Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew: Five Takeaways

Orlando City decided that one draw against a team from Ohio (FC Cincinnati) last week was not enough, so the Lions doubled down and did it again. This time they did it against the league’s other Ohio team, drawing Columbus 1-1 in a game filled with big chances that neither offense was able to convert. They remain in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, but squandered a chance to all but guarantee that they will not finish in the play-in spots.

Here are my five takeaways from the match.

Not The Way They Wanted To Start The Game

Joran Gerbet suffered an injury just two minutes into the game, and both he and referee Victor Rivas knew it was bad immediately, calling for the medical staff to come onto the field right after he went down. A wheelchair was brought into the tunnel to help Gerbet get back to the training room, and we can only hope that it looked worse than it turns out to be. Orlando City had to use a substitution window in the first five minutes, but thankfully Óscar Pareja was able to look down the bench and see the ever reliable Kyle Smith. He brought on The Accountant to handle the books in the middle of the field. If Gerbet is out for a while, then the Lions desperately need César Araújo to return next week, especially considering three starters (David Brekalo, Alex Freeman, and Marco Pašalić) will also be out on international duty. 

The Duality of Ma(rí)n

I am stealing this headline from The Mane Land’s Marcus Mitchell, as it fit perfectly with Adrián Marín getting caught ball-watching and allowing Andrés Herrera to cut in front of him for the game’s opening goal. But then, just two minutes later, he made a great play to drive into the middle of the field and get the ball to Luis Muriel, and Muriel’s wicked shot produced a rebound that Pašalić cleaned up to tie the game. Marín played a solid game overall at left back, but it was that two-minute stretch in the first half that brought despair and then delight to the Orlando City faithful.

You Miss 100% Of The Shots You Don’t Take

Orlando City’s attacking players wanted to dribble and pass against the Crew, but apparently they did not want to shoot, because they gave away opportunity after opportunity by overdribbling or overpassing. Muriel was the worst offender, dribbling too much on a breakaway and allowing a defender to catch him, and then deciding to pass instead of shoot when running unencumbered at goal  about 10 minutes later. Ojeda also was guilty of overpassing, and just looked a little bit off all night with his decision making and accuracy. Late in the game, Nico Rodríguez received a pass on his weaker right foot and chose to try to cut it back to his left foot instead of shooting with his right, and while he won a corner kick, he gave away another chance to put a shot on goal. Duncan McGuire did not overpass or overdribble, but he could not handle a cross from Tyrese Spicer, giving away what turned out to be the Lions’ last opportunity for a shot with just minutes remaining in the game. The Lions created plenty of chances, but for some reason they decided not to shoot on most of them, and they paid for it.

Bring The Octopus His Flowers

I spend a lot of time looking at various soccer databases and ranking algorithms, and in most of the ones I look at, Pedro Gallese ranks in the bottom third of starting goalkeepers in MLS. While El Pulpo had some bad games early in the season, he has rounded into form in a major way in recent weeks, and he was once again outstanding on Saturday night, making five saves and keeping Orlando City in the game. Gallese went horizontal to deny normal Lion killer Diego Rossi in the first half, and he came aggressively off his line and made a kick save (and a beauty) late in the game to just tip Max Arfsten’s shot wide after Freeman was doing his best Marín impression and ball-watching, allowing the Columbus player to get a shot off from nearly point-blank range. The Lions once again did not keep a clean sheet, but that goal was no fault of Gallese’s and there is a good chance that he will be our Man of the Match for a second straight game when our player grades come out on Monday.

Two Points Dropped or One Point Earned?

As the final whistle blew, I felt that Orlando City had outplayed Columbus, and that the Lions had blown an opportunity to pick up all three points with their poor decision making in the final third. But as I reflected on the entire game, that feeling dissipated. As my recency bias fell away, I remembered how lethargic the team looked in the opening minutes, and how the squad was lucky not to trail by multiple goals with how Columbus dominated the ball (61% possession, 18 shots) and expected goals (2.4 to 0.9). I believe Gallese and the defense (eight blocked shots) earned the team a point more than the offense dropped two points, but as is often said on The Mane Land PawedCast, por qué no los dos, as both can be true at the same time, and probably are as it relates to the game against Columbus.

Those are my takeaways from Orlando City’s up-and-down 1-1 draw with Columbus. With multiple players away on international duty, it will be a much different looking team next week when the Lions host high-flying Vancouver, but hopefully they will close out the home portion of the regular season by taking all three points next Saturday night.

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