Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Nashville SC: Final Score 5-1 as Lions’ Rotated Lineup Gets Blasted in Tennessee
Oscar Pareja rotated nearly the entire starting XI, and the result was not good in a bad road loss in Tennessee.
A starting XI comprised largely of backups started for Orlando City on the road in Nashville, and it looked that way. Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar each scored twice in the first half for Nashville SC (15-8-5, 50 points) in a 5-1 Orlando City loss at Geodis Park, leaving Orlando (13-7-8, 47 points) no doubt over which team would be atop the other at the end of the night.
Both teams entered on 47 points, but the Lions were substandard in all phases of the game, and the heavily rotated lineup was a complete disaster. The Lions hit the goal frame twice in the match but were already down four goals when they happened. Luis Muriel scored late off the bench for Orlando to spoil the shutout, then got sent off moments later by referee Tim Ford. Nashville’s Jeisson Palacios finished the scoring in stoppage time, adding the fifth.
The loss snaps Orlando’s eight-match unbeaten run in all competitions and the team’s four-game MLS winning streak.
“It is a difficult night conceding that many goals knowing that we have been solid in the last period,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “We have a bunch of things that we’re going to look close (at), just to remark in a positive way in a very difficult game against a very good rival. It is obviously my responsibility and I want to take this one, because the players were pushing and they players were giving us what we want.”
Pareja rotated his side heavily from the starting lineup Saturday night in Los Angeles that played Deportivo Toluca in the Leagues Cup quarterfinals. Pedro Gallese started in net behind a back line of Adrian Marin — making his MLS and Orlando City debut, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Kyle Smith. Cesar Araujo and Joran Gerbet started in central midfield between wingers Dagur Dan Thorhallsson and Nico Rodriguez, with Tyrese Spicer and Ramiro Enrique up top.
Without much (any?) depth at center back, the two players on the pitch who most needed replacing were Schlegel and Jansson, and there was no escape for them in one of
The makeshift Orlando City lineup conceded just a couple of seconds into the third minute. Thorhallsson tried to pick out a lone friendly face in a sea of defenders and didn’t hit his spot. Nashville easily cut out the pass and nodded it forward to ignite the counter. Mukhtar split the defense for Surridge, who easily slotted home on the first shot of the match to make it 1-0 in the third minute.
“They are effective on their counterattacks, or, as I say, when they’re landing in the box, they know each other pretty well,” Pareja said. “And then we conceded those spaces — something that we don’t usually give up, but today we were not sharp in that part. I did not want to blame our players. I thought, really, the structure on the pitch I could help much more than that.”
Orlando’s first look at goal came on the heels of a corner kick in the fifth minute. Nashville cut out the entry ball to Araujo. The Uruguayan tried a long-range effort but sent it high into the seats. Enrique blasted a shot from distance considerably closer to the bar, but still over it, in the eighth minute.
Nashville continued to get in behind the back line in the early going, failing to pull off a centering pass from Shaffelburg, before Andy Najar fired a ball off of his teammate and out of play in the 13th minute. Shaffelburg then was allowed to run free between Jansson and Marin in the 16th minute, take a pass, turn, and fire a shot. Gallese made himself big and blocked the shot at point-blank range with a huge save.
That only kept it 1-0 for the moment though, as the Lions’ back line made a complete mess of a long throw-in that bounced in the box. Mukhtar was the first to it and smashed it just under Gallese’s crossbar to make it 2-0 in the 17th minute.
Surridge nearly made it 3-0 in the 21st minute. Unattended in front of goal, the big striker sent a header crashing off the crossbar.
Two minutes later, Orlando finally created some danger in the match. Spicer received the ball on the left and fires a meaty shot toward the right post. Walker Zimmerman got a piece of it and came within inches of deflecting it into his own net. Instead, it fizzed just wide for a corner, but the Lions did nothing with it.
The poor defensive play continued in the 30th minute when Mukhtar was given far too much space just outside the area. The Nashville star blasted a shot that skipped just inches wide of the left post.
Orlando City moved Thorhallsson to right back, pushing Smith into the midfield to help slow down Mukhtar and Surridge, but it didn’t help much on the defensive end. At least in possession, the Lions finally got some possession on the right side with the Icelandic international able to get forward up the right flank to provide help to Rodriguez, who had become isolated over there.
Mukhtar basically put the game away in the 40th minute, taking a pass in the box from Shaffelburg and making it 3-0. Smith let one of the most dangerous attackers run in behind him, Jansson didn’t have any awareness of the danger, and the goal was far too easy.
If it wasn’t already over, Surridge made mincemeat of a passive Schlegel on a cross into the box and headed in to make it 4-0 three minutes later. The play began with a free kick that shouldn’t have been given, as Enrique had cleanly won the ball from behind just seconds after a foul should have been given Orlando’s way in the attacking third near the sideline when Thorhallsson was pulled back by his shirt.
The Lions finally put a shot on target in the first minute of first-half injury time when Enrique tested Joe Willis, who made the save, knocking it behind for a corner. The ensuing set piece found Enrique making a run into the box, but the Argentine’s free header smacked off the right post.
