After a statement 2-1 victory over St. Louis CITY SC, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC hit the road for a quick-fire two-game road streak, starting with a visit to North Carolina to face Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium.
With just nine MLS regular season fixtures remaining, the Lions currently sit fourth in the Eastern Conference, five points clear of seventh place and eleven points clear of ninth place.
Casting our minds back to Saturday, Orlando City SC were busy and bright in the first-half against storied Western Conference leaders St. Louis CITY SC.
The clubs’ inaugural MLS meeting on a muggy night at Exploria Stadium, it was the Lions’ first home fixture in nearly one month.
Never letting the Central Florida heat and humidity faze them, The Wall was louder and more boisterous than usual with brass instruments co-ordinated to accompany the percussion in the Supporters’ Section.
Despite their lofty league standing, Bradley Carnell’s visitors struggled to impose themselves on the game with Orlando City SC looking the more likely side to score.
That said, the Lions had to be patient with the game scoreless at half-time.
It didn’t take City long to seize the initiative after the restart, however.
Starting the second-half the best way possible, the 48th minute saw Facundo Torres score his ninth goal of the 2023 MLS season.
Making his second successive City start – from right back – Dagur Dan Thórhallsson again showcased his versatility and attacking prowess, spotting an unmarked El Cuervo lurking menacingly inside St. Louis CITY SC’s penalty area.
Calmly sending a shot beyond Roman Bürki, it was Facundo Torres‘ second goal in as many league games.
Making a habit of exploding in the second half of MLS campaigns, El Cuervo’s influence and timely goalscoring form is just what we need to remain #InTheHunt for a coveted top four finish.
On 78 minutes, Orlando City SC suffered an untimely setback, however.
With sub Anthony Markanich locating fellow sub Rasmus Alm from City’s byline, the Swede snuck a shot past Pedro Gallese for what he initially thought was the equaliser.
But then an anxious wait for Alm who saw his equaliser held up for VAR review.
Viewing replays, from one angle, Markanich’s assist appeared to run out of play, but from another angle, the evidence was inconclusive.
After checking the monitor for VAR review, referee Joe Dickerson eventually ruled that the equaliser would stand.
Not letting this setback get them down, Orlando City SC stuck to their task and bravely battled on.
In the first minute of second-half stoppage time, cue another huge flashpoint.
With Rafael Santos ripping a powerful strike on Roman Bürki’s goal, the ball cannoned off Anthony Markanich’s hand with Santos staring bug-eyed at Joe Dickerson, absolutely convinced it was a penalty.
Rushing to the sideline monitor once again, Exploria Stadium held its breath before Dickerson’s right hand boldly pointed towards the penalty spot.
Just as he did at Chicago Fire, up stepped the dependable Facundo Torres to slot home another penalty – and the game winner – from 12 yards.
With ice in his veins, Torres’ converted penalty was his tenth MLS goal of the season, his third goal in two MLS games, and his fifth successful penalty kick from five in MLS regular season play.
Facundo Torres‘ brace also saw him tie Nani (nine) for the second most game-winning goals in Orlando City SC club history.
The drama didn’t end there, however.
With an agonising nine minutes of stoppage time called, the 94th minute saw Indiana Vassilev smack Pedro Gallese‘s right hand post with a sweetly taken volley from distance.
A huge let off for the Lions, St. Louis CITY SC were then reduced to 10 men as the stopwatch surpassed the 100th minute.
Already booked, Jake Nerwinski pulled down Ramiro Enrique who excellently cushioned the ball before rushing clear through on Roman Bürki’s goal.
A clear denial of a goalscoring opportunity, Joe Dickerson’s full-time whistle sounded just seconds later to rapturous Exploria Stadium applause.
A statement victory against the Western Conference leaders, the win took Orlando City SC‘s unbeaten tally at home to eight games in MLS play.
Feels good successfully defending the fortress again, right?
Not only that but it was our fifth victory in our last six MLS fixtures – the kind of consistent form we desperately craved when starting the campaign ever so inconsistently back in spring.
Hitting form when it matters, the Lions are brimming with confidence right now, full of self-belief, and eager to go even further than any previous MLS iteration of Orlando City SC has gone before.
We haven’t achieved anything yet this season but huge credit must go to Oscar Pareja, his coaching staff, and the players for turning a mediocre regular season into a hugely promising one.
Currently fourth in the Eastern Conference but tied on the same number of points (43) as second-placed Philadelphia Union, we’re finally fighting near the summit – where most pundits expected we’d be in their pre-season predictions.
Summertime sadness? What summertime sadness!
As for our next opponents Charlotte FC, Christian Lattanzio’s side achieved a noteworthy 2-1 win over Los Angeles FC on Saturday and will no doubt be fired up after this morale boosting cross-conference victory.
Ending a slump of eight MLS games without a win, Charlotte FC currently languish twelfth in the Eastern Conference on 29 points.
Charlotte FC vs Orlando City SC
Last 3 head-to-heads
- August 21, 2022: Charlotte FC 1 Orlando City SC 2 (MLS)
- March 18, 2023: Orlando City SC 1 Charlotte FC 2 (MLS)
- May 9, 2023: Charlotte FC 1 Orlando City SC 0 (2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup)
2022/23 head-to-head stats
- It was 1-0 to Charlotte the last time the sides met (May 2023)
- Played Charlotte 3 times in MLS – Charlotte 1, Draws 0, Orlando 2
- All 3 MLS head-to-heads have finished 2-1 / 1-2
- Charlotte have failed to win 8 of their last 9 MLS fixtures
- Orlando have won half (6) of their 12 away fixtures in MLS so far this season, as well as drawing 3 and losing 3 – currently the strongest road record league-wide
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Watching the game
Charlotte FC vs Orlando City SC will be shown live on Apple TV at 00:30 (GMT) on Thursday, August 31.
Remember, UK supporters can watch all of Orlando City SC‘s 2023 MLS regular season fixtures by subscribing to Apple TV’s “MLS Season Pass”.
Subscribe now by clicking here.
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