Following our narrow 1-0 loss at D.C. United, Orlando City SC face a quick three-day turnaround by heading west to face fellow Eastern Conference side Columbus Crew at MAPFRE Stadium.
The Black & Gold are just a single point below the Lions in the East right now so this is a crucial opportunity to destabilise a side Orlando City SC have endured their fair share of ill-feeling with since entering MLS in 2015.
If they are to achieve victory however, Orlando City SC will have to be be far more ruthless than they were at D.C. United on Wednesday night despite a defensive masterclass from Steve Birnbaum and Frédéric Brillant.
With Wayne Rooney’s stunning strike from his own half separating the sides on the night, Orlando City SC were the better side in the second-half but simply ran into a brick wall with D.C. United happy to soak up pressure and play on the counter.
There was nothing wrong with the approach play from James O’Connor‘s side but a growing exasperation stemming from the lack of a killer centre forward at the sharp end of the pitch.
Make no mistake, Tesho Akindele‘s debut season in the centre forward position has been positive but seemingly not of a level to threaten the sides in Major League Soccer’s upper echelons.
A top quality centre forward has proved the difference in the past three meetings with D.C. United where Wayne Rooney’s quality alone has been enough to narrowly split the sides. Without the Englishman, it could’ve been a different story altogether.
Now facing Columbus Crew, Orlando City SC are playing a side in terrible form having picked up only a single victory from their past 11 games.
With Caleb Porter’s side extremely short on confidence right now, Orlando City SC won’t want to give the Ohio side any encouragement at MAPFRE Stadium.
Considering both sides’ current standing in the Eastern Conference, this one has a must-win feel about it but a victory will be difficult to achieve with the Lions handling a tough double gameweek.
2015/18 head-to-head stats
The last time Orlando City SC faced Columbus Crew, the final whistle brought scenes of absolute jubilation from The Wall and all around Exploria Stadium.
Not because we’d qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs, not because we’d broken a scoring record but because it was the Lions’ first league win in 99 days – yes, a little over three months!
As we’re all painfully aware, Orlando City SC‘s 2018 campaign was an unmitigated disaster but there was something brilliant about this narrow 2-1 victory.
Fitting that it was our last home fixture of a hugely forgettable season, Sacha Kljestan‘s 96th minute penalty stole all three points in a last gasp triumph that earned revenge for our controversial 3-2 loss at Columbus Crew earlier that year.
Orlando City SC 2 Columbus Crew 1 – Highlights – October 21, 2018 (Credit: Major League Soccer)
Ten games deep into this Major League Soccer game series and it’s Columbus Crew who hold a three-win advantage over Orlando City SC.
Always a tough opponent, both these sides have shared a fair amount of ill-feeling towards each other for some reason or another.
Stretching back to the club’s first ever league meeting in April 2015 when Rafael Ramos saw red at MAPFRE Stadium, the last time we visited Columbus in July 2018 (3-2) was especially controversial.
Columbus Crew 3 Orlando City SC 2 – Highlights – July 21, 2018 (Credit: Major League Soccer)
This was the fixture where referee Silviu Petrescu swung the entire momentum of the game by handing an absolute farce of a penalty to Gyasi Zardes in the 88th minute with replays confirming Patrick Mullins tripped over thin air rather than R. J. Allen.
With Orlando City SC leading 1-2 at the time, Petrescu refused to consult VAR with Zardes converting the spot kick before a rejuvenated Columbus Crew stole all three points with a Wil Trapp thunderbolt winning the game minutes later in stoppage time.
As you may remember, these events provoked this rather angry Orlando City UK rant!
The morning after the night before… 😑
Still livid! 😡 My take on THAT penalty decision in @ColumbusCrewSC vs @OrlandoCitySC! 🏊♂️
The officials should hang their heads in shame… 🙈#CLBvORL #OCSC #MLS pic.twitter.com/ZPNJUzrHzs
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) July 22, 2018
In recent times, there has been very little separating Columbus Crew and Orlando City SC on the field.
Indeed, the last THREE Major League Soccer head-to-heads have been separated by just ONE goal.
Prior to last season’s 3-2 and 2-1 results, Columbus Crew visited Exploria Stadium in our final home game of the 2017 MLS campaign where a single Ola Kamara strike stole all three points for the Ohio side.
Columbus Crew form
Rightly lauded for his tremendous work at Portland Timbers helping the Western Conference side to a first MLS Cup title in 2015, Caleb Porter is finding life at Columbus Crew far tougher.
Replacing the long-serving Gregg Berhalter was never going to be an easy task but nobody expected Crew’s form to trail off quite as dramatically as it has so far in 2019.
Currently tenth in the Eastern Conference with 17 points from 17 games played, just a point below Orlando City SC, the Ohio side find themselves near the bottom due to a terrible run of losing NINE of their last ELEVEN Major League Soccer fixtures.
Orlando City SC form
Following D.C. United’s narrow 1-0 victory over Orlando City SC on Wednesday night, this kept up the negative trend of the Lions losing by one goal on the road.
Losing FOUR of our EIGHT away fixtures by a single goal so far this season, at Real Salt Lake, Atlanta United, Seattle Sounders and D.C. United respectively, we’ve ultimately not been disgraced but had nothing to show for our efforts.
The 2-1 RSL loss aside, Orlando City SC could’ve taken at least a point and some times more if they had one missing ingredient – a clinical centre forward.
While Tesho Akindele has enjoyed a good season so far, the Lions are desperately lacking a marquee-level striker and with Dom Dwyer‘s form having waned since being absent for personal reasons, it’s becoming more difficult to achieve results away from Exploria Stadium.
D.C. United 1 Orlando City SC 0 – Highlights – June 26, 2019 (Credit: Major League Soccer)