Orlando City Shuts Out Chicago Fire 1-0
Orlando City SC's Tesho Akindele attempts to head a ball during Orlando City's match against Chicago Fire at Exploria Stadium Saturday, August 21, 2021. Photo: Harry Castiblanco/Florida National News.
ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN SPORTS) — Orlando City played host to Chicago Fire for their 21st match of the MLS season. With a gridlock in second place after their draw to Nashville, the Lions are desperate to secure points in order to make their passage to playoffs easier. Chicago Fire, on the other hand, are desperate for results in general after falling to a lowly 12th place. After seeing some daylight in their wins over New York Red Bulls and Columbus Crew, Chicago will want to continue their traction away to Orlando.
Tactically, the Lions looked noticeably different up front. With Tesho Akindele and Sylvester van der Water in the starting lineup, the call for action seemed imminent for Orlando. The action started early enough as van der Water nearly put Exploria Stadium on fire with his first strike of the evening. His cut into the box culminated in a venomous left-footed shot. His effort wasn’t enough as the ball ricocheted off the pole and back to him. The Dutch winger was unsuccessful in lobbing up a follow-up cross to Akindele.
Despite van der Water’s best efforts, Orlando City looked stuck in the attacking third. Attacking lines got truncated whenever Orlando looked to push past midfield. Time and time again Orlando’s best efforts in front of goal have come from players adapting to the striking role.
As the first half raged on, so did the showers in Central Florida as weather played a major factor.
Lions’ Fighting Spirit
The slippery field led to a moment of major confusion in the final minutes of the first. Tesho Akindele went to ground after Mauricio Pineda seemed to tug his jersey. The non-call from the referee turned into a VAR review shortly after that stayed as-is for both teams. Orlando City and Chicago Fire retired to the dressing rooms with neither team able to draw first blood.
Orlando City adjusted well to the tactics of Chicago City after a half-time break. The defensive press proved to be the difference maker as Tesho Akindele once again pounced on a loose-ball from Mauricio Pineda. Akindele dished the ball off easily to Benji Michel who wasted no time sending in a golazo.
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Nicolas Vera is a sports reporter for Florida National News. | sports@floridanationalnews.com