Adrian Heath had urged his Orlando City fans to “get the Citrus Bowl bouncing” in a crucial showdown with conference rivals Columbus, and his team gave the home support plenty to cheer in a totally dominant performance against the in-form Crew SC.
Despite conceding an early goal, a new-look Lions team found their cutting edge and romped to their biggest win of their debut MLS season just seven days after a 5-3 defeat at New York City.
Potential Rookie of the Year Cyle Larin helped himself to a double alongside memorable strikes by Darwin Ceren, Aurelien Collin and Cristian Higuita, and it could have been more as the visitors were over-run in the second half.
After three straight league defeats, Lions head coach Adrian Heath shook his team up with places for both left-sided defenders Corey Ashe and Luke Boden, with Boden pushing into an attacking midfield that was anchored by newcomer Servando Carrasco, alongside Higuita and Ceren, giving the Lions more of a 4-4-2 look than their typical 4-2-3-1.
Seb Hines returned to his place at centerback in the absence of Sean St Ledger, who was released on Friday “for a serious breach of club policy.”
In stark contrast, Crew SC—with a three-game unbeaten streak and only one defeat in its last eight—was unchanged from its 3-3 draw at Toronto the previous week.
And the visitors demonstrated that cohesiveness as they soaked up the early pressure and broke through on five minutes with a clinical strike by Federico Higuain.
Justin Meram picked up the ball 40 yards out and drove at the heart of the City defence, drawing the cover before sliding a deadly reverse pass into the penalty area, where the Argentine had arrived unnoticed to stroke the ball past Tally Hall from seven yards.
Orlando’s response was immediate. With their new-look four-man midfield starting to gell, Ashe and Boden combined to set up Larin for a chance that went straight at goalkeeper Steve Clark. A similar combination then unlocked the door on 18 minutes.
This time it was Carrasco’s diagonal ball finding Ashe out wide, and the full back’s low cross was gleefully tucked right-footed into the roof of the net by Larin for his 10th goal of the season, just one behind the all-time rookie record of Chicago’s Damani Ralph in 2003.
Hall then needed to be at his best to divert a powerful Kei Kamara header one-handed over the bar while Meram’s long-distance strike was deflected for a corner.
A minute later, there were echoes of the previous league game between the two when Michael Parkhurst was controversially sent off for handling on the line. This time it was Crew SC appealing for a penalty as Tony Tchani’s header from a corner struck a combination of Tyler Turner and the near post, with Turner’s arm suspiciously close to the ball.
There was no agreement from referee Ricardo Salazar, though, and the game of punch and counter-punch continued with Kamara on a breakaway, producing a low shot that had Hall at full stretch again.
Orlando then took the lead decisively with another quick-breaking strike. Kaká chased a loose ball out wide and produced a sublime pass inside for the streaking Ceren to send across goal. The low ball was blocked by Parkhurst but the rebound fell kindly for Ceren, who lashed it first-time across Clark into the far top corner.
At the other end, Higuain’s snap-shot flew just wide before Kaká almost made it 3-1 with a driving run and shot that Clark did well to hold.
The relentless action continued after the break as Meram’s header from Kamara’s cross was directed straight at Hall before Orlando thought they had broken through again as Clark directed a free-kick into his own net. Salazar correctly ruled out the effort for a foul by Hines.
It was 3-1 four minutes later, and it was another familiar combination as Boden picked out Ashe marauding down the left and his low cross was again converted from six yards by Larin; this time with his left foot to tie Ralph’s record.
The big Canadian came close to completing his second hat-trick in successive games and taking the rookie record outright, but he was just off target with two powerful driving shots and then he lifted a Boden cross just over the top with a first-time volley.
In the end, it was left to Collin and Higuita to underline the home team’s dominance on the scoreboard, with the Frenchman glancing home a Boden corner on 77 minutes and Higuita converting a delightful Kaká cross seven minutes later. Collin’s own goal on the 90-minute mark was scant consolation for the Crew.
Orlando now face two more games in less than a week with a trip to Toronto on Wednesday and the visit of Philadelphia next Saturday, while Columbus stay on the road at Colorado on Saturday.
