Orlando City SC seek to add to Major League Soccer’s longest active winning streak on Saturday when they visit the Columbus Crew.
The Lions (12-10-7, 43 points) have won three straight matches by a combined score of 8-0.
“I think we can play even better,” Orlando City defender Dagur Thorhallsson said. “This is the best soccer we’ve played. … We’re keeping a clean sheet and we’re scoring a lot of goals.”
While Orlando City holds the tiebreaker over the New York Red Bulls for fourth place in the Eastern Conference, the Crew (15-8-8, 53 points) sit two points behind second-place FC Cincinnati in the East with a match in hand.
The Crew ca n almost match Orlando’s three consecutive shutouts. A 2-0 victory at Toronto FC on Wednesday gave Patrick Schulte back-to-back shutouts and an MLS-high-tying 10 on the season.
Crew coach Wilfried Nancy said it’s a collective effort.
“This is not only the backline because the front line, they also do a good job to avoid certain things,” Nancy said. “Obviously, the backline also do it well. This is the competitive spirit that we have. Yes, we can talk about tactics that we are good defensively, but for me, this is this desire to compete all the time. That’s why they are able to make plays.
“This is the chemistry of the team and this is the spirit of the team. That’s why we are able to be also good defensively.”
The Crew will try to contain Facundo Torres, who has four scores during his three-match goal streak.
“We have been consistent in the way we play,” Orlando coach Oscar Pareja said. “The individual performances have been better and better.”
Columbus will counter with Cucho Hernandez. Its leading scorer entered at the start of the second half versus Toronto and scored his 14th goal before assisting on the insurance tally by Andres Herrera.
“They’re a really difficult team,” Torres said. “They’re the reigning champs of the league and we’re going to go there and try to take three points from their field.”
–Field Level Media