Orlando City want stronger start as Union seek more scoring

Orlando City will go for a third straight win when they play at the Philadelphia Union on Friday.

But that doesn't mean all is well with the Lions (2-2-1), who have been living on the edge in those two matches.

Against the New York Red Bulls on Mar. 31, they twice trailed by a goal, and then squandered the lead before Josue Colman scored in the 86th minute for a 4-3 win. Last week was even more dramatic, when Orlando City scored three times from the 80-87th minutes to overcome Portland 3-2.

"Points are very good for us right now but (our) performance is really not good," Orlando City midfielder Sacha Kljestan said. "If we're going to continue to play like that and fight our way back in the games, we're not going to get a lot of points this season.

"So we've got to find a way to clean things up, have better starts to games. Maybe the answer is better collective defending."

Philadelphia (1-1-2) looks at a porous Orlando City defense that has allowed 10 goals this season and sees a chance to break out of its offensive doldrums.

The Union have scored three goals, and the 64th-minute score by Alejandro Bedoya salvaged a 1-1 tie with San Jose last week to end a 265-minute goalless streak -- the fifth longest in team history.

Union coach Jim Curtin was encouraged that Philadelphia had a 22-9 advantage in shots and 61.1 percent of the possession versus the Earthquakes.

"I'm confident when one goes in, the floodgates are going to open for this group because there's too much quality in the attacking third," he said.

He can look back to the 2017 season finale, when the Union treated the home fans to a 6-1 victory over Orlando City.

--Field Level Media