After drawing 0-0 with Florida rivals Inter Miami, Orlando City SC complete a three-game home stretch with the visit of defending 2020 MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew.
Caleb Porter’s side have endured a sub-par 2021 so far. They recently ended a six-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over rivals FC Cincinnati in the “Hell Is Real” derby.
As for Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC, the Lions are unbeaten in SIX. In short, the response has been good since that humiliating 5-0 defeat at New York City FC.
However, City have won TWO and drawn FOUR of these games. Ultimately, more is required to hunt down runaway leaders New England Revolution.
Outshooting Inter Miami 15 to 5, Orlando City SC frustratingly only got 2 of these 15 strikes on target.
Unfortunately for Tesho Akindele, the hard-working Canadian striker had an evening to forget at Exploria Stadium.
First, Akindele saw a feeble twelfth minute penalty saved by Nick Marsman.
After that, on 26 minutes, Robin Jansson thought he’d opened the scoring with a fantastic strike past Marsman from range.
But then VAR ruled that Tesho Akindele was offside as he attempted to prod home Jansson’s strike mid-flight.
A decision that first seemed harsh, but ultimately correct due to Akindele’s interference, Tesho was subbed off for Daryl Dike at half-time.
Dike thought he’d won the game with a fantastic 84th minute header. Again, Nick Marsman was equal to the effort.
A frustrating evening, especially considering we didn’t beat Inter Miami at home in two attempts, focus now switches to Crew.
Nobody could’ve predicted Columbus Crew’s dismal run of six straight defeats mid-season.
A favourite for the Supporters’ Shield at the start of 2021, Caleb Porter’s side have only just got themselves back on track.
Not ideal for Orlando City SC, Crew’s 3-2 win over FC Cincinnati provides hope ahead of this Central Florida trip.
Orlando City SC vs Columbus Crew – 2015/20 head-to-head stats
The last time Orlando City SC faced Columbus Crew, it was the Lions’ penultimate game of the 2020 MLS regular season.
Heading into this one on the back of two consecutive wins over Atlanta United (4-1) and Montreal Impact (0-1), confidence was sky high.
Heading for our first ever MLS Cup Playoffs appearance in style, this game saw Orlando City SC perform at their gutsy best.
As the story went, Caleb Porter’s Columbus Crew went on to lift MLS Cup in 2020.
But in their final regular season away game, the Crew came unstuck against the 10 men of Orlando City SC.
After Chris Mueller opened the scoring on 27 minutes, Nani received a ridiculously harsh red card for a foul on Artur in the 52nd minute.
A decision later rescinded by the Independent Review Panel, Harrison Afful equalised just four minutes later.
The Lions stuck to their task however. Benji Michel scored a fantastic solo goal in the 84th minute to raise the roof off Exploria Stadium!
Orlando City SC 2 Columbus Crew 1 – Highlights – November 4, 2020 (Credit: Columbus Crew SC)
There is symmetry across the win, draw and loss columns in the Orlando City SC vs Columbus Crew / Columbus Crew vs Orlando City SC game series so far.
With both Orlando City SC and Columbus Crew sharing FIVE victories each, we’ve also had THREE draws since 2015.
Columbus Crew’s most recent win over City came way back in July 2018 – a controversial 3-2 victory at MAPFRE Stadium.
Since then, the Lions have been perfect, winning the last FOUR consecutive MLS meetings.
In this streak, James O’Connor‘s Orlando City SC did the double over Crew in 2019 with 0-2 and 1-0 shutout victories.
Sure, Orlando City SC have bossed this Eastern Conference game series in recent seasons.
However, the full-time result has kept everybody guessing on numerous occasions.
Indeed, in FIVE of the last SIX Major League Soccer head-to-heads, the sides have been separated by just ONE goal.
This included Orlando City SC‘s aforementioned 1-0 victory over Crew in July 2019.
Again, that man Benji Michel was the bane of Columbus Crew with another 84th minute game winner over the Black & Gold.
Orlando City SC 1 Columbus Crew 0 – Highlights – July 13, 2019 (Credit: Major League Soccer)
Orlando City SC form
More is going to be required to hunt down Eastern Conference leaders New England Revolution.
By more, we mean turning draws into victories more regularly.
After all, Orlando City SC have drawn FOUR of their last FIVE MLS fixtures.
Despite Revs experiencing their first loss in 10 games (2-0 at New York City FC), Bruce Arena’s side are still 14 points clear of second-placed Orlando City SC.
A lot will hinge on how much Daryl Dike can produce now he’s fit and back in Oscar Pareja‘s squad.
After spending winter 2020/21 with Barnsley on loan, Dike has effectively played two full campaigns with no rest in between.
Orlando City SC 0 Inter Miami 0 – Highlights – August 27, 2021 (Credit: Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami)
Columbus Crew form
When the chips are down, seemingly everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
That’s been the case for Columbus Crew this mid-season with Caleb Porter’s side only recently arresting a six-game pointless streak.
In their winless run however, Crew weren’t always losing MLS fixtures by much.
Indeed, Columbus Crew’s last FIVE Major League Soccer fixtures have all been separated by ONE goal.
The 1-0, 1-0 and 1-2 defeats to Chicago Fire, New York Red Bulls and Seattle Sounders were a bitter pill to swallow.
However, the manner of their late 3-2 victory over FC Cincinnati in Hell Is Real was the morale boost they’ve been looking for.
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Don’t forget, Orlando City SC vs Columbus Crew will be shown LIVE on Sky Sports Football in the early hours of Sunday morning at 00:30 (GMT).
You can view our TV Fixture Tracker by clicking here.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER 🚨 | @OrlandoCitySC 🆚 @ColumbusCrew is LIVE on @SkySports Football, Main Event & Mix at 00:30 (🇬🇧) in the early hours of Sunday morning. 😁👏🏽🦁
VIEW TV TRACKER 📺: https://t.co/KV9JvpAA0o#OCTwitter #OrlandoCity #VamosOrlando #Crew96 #MLSUK pic.twitter.com/foNE50e9yz
— Orlando City UK 🎗 (@Orlando_CityUK) September 3, 2021