3 things we learned from Orlando City’s draw with Nashville
Orlando City nearly snatched a win over Nashville SC on Sunday night, only to have to settle for a 1-1 draw in its penultimate regular-season game after a game-winning goal was called back due to a foul. Here are three things we learned from the match:
Referee call overwhelms result
Most of the drama of Sunday’s MLS match was overwhelmed by a referee decision in stoppage time.
Striker Alexandre Pato appeared to have set up a game-winner with a free kick from outside the top of the box, sending the ball off the crossbar and the post before Andrés Perea knocked in the ricochet to put the Lions up 2-1.
For a moment, fans and players alike celebrated in chaotic form. But the referee team — led by Allan Chapman — quickly went to video review, which overturned the goal. Chapman’s team gave an explanation that striker Daryl Dike, who was following the ball into goal, fouled a defender and prevented him from making a clearance before Perea made contact with the ball.
Coach Oscar Pareja was furious with the call after the match, saying it was “a sad day for the league.”
With a full week to steep in frustration before their season finale in Montreal on Sunday, Pareja’s most important task this week will be to calm emotions and refocus his team for the playoffs.
“There is not any explanation that gets [us] even close to understanding the decision,” Pareja said. “That’s not going to be a resource for us trying to make the players understand that it was a foul. ... So we will just put it behind us. It will take obviously a certain time, a day. I hope the boys can just shake it off. ... Tomorrow will be another day.”
Dike continues hot scoring stretch
Striker Daryl Dike could surpass Luis Nani for top scorer on the Lions roster after netting his ninth goal of the season on Sunday.
Dike is now only one goal behind Nani in total goal-scoring despite playing 11 fewer games than the captain. The striker scored six of those goals in the last eight games following his return from shoulder and tendinitis injuries in midsummer.
In his current run of form, Dike provides Orlando City with something the team desperately sought for years — a true striker who can shoulder the weight of goal-scoring even when the rest of the team struggles.
Lions closer to clinching playoffs despite draw
Although the Lions couldn’t clinch their playoff spot through a win, the team still came closer to punching its ticket Sunday night after Montreal dropped a 1-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls later in the evening.
A win or draw next week against Montreal will put Orlando City into its second straight MLS postseason under Pareja. The team had never qualified for the MLS playoffs prior to Pareja’s arrival in Orlando.
The Lions could still secure a top-four spot in the Eastern Conference, which would grant them home field advantage for the first round of the playoffs.
To accomplish this, the team will need to win at Montreal while New York City FC loses its regular-season finale against Philadelphia, which is currently jockeying with Nashville for second place in the conference and a first-round bye.
This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Julia Poe at jpoe@orlandosentinel.com.
