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Orlando City SC: What to know about Oscar Pareja’s squad for the start of the 2023 MLS season

Orlando City beat the New York Red Bulls on the opening day of the MLS season to stretch their run of unbeaten home openers to nine consecutive MLS seasons.

Kieran Quaile
Kieran Quailekquaile90
Feb 25, 2023; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando City SC midfielder Facundo Torres (17) reacts after scoring a goal against the New York Red Bulls during the second half at Exploria Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
Nathan Ray SeebeckUSA TODAY Sports

Orlando City got their MLS season off to a strong start by beating New York Red Bulls 1-0 on the opening day of the season.

The win against the New York Red Bulls stretched their run of unbeaten home openers to nine consecutive MLS seasons. The all-time record unbeaten streak on opening day is 14, held by Real Salt Lake (2010-23). Thirteen of Real Salt Lake’s 14 results came away from home.

New signings

Four of Orlando’s 10 new signings made their club debuts against the Red Bulls. Martín Ojeda and Luca Petrasso started the match for Óscar Pareja’s, while Ramiro Enrique and Dagur Dan Thorhallson made appearances as substitutes. Duncan McGuire, Felipe, Abdi Salim, and Rafael Santos were unused subs.

Pereyra to make 100th appearance

Orlando host FC Cincinnati in their second regular season match at the Exploria Stadium, Orlando on Saturday. Mauricio Pereyra is set to make his 100th appearance for the club against Cincinnati as the home will look to make it back-to-back wins.

Pereyra will become only the eighth player in club history to reach the milestone, joining Cristian Higuita, Chris Mueller, Robin Jansson, Benji Michel, Tesho Akindele, Kyle Smith and Junior Urso to do so.

Record vs. FC Cincinnati

Orlando’s all-time record vs. FC Cincinnati is 3-2-2, +4 GD (2-1-0, +6 GD home), having only faced their weekend opponents in MLS competition.

Orlando City’s 2022 campaign

  • Regular season: 7th in Eastern Conference
  • MLS Cup Playoffs: First round
  • US Open Cup: Winners

One to Watch

Facundo Torres joined Cyle Larin and Alexandre Pato as players to score winning goals for Orlando City in a home season opener after the 22-year-old netted against the Red Bulls.

Last season, Torres scored 13 goals and provided 10 assists in 40 games across all competitions. He has already been linked with a move to Europe and is expected to have another big season with the MLS side.