Draw proves net gain
Goal from Michel enough to move Lions up spot in Eastern Conference table
Orlando City earned a 1-1 draw on the road against Nashville SC, moving up another slot in the Eastern Conference standings on Wednesday.
The match started strong for the Lions, who took an early lead off a rocketing shot from second-year striker Benji Michel. Muscling off a defender to open himself up, Michel smashed the ball into the top left corner for a goal.
The strike was Michel’s second this season, although it was his first regular season goal after he previously scored in the later stages of the MLS is Back Tournament.
Wednesday night was a rematch between the two teams, coming only one week after the Lions notched a win over Nashville at home in Orlando.
Nashville SC looked more comfortable on the ball in its home stadium, relying less on the counter and finding opportunities to move the ball laterally in front of the Lions’ goal.
In the first half, Nashville struggled to turn any of those opportunities into challenging shots on keeper Pedro Gallese, who easily cleaned up both of the on-frame shot attempts.
But Nashville roared out of the locker room in the second half, with Randall Leal slicing home the equalizing goal in the 47th minute.
The goal highlighted a key weakness the Lions have displayed throughout their Phase One matches — relaxing in the opening minutes of a half.
During last week’s match between the two teams at Exploria Stadium, Nashville scored first in the opening 15 minutes of the first
half. The Lions looked slightly stunned by the early goal, eventually bouncing back for a 3-1 win.
The equalizing goal in the opening minutes of the second half held the same quality. The Orlando City defense didn’t rotate efficiently, with centerback Robin Jansson coming out to challenge and outside back Kamal Miller allowing Leal to slip under his inside shoulder and take the headon shot against Gallese.
With the score leveled, play opened up from end to end for both sides, with Orlando City and Nashville trading shots on both ends.
Orlando City nearly got a late game winner from an own goal when Nashville captain Dax McCarty, a Winter Park native, narrowly missed putting the ball into his team’s net.
Wednesday marked another quick turnaround for the Lions, who traveled to Nashville the morning of their fourth match in a 10-day span. The exhaustion from the workload was
evident in the second half, and Orlando City’s fielded a lineup of five defenders for the final 20 minutes to preserve the draw.
Although the Lions weren’t able to extend their win streak for a third game, the draw lifted the team into a tie with Philadelphia for the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference.
Orlando City returns to Exploria Stadium to defend its unbeaten record at home during a rematch against Atlanta United on Saturday.
Waiting for Aiás
The Lions signed Brazil
ian striker Matheus Aiás on Aug. 21, nearly two weeks ago. However, the coronavirus pandemic slowed the process of obtaining a visa and traveling internationally. Once Aiás does arrive in the U.S., he’ll be required to quarantine for 10 days before joining the team.
Orlando City coach Oscar Pareja said the Lions still aren’t sure when Aiás will be able to come to Orlando from Spain, where he recently finished the Segunda División season with Mirandés.
In the meantime, Pareja
said the staff has kept in touch with their latest signee, monitoring his health and eagerly awaiting the first opportunity to see him in a purple kit.
“We don’t even know,” Pareja said of when asked about Aiás’ arrival. “Now with this pandemic, the times are all difficult. I would like to be accurate, but I can’t. We’re just hoping we can resolve the documents soon and he can be available. … We’ll have him here soon.”