Red Bulls vie to rebound from tough loss, host Orlando City (Aug 12, 2017)
The New York Red Bulls will attempt to bounce back from a deflating loss to their rivals on Saturday when they host new-look Orlando City SC at Red Bull Arena.
New York rallied from a 1-0 deficit with two goals to take the lead over New York City FC on Sunday, only to give up a pair of goals to David Villa and leave Yankee Stadium empty handed. The 3-2 loss snapped the four-game winning streak of the Red Bulls (11-9-2).
Orlando City (8-9-6) arrives for Saturday's match with several new faces on the roster. Just weeks after acquiring striker Dom Dwyer in a blockbuster deal with Sporting Kansas City, the Lions also added midfielder Dillon Powers from the Colorado Rapids and Peruvian midfielder Yoshi Yotun.
"Anytime you have an ambitious front office that's trying to bring in players, no matter if you're in first place or last place, I think that's important," Orlando City midfielder Will Johnson told reporters after training Thursday.
"I think it's important that you always try to improve, and so our front office and coaching staff have shown that they're not afraid to make moves and put themselves out there and try to get better players than what we already have."
Saturday's match will be the Lions' third with Dwyer in the lineup, but they're still looking for their first win with U.S. men's national star on the pitch. Orlando City has lost three of four overall and has dropped below the red line into seventh place on the Eastern Conference table.
Still, New York coach Jesse Marsch knows the Lions are dangerous.
"It hasn't quite clicked yet, and that's not surprising, given that they've only played together twice," Marsch said. "Our goal is to make sure that they don't light a spark under them in this game.
"We know Orlando is desperate. Their record as of late isn't great. They've haven't done well on the road as of late. This is their third road game in a row. So they're going to come here with a strong mentality to figure out a way to get a result. So we have to be up to that challenge."
The Red Bulls will be without midfielder Daniel Royer. Royer suffered a knee injury in the loss to New York City and has been ruled out of the match against Orlando City.
