Fresh off scoring his first professional goal last weekend, rookie Daryl Dike continued his scoring run on Wednesday for the Lions.

Dike scored twice while Chris Mueller added another as Orlando City cruised past Nashville SC 3-1 in front of a limited capacity crowd at Exploria Stadium.

“A game that was well played, we had the patience overall despite conceding first, but we had the belief to create several chances at goal,” Orlando coach Oscar Pareja said in Spanish.

“I really liked the position and spirit of the team, knowing we only had a few days to recover and come home,” he added. “The idea on the field was there, and I’m pleased to see the young players responding. For Daryl Dike, he performed great, the responsibility of a forward is to score goals and when you do it consistently, it creates confidence.”

Nashville (1-4-1, 4 points) opened the scoring in the 15th minute when a service off a free-kick from Hany Mukhtar found Dave Romney, who headed the ball past a block of Orlando defenders and into the net.

The Lions (3-2-2, 11 points) were able to find the equalizer in the 21st minute when a cross from João Moutinho found Chris Mueller — laying stomach down on the ground — headed the ball into the net to tie the game 1-1.

Daryl Dike notched his second goal of the season, scoring the go-ahead goal in the 52nd minute after smashing a ball from Mauricio Pereyra to give Orlando a 2-1 lead in the second half.

In the 72nd minute, Orlando City went up 3-1 when a cross from Ruan connected with Junior Urso, who headed the ball on target but eventually blocked by Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis before Dike pounced on the rebound to double Orlando’s lead.

Dike now has three goals in his last two games.

Prior to the match, Orlando City announced an unnamed player received an inconclusive COVID-19 test and was forced to miss Wednesday’s match against Nashville.

Up next, Orlando travels to take on Atlanta United on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.

Scoring Summary

15′ – Dave Romney, assisted by Hany Mukhtar (NSH)

21′ – Chris Mueller, assisted by João Moutinho & Mauricio Pereyra (ORL)

52′ – Daryl Dike, assisted by Mauricio Pereyra and Chris Mueller (ORL)

71′ – Daryl Dike (ORL)

Here’s how the Lions lined up 

Orlando City XI: Pedro Gallese; João Moutinho (Kyle Smith, 85′), Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Ruan; Sebastian Mendez (Junior Urso, 67′), Oriol Rosell (Andres Perea, 67), Nani (c), Mauricio Pereyra (Benji Michel, 77′), Chris Mueller (Kamal Miller, 85′); Daryl Dike.

Orlando City bench: Brian Rowe, Alex De John, Jordan Bender, Robinho.

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