Rookie Duncan McGuire scored his 10th goal of the season just before halftime, and Orlando City held on for a 1-0 win over host Nashville SC on Wednesday night.
McGuire’s goal off an assist from Martin Ojeda ensured Orlando (16-7-9, 57 points) would remain in second place in the Eastern Conference with two matches left in the regular season.
Orlando City improved to 9-2-2 since July 1 and earned their league-best eighth road victory of the season against a Nashville SC group that entered the day 8-2-4 at home.
It also helped Orlando end an eight-match winless streak against rival Nashville SC (12-10-9, 45 points).
Neither Orlando goalkeeper Pedro Gallese nor Nashville keeper Joe Willis made a save all night.
Despite the lack of work, Gallese picked up his 10th shutout of the season, an Orlando single-season franchise record.
Nashville had an 8-2 edge in shot attempts despite Orlando holding 56.6 percent of the possession.
Nashville’s Fafa Picault missed two early shot attempts, one shot across the box and one header up close.
Neither team put a shot on goal, though, until Orlando’s goal in the 44th minute.
Mauricio Pereyra worked down the left sideline and flipped a pass to Ojeda, who quickly sent it in the box for McGuire to take the shot, which glanced off the inside of the near post. McGuire was close to being offside, but the goal was upheld after review.
The goal was also Orlando’s only shot attempt of the half, while Nashville SC had six.
The first half featured three yellow cards, all issued to Nashville players, but the chippiness and flopping only increased in the second half. Gallese took some punishment in the box when Nashville substitute Jacob Shaffelburg ran in for a steal attempt and kicked Gallese’s left leg as he booted the ball away.
The teams played 11 minutes of second-half stoppage time, but Nashville did nothing with its chances. Nashville had a long throw-in near Orlando’s net in the final minute of the match, but Orlando won possession and Nashville’s Daniel Lovitz was shown his second yellow card for grabbing at an opponent.
–Field Level Media
