Orlando City vs. Nashville SC, U.S. Open Cup: Final Score 3-2 as Lions Crash Out of the Cup

Orlando City took an early lead, gave up a couple of poor first-half goals, and then conceded a late game winner in a 3-2 loss to Nashville SC in U.S. Open Cup play at Inter&Co Stadium. Head Coach Oscar Pareja fielded a strong lineup while the visitors rotated heavily, and the fresher legs won despite the travel.

Marco Pasalic provided an early lead before an own goal on Rodrigo Schlegel and an Ahmed Qasem goal put Nashville ahead at the break. Ramiro Enrique equalized in the second half, but a blast from fullback Wyatt Meyer ultimately knocked Orlando out of the competition. Nashville did it without star forwards Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge or starting goalkeeper Joe Willis.

“I think it was a good match for two teams who have an offensive proposal or initiative,” Pareja said after the match. “I think early in the game we found a team that wanted to use the spaces offensively, and we didn’t find a team who wants to drop, and I have to say they did a good job on that part. So, we ended up playing the first half lower than we wanted, and despite our goal, our offensive was not as frequent as we wanted.”

Pareja fielded nearly a complete first-choice lineup for this Round of 16 matchup, with Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Schlegel, and Alex Freeman. Cesar Araujo and Joran Gerbet started in central midfield with attacking midfielders Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Martin Ojeda, and Pasalic, with Enrique up top.

At the start of the game, it was easy to tell which was the fresher team. Nashville rotated its lineup heavily and had more jump in the opening minutes. Orlando nevertheless was able to create some transition opportunities and earned a couple of early corners, but the Lions could not do anything with them. The closest opportunity was a header well over the bar from Schlegel on the second such opportunity.

Nashville had a warning shot in the 16th minute as a corner kick cross was deflected out in front of Gallese’s goal and floated off the right post.

Orlando opened the scoring a minute later. Pasalic cut in from the right side and smashed a shot from 30 yards out that gave Brian Schwake no chance to stop it, putting the Lions up 1-0 in the 17th minute. It was the Croatian’s first U.S. Open Cup goal in his first appearance in the competition.

“Sometimes it’s better to shoot faster, because maybe the goalkeeper is not prepared,” Pasalic said of his long-range bomb. “So, today was was my chance.”

The celebration was short-lived, as Nashville tied the game just six minutes later. Ahmed Qasem got down the left past Brekalo and Jansson and centered a ball for Bunbury, who was tangling in front with Schlegel. The ball, which may have gone over the end line before the cross (there is no video review in the U.S. Open Cup), deflected just over the line off Schlegel for an own goal, tying the game in the 23rd minute.

“We started good in the game, played really good. The tactic was also really good, and then came the first goal,” Pasalic said. “Then we conceded the goal of Nashville really fast, and this was a big problem.”

Freeman had a chance to mimic Pasalic’s goal in the 30th minute, only from a bit closer to goal at the top of the box. The right back didn’t get his hips turned enough on the shot and sent it wide to the left of goal.

The visitors took the lead on an embarrassing goal in the 40th minute. Qasem wasn’t in a particularly threatening position 25 yards out from goal off to the left, but when Araujo ignored him and left him in space, he sent a shot from distance that didn’t have a ton of pace on it, and Schlegel opted not to try to block it. The shot somehow just found its way through the box diagonally and inside the right post to make it 2-1.

Schlegel had a late opportunity to make up for some defensive lapses late in the half when Orlando won a corner. The defender did well to get across his mark, but he headed his shot wide in the 45the minute.

Enrique sent another header wide off a corner in stoppage time and the Lions went to the break trailing on two of the more preventable goals they’ve conceded all season.

Nashville held the halftime edge in possession (57.5%-42.5%), and passing accuracy (88%-85%), while Orlando led in shots (8-4) and corners (6-2). Each team put one shot on frame.

