Orlando City return home this week to prepare for a massive match against the Columbus Crew -- who are slightly ahead in the Eastern Conference standings. Next Saturday’s match against the Crew at Orlando City Stadium will be the first of ten remaining matches for City -- whose sights are set on a top six finish.
“We have to win our home games, which every team expects to do that and there's no reason why we can't,” Lions head coach Jason Kreis said after the match. “And then we've got to nick a couple on the road, and I think that we have every opportunity to do that, as well.”
Despite one of their strongest first half performances of the season, Orlando City fell 3-1 on the road against the New York Red Bulls.
Carlos Rivas got the Lions off to a scoring start, netting his fifth goal of the 2017 season. Unfortunately, just minutes later, the Red Bulls were back on level terms after City conceded an unlucky own goal.
“Really, really thought that the performance in the first half tonight was one of best of the year, and a lot of that comes down to all of the guys were willing to do anything it took to try to get the result tonight,” Kreis said. “Unfortunately, a couple of really unfortunate circumstances, and maybe the game looked completely different.”
“We go into every game with a positive mind-set that we can win,” he continued. “To me, our schedule the rest of the way, is favorable.”
A positive mind-set is precisely what Orlando City need going into next week. The season is now condensed into these ten remaining matches, and the Lions will have opportunities to gain points in their push to qualify for the MLS Playoffs.
