Orlando City Gears Up For Independence Day Matchup With FC Dallas At Toyota Stadium

By  //  July 4, 2016

Kickoff is set for 9 p.m. E.T

Orlando-City-580-6
Orlando City SC (4-3-8, 20 points) returns to Major League Soccer (MLS) play when it heads to Toyota Stadium for the first time to visit FC Dallas (9-5-4, 31 points) on Monday, July 4, to begin a stretch of four games in 13 days. Kickoff is set for 9 p.m. E.T. (Orlando City SC Image)

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – Orlando City SC (4-3-8, 20 points) returns to Major League Soccer (MLS) play when it heads to Toyota Stadium for the first time to visit FC Dallas (9-5-4, 31 points) on Monday, July 4, to begin a stretch of four games in 13 days. Kickoff is set for 9 p.m. E.T.

The match will be locally televised on WRDQ TV27 as well as transmitted on Real Radio 104.1 FM in English and on La Grande 1030 AM in Spanish.

“[Dallas is a] very dynamic team. Obviously, Fabian Castillo [is] one of the better players in the league, Mauro Díaz [is] one of the better players in the league, Barrios on the other side – their attacking threats are very, very good,” Lions Head Coach Adrian Heath said.

Adrian Heath
Adrian Heath

“They are second in the Supporters’ Shield so they are obviously doing well this season. We know that in the counterattack they are incredibly dangerous and for me it’s all about concentration. Can we concentrate when we have possession of the ball and they are off? Because that’s when they are the most dangerous.”

In its last MLS match, Orlando City earned a thrilling 3-2 win over Toronto FC on June 25 at Camping World Stadium. Kevin Molino made a perfect pass to striker Cyle Larin to open the scoring in the fifth minute before chipping a ball to Adrian Winter for the go-ahead goal in the 83rd.

Toronto’s Sebastian Giovinco set up Justin Morrow’s 90th-minute equalizer before Kaká won it in the 10th minute of stoppage time with a penalty kick off the bar and in to extend Orlando City’s unbeaten streak to five games.

Kevin Molino
Kevin Molino

Kevin Molino’s two assists tied Kaká for the team lead with five, while Larin’s goal extended his team lead to eight in MLS play.

The Toros earned a 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake on June 25 in their last league game. Barrios found Kellyn Acosta in the 18th minute before Castillo made it 2-0 in the 58th.

Barrios and Tesho Akindele lead the Toros with five goals each. Díaz leads Dallas with five assists.

Dallas’ win extended their MLS home-unbeaten streak to 16 games, dating back to last year and including the playoffs. The Toros’ is the longest active streak in MLS, just ahead of Orlando City’s 14-game MLS home-unbeaten streak.

This is Orlando City’s first-ever visit to Toyota Stadium. In their first meeting last year, Dallas defeated the Lions 2-0 in Orlando after Díaz scored on a penalty kick at the end of the first half before David Texeira secured the win.

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Both sides enter the match following U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 encounters on Wednesday, with City falling against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and FC Dallas defeating the Rapids 2-1.

This is also the first of two consecutive games against Lone Star State teams. After Monday’s match, the Lions return to Camping World Stadium to face the Houston Dynamo on Friday, July 8.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

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