Orlando tried to tie the match right out of the break, sending Freeman a ball over the top. The fullback tracked it down and fired, but his shot was wide of the right post in the 46th minute. The Lions scored on their next shot. Freeman opened the play up in the middle of the pitch and made a nice pass to Pasalic, who slipped in a perfect ball for Enrique to run onto. Enrique finished his shot through Schwake in the 58th minute to tie the game at 2-2.

Orlando had a chance to take the lead just two minutes later when Brekalo made a fantastic pass to send Pasalic down the right. The Croatian tried to cut a pass back into the middle, where Thorhallsson and Enrique were making runs, but the attempt was just behind both, and Nashville cleared the danger.

Pasalic went for his brace in the 63rd minute, firing a shot inside the box that fizzed over the crossbar.

Ten minutes later, the Lions — vehemently — felt they should have had a penalty. What appeared to be a clear handball in the box was let go by referee Joshua Encarnacion. Orlando City players protested to no avail, and it was a play that weighed heavily on Pareja’s mind after the match, as the play could have been a huge difference maker in a tie game.

“I hate to say this, but the (lack of a) PK was incredible,” Pareja said. “We reviewed it, and it’s impossible that a referee cannot see that handball. This is a tournament where we’re investing. This is a tournament that we’re (taking) serious. It’s a tournament that our club wanted to be well represented. It’s incredible for me that a referee of this category cannot see that PK. It is impossible because I know that he saw it. Obviously we take our part, but the (no call on) the PK was incredible — not conceding something that is so clear.”

Five minutes after the no-call in Orlando’s attacking end, there was a no-call in the Lions’ defensive end, as Freeman appeared to be fouled just outside his defensive penalty area. Encarnacion allowed play to go on as Nashville recovered the loose ball in the left corner and sent it across the face of goal. Qasem picked it up in the right corner, muscled his way free of second-half sub Ivan Angulo, and passed to Patrick Yazbek just inside the top of the box. Yazbek had traffic in front of him, so he sent a backheel drop pass to Meyer, who fired a laser just inside the right post for what turned out to be the game winner.

“I think we had the game under control,” Pasalic said. “One moment we are not paying attention. (Nashville gets) the goal and the luck. We missed the luck at the end. And I think it hurts a lot.”

“Today, the game showed us that we have to be on our toes all the time,” Pareja said. “When you see that something is fixed, and something is good, and the game comes and exposes you in this manner. It just tells us that we have to keep going.”

Substitute Luis Muriel blasted a shot just wide of the left post in the 84th minute as Nashville dropped its block low to protect the lead. The effort was a good one, but Schwake had it covered if it had been on frame.

Pareja sent Duncan McGuire and Rafael Santos on to add more attacking players. Moments later, Angulo sent a cross into the box for a visibly tiring Freeman. The cross was a little behind the fullback, who still managed to get his head to it but couldn’t generate enough power on the shot to beat Schwake in the 86th minute. Two minutes later, Pasalic put the ball on his left foot again and blasted another shot over the bar.

Orlando City had seven minutes of stoppage time to score a goal to stay in the tournament, but the Lions couldn’t even generate a scoring chance.

The Lions ended up with the advantage in possession (51.5%-48.5%), shots (15-7), corners (8-4), and passing accuracy (86.5%-85%). Both teams put three shots on target, and the lack of precision was one of the reasons Orlando City is out of the tournament.

Despite having traveled, Nashville looked fresher, especially down the stretch. Araujo and Ojeda looked tired before the first half ended, and Freeman looked shattered down the stretch. But Pareja and Pasalic did not use tired legs as an excuse. Pareja said he wanted to keep the defensive solidity of the most recent games while rotating a bit in the attack. He also said that some injuries prevented him from rotating more, as Eduard Atuesta was still unavailable despite being back in training.

“I think along the game we played well,” Pareja said. “We should have more energy at the beginning of the second half. I thought the boys started with that energy, but we didn’t keep it.”

It’ll be another short turnaround for Orlando City, as the team’s regular season resumes Saturday at home against the Portland Timbers.