As Orlando City prepares to host the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night, both teams are coming off victories in the U.S. Open Cup.
But wins have been rare this season for both sides when it comes to MLS league games.
Orlando City (1-5-1, 4 points) and Houston (2-4-0, 6 points) still have time to battle back into playoff contention. Saturday’s matchup provides an opportunity to build toward those goals.
Orlando City’s only MLS victory came March 14 against Montreal, but was followed by losses to LAFC and Nashville by a combined score of 11-0.
This week, though, has been the most positive yet for the Lions after dueling Columbus to a 1-1 tie and scoring a 1-0 win over FC Naples to advance to the U.S. Open Cup’s Round of 16.
Orlando City, which parted ways with coach Oscar Pareja after starting the season with three losses, announced Friday that Argentina native Sebastian Setti, who has coached in MLS, Europe and Liga MX, will join interim coach Martin Perelman as an assistant coach. Martin Ojeda and Marco Pasalic lead the Lions with two goals each.
“It’s important,” Orlando City forward Tyrese Spicer said about the U.S. Cup win this week. “Every game is like a final, as Martin (Perelman) says. We have to stack up the victories one by one and we have to keep building.”
Houston rebounded from an ugly 6-2 loss to Colorado last Saturday with a 4-1 win over El Paso in the U.S. Open Cup.
“We were able to manage the game in the best way possible to set us up hopefully with some success here on the weekend — and on the road where we have not performed well, to be honest,” Houston coach Ben Olsen said.
Midfielder Guilherme has been one of the bright spots for a team looking for consistency. Before the lopsided loss to the Rapids, two of the Dynamo’s losses have been by one goal and another by two goals.
Guilherme has five goals this season, tying him with reigning league MVP Lionel Messi and others for the fourth-most in MLS.
–Field Level Media
