored on both sides of the break in the 37th and 78th minutes respectively to end City's record-breaking Open Cup run.

In its last league outing, City earned a 2-0 victory over FC Dallas last Saturday. Tesho Akindele opened the scoring in the 13th minute against his former Club, while Carlos Ascues added an insurance goal in stoppage time for his first-career MLS goal.

Akindele now sits tied with Nani for the team lead in goals scored for the Lions this season with eight. Nani also leads the Club in assists with eight in 2019, followed by Ruan with four.

Toronto comes into Saturday's matchup after falling 2-0 to the New York Red Bulls in their previous MLS outing last Saturday. The Red Bulls opened their account in the 55th minute thanks to an own goal by Toronto defender Chris Mavinga. Kemar Lawrence provided the second finish in stoppage time to secure all three points on the evening for the home side.

Alejandro Pozuelo and Jozy Altidore lead the Reds with nine goals each this season, while Pozeulo also holds the team lead in assists with nine.

Saturday's match will serve as the second between the two clubs this season, with the Lions looking to avenge a 2-0 loss to the Reds on May 4 at Exploria Stadium. Following the match, City will return home to face Sporting Kansas City in a midweek matchup on Wednesday, August 14.

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