Photo by Justin Glatt / Orlando Soccer Journal
Orlando City was looking to string back-to-back wins for the first time this season, but it was Nashville SC instead that left Exploria Stadium on Saturday with the victory.
Hanky Mukhtar scored and had an assist as Nashville secured a 2-0 win over Orlando, as the Lions extended their losing streak at home to two games.
Fafa Picault scored in the 28th minute after a fast free kick was played by Mukhtar, finding a pacing Picault on the other end of the field to chip the ball over Gallese for the opening goal.
Mukhtar, who scored his first of the season, doubled the lead in the 74th minute.
Orlando (2-2-2, 8 points) outshot Nashville 18-7 with six of those shots target. Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis finished with six saves.
Up next, Orlando enters a bye-week and returns to play on April 15 at Minnesota United. Kickoff for the game is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
What the coach Oscar Pareja said:
“Disappointed being at home in front of our fans and not getting the result is the most painful part. I thought we made a couple of costly mistakes on the defensive phase that cost us the game, and on the other side, we’re not fine. We were optimistic today because we came up from a game that we played very well [last week], and today we didn’t find those two areas.”
Goals of the Night
Scoring Summary
28′ – Fafa Picault, assisted by Hany Mukhtar (NSH)
74′ Mukhtar, assisted by Shaquell Moore and Dax McCarty (NSH)
Here’s how the Lion’s lined up
Orlando City XI: Pedro Gallese; Luca Petrasso (Gaston Gonzalez, 77′), Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Kyle Smith (Duncan McGuire, 77′); Cesar Araujo, Mauricio Pereyra (c), Felipe Martins (Facundo Torres, 46′), Ivan Angulo (Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, 82′), Martin Ojeda; Ramiro Enrique.
Substitutes: Mason Stajduhar, Antonio Carlos, Wilder Cartagena, Rafael Santos, Abdi Salim.
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