Major League Soccer’s Orlando City hosts the Columbus Crew this Saturday evening in the Eastern Conference Finals at Exploria Stadium. The winner will play the winner of the other semifinal match between host FC Cincinnati and the Philadelphia Union later in the evening. The team that advances out of this group will host the MLS Cup Final on December 9th against a Western Conference representative.
Orlando City’s 2023 Season “At a Glance”
Orlando City finished in second place behind FC Cincinnati in the Eastern Conference. Orlando City won 18 matches with 9 draws and 7 losses, good for 63 points. Orlando City faced 7th seed Nashville SC in the first round of the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, a best-of-three affair, and won the series in two games.
Led by Peruvian goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, Orlando City gave up only 39 goals on the season (5 to the Crew in two matches). Orlando City has been on a roll as of late, having won six consecutive games dating back to September 30th. Five of the six victories were clean sheets for Gallese, including three 1-0 wins over Nashville SC.
Columbus Crew’s 2023 Season “At a Glance”
The Columbus Crew finished the regular season in 3rd place which earned them home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Crew won 16 matches with 9 draws and 9 losses, totaling 57 points. The Columbus Crew scored 67 goals during the regular season, most in MLS. The Crew are led by forward Cucho Hernández who has scored 19 goals in MLS play in 2023, including three goals in the first round of the playoffs.
The Crew defeated Atlanta United in the first round of the playoffs 2 to 1. The home team won every match. The Crew opened the series with a 2-0 win at Lower.com Field and Atlanta United won the second match 4-2 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Crew dominated Atlanta United in game 3 and twice had a three-goal lead in cruising to a 4-2 victory in the rubber match. Columbus struck early and often, including this world-class goal by Malte Amundsen in the 17th minute to give the Crew a 2-0 lead.
What a goal! Malte Amundsen with a screamer for Columbus vs Atlanta.pic.twitter.com/Bqbt4aaTfn
— ⚽⚽⚽ (@ElijahKyama_) November 13, 2023
Head-to-Head Matchup in Columbus
Orlando City got the better of the Columbus Crew in the two matches they played in 2023, earning 4 points against the Crew, compared to 1 point for Columbus. Orlando City struck with goals in second-half stoppage time in both matches. When the teams met in Columbus on May 13th, the Crew held a two-goal lead at halftime and let it slip away. Orlando City’s rookie phenom Duncan McGuire scored a goal at 90+2’ to complete the comeback and forge a draw.
#MLS Semana 12 Columbus Crew 2 (Nagbe 39’ Rowe 45’) 2 Orlando City (Kara 49’ McGuire 90’) pic.twitter.com/mKfClM42jB
— La Quinta del Fútbol (@La5tadelfutbol) May 14, 2023
On September 16th, Orlando City repeated the feat. The Crew grabbed a 3-1 lead in the 68th minute off an easy feed from Alexandru Matan to Cucho, and it looked like a rout. But Orlando City stormed back in the final 20 minutes plus stoppage time, scoring three goals in a span of 26 minutes. Ramiro Enrique scored both the tying and winning goals after the 85th minute; the latter came at 90+8 when Enrique scored off a loose ball following a free kick to snatch the victory.
Stoppage time drama in the MLS as 22 year-old Ramiro Enrique scores the winner for Orlando City.
FT: Orlando 4-3 Columbus Crew. pic.twitter.com/DYIcvK90Qf
— ⚽⚽⚽ (@ElijahKyama_) September 17, 2023
Though disappointing at the time, the Crew held a two-goal lead in both matches and this should give Crew supporters hope. Columbus can play with Orlando City, but they need to be much better closing out the match.
Head Coaches
Orlando City is coached by Oscar Pareja, who has led the team since the start of 2020. The Crew is led by Wilfried Nancy, who’s in his first season in Columbus. Nancy brought his aggressive style and game philosophy from Montréal FC, where he was named Coach of the Year in 2022.
Aggressiveness is a philosophy of both coaches. While Nancy has an aggressive attacking philosophy, which he has termed “a combination of boxing and chess,” Pareja preaches aggressiveness on defense; he wants other teams to pay for committing players forward on the attack.
Oscar Pareja spoke to MLSsoccer.com about his philosophy on the upcoming match with Columbus in a recent one-on-one conversation. Pareja said “I always say the game is a story of proposals and risk. So, you have an initiative, and you have to know that your initiative can have a lot of risk.” Pareja continued, “In Columbus, you can see that initiative to be more aggressive. I guess that sometimes they need to defend too, and now our initiative is just to create a way where we can make them worry about defending, too.”
Since being hired in late 2022, Nancy has retooled the team to be younger, faster, and more aggressive offensively with and without the ball.
Nancy offered his thoughts on the match with reporters last week, reported by Major League Soccer. Nancy said: We’re going to play in Orlando, and we know that they are really aggressive. This is the way they play.” Nancy continued, “It’s going to be a good exercise for us to play our football, and to be calm. Intense, but calm. Because we know that the game’s going to be really difficult over there.
Team Histories
Orlando City began playing in Major League Soccer in 2015, they were the 21st team to join the league. Orlando City tasted its first real success in 2022 when the Lions captured the US Open Cup. Orlando City has built off the success from last season and have developed into one of the strongest teams in the league.
The Columbus Crew is MLS’s inaugural team, founded in 1996. The Crew have had moderate success in its 27 years as a franchise, winning MLS Cups in 2008 and 2020, a US Open Cup in 2002, and Supporters’ Shield trophies in 2004, 2008, and 2009. The Crew failed to reach the playoffs in 2021 and 2022 after hoisting the MLS Cup trophy in 2020, but coach Nancy has the club back on the right track.
Prediction
The first two games between Orlando City and Columbus were barn burners, and Saturday’s match will be no different. The stakes are much higher this time, a spot in the conference finals is at stake, and I expect both teams will be playing spirited soccer at a high level. It’s hard to bet against Orlando City goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, and the defense in front of him. However, Columbus can break through, as evidenced by the first two head-to-head matches.
That being said, Orlando City has had Columbus’ number in recent years and it’s hard to bet against a team who hasn’t lost at home since April and is riding a six-game winning streak. I predict a victory for the Lions over the Crew by a score of 2-1.
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