Fire Make Inaugural Visit to Orlando City SC Aiming for Second Straight Win

As Orlando City SC has gone about making acquaintances with clubs around Major League Soccer in its debut season in the league, it's fair to note that its first two clashes with the Chicago Fire have had all the makings of a budding rivalry.
The two sides have played two hard-fought, down-to-the-wire matches so far, first in MLS play and again in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16, splitting the outcomes and combining for nine goals and nine yellow cards in the process.
Things aren’t likely to get any less thrilling, as the Eastern Conference foes will face off twice more this season while fighting for a playoff spot. The next meeting comes at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday in Florida, with pregame coverage beginning at 6 p.m. CT on Comcast SportsNet Chicago. The match is the first regular-season contest in the state of Florida for the Chicago Fire since facing the Miami Fusion at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale on July 18, 2001.
Coming off a 3-2 win over a New York Red Bulls side that had won five of its previous six outings, the Men in Red head to the Sunshine State full of confidence.
“We’re looking forward to it,” defender Eric Gehrig said. “It’s a big game. Both teams are fighting and clawing for every point they can get under that red line. As trying a season as it’s been, if we get three points on Saturday and some things go our way, we could be above that red line.”
Something’s got to give. Orlando comes in having lost seven of its last nine matches across all competitions, and neither of the club’s two leading scorers, Cyle Larin and Kaká, have scored in over three weeks. On the other hand, the Fire continue to search for their first road win of the year.
Michael Stephens said the significance of the road skid is a bit overblown. He pointed out that Chicago allowed just two shots on goal in a 1-0 loss at Portland and put in very solid performances to earn draws at Houston and Philadelphia.

“I’m not too worried about it,” Stephens added. “I think once you’re in the game, you’re in the game. I know a lot’s being made of stuff that’s happened in past years, but we’re not focused on that. We’re ready to go on this road trip.”
Rather than thinking about the last time the Fire got a win away from home, the team is focusing on how to slow down Kaká in the midfield. They did a good job of it in a 3-1 U.S. Open Cup win on July 22 in which they limited Orlando to one shot on goal.
Gehrig said doing that again will be about organization between the back line and the midfield, as well as being ready to react if the ball is turned over. Head coach Frank Yallop thinks his side did a much better job of neutralizing Orlando’s offensive threats the second time around.
“If you switch off, they’ll hurt you,” Yallop said. “I think we did a good job in the second game of really knowing where their top players were. Kaká is obviously the top guy. Larin’s scored a lot of goals. We’ve got to make sure that we know where they are at all times, we’re squeezing the spaces, don’t allow them to operate especially in that little area underneath our back four that can hurt you.”
Yallop added that the Men in Red aren’t going to sit back. In need of three points -- particularly the looming international absences for Matt Polster, Joevin Jones and David Accam -- they’ll continue to press and look for an early goal. That attacking mindset has led to 48 shots in the last three games.
On occasion, it’s led to the Fire giving up early goals. On Wednesday against New York, however, that didn’t deter them from coming back and earning a win. Their attitude in doing so seemed to be reflective of the season as a whole. Though things haven’t gone according to plan so far, they won’t stop battling.
“It shows a lot of resiliency in the group,” Gehrig said. “We’re not going to quit. We’re going to continue the good fight. We’re right there in it, and we believe we can make it interesting down the stretch here.”
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SUSPENDED: ORL: Rafael Ramos (through August 30); Adrian Winter (through August 30)
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: ORL: Darwin Ceren, Carlos Rivas … CHI: Matt Polster
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: ORL: Kevin Molino, Brek Shea, Rafael Ramos, Seb Hines, Luke Boden, Kaká, Servando Carrasco, Cristian Higuita … CHI: Eric Gehrig, Chris Ritter, Adailton, Patrick Nyarko
DISABLED LIST: ORL: Kevin Molino (season-ending injury)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (1 meeting): Orlando City 1 win, 3 goals … Fire 0 wins, 2 goals … Ties 0
AT CITRUS BOWL: First meeting.

• The teams are meeting for the second time this season in league play. Cyle Larin scored in the 82nd minute to pull the teams level – then the Fire’s Adailton scored his second own goal of the game four minutes later to hand Orlando City a 3-2 win June 6 at the Citrus Bowl.

• The teams also met in a U.S. Open quarterfinal, Kennedy Igboananike scoring two goals after the 88th minute to lead the Fire to a 3-1 win July 22 at Toyota Park.

• Coaches record: Frank Yallop vs. ORL: P1 W0 L1 T0 … Adrian Heath vs. CHI: P1 W1 L0 T0