Orlando City (10-6-8, 38 points) at Columbus Crew (12-4-8, 44 points)
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Lower.com Field, Columbus, OH
TV: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV (subscription required)
Radio: AM 810 Fox Sports Radio, (English), Mega 97.1 (Spanish)
Everything you need to know for the Lions' match-up in Columbus in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestones
- MartÃn Ojeda’s next regular season goal contribution, his 23rd, will see him pass Nani’s 2019 season for the most productive MLS campaign in club history. Ojeda’s 2025 total of 12g/10a is an exact match for Nani’s haul in 2019.
- Ojeda has a goal contribution in nine consecutive MLS matches, a club record he can extend to ten with a goal or an assist on Friday.
- After his brace against New England last weekend, Ojeda is up to 25 goals in his Orlando City career, tied with Kaká for fifth in club history. Ojeda is three goals from catching Duncan McGuire in fourth place. Ramiro Enrique is tied for seventh with 23 goals, one away from catching Dom Dwyer in sixth and two away from Ojeda and Kaká in fifth.
- Iván Angulo’s next appearance will be his 125th in all competitions for Orlando City.
Stats & Storylines
- Orlando City bounced back from a tough home defeat with a terrific road win last Saturday, taking down the New England Revolution 2-1 at Gillette Stadium behind a brace from star No. 10 MartÃn Ojeda. Orlando has now won twice in a row in Foxborough after going winless in its first eight attempts on Patriot Place.
- The Lions have been outstanding on the road this season, with Saturday’s win moving their record to 5-2-5 away from home this season. Orlando is tied with Inter Miami and Minnesota United for the fewest road defeats in MLS with two. City is 3-0-1 on the road since June 1.
- Wednesday night saw Alex Freeman and Marco Pašalić represent Orlando City in the MLS All-Star Game in Austin as they beat the Liga MX All-Stars 3-1. Freeman has enjoyed a tremendous breakout season at age 20, scoring four goals and impacting both ends of the pitch for both Orlando and the United States Men’s National Team. Pašalić has been one of the most impactful signings of the recent primary transfer window, recording 11g/5a in all competitions and becoming the first Croatian player called into the national team from MLS.
- Remarkably, MartÃn Ojeda was not named an All-Star despite an MVP-caliber first half of the season. Ojeda ranks in the top 10 in MLS in goals (T-9th), assists (T-4th), goal contributions (T-4th), and key passes (T-3rd). Ojeda has 4g/7a over the course of his nine-game goal contribution streak and has 15g/19a over his past 35 MLS regular season starts.
- Eduard Atuesta recorded his seventh assist of the season on Ojeda’s first goal on Saturday. The Colombian ranks second on the team in assists behind Ojeda and sits 16th in the league in key passes despite playing more than 200 fewer minutes than every player ranked above him.
Series History
All-time vs. Columbus - 10-9-4, -1 GD (2-5-2, -4 GD away)
MLS only vs. Columbus - 9-8-3, -1 GD (2-4-2, -4 GD away)
2015 - L 3-0 (A), D 2-2 (H), W 2-0 (H/USOC), W 5-2 (H)
2016 - D 2-2 (A), L 1-4 (H)
2017 - L 2-0 (A), D 1-1 (H), L 0-1 (H)
2018 - L 3-2 (A), W 2-1 (H)
2019 - W 0-2 (A), W 1-0 (H)
2020 - W 2-1 (H)
2021 - W 3-2 (H), L 3-2 (A)
2022 - W 0-2 (A), W 2-1 (H)
2023 - D 2-2 (A), W 4-3 (H), L 0-2 (H/MLS Cup Playoffs)
2024 - L 0-2 (H), L 4-3 (A)
Meet the opponent: Columbus Crew
- After a historic 8-1-1 run from 2018-23 that included a five-game winning streak, Orlando City has dropped three straight to Columbus, most recently falling just short of a historic comeback last September. Orlando trailed 3-0 before rallying late with a brace from Luis Muriel and a goal from Ramiro Enrique, but couldn’t quite get even in what turned into a 4-3 defeat.
- The Crew has seen some turnover since the club's last meeting in 2024, notably moving superstar DP forward Cucho Hernández to Real Betis and acquiring Dániel Gazdag in a cash trade with the Philadelphia Union. After a slow start to life in Central Ohio, Gazdag finally scored his first Crew goal in his 16th appearance for the club last weekend against D.C. United. The Hungarian international has 4g/3a in seven games against Orlando, including a goal in the 2025 season opener.
- Columbus still features significant talent, including star Uruguayan attacker Diego Rossi (11g/4a), four-time MLS Cup champion midfielder Darlington Nagbe, U.S. Men's National Team left back Max Arfsten, and reigning MLS Defender of the Year Steven Moreira. Rossi and Arfsten both represented the Crew at the MLS All-Star Game on Wednesday.
- This game is especially important from a standings perspective, as Columbus currently sits in fourth place in the East, the final slot that provides home-field advantage in the Best of 3 First Round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. Orlando is six points back of Columbus, but the Lions face the Crew both this week and at home in the penultimate game of the season on October 4.
