Orlando City vs. Nashville SC: Five Takeaways

After two disappointing defeats to Nashville earlier this season, Orlando City walked away with three points on Saturday night, snatching victory from the jaws of a draw and defeating the boys in gold 3-2. It was the Lions’ first outright win in more than a month, and it was massive, considering Nashville is right next to Orlando City in the Eastern Conference standings.

I have “Purple Rain” playing (the Prince version? the Don Toliver version? feel free to guess in the comments) so let’s get going. Here are my five takeaways from the match.

The Cardiac Cats Were Back

The Lions left it very late, but as they say, “it ain’t over ’til it’s over” and it was in the fifth minute of stoppage time when Duncan McGuire finished Tyrese Spicer’s cross to win the game for Orlando City. I will admit that when Alex Freeman had his shot blocked in the third minute of stoppage time, I thought that his shot attempt was going to be the final good chance, but the players never gave up and were able to go end to end just two minutes later, stunning Nashville and scoring right in front of The Wall, which went crazy as the ball hit the back of the net. All wins are worth three points, but there really is nothing like the feeling of a last-gasp winner, especially at home.

Two Goals in Two Minutes

Early in the first half, it felt like there would be no need for stress and hand-wringing in the final minutes of the game, because Martín Ojeda followed up his brilliant free kick goal with another goal just two minutes later from an assist by Transylvania University’s (it is Halloween season, so this must be mentioned) Kyle Smith, putting Orlando City up 2-0 and seemingly on the way to a comfortable win. The two goals in two minutes on Saturday night was actually the fourth time this season that Orlando City scored twice within such a short time frame, joining May 7 against Tampa Bay (U.S. Open Cup), June 25 against St. Louis (MLS), and Aug. 6 against Necaxa (Leagues Cup). I recommend that the Lions try to do this in every game, because two goals are twice as nice as one goal, and help a whole lot with winning.

A Two-Goal Lead Coughed Up

Unfortunately for Orlando City, and all of us fans, that two-goal lead that Ojeda created did not last very long, and both goals the Lions allowed were completely preventable. Hany Mukhtar is one of the league’s best attacking players, and he was able to free himself in first-half stoppage time and beat Pedro Gallese to his right, but the shot hit the post. All of the Orlando City defenders simply stood and watched Mukhtar’s shot, and then reacted late as the ball caromed off the post and came back into play. Mukhtar, however, did not simply stand and watch his shot, and since he kept moving while the Orlando City defenders stood flat-footed, he was first to the rebound and cut the lead to 2-1, completely changing the tenor of the game and the halftime adjustments that each coach had likely planned to make.

Nashville then brought on the fleet-of-foot Jacob Shaffelburg to start the second half, and just five minutes into the half, David Brekalo did not look over his shoulder to see Shaffelburg sprinting inside of him. Shaffelburg beat Brekalo to Daniel Lovitz’s cross and finished past Gallese from point-blank range to tie the game up, just 19 minutes after Orlando City had gone up by two goals.

Óscar Pareja Went 4/4 With His Substitution Choices

Due to injuries, Orlando City’s bench was once again populated with several players who primarily play with OCB, but with the choices he had available, Pareja made perfect selections, bringing on McGuire, Spicer, Dagur Dan Thórhallsson, and Colin Guske. The game-winning goal came from the combination of three of those substitutes, as the ball went from Thórhallsson to Spicer to McGuire to the back of the net. All three of those players, and Guske, played well offensively and defensively during their minutes on the field, with a special shout out to McGuire’s run tracking back on defense to snuff out an attack after Ojeda could not control a pass and turned the ball over, and Thórhallsson’s recovery run to take the ball off Shaffelburg’s foot inside the 18 after a long ball over the top. Guske had not played in an MLS match since June 14, but he was a strong defensive presence as well and did not look like a player who had played fewer than 10 MLS minutes all season. I often criticize Pareja’s substitution choices, or lack thereof, but he was spot on against Nashville, and those substitutes helped win that game for the Lions.

A Playoff Spot Is Nearly Clinched

Orlando City’s win did not clinch a playoff spot, but according to playoffstatus.com, the Lions now have a more than 99% chance of being in the playoffs, and they can clinch that spot next week. That last-gasp goal helped the Lions jump over Nashville and into sixth place, and based on the other results around the league, they would have been in eighth place had McGuire not scored that winner. The backloaded schedule is a gauntlet, and those two extra points may end up being the difference between an automatic spot in the quarterfinals and needing to win a play-in game to get there — or, if things go well, the difference between being on the road or at home for a best-of-three playoff series in the first round.

Those are my takeaways from Orlando City’s white knuckle ride of a 3-2 victory over Nashville. It will not get any easier. In fact, it will get harder next week as Orlando City travels to second-place Cincinnati for a Sunday night showdown. A Sunday game gives the Lions an extra day of rest, however, and hopefully they will have several of their injured players back on the gameday roster when they kick off that match and try to bring three more points back to Orlando.

Let us know your thoughts about the Nashville match in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!