Orlando City vs. Austin FC: Five Takeaways

Orlando City hosted Western Conference foe Austin FC in the friendly confines of Inter& Co. Stadium Saturday night posting the squad’s first victory of the MLS season. What did we learn from a sorely needed win in front of a raucous home crowd?

Playing Connected

If you had spent any amount of time watching Orlando City play through the first month of the season, you would have noticed a disconnect between the passing game of the defense through the midfield and into the attack. During the victory against Austin FC it became apparent what a full week of training could provide for team chemistry. Against Austin FC, Orlando appeared more connected than it has throughout the season thus, far and it manifested in a two-goal victory.

The four-man midfield in Oscar Pareja’s 4-4-2 allowed the visitors to have the ball, but Austin struggled to find any room upon entering the Lions’ side of the field. When Orlando had possession, its midfielders were accurate with the ball. Martin Ojeda led the way, with a 97.4% passing accuracy, including an outstanding 93.8% rating in the final third. Ivan Angulo was clean with the ball as well, passing at a 91.4% rate, while being even more precise in the attacking third (92.3%). Kyle Smith (89.2%) and Nico Lodeiro (87%) also took good care of the ball. The foursome created a combined seven scoring chances.

Thorhallsson Finds his Form

Much has been made about the quality of the back line to start the season, particularly the fullbacks, but against Austin FC, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson found his form and it directly led to a positive result. Austin was unable to ask many questions of Thorhallsson on the defensive end and the right back was able to to get into the attacking third throughout the match, which paid dividends as he served up an amazing cross to Jack Lynn for the first goal of the match. Thorhallsson led the team with six chances created on the night and was such a menace that Austin was seemingly unwilling to push the ball up its left side until bringing on Emiliano Rigoni for the final 20 minutes.

Opening the Account

First-round 2022 MLS SuperDraft selection Jack Lynn was inserted into the lineup against Austin FC due to injuries and international duty. He made his first start with the first team pay off, as he found the back of the net near the end of the first half to put Orlando in the driver’s seat. It was an amazing moment for Lynn to score his first MLS goal and also goes to demonstrate just how good Orlando has been in the draft when it comes to strikers. Lynn joins former Lions such as Cyle Larin, Chris Mueller, Santiago Patino, Daryl Dike, and Duncan McGuire as Orlando City draft picks who have scored in MLS with the club. It wasn’t a perfect night, as Lynn had missed a golden opportunity moments before his goal, but it was something to build on as he continues to look for ways to crack the first team.

Set Piece Success

Orlando City must find the back of the net on set pieces in order to climb up the table, and against Austin FC the Lions finally found the net from an attacking piece. In the 64th minute, Nicolas Lodeiro took a free kick from just outside the penalty area and placed a perfect curling shot just inside the upper left corner at the far post to put Orlando up 2-0. The Lions have too many talented athletes to not find success off of set pieces this season, and they proved not just on the free kick from Lodeiro but also from multiple corner kicks that they have options to find the goal.

Monkey off the Back

Orlando City was going to win. It wasn’t a matter of if, but rather when. If there are any parallels to last season’s results, it would be this match which saw a team heavily rotated because of international duty find a way to win, much like the Lions did last year around this time against the Philadelphia Union. Finding a way to win in this match was more than important — it was imperative. Winning quiets all ailments, and at least for one night, while missing five starters, Orlando City did just that.

That is how I saw things in the victory against Austin FC. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.