New York City FC will look to bounce back from a loss to the New York Red Bulls when they take on Orlando City SC at Yankee Stadium Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
WATCH NEW YORK CITY FC TAKE ON ORLANDO CITY SC ON SUNDAY AT 7:30PM
NYCFC has lost just once in their last six games and are second in the Eastern Conference with 17 points, two behind the Philadelphia Union.
While NYCFC (4-4-5) is tied for the most road wins, home victories have been hard to come by, a trend coach Patrick Vieira is hoping to change Sunday.
“We want to win at home, we want to do well at home because it’s really important, our home form,” Vieira said. “It’s not as good as we want it to be, but we have to keep believing and keep working. It will come. We have a positive approach to the game and this is what is important.”
Orlando City SC (3-3-6) is coming off a 2-2 draw with Philadelphia Wednesday at Camping World Stadium. Kevin Molino and Cyle Larin scored three minutes apart in the second half for Orlando, which finished the match with 10 men when David Mateos received a straight red card in second-half stoppage time.
This is the second of three meetings this year between NYCFC and Orlando City SC, with the Lions coming away with a 1-0 win at Yankee Stadium on March 18. Larin scored the lone goal for Orlando, which was without injured Brazilian superstar Kaka. The final game this season will be August 28 in Orlando.
“We played them at home and they were missing their best player with Kaka. It will be tough, it will difficult, but at the same time we are there with them to be top three, top four, top five,” Vieira said. “It will be really important for us because it’s a home game. We need to bounce back after the game against the Red Bulls. We need to take the three points because we want to compete at the top of the table.”
This is the fifth all-time meeting between the teams. Last year, the clubs shared the points in a 1-1 draw in both teams first MLS match on March 8, 2015 with Mix Diskerud scoring the first goal in club history.
David Villa struck for a brace and Andrea Pirlo made his NYCFC debut in a wild 5-3 win at Yankee Stadium on July 26 and Orlando City SC won at home, 2-1, on Oct. 16.
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