It definitely wasn’t easy, but it was totally worth it.
In what has been a recurring theme this season, the Lions made history once more on Wednesday night at Exploria Stadium, clinching a top-four finish in the Eastern Conference to ensure their first playoff game in Club history will take place in The City Beautiful.
That historic milestone had no shortage of drama.
City clinched its position with a 2-1 victory over Columbus Crew SC at the midweek, defeating the Eastern Conference heavyweights to jump them in the standings and move to third behind only Toronto and Philadelphia heading into Decision Day 2020 presented by AT&T on Sunday.
The match began with what Head Coach Oscar Pareja called one of the best halves his team has put together this year, controlling the possession and creating numerous chances in the Crew’s defensive third. One of those chances found the back of the net off the foot of Chris Mueller, scoring his team-high 10th goal of the year in the 27th minute to give the Lions the early lead.
Following the halftime break, that very control the Lions held in the first 45 shifted drastically when their captain Luis Nani was shown a red card upon Video Review in the 52nd minute for a play that many would argue did not warrant such a call. Shortly thereafter, the Crew leveled thanks to a finish from Harrison Afful.
Despite going down a man, the Lions were able to continue creating with their No. 10 Mauricio Pereyra spearheading the attack. After earning the assist on Mueller’s finish to open the match, Pereyra made his presence felt once more in the 84th minute, sending in the ball that made all the difference for the City side.
Already playing extended minutes than previously planned due to his return from injury, Pereyra was getting ready to come out of the match before lofting a ball from midfield to the top of the area for Benji Michel in the 84th minute.
“I told him like three times before that to get up the middle because he’s so fast and we had not maybe the power in the last minutes to keep the ball and try to create combinations, so we knew that he’s a fast man and we should play the ball there,” Pereyra said of the play. “I asked for the change before, I was a little bit tired and I said ‘Okay this may be my last ball,’ so that’s why I tried to shoot over the defender and then Benji [Michel] made the rest of course.”
The rest was a header from Michel to send the ball back into the air, in which time he spun past a trio of Columbus defenders before chesting it down into the area for control and sending his shot through the legs of Crew goalkeeper Eloy Room to send Exploria Stadium into a frenzy.
What followed was an anxious 15 minutes for all those in City’s camp before the final whistle was blown to clinch the top-four finish that the Lions have been discussing since locking up their first playoff berth in Club history just over two weeks ago.
“The team had the bravery to overcome one of the elite teams in the conference and a team that has done a great job,” Pareja said after the match. “We overcame a very emotional moment, organized the team and they found [something]. It was not easy to contain Columbus and at the same time manage to win the match.
“We wanted to bring the playoffs to our home. We not only wanted to show that Orlando City is a playoff team, but it’s a team that is one of the best four teams in the conference. The location of the game is very important, but we need to take advantage of that when the game is here. We are proud to have the first playoff game ever for Orlando City at home. It’s great.”
