After beating Columbus Crew 2-1, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC play Nashville SC in their final regular season fixture of the 2020 Major League Soccer season.
Qualifying for the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs five games ago, the Lions usually have nothing to play for bar pride on MLS Decision Day but this year, it’s all about getting ready for the post-season.
On Wednesday night, Orlando City SC overcame all adversity to beat Crew on a historic evening at Exploria Stadium.
Not just your average three points, the win sealed Orlando City SC a top four place and crucially, a home game seeding for the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs.
But that only tells you half the story of a crazy night in Central Florida.
Dominating the first-half, Orlando City SC played some of their best soccer this year with Mauricio Pereyra pulling strings and Chris Mueller giving us a 27th minute lead (1-0).
However, the game’s biggest talking point occurred in the 52nd minute. After Nani appeared to make a perfectly-timed challenge on Artur, referee Ramy Touchan gave the City captain yellow.
A decision that left the Portuguese dumbfounded, chaos ensued as Nani‘s frustration saw Touchan running to the touchline to consult VAR for apparent “serious foul play”.
Not even a clear and obvious error, but rather a well-timed challenge, Lions team-mates, Oscar Pareja and City supporters watched on in sheer disbelief as Ramy Touchan pulled a red card from his right pocket.
With City players incensed at this ridiculous decision, tension reached boiling point. Playing with emotions running high, this pressure told just four minutes later when Harrison Afful equalised for Crew.
With the world seemingly against us, it would’ve been easy for City to crumble. But Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC are different.
Sticking to our task, battling through all adversity and succeeding against all odds a man down, substitute Benji Michel was the hero of the night on 85 minutes.
The coolest man in all of Central Florida, he smartly controlled a long ball from Rodrigo Schlegel, chesting it beyond Aboubacar Keita and Waylon Francis before nutmegging the impressive Eloy Room.
Cue pandemonium in The Wall as Orlando City SC battled through eight minutes of stoppage time to seal an unforgettable three points, setting up a first ever home game in the MLS Cup Playoffs in turn.
Orlando City SC vs Nashville SC – Head-to-head stats
The last time Orlando City SC faced Nashville SC, it was the Lions’ first ever visit to Nissan Stadium, Tennessee.
Earning a 1-1 draw in Music City, Benji Michel gave Oscar Pareja‘s side a 17th minute lead with a sublime strike from long range.
Muscling off Aníbal Godoy before unleashing a fearsome drive from outside the Nashville SC box, it was a certified banger and one of Orlando City SC‘s best goals this season.
Unfortunately however, this was the quintessential game of two halves.
After controlling the first 45 minutes, Gary Smith’s Nashville SC entered the second-half re-energised.
So much so that it took Randall Leal just two minutes to equalise after the break.
Nashville SC 1 Orlando City SC 1 – Highlights – September 2, 2020 (Credit: Nashville Soccer Club)
With just two MLS head-to-heads so far, Orlando City SC vs Nashville SC is the Lions’ youngest game series.
Nevertheless, Orlando City SC remain undefeated against Gary Smith’s side across 180+ minutes of soccer.
In the clubs’ inaugural meeting back on August 26, Daryl Dike was only just starting to announce himself as one of the United States’ most talented young players.
On a night where Orlando City SC supporters were welcomed back to Exploria Stadium for the first time since lockdown, City treated them to all three points.
It did start badly however with Dave Romney putting the away side in front on 15 minutes.
This was actually the last time that Orlando City SC have conceded the first goal in an MLS fixture this season.
Fortunately, an equaliser wasn’t too far away with Chris Mueller responding six minutes later before a second-half Daryl Dike brace made the game safe.
Orlando City SC 3 Nashville SC 1 – Highlights – August 26, 2020 (Credit: Nashville Soccer Club)
Looking for trends and themes in Orlando City SC vs Nashville SC fixtures is tough considering there’s only been two head-to-heads so far.
However, one we could pick out was the fact we’ve seen goals in the first 20 minutes of both fixtures this year.
Indeed, Dave Romney’s 15th minute opener at Exploria Stadium and Benji Michel‘s 17th minute opener at Nissan Stadium suggest we could be in for another early goal.
That said, with both sides already qualified for the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs, perhaps this game might be less frantic with both sets of players wanting to avoid injury ahead of their first post-season appearances.
Orlando City SC form
On Wednesday night against Columbus Crew, Chris Mueller scored his tenth MLS goal of the season.
In the process, he became the first player since Scott Sutter (2018) to score in THREE consecutive MLS games at Exploria Stadium.
Taking his game to new heights under Oscar Pareja, USMNT recognition now seems more of a formality than mere hope alone.
One of our key men in an incredible 2020 campaign, it’s just crazy to think that Chris Mueller missed out on the huge 46-player shortlist for 2020 Landon Donovan MLS MVP.
Orlando City SC 2 Columbus Crew 1 – Highlights – November 4, 2020 (Credit: Columbus Crew SC)
Nashville SC form
In Nashville SC, Orlando City SC face an opponent who’ve got things right on the road of late.
Despite going winless in their last two games, Gary Smith’s men visit the 407 having won their last TWO away fixtures in MLS.
In October, the Tennessee side won 1-3 at Houston Dynamo and 0-1 at Montreal Impact.
It was the latter result, and Inter Miami and Atlanta United’s subsequent losses the same gameday, that saw the Music City team clinch qualification to the MLS Cup Playoffs at the very first attempt.