Orlando City vs. FC Cincinnati: Five Takeaways

How about that?! Orlando City capped off a stretch of taking seven points from three games by going into TQL Stadium and handing FC Cincinnati its first home loss of the season. It might not have been the best game OCSC has ever played, but the Lions did enough to get by the Supporters’ Shield leaders and now sit third in the East on goal difference with a two-point lead on the Columbus Crew in fourth.

What follows are my five main thoughts from a massive win up in Ohio.

Living on the Edge

The two biggest moments of the match involved some extremely fine margins. Cincy had the ball in the back of the net after a mere seven minutes and it was looking like a long night for the Lions. The offside flag came up and saved Orlando’s bacon, but it was an extremely tight decision. Frankly, if it had been called a goal on the field I don’t know if there would have been enough to overturn it. Then, when it came to Facundo Torres’ goal, Ramiro Enrique somehow managed to keep the ball from crossing the end line, though I have no idea how. He managed it though, and the two big breaks of the game went Orlando’s way in the end.

Injury Bug Makes an Appearance

You can’t make this stuff up. On the same day that Orlando sold Ercan Kara, the most capable backup striker on the team, Duncan McGuire went off injured just 27 minutes into the game. There were more scares to come when Pedro Gallese went down holding his groin mere moments after McGuire exited the field. Fortunately, he was able to continue, as was Robin Jansson after spending several minutes being attended to in the second half. Still, all three incidents served as reminders of how fragile the Lions’ depth is in certain areas, particularly with Kara now across the pond and Antonio Carlos out injured. Health is going to be something to keep a keen eye on moving forward.

Ugly But Effective

The move leading to Torres’ goal was a thing of beauty, and he showed great composure to fire the ball home when it would have been easy for his eyes to light up and result in a rushed chance. While Orlando had a few other bright moments aside from that, it wasn’t the prettiest display of attacking soccer the Lions have ever put together. Once Junior Urso, Mikey Halliday, and Kyle Smith came on for the final 20 minutes (accounting for stoppage time), OCSC’s tactics became downright Machiavellian. Time-wasting, injury-milking, and parking the bus were all in full effect, but it worked and Orlando held onto its lead in the face of increasingly intense pressure from FCC. Sometimes you need to win ugly, and the Lions certainly showed they’re capable of doing that in this game.

Lions Lose Cool Late

The employment of those dark arts led to the game really devolving after roughly the 80th minute mark. Things got more physical by the minute, yellow cards were shown to both teams with increasing frequency, and nearly four minutes of time were lost while Aaron Boupendza had a forearm to Wilder Cartagena’s face reviewed for possible violent conduct. Things finally came to a head in the 94th minute, when Cartagena was shown a straight red card for a scuffle that saw him lead with his head when…discussing things with a Cincy player. That means he won’t be available for a game against Columbus that has absolutely huge implications. A win would give the Lions some extra breathing room as they try to navigate a fiendishly difficult run-in, but it’ll be a difficult outing against a good Crew team without Wilder.

Torres Stays Hot

Facundo Torres is continuing to come on strong as we approach the business end of the season. He’s got four goals and an assist in the four games following the break for Leagues Cup, and while he wasn’t at his most prolific Saturday night, he was still plenty involved and contributed two key passes, drew three fouls, and delivered 90% of his passes to their intended target. The most important stat was his match-winning goal, and the Lions are going to need him to be a difference maker as the season draws to a close. He seems to be mimicking last season’s trick of saving his best performances for the end of the season, but other guys are going to need to step up as well. For now though, let’s bask in another match-winning turn on the stage from El Cuervo.

What were your thoughts on a big win up in Ohio? Don’t hesitate to say your piece down in the comments. Vamos Orlando!