ORLANDO, Fla. (Sept. 1, 2020) - Orlando City SC (4-2-2, 14 points) closes out a two-game road trip on Wednesday, Sept. 2, making its first visit to the Music City to face Nashville SC (2-4-1, 7 points) at Nissan Stadium. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET.
The match will be locally broadcast on Fox 35 Plus with Evan Weston, Miguel Gallardo and Ali Krieger on the call, while being transmitted on Real Radio 104.1 in English and Acción 97.9FM, 810AM in Spanish.
“Here we are preparing for another game and it’s another short turnaround, but we’re used to it. A good part of this is that it gives us the opportunity to play some of the players that didn’t have many minutes in the tournament and has just given us as well the opportunity to see some different ideas,” Head Coach Oscar Pareja said. “It has been productive so far and we will keep doing the same now preparing for Nashville.”
The Lions enter Wednesday’s match after defeating Atlanta United 3-1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The visitors took a two-goal lead before the halftime break, with finishes from Júnior Urso and Chris Mueller in the 13th and 35th minutes, respectively. The Five Stripes got one back in the 83rd off the head of Brooks Lennon, but the Lions quickly added the insurance goal three minutes later off the foot of Nani.
Mueller leads the Lions with six goals this season, good for second in the league behind only LAFC’s Diego Rossi. The 2018 MLS SuperDraft selection also leads the team in assists with three to his credit, while five members of the squad sit tied for second with two apiece.
Nashville comes into the midweek fixture after defeating fellow 2020 expansion side Inter Miami CF by a score of 1-0 in its first home match of the Phase 1 Continuation of Play at Nissan Stadium. Aníbal Godoy scored the eventual game-winner in the 53rd minute for the Music City-based side.
Four Nashville SC players sit tied for the team lead in finishes this season in Godoy, Dave Romney, Walker Zimmerman and David Accam with one apiece. Hany Mukhtar and Dax McCarty hold the team lead in assists at one each.
Following Wednesday’s match, the Lions will close out its Phase 1 schedule with two matches at Exploria Stadium, the first of which will be on Saturday, Sept. 5 against Atlanta United. City will round out its Phase 1 Fixtures a week later when it hosts Inter Miami CF for the first time on Saturday, Sept. 12. Limited tickets to both those matches can be found here.
