Through the initial two weeks, Orlando City rank among the early prolific offenses in MLS while New York City FC are struggling to score and finish off matches.
Orlando attempts to remain productive while NYCFC hope to avoid a third straight disappointing outcome when the teams get together Saturday night in New York.
Orlando (1-1-0, 3 points) is among five teams to score at least six times, but it is also among four teams that have conceded a league-worst six goals. After taking a 4-2 loss to the Philadelphia Union in the season opener, Orlando City notched a 4-2 home win over Toronto FC last week.
Cesar Araujo and Alexander Freeman scored in the first half vs. Toronto before Martin Ojeda and Dagur Thorhallsson tallied in the second half.
“We had a complete performance,” Orlando coach Oscar Pareja said. “We played well, we scored goals, and we had our first win in front of our fans, so it was very healthy for the group. Many of the things that happened during the game excite us and make us feel very optimistic. Of course, our priority as coaches is to see what areas we need to get better.”
NYCFC (0-1-1, 1 point) are playing their home opener after disappointing outcomes against Inter Miami and Los Angeles Football Club.
New York City settled for a 2-2 tie at Miami in its season opener when it allowed the tying goal in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time. Last week, NYCFC took a 1-0 loss at Los Angeles when they allowed a goal from about 8 yards out in the 86th minute.
The late tally occurred in a game when NYCFC only saw two of its 11 shots go on target. In its season opener, NYCFC had five of its nine shots go on target.
“Details will make the difference when a game is in balance,” NYCFC coach Pascal Jansen said. “Unfortunately, (because) of one detail right before when we conceded a goal — we switched off for just one or two seconds, and we got punished for it. So that’s the biggest difference in this game.”
–Field Level Media