The big guns of Orlando City SC can keep the Lions close enough to win. But to finish with three points, someone must surge forward to put the match away.
In their match against Cincinnati FC, Orlando City SC players kept the game close enough to win, or at least draw. It wasn’t until the 87th minute that a Lion surged forward.
Late within the 90 minutes, forward Marco Pasalic combined with midfielder Martin Ojeda and forward Ramiro Enrique, bringing the score to 2-1. However, that’s where it stayed.
A player surged forward. Unfortunately for Orlando City, it was Cincinnati's attacking midfielder Evander, who made the difference. His initial goal came in first-half stoppage time. The second was in the 74th minute, assisted by striker Kevin Denkey.
When Evander wasn’t running toward the Orlando goal, the Cincinnati defense kept the Lions back. Yet, Head Coach Oscar Pareja said the defensive error allowing the goal late in the first half took the team off the beam for much of the match.
FC Cincinnati had found a way to defend in the back and counter the Lions, even as they planned to overcome the goal in the first half. Despite the plans, they reacted by attempting to rush things, push harder, and surge forward as Evander had done.
They focused enough on Evander to contain him until his second goal late in the second half. But any space conceded to him proved too much. Meanwhile, the Orlando City aggressiveness that so often fueled their success did not get them any points in this match.
No one player can win a match alone for the Lions. But one missing component of team success has remained out for international duty. Primarily a defender, he is the 12th homegrown player signed to the team. In all competitions, he’s scored 12 goals and provided 16 assists in 70 appearances.
In this season, Freeman has scored four goals in seven shots on target, plus an assist. Next time a player is needed to surge to get Orlando City SC on beam, he should be the one.