Orlando City (9-5-7, 34 points) at Real Salt Lake (8-7-6, 30 points)
When: Saturday, 9:30 p.m.
Where: America First Field, Sandy, UT
Radio: 96.9 The Game (English), Acción 97.9 FM (Spanish)
Race for the Top
The Lions’ previous match saw forward Duncan McGuire and Ercan Kara both find the back of the net. With a first-half finish, McGuire tallied his seventh goal of the season, which now ties fellow forward Facundo Torres for the most scored by a Lion across all competitions this season. Closely following them is Kara, who picked up his sixth goal of the 2023 campaign with an 89th minute strike the gave the Lions their fourth goal of the night.
Cooler Than Ice
Midfielder Dagur Dan Thórhallsson scored his first goal as a Lion in the 4-0 thumping of Toronto FC on Tuesday night. Thórhallsson came on as a substitute in the 68th minute and it took him less than 10 minutes to score after being able to dribble around the goalkeeper and pass the ball into an empty net. The Icelandic international joined City in the offseason from Breiðablik UBK of the Icelandic Besta deild karla, Iceland’s top division.
César Salad
César Araújo was the first Lion to score in the match against Toronto by hitting the back of the net with a thumping header at the back post. The goal counted as the first MLS regular-season goal for Araújo and his third all-time with the Club across all competitions. Araújo found the back of the net twice in last year’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal match against the New York Red Bulls, helping City move to the Final of the competition they would eventually win.
All Dimes, No Change
Tuesday’s match against Toronto saw a plethora of City players earn an assist in the 4-0 thumping of the Canadian side. Rafael Santos and Iván Angulo combined for the assists on Araújo’s opening goal. With the assist, Santos has now assisted on a goal in two-consecutive matches. Araújo was then able to earn an assist of his own on the Thórhallsson finish, counting for his fourth of the year. Finally, the team-leading assist man Martín Ojeda added to his total on the Kara goal, bringing him to eight helpers this season. Ojeda is one of eight players in all of Major League Soccer to record eight or more assists in 2023.
El Profe
With the victory over Toronto, Head Coach Oscar Pareja became the sixth coach in MLS history to win at least 150 regular season matches. Pareja joins a list of prominent MLS Head Coaches which includes Bruce Arena, Sigi Schmid, Bob Bradley, Peter Vermes and Dominic Kinnear to achieve this accomplishment. The Lions have appeared in the playoffs three consecutive years, all under the guidance of Pareja.
Milestone Tracker
- Rodrigo Schlegel sits one appearance away from his 90th in Orlando in all competitions.
- Ercan Kara sits two appearances away from 50 in all competitions as a Lion.
- Antonio Carlos sits five appearances away from 100 in all competitions in purple.
