Ninety minutes later, it wasn’t enough to pull Columbus Crew 2 away from Orlando City B on Saturday night at Osceola Heritage Park. Penalty Black & Gold for extra points in the MLS NEXT Pro standings following a regulation draw. This was his fourth penalty shootout involving Columbus and the first for Crew 2 after Black & Gold focused on this after suffering too many losses in the format. It was an out victory.
An eventful first half saw Orlando lead going into halftime. The scoring for Columbus started early as wingback Mo Farsi intercepted a poor pass from Lions goalkeeper Javier Otero. Farsi forward He Noah He played the ball to Husson, Noah His Husson immediately penalized He played the ball back to Persi in the spot, Farsi was pulled down and Crew 2 was awarded a penalty. He was 1-0 up with gold after just seven minutes.
It looked like Columbus could get away with the game as the team kept putting pressure on Orlando and creating chances. After about 20 minutes, OCB finally found their team’s footing in the game, attacking the right flank through winger Nisser Acosta and closing the space between wing-back Ryan Telfer and left centre-back Tristan Weber. I used it. Acosta found enough space and was able to serve with an indiscriminate cross to fellow winger Moises Tavrante in the 19th minute.th minute.
Acosta and Tavlante connected again to disrupt the Crew 2 defense with 24 seconds to spare.th minute. Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte took a penalty outside his box and challenged Acosta. The winger failed to take a shot in the wide-open goal as defender Abdi Mohammed fouled him to award Orlando a penalty kick, but it was converted.Acosta he had to be replaced at 33rd for injuries.
Black & Gold had one of the toughest defenses going into the match, but in the first half of this match Columbus gave up two uncharacteristic goals and some questionable decisions by Schulte. The first half also saw three players being cautioned for dissent, plus he was cautioned for three player fouls.
Going into the second half, Crew 2 dominated the game, especially after the Lions received two late red cards, but could only score one goal to bring the game even at 2-2. Winger Marco Mikaletto finished with a tight angle shot after somehow maintaining possession after a good tackle from Orlando.
Forward Ethan Subachan was sent off for 85.th minute of violence. The referee originally gave yellow, but after consulting with the assistant referee, he upgraded to red. Tabrante then scored his second yellow for a sliding tackle in the late ’90s.th minute.
Black & Gold were unable to take advantage of this in regulation, but injuries to Acosta, Subachan and Tabrante sent them off, leaving Orlando City B with just one offensive player. This proved costly in the ensuing penalty shootout, as OCB only scored once in five tries. Orlando finished this match with seven yellows on his cards and one straight on his reds.
Given the two points, Columbus is at least temporarily ahead of Tacoma Defiance in the MLS NEXT Pro standings for first place in the MLS NEXT Pro standings with 44 points to Tacoma’s 43 points. They are 12 points ahead of Toronto FC II in the Eastern Conference.
Columbus next faces the Philadelphia Union II on Saturday, August 27th.
