The Columbus Crew must get by their nemesis if they want to end a three-game winless streak.
Orlando City visit Columbus on Saturday with a 7-0-1 record against the Crew in the past eight games, becoming only the second team since 2000 to win seven of eight games versus Columbus, joining the Chicago Fire from 2010-13.
Since the start of 2018, no team other than Orlando City has defeated the Crew five times.
Columbus (4-4-2, 14 points), which is on an 0-2-1 stretch, has not played a league match since a 2-1 home loss to Inter Miami on April 29.
Coach Wilfried Nancy gave the players four days off after the game and now sees an invigorated team, which is led by Lucas Zelarayan’s four goals.
“(They have a) good mindset,” Nancy said. “The idea was to give them the freshness to think about something else than football because we’ve been behind them all the time, giving them a lot of information and so on and so on. I believe that as a human being, you need to rest your brain.”
The positive vibes continued Wednesday when a makeshift lineup defeated Loudon City of the second tier USL by a 5-1 score in a U.S. Open Cup match to advance to the Round of 16.
Orlando City (4-4-2, 14 points) were not as fortunate, losing 1-0 to Charlotte FC in a U.S. Open Cup match on Tuesday. The Lions were the 2022 U.S. Open Cup champion.
In MLS action, Orlando City has alternated wins and losses in their past seven matches, including a 2-0 loss at CF Montreal last Saturday. The team continues to be led by rookie Duncan McGuire’s three goals.
“It’s not much thinking of what just happened,” Orlando coach Oscar Pareja said. “There’s a lot of games coming as well in a short period of time and our character is intact.”
He said the Lions must be sharp against an attacking team such as Columbus.
“It’s a game that needs a lot of concentration from us but also a lot of ambition,” Pareja said. “We need to go there with the mentality of ‘go win it.’ It’s a game against a tough, very aggressive rival, but we’re good. They need to be worried about us too.”
— Field Level Media
