Orlando City will try to halt a miserable extended start to the season on Sunday night when they visit a Columbus Crew side that just might have turned a corner.
Orlando (1-5-0, 3 points) parted with manager Orlando Pareja a month ago following a 5-0 loss at New York City FC, and briefly responded with a 2-1 home win over Montreal in its next game.
But the reversion to lopsided losses returned with a 5-0 drubbing at Nashville SC before the March international window, then an even more embarrassing 6-0 defeat at LAFC when league play resumed last weekend.
The latter match was 5-0 by halftime as Denis Bouanga scored a hat trick and Son Heung-min provided four assists. That result left Orlando entering the weekend with an MLS-worst minus-18 goal differential when the next-worst side sat at minus-11.
“It’s definitely not good enough from the group and we know that,” said Lions striker Duncan McGuire. “We demand more from ourselves. And I think after these last two games, we’ve really taken a deep dive into what’s the reason things are going wrong. And I think we’ve had a good few days to analyze it and work on some things. So, we’re looking forward to getting back at it this weekend.”
Columbus (1-3-2, 5 points) began with a similarly discouraging start to their season, thanks in part to the departure of manager Wilfried Nancy in the offseason.
But the Crew were competitive in all of their early matches, never losing by more than a single goal. They finally reversed that form in a 3-1 home win over Atlanta last weekend, taking control with three goals early in the second half — two by Wessam Abou Ali and a third from Max Arfsten.
Having won the 2023 MLS Cup and 2024 Leagues Cup under Nancy, there is still an expectation of success in the Ohio capital under successor Henrik Rydstrom. Defender Malte Amundsen suggested the feel of last weekend indicates the Crew could still meet those standards.
“I think we saw more of what we know us to be,” Amundsen said. “More joy playing. … I think we saw more of the team that we are. The team that we have been and the team that we want to be.”
–Field Level Media
