Orlando City have the opportunity to clinch an Eastern Conference playoff spot when they visit the Chicago Fire on Wednesday night.
Orlando City (12-13-6, 42 points) hold the No. 7 spot in the East entering the clash at Soldier Field. A victory over the Fire combined with the No. 10 Columbus Crew losing to FC Dallas would allow the Lions to wrap up a spot.
Orlando is unbeaten (2-0-2) in its last four matches and is tied with FC Cincinnati at 42 points. The New York Red Bulls are ninth with 39 points and Columbus has 38.
On the other side of the ledger, the Lions are four points behind the sixth-place Philadelphia Union.
“In a season, there are going to be highs and lows and there’s going to be problems throughout the season,” midfielder Wilder Cartagena said through a translator. “I’m happy for the phase we’re in now. I think the team is doing good.”
Orlando City lost 2-1 to visiting Chicago on Aug. 19. Fire star forward Lewandowski scored the decisive goal on a penalty kick in the 68th minute.
That rose Chicago’s unbeaten streak against Orlando to four (3-0-1).
Lions coach Martin Perelman said his team is looking forward to the rematch.
“We will be ready, we will prepare ourselves,” Perelman said. “We will compete in the best way we can and try to get the points.”
Orlando is coming off a 2-2 home tie against New York City FC. Midfielder Martin Ojeda (team-high 16th) and forward Antoine Griezmann (13th) scored the goals.
Chicago (15-10-6, 51 points) previously clinched a playoff spot and currently resides in fourth place in the East.
The Fire are four points behind the New England Revolution and Inter Miami, who hold the second and third spots, respectively.
Chicago snapped a two-game slide by recording a 3-2 road victory over Atlanta United on Saturday. Midfielder Anton Saletros, midfielder Anzor Mekvabishvili and forward Philip Zinckernagel scored the goals for the Fire.
“I like the fight and I like the resilience but I know each and every one of you can do better with the ball and we will do that,” Fire coach Gregg Berhalter said while addressing his team on Monday.
Midfielder Maren Haile-Selassie is the goal-scoring leader among current Chicago players with 11. He’s tied with Zinckernagel for the team lead with 10 assists.
–Field Level Media
