Last Go Around…
Wednesday will serve as the second matchup between the Lions and Nashville SC this season, the first of which taking place in a midweek fixture on Aug. 18. That match saw the two sides battle to a 1-1 draw, with Antonio Carlos scoring his third goal as a Lion in the match and his second in the calendar year.
Breaking the Deadlock
In two visits to the Music City, the Lions have earned a pair of 1-1 draws. In addition to their midweek fixture earlier in the campaign, City took the same result in its first visit to Nashville on Sept. 2, 2020. Benji Michel found the back of the net in that matchup for the Lions, ripping a shot off from outside the area into the left side netting in what served as his first finish of the 2020 MLS regular season.
An El Tanque Finish
Daryl Dike found the back of the net for the fourth time this season on Saturday night against New England, bodying off his defender in college teammate Harry Kessler before firing his shot into the back of the net. The USMNT forward now sits with 12 goals in Major League Soccer, four of which have come in 2021 to trail only Nani on the side.
Milestones for Mauro
Mauricio Pereyra extended his team-high in assists over the weekend, tallying his 10th of the year to add to his single-season career best as a Lion. With the helper, Pereyra became the fourth player in Club history to record a double-digit assist season (Kaká 10, 2016; Yoshimar Yotún 10, 2018; Nani 10, 2019) and is now tied for second in Club history in assists at 22 with former Lions’ captain Kaká and teammate Chris Mueller.
The Last Leg
Wednesday will serve as the final match of a three-game road trip for the Lions in what has served as its longest stretch on the road this campaign. City will return home on Saturday, Oct. 2 to face D.C. United, set to finish out the season with four of its remaining six MLS regular-season fixtures in The City Beautiful.
Milestone Tracker
- Nani is one goal away from 10 for the 2021 season, which would make him the second player in Club history after Cyle Larin to record multiple double-digit goal seasons for the Club in the MLS era.
- Chris Mueller’s next appearance will serve as his 120th as a Lion.
- Tesho Akindele is two goals away from 20 in his Orlando City career.
- Pedro Gallese’s next clean sheet will be his 10th for Orlando City.
- Gallese is one save away from 100 in MLS regular-season play.
- Orlando City’s next clean sheet will set a new Club record with eight in a single season. 2021 marks the fourth time Orlando City has recorded seven clean sheets in a season, along with 2015, 2017, and 2019.
