ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 31, 2024) – Orlando City SC (10-10-7, 37 points) defeated Nashville SC (7-15-6, 27 points) 3-0 on Saturday night at Inter&Co Stadium in the Club’s first home MLS match since the Leagues Cup break. The Lions extended their home unbeaten streak to four games, with wins in three of those four matches since June 22.
After jumping out to an early 1-0 lead on an Iván Angulo goal, the Lions doubled their lead with Facundo Torres' first goal of the night. With another goal in the 85th minute, Torres recorded his third brace of the season and his 41st career goal across all competitions. With that, he has moved to within three goals of tying Cyle Larin for the most goals in Club history. With 52 goal contributions in MLS play, Torres also passed Nani for most in Club history.
Making two saves on the night, goalkeeper Pedro Gallese recorded this third MLS clean sheet of the season. With the shutout tonight, the Lions haven’t allowed a goal against Nashville in their last five meetings.
The Lions will next head into a two-week break from play for the FIFA international break, before hosting the New England Revolution at Inter&Co Stadium in their return to regular-season action on Saturday, Sept. 14. The matchup between the Lions and Revolution will air on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Scoring Summary:
10’ Iván Angulo (Martín Ojeda) – ORL 1, NSH 0
Orlando City took the early lead just 10 minutes into the match off a crucial mistake by the visiting side. Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis attempted a clearance, but the pass was sent directly to Martín Ojeda at the top of the box. Ojeda found Iván Angulo open in front of the goal, and he finished off the play with his fourth goal of the season.
14’ Facundo Torres (Dagur Dan Thórhallsson) – ORL 2, NSH 0
The Lions doubled the lead just four minutes later when Dagur Dan Thórhallsson took the ball to the end line and floated it back into the box. Facundo Torres eyed the ball the whole way and struck it on the volley leaving the Nashville goalkeeper no chance to save it.
85’ Facundo Torres (Duncan McGuire, Nico Lodeiro) – ORL 3, NSH 0
Torres recorded his second goal of the night late in the second half to give the Lions a three-goal lead and seal the match. Second-half substitute Duncan McGuire received a pass just past midfield and led Nico Lodeiro down the right side of the field. McGuire got the ball back and found Torres open in the middle of the Nashville box before sending a shot past the goalkeeper.
Head Coach Oscar Pareja:
“I am very happy for our team and our fans in this moment of not emergency, but urgency. We have shared this with the players where we need to add points and try to ascent in the standings. We will still try to do it the best way possible because we want to play well and keep growing as a team. I saw a lot of positive areas today that made us feel like we have been playing a very serious and professional game against a rival that created in the first 15 minutes a few chances and complicated our game. The reaction from us was good. I thought we were precise in the way we finished. We have had games where we had more volume on the actions in their center backs, but today we were clean on being precise. At this point we need that lethal instinct from the players, and it was a good game in that part. The second half was a much more complete game. I liked the discipline from the group. This is the way we can add points in the league. Being disciplined will help us reach our goal and when we have the chances we need to put them in the back of the net. It is as simple as that.”
Match Notes:
- Facundo Torres scored his 13th and 14th goals of the season across all competitions and 41st all-time. Torres now sits just three goals away from tying the all-time Club record set by Cyle Larin (44).
- Ivan Angulo tallied his fourth goal of the 2024 campaign across all competitions and his 10th all-time for the Lions.
- Martín Ojeda and Dagur Dan Thórhallsson provided their ninth and fifth helpers of the year respectively across all competitions. The assists served as their 19th and eighth all-time for Orlando City.
- With the secondary assist on Torres’ second goal, Nico Lodeiro tied the Club’s single season record for assists across all competitions with 12, tying Facundo Torres (2022) and Mauricio Pereyra (2023).
- The helper also served as Lodeiro’s 90th of his career in MLS regular-season action, becoming 12th player in MLS history to provide at least 90.
- Goalkeeper Pedro Gallese picked up his third clean sheet of the season.
- The Lions haven’t allowed a goal in five straight matches against Nashville SC.
- Head Coach Oscar Pareja made two changes to his starting lineup from his side’s last match against Sporting Kansas City, with Rafael Santos and Rodrigo Schlegel returning to the starting XI.