Thorhallsson found Smith making a late run into the box with a good cross on the last play of the half, but the veteran badly mishit his volley effort, sending it nowhere near goal. The whistle mercifully blew for halftime to prevent further first-half damage to an Orlando team that had been completely blown off the field and substandard in every measurable way.
At the break, Orlando City had the advantage in possession (58.7%-41.3%), corners (4-1), and passing accuracy (89.6%-87.6%). Nashville had the edge in shots (8-7), shots on target (5-1), and had already put the game on ice.
“We couldn’t find the net, especially in the first half, when we had three chances clear,” Pareja said. “And also Nashville too early scored on us and put the game away from us and made us feel that there was a bunch of spaces, and we couldn’t get that solidness.”
If the Lions thought Nashville would ease up in the second half, they got a rude awakening. The hosts came down the field quickly and Alex Muyl forced a Gallese save just seconds after the restart.
Four minutes later, Araujo turned the ball over by sending an off-line pass blindly to Nashville in his own half, igniting the counter. Mukhtar got past an attempted intervention from Jansson, who whiffed completely, and Smith gave the attacker a push from behind. Mukhtar went down and Smith only escaped a red card because Marin was covering from his left back spot, so it was only a yellow. Mukhtar then came within inches of his hat trick with a free kick that froze Gallese and went inches over the bar in the 52nd minute.
Spicer came within inches of spoiling the shutout in the 57th minute, cutting in on his right from the left side. Hitting a hard curler with his right foot, the winger found the right post on the far side on a shot that came within inches from being a goal-of-the-year candidate.
Pareja subbed on Alex Freeman, Marco Pasalic, and Eduard Atuesta for Smith, Rodriguez, and Araujo moments later.
Freeman added a little more threat on the right. The fullback picked out Marin near the top of the area in the 63rd minute. The Spaniard tried a shot on the bounce, but his first MLS attempt was well off target.
Muriel subbed on for Thorhallsson in the 74th minute and had an eventful seven-minute appearance. Two minutes after coming on, he spoiled Willis’ clean sheet. Muriel played Spicer down the left side. The winger got to the end line and squared it back into the middle, where it took a deflection off a defender and went to its intended target, Muriel. The Colombian finished calmly to make it 4-1 in the 76th minute.
“We were feeling better into the game, especially after Luis’ goal in the second half,” Marin said. “And then, obviously after he got the red card, we had to play a man down for the rest of the game. That, of course, changed the way that we had to play the rest of the game, but the adjustments we made we felt good about.”
Pasalic came close to making it 4-2 in the 81st minute. The Croatian stepped into a shot from long range that sent Willis diving toward his back post. The goalkeeper was able to fight it off to keep it 4-1.
Seconds later, Muriel’s night was over. The Lions won a throw-in on the left side and Ahmed Qasem wouldn’t give the ball to Muriel, who wanted to get on with it. Muriel swiped at the ball twice, and caught Qasem on the shoulder the second time. It was a foolish and unnecessary move, and one borne of frustration. The second swipe may have barely brushed Qasem’s face, and the midfielder went down as if he’d been punched in the eye by Mike Tyson in his prime. Ford, who was officiating his first game since a highly controversial decision in his last outing, went straight to his front pocket and brandished the red, putting the Lions down to 10 men. Muriel will miss Orlando’s next MLS game in September.
“I didn’t see that aggression that was remarked and I have to be honest, I need to see it again to see if they were right,” Pareja said. “Maybe they did (see) something that I did not see, but from my spot, and again, I have not reviewed right now, but from my spot, I didn’t see anything.”
Orlando was no threat to do further damage down three goals and a man, so much of the rest of the match consisted of Nashville taking set pieces and throw-ins in the attacking half. The hosts tacked on one more in the fourth stoppage minute off a short corner, played quickly into the box. Atuesta stayed deep, keeping Palacios onside while Jansson and Marin marked nobody in particular. Palacios sent his free header just inside the left post to cap the scoring.
Gallese saved the Lions further blushes two minutes later. Orlando had won a free kick in a good spot near the left corner of the penalty area. Pasalic took the set piece but sent his delivery far too low, hitting the defense and igniting the break. Nashville countered quickly, with Jonathan Perez firing from the left. Gallese did well to make the stop.
That was the last look of the match and Ford finally brought the massacre to an end.
Orlando finished with the advantage in possession (52.8%-47.2%), but all of the other meaningful metrics went Nashville’s way. The hosts had the edge in shots (15-12), shots on target (9-4), corners (5-4), and passing accuracy (90.1%-89.9%).
“The second half was much better, but still we didn’t find the net as often as we normally do,” Pareja said.
“It’s not the debut that I or anybody would have dreamed of because of the result,” Marin said. “But at the same time, I’m happy to be able to get minutes that I’ve been imagining and to officially be a part of this group of teammates and players that are exceptional, as much as people as they are professionals.”
The Lions have another quick turnaround with a Leagues Cup semifinal match against Inter Miami on Wednesday, followed by either the final or the third-place match on Sunday, Aug. 31. With the Aug. 30 match against Vancouver rescheduled for October, the next MLS game for Orlando City will be Sept. 13 at D.C. United.