Philadelphia Union vs. Orlando City SC | 2018 US Open Cup Match Preview

Philadelphia Union vs. Orlando City SC
U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals
Talen Energy Stadium — Chester
July 18 - 7 pm ET
WATCH: USSoccer.com

For the fifth time in their history, the Philadelphia Union are in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals, after ousting rival New York Red Bulls, 2-1, in the Round of 16, while Orlando City SC reach the final eight for the third time in their history and first time since 2015, advancing on penalty kicks against D.C. United.

This is the first-ever USOC meeting between the Eastern Conference rivals and second encounter this season. Dom Dwyer and Chris Mueller scored seven minutes apart late in the first half to lead the Lions to a 2-0 victory at Talen Energy Stadium on April 13.

Philadelphia Union      

David Accam’s first goal for his new team came against his former team, a dramatic winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time to lift the Union to a wild 4-3 victory at Chicago last Wednesday.

Haris Medunjanin put the visitors in front in the 31st minute and, after Nemanja Nikolic leveled eight minutes later, Cory Burke gave the Union a 2-1 halftime lead. Burke’s second goal gave Philadelphia a 3-2 lead in the 73rd minute. Bastian Schweinsteiger headed home the equalizer in the fourth minute of stoppage time, but Accam secured all three points one minute later.

“I'm really proud of the group for the fight that they showed,” Jim Curtin said. “I thought that we could have laid down when it was 3-3 and try to get out of here with a point but credit to David Accam, he stepped up in a big way for us and got us a huge goal.”

• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: None
• International duty: None
• Injury Report: OUT: D - Josh Yaro (concussion)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: John McCarthy — Keegan Rosenberry, Jack Elliott, Mark McKenzie, Matthew Real — Derrick Jones, Haris Medunjanin — Marcus Epps, Anthony Fontana, David Accam — Cory Burke

Orlando City SC

Orlando City SC head to Chester with a huge monkey off their shoulders after beating Toronto FC, 2-1, to snap a nine-game losing streak, at home Saturday night.

Chris Schuler gave Orlando a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute with a close range header after Alex Bono spilled a Dwyer shot in front of the goal. Dwyer then made it 2-0 three minutes into the second half. Nick Hagglund scored a cosmetic goal in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.

“[Philadelphia] have players that are very capable of hurting you. Whether they high press or whether they drop, they’re doing a combination of both really. So it will be interesting to see, do they come high-press or do they sit,” James O’Connor said. “It would be incredible. There’s a desperation from all of us to go as far as we possibly can in the competition. I think anytime we get an opportunity like that you want to really try and grab it.”

• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: None
• International duty: None
• Injury Report: OUT: GK - Mason Stajduhar (Localized Ewing Sarcoma), D - Lamine Sane (quad injury), D - Jonathan Spector (hamstring strain)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Earl Edwards Jr. — RJ Allen, Chris Schuler, Amro Tarek, Mohamed El-Munir — Donny Toia, Will Johnson — Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, Dillon Powers —Stefano Pinho

All-Time in U.S. Open Cup

• Overall: Philadelphia Union 17 wins, 47 goals … Orlando City SC 5 wins, 15 goals
• This is the first all-time meeting between the Philadelphia Union and Orlando City SC in the U.S. Open Cup