Postseason lift
Akindele slotted home an early goal to send Lions to vital victory
An early goal from Tesho Akindele propelled Orlando City to a 1-0 victory over Sporting KC on Wednesday, earning the team three much-needed points.
The Lions (9-11-6, 33 points) threw themselves at the visiting goal from the opening whistle, peppering the ball in and around the Sporting KC box. Chris Mueller lofted a cross to a wide open Dom Dwyer on the backside in the third minute, but the designated player headed the ball into the dirt.
The Lions broke through in the 20th minute when Uri Rosell fed a ball cleanly into the box to Carlos Ascues, who slotted a pass directly across the face of the goal with his first touch. Dwyer lagged in front of the goal and sucked away the attention of two defenders as Akindele roared in from behind, hammering the ball into the net.
Akindele passed Nani as the team’s leading scorer this season with nine goals and set a personal record for most in a single season. The strike also gave the Lions a 1-0 lead in the opening 15 minutes of the half.
Although Orlando City took the early lead, it was a sloppy, physical night on both sides of the ball. In the first half, Nani went chest to chest with Felipe Gutiérrez, the pair knocking foreheads against each other until they were peeled apart by their teammates and hit with yellow cards.
Sporting KC (7-11-7, 28 points) dominated possession for large swaths of the game and once the team became entrenched in its defensive third, the Lions struggled to dig to attack due to errant passes. The visitors continued win the possession battle in the second half, churning out 10 shots, but Orlando City goalkeeper Brian Rowe swallowed the most dangerous strikes on frame.
In the 88th minute, Nani broke away in transition, scorching up the field with only two defenders between himself and the goal. He hesitated at the top of the box, pulling both defenders to feed Sacha Kljestan for a one-on-one shot on the keeper, but Kljestan’s chip bounced just a foot short of the goal line before it was cleared off.
Even without offensive momentum in the second half, Akindele’s goal was enough to lift the Lions to a 1-0 victory. The win will push Orlando City up to eighth place in the Eastern Conference table. The Lions are tied with seventh place Montreal in points, but the Impact own one more win and own the last slot above the playoff cut line.
Zusi homecoming
Sporting Kansas City defender Graham Zusi, who grew up in Longwood and attended Lake Brantley High, returned to Exploria Stadium Wednesday night.
Zusi recently played in the venue during the MLS All-Star Week.
During his all-star visit, Zusi said he never could have imagined the league’s largest event would one day take place in Orlando. He remembers going to Tampa Bay and Miami to watch competitive soccer and wished that Orlando could build a team of its own when he was young.
“To be honest, I was amazed at how fast it grew in Orlando,” Zusi said. “The fan base and the beautiful stadium that they built so quickly is amazing. To see it come to Orlando was really special for me.”