Live Blog: Orlando City vs. Toronto FC

Orlando City SC hosts Toronto FC before heading out on a 16-day break. The last time both teams met was in Toronto where the Canadian side won 2-1.

By
Victor Tan
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Orlando City SC goalkeeper Joe Bendik winds up to boot the ball down field during a 1-0 win over New York City FC at Orlando City Stadium on Sunday, March 5, 2017. (Photo by Mark Thor / Orlando City SC)

2:50 p.m.

Alright, well, I’ll get back to everyone when I get to the stadium and when starting lineups come out. If you have any questions, you can comment below, or you can tweet at us at @NewDayReview.

Hopefully it doesn’t rain…

2:44 p.m.

Small nugget on forward Carlos Rivas. Kreis said he trained fully on Monday, would probably do the same on Tuesday and be available for selection on Wednesday. Rivas suffered an ankle injury in the win over RSL.

2:42 p.m.

After TFC, Orlando City begins their 16-day break. Here are Kreis’, goalkeeper Joe Bendik’s and right-back Scott Sutter’s thoughts on the break.

Kreis:

It’s a mixture of both [work and time off]. We’ll all get a well-needed, I think, three or four days off after as much travel and as many games as we’ve had in the last two months. As we’ve said, I think it’s important that everybody takes a physical as well as mental break from the game and from each other. And then we’ll come back, and the good news is we’ll have another 10 days past that or 12 days, whatever it is, to train. Because I do think there’s some areas in our game where we feel we need to really improve for the second half of the season and get back to winning ways.

Bendik:

Yeah, it’s great. I think it’s the first time all year that, you know, you can turn and say, “Oh, I’ll be here for a month.” So, yeah, I’m excited for that.

Sutter:

July looks pretty good. I looked a bit further forward, and I think in September, I think we’ve got another. We’ve got a stretch, I think, of five road trips on the bounce. So, it was tough. It was a long three weeks. A lot of traveling. It takes a bit out of you, but, you know, we’ve got one game before our nice little break, so it’s kind of a good opportunity to give everything we’ve got one more time, knowing that Toronto played a day after us, got a little day less of regeneration than us is definitely to our advantage. And we need to make sure that we see that from minute one.

You can read the full transcript from training on Monday in the link below.

Notes & Quotes: Orlando City SC (7/3)

2:36 p.m.

A big part of how well Orlando City does depends on Larin. He leads the team in goals with eight despite missing three of the last four games. Orlando City suffers in the goals-scored category, scoring just 21 goals so far this season. That’s the lowest among all currently playoff-eligible teams right now. The next-lowest is 30 by the Columbus Crew. Orlando City and Columbus are the only two currently playoff-eligible teams with negative goal differentials.

2:31 p.m.

Speaking of Larin, this will be his second game back since returning from his suspension for a DUI charge that placed him in Major League Soccer’s Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health program in South Carolina. He made his first appearance in a full, 90-minute start in a 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake on June 30. The Canadian recorded two shots (zero on goal) in that match.

Larin also addressed the media yesterday morning, discussing his DUI charge and how he is reintegrating with his team. You can read the full transcript in the link below.

Notes & Quotes: Orlando City SC (7/4)

2:23 p.m.

So, let’s talk about the last time these two teams met. City traveled to meet Toronto on May 3, losing 2-1. Sebastian Giovinco tallied his brace by the 38th minute, scoring his first in the ninth. Lions captain Ricardo Kaká scored City’s only goal right before halftime.

The disappointing part for City is that this game could have easily been a win. Cyle Larin had two point-blank range shots that were essentially cleared off the line. Go to 2:05 for the first chance and 2:42 for the other.

Here’s what head coach Jason Kreis said would be the difference for his team to get a win in tonight’s match:

The difference would be scoring our goals. When you look back at that game, Cyle had two point-blank chances that Cyle never misses. Unfortunately he didn’t take ’em in that game, but maybe he was saving ’em for this one.

2:14 p.m.

Going off that note about Atlanta, Orlando City will play the 2017 expansion side in a home-and-home after their upcoming 16-day break. In fact, Atlanta United also has a similar break, as they started a 17-day break today after defeating the San Jose Earthquakes 4-2 last night.

So, Orlando City will first host Atlanta on July 21 (broadcast on ESPN), and then Atlanta will host the Lions on July 29 (broadcast on FOX).

Orlando City currently holds an 8-6-5 record (before the Toronto game) with 29 points. Atlanta is 9-7-3 with 30 points.

2:04 p.m.

Tonight’s match against Toronto FC has some significant implications in the Eastern Conference table. An Orlando City SC win over Toronto would propel the Lions to fourth place over Atlanta United FC, who is currently one point ahead of City in the standings. A loss for TFC would also open up an opportunity for New York City FC to take sole possession of second place with a win of its own.

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