PHOTO BY MARK THOR
Orlando City SC had another rough night on Saturday, falling 5-0 to Nashville SC at GEODIS Park during an away game, in a result that dropped the Lions to 1-4-0 on the season with just three points.
Cristian Espinoza opened the scoring free-for-all with a long-range strike just five minutes in, and Sam Surridge doubled the lead from the penalty spot in the 28th minute after Jeisson Palacios was fouled in the box. Duncan McGuire had a chance to pull one back early on, but Nashville goalkeeper Brian Schwake made a point-blank save to keep the Lions off the board. Surridge completed a hat trick with goals in the 55th and 67th minutes, and Warren Madrigal added a fifth in the 80th to close out the scoring.
It was a brutal evening for a team that has now conceded four of its opening five matches, and interim head coach Martín Perelman didn’t sugarcoat it.
“Of course, we are unhappy,” Perelman said. “We faced a team that is in another moment than us. Of course, we’re sad because we represent our community, our people, but as I spoke with the players, everybody can be sure that this team is going to be fine. We’re going to work, as we always have, and we’re going to be fine.”
Pressed further on the result, Perelman kept returning to the same message. “It’s tough to analyze the game now. I think this is a moment to stay calm, to work. We need to work. We will do it. We know this league. This league is long, and we know how to go through the league. And again, as I told you, and I will repeat once and once and once and again, we’re going to be fine because we’re going to work.”
Defender Griffin Dorsey said the halftime message from the staff was not to bunker in but to keep pushing for a goal, even down two. “The message was not to prevent whatsoever. The message was that we’re going out there to push for a goal, one goal at a time. Obviously, that didn’t happen. We’re never going to go out there just to prevent, just to stay stuck in and not get scored on.”
On what needs to change defensively, Dorsey was direct. “I think one of the clear messages from the coaching staff now is just to be compact and be together. We’ve been scored on a lot of times, so that’s a tell-tale sign that we’re not doing the job that we need to be doing. We have a lot of young guys in the squad right now, a lot of new guys, and we just have to figure out how to be a team together, connected from the backline first and then up through the field.”
Orlando was also without six injured players on the night, including Eduard Atuesta, David Brekalo, Wilder Cartagena, Joran Gerbet, Robin Jansson, and Tyrese Spicer.
The Lions have a break now with the league pausing for the FIFA international window. Their next match is April 4 at LAFC’s BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. Let’s hope they come back with some sharper teeth.
