Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew: Five Takeaways

After the midweek All-Star Game break, Orlando City ventured north to the Buckeye State for the last match of the Major League Soccer regular season before the Leagues Cup break. With the in-season tournament competition set to start on Tuesday for some teams, Orlando was featured in a rare Friday night match, which saw over an hour of inclement weather-related delays prior to the opening kick.

After a scoreless first half, Columbus looked poise to collect all three points after a penalty kick was awarded in the 66th minute. Instead, Orlando City put in some of its best closing effort of the season and shocked the Crew en route to a 3-1 victory.

What follows are my five takeaways from what is arguably Orlando City’s best win of the season thus far.

Nervy First Half

Orlando City was lucky to reach the halftime break still even at 0-0, considering how much possession Columbus enjoyed throughout the entirety of the first half. Most teams coached by Wilfried Nancy enjoy being on the front foot, controlling the pace of play, and in the first half, the Crew certainly embodied that philosophy. At one point, the Crew controlled the ball for nearly 65% of the first-half possession. That amount of possession meant quality opportunities for the Crew, and thanks to a combination of slightly misplaced shot attempts and quality goalkeeping by Pedro Gallese, the possession was mostly meaningless.

The Lions did not do themselves any favors by playing into the pressure of the Crew and committing numerous careless turnovers, which only fueled the fire. All things considered, with as potent as the Crew have historically been and how agressively they started the match, Orlando City was lucky to be level at halftime, but it certinaly felt like the match was poised to blow open at any moment.

Unlucky Penalty

In real time, I found myself yelling at the game coverage when the head referee was called to the video review monitor to review what I thought was a potential handball on an akward clearance from Alex Freeman. What I missed in the buildup to that moment was the outstreched arm of Marco Pasalic, which made contact with the cross attempt right before the action inside the box. Under review, the contact was quickly deemed to be an infraction, as the left hand of Pasalic was deemed to have made contact with the ball. The decision led to the opening goal of the match, as Diego Rossi stepped up to the spot and calmly slotted a ball into the left corner of the goal, sending Gallese the wrong way.

Ultimately, it was an unlucky call against Orlando City and would have felt quite hollow if that was the way that Orlando lost to Columbus. Luckily for the road side, the soccer gods had other ideas.

Angulo to Enrique

Ramiro Enrique had been waiting for a stoppage in action to enter the match for a few minutes prior to the Columbus penalty conversion. He entered the game right after the home side took the lead and almost immediately turned the match on its head. It only took the young Argentine striker 10 minutes to find the equalizer, as he showcased his leaping ability after a dangerous cross had been sent in by Ivan Angulo. While Enrique deserves all the credit for making an outstanding play on the ball and picking out the corner of the goal with ease, credit is also due to Angulo, who at times can get in his own way in the attack, but instead took essentially a first touch pass and placed it perfectly.

Angulo to Enrique, Part Two: Electric Boogaloo

I feel sorry for all of the Orlando City fans watching at home or in the local pub who thought it was safe to head to the bathroom for a quick reprieve after the first Enrique goal. Just three minutes of game time later, Angulo once again played a high-quality cross into a dangerous position and Enrique found the back of the net. Martin Ojeda started the action with a perfectly weighted pass through the Columbus back line, allowing Angulo to run onto it and again act decisively and quickly, sending the ball just in front of Patrick Schulte, who could not claim it before Enrique slotted it into the back of the net. The whole sequence of the brace for Enrique happened in a blink-and-you-miss-it stretch of game time, and suddently the Lions were enjoying the lead with a little more than 10 mintues to go in normal time.

Ojeda Slams the Door Shut

Speaking of enjoying a one-goal lead with a little over 10 minutes to play, Orlando had been in this position mutliple times in July, botching leads against CF Montreal and New York City FC. Instead of succumbing to the pressure, Orlando City squashed any hope that the Crew had of salvaging a point in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Freeman intercepted a pass, broke out into the attacking portion of the field, and found a streaking Ojeda, who took one touch and beat Schulte near post for the massive insurance goal. The goal sealed all three points on the road.

In addition, Ojeda’s goal and his secondary assists on both Enrique goals set a new Orlando City single-season record for total goal contributions (25). He broke a record he shared with Nani, who set the mark at 22 back in 2019. There are still nine matches to play in the regular season, and Orlando’s No. 10 is on pace to set the bar high with his new record.

After a shaky start to the month, Orlando closed out the July MLS slate in resounding fashion, taking eight points from five matches and handing Columbus its first home defeat of the season that did not occur in a football stadium in Cleveland. The team will now return to the City Beautiful to prepare to host Liga MX giants Pumas in the opening match of the 2025 Leagues Cup on Wednesday. Let us know what your main takeaways from the match were in the comments below, and as always, vamos Orlando!