After a valiant, yet eventually painful 2-2 draw with leaders New England Revolution, Orlando City SC now visit Columbus Crew in their penultimate away game of the season.
Leading Revs 2-0 by the 80th minute on Sunday, two late Adam Buksa strikes broke the Lions’ hearts. With three regular season games remaining, City are four points clear of the red line.
Mentally, Oscar Pareja‘s side have to pick themselves up from the floor after Sunday’s late capitulation.
Clinching the Supporters’ Shield after Seattle Sounders lost on Saturday, Revs have been relentless all season long.
To have defeated Bruce Arena’s side would’ve been a massive step towards the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs.
On paper and in this season, a point against Revs is a good result. However, throwing away a 2-0 lead against them is a bitter pill to swallow.
Revs started what was effectively their B team. Big hitters Adam Buksa, Carles Gil and Tajon Buchanan all entered as second-half substitutes.
At full-time, several City supporters were questioning Oscar Pareja‘s second-half substitutes on #OCTwitter.
With João Moutinho, Chris Mueller, Jhegson Méndez, Mauricio Pereyra and Nani all withdrawn, Orlando City SC retreated as they attempted to hang on to their hard-fought 2-0 lead.
A dangerous game to play, especially considering Revs’ second-half firepower, the visitors’ attacking quality told in the end.
An interesting footnote was that an Orlando City SC player finally stuck one past Matt Turner from the penalty spot.
After Nani saw two penalties saved by Turner across 2020/21, our captain instructed Daryl Dike to take Sunday’s penalty.
Dike duly dispatched his kick from 12 yards. Should we earn any more penalties this season, Dike could well be taking them.
Orlando City SC now visit Columbus Crew’s Lower.com Field for the first time in Major League Soccer.
Caleb Porter’s Black & Gold currently sit eleventh in the Eastern Conference and City could really do with a win as 2021 MLS Decision Day looms.
Columbus Crew vs Orlando City SC – 2015/21 head-to-head stats
The last time Orlando City SC faced Columbus Crew, our 3-2 victory over the Ohio side saw Oscar Pareja become the winningest head coach in City’s MLS history (23 wins).
With the win also capping City’s longest unbeaten streak of 2021 (7 games), the three points were a big relief at the final whistle.
Racing into a 2-0 lead through Daryl Dike and Silvester van der Water, City looked back to their dominating best.
But you can’t take anything for granted in Major League Soccer.
In the blink of an eye, a second-half Antônio Carlos own goal and a Miguel Berry strike saw Caleb Porter’s Crew draw level within just 120 seconds.
Instead of panicking, Orlando City SC rallied and Júnior Urso’s sweet strike on 69 minutes sealed all three points to City supporters’ relief and delight.
Orlando City SC 3 Columbus Crew 2 – Highlights – September 4, 2021 (Credit: Major League Soccer)
With that 3-2 win over Columbus Crew, Orlando City SC narrowly edge the Ohio side with SIX victories to Crew’s FIVE.
We’ve also had THREE draws since our 2015 MLS debut.
Columbus Crew’s most recent win over City came way back in July 2018 – a controversial 3-2 victory at their former MAPFRE Stadium home.
Since this infamous game, the Lions have been perfect, winning the last FIVE consecutive MLS head-to-heads.
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.
Despite Orlando City SC’s recent dominance in this Eastern Conference game series, fixtures have been tight.
In SIX of the last SEVEN MLS head-to-heads, both Crew and the Lions have been separated by just ONE goal.
This included Orlando City SC’s aforementioned 1-0 victory over Crew in July 2019.
Benji Michel was the bane of Columbus Crew with an 84th minute game winner over the Black and Gold.
Lightning struck twice with Michel also scoring another 84th minute game winner over Crew in November 2020 (2-1).
Orlando City SC 2 Columbus Crew 1 – Highlights – November 4, 2020 (Credit: Columbus Crew SC)
Columbus Crew form
Since moving from Historic Crew Stadium to Lower.com Field in July, Crew have gone 5-2-4 in their new digs.
The bad news for Orlando City SC is that Caleb Porter’s team have started acclimatising to their new surroundings.
Winning FOUR of their last FIVE home games at Lower.com Field, the Black and Gold did have a late shock on Saturday though.
With Sean Nealis scoring an 87th minute winner for New York Red Bulls (1-2), hopefully City can take advantage of tired hearts and minds.
Orlando City SC form
When he’s up front and leading the line, Daryl Dike scores goals – plain and simple!
Enjoying no off-season and effectively playing two consecutive seasons, what with his Barnsley loan in between, Dike isn’t slowing down.
Our 21-year-old sensation has been huge for Orlando City SC down the stretch.
Scoring in FOUR of City’s last SIX MLS fixtures, Dike’s FOUR goals mean that the Lions are still firmly #InTheHunt.
With TWO of these strikes being penalties, we may well have our first choice designated penalty taker sorted.
Orlando City SC 2 New England Revolution 2 – Highlights – October 24, 2021 (Credit: FOX Soccer)
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