CINCINNATI, Oh. — Orlando City SC managed a narrow 1-0 win over Cincinnati on the road this weekend, but it should have been by a lot more. By dominating the shot count the Lions controlled the match despite probably having some disappointment about the scoreline.
The shot count was heavily skewed to Orlando, 18-9, doubling up on the hosts. Despite that the shots-on-target gap was much lower 5-3, showing the main reason the visitors didn’t get a bigger win, wasteful shooting.
One good thing for OCSC on the shot data is looking at the shot chart above and seeing where Cinci took shots from. All the shots from Cincinnati were at a bad angle which made it difficult for the side to score. On the other hand, Orlando was taking its shots directly in front of the goal, despite many coming from distance, which allowed more clear-cut chances.
What limited the Lions’ chances was how well Cincinnati did in the one-on-one battles in duels, winning them 46-38, which stopped Orlando from having more control of the match and resulted in more chances for the visitors.
Orlando kept Cinci off the scoresheet in part by keeping the crosses from being successful. The visitors made 27 clearances in the match to stop the attacks. That meant all 12 of the crosses from Cincinnati didn’t find a target man keeping them off the scoresheet.
While not a dominant performance by any means it was a successful result and at this late stage of the season sometimes that is all that matters.
Photo courtesy Orlando City SC/Major League Soccer
Florida Soccer Report 