Ramiro Enrique scored a brace and had an assist, and visiting Orlando City punished FC Cincinnati for multiple mistakes in a 3-1 victory on Saturday night.
Ivan Angulo also scored in Orlando’s third straight MLS victory, its sixth out of seven and 10th out of 13 during a second-half surge up the Eastern Conference standings.
Once on the fringe of the MLS Cup Playoff picture, the Lions (15-11-7, 52 points) could clinch the East fourth seed and home-field advantage in Round 1 if New York City FC loses or draws against Nashville SC on Sunday.
Luciano Acosta scored his team-leading 14th goal for Cincinnati (17-11-5, 56 points), which cemented a third-place finish in the East. But FCC lost its third in a row and has now conceded 10 goals over its past four matches.
Orlando came in looking for a signature victory after an extended run of strong results and got the ideal start in the 10th minute on a sequence that began with a Cincinnati turnover in its own half.
Enrique eventually got the ball and sprayed it wide to Kyle Smith, then turned and made a fading run toward the back post. Smith took a couple of touches, then curled a brilliant cross from the right back into the path of Enrique, who hammered a first-time volley past Roman Celentano from close range.
Acosta tied the score just before halftime with a right-footed strike from outside the box, catching goalkeeper Pedro Gallese leaning to his far post and drilling a shot to the top near corner.
But more Cincy mistakes gifted Orlando three points after the break.
Celentano was at fault for Angulo’s go-ahead goal in the 66th minute. Smith drove in another cross from the right for Enrique, who laid it back toward the penalty arc.
Angulo met it with a half-volley toward the left post, and though Celentano appeared to have time to make the save, it slipped past his gloves and across the goal line.
Six minutes later, Luca Orellano tried to clean up another Orlando attack and instead made it far worse when he mis-hit his pass back toward Celentano. Angulo controlled it and as Celentano charged, he passed to Enrique, who tapped it into an open net.
–Field Level Media
