• Final stats

ORLANDO, Fla. – For midfielder Sacha Kljestan, the difference between Orlando City SC’s 0-2-1 start to the season and its now-standing four-game winning streak is the team’s goal-scoring.

The Lions were out-scored 5-2 in those opening matchups but have since exploded for 12 goals over the last three weeks. As expected, forward Dom Dwyer is in top goal-scoring form, tallying five goals over the last four games.

But rookie Chris Mueller had yet to prove himself in Major League Soccer. He showed he could score during the preseason, scoring in every preseason scrimmage except one, but was scoreless in his first four MLS games.

In the Lions’ (4-2-1, 13 points) 3-2, home win over the San Jose Earthquakes (1-3-2, 5 points) on Saturday, though, Mueller extended his goal-scoring streak to three games and recorded his first professional assist, taking a major step forward in proving he belongs.

“Just being myself, honestly,” Mueller said of what he’s doing in his recent, good performances after the win. “You know, we go into the weeks working hard. We know we’re prepared going into these games, and you just gotta go out and just perform the way you do.

“So, just trying to stay grounded and compete every day.”

After nearly 78 minutes of play, the match looked like it was all but over, as Orlando City led 3-0. But after San Jose drew a corner for the 78th minute, the Earthquakes drew new life. The initial ball in was misdirected and banged off the near post, but midfielder Florian Jungwirth was there for the rebound to make it a 3-1 game.

No more than 12 minutes later did San Jose draw another corner, prompting another goal from Jungwirth. In the 90th minute, Jungwirth elevated near the near post and guided the ball past a rooted Joe Bendik to make it a 3-2 game.

City second-half substitute Justin Meram had a chance to score his first Orlando City goal when Dwyer drew a penalty in the 85th minute, but a diving Andrew Tarbell parried away Meram’s attempt.

“For me, defending dead-ball situations are a matter of commitment, organization and focus,” Lions head coach Jason Kreis said after the win. “And I say that, to give up the number of dead-ball goals we have this year, we’re extremely disappointed with that.

“But it’s not just the coaches. Just walked out of the locker room–we have some people in there that are very, very disappointed not to have obtained all of our objectives tonight. Clearly, a shutout at home is one of the objectives that we’ve had and haven’t accomplished yet.”

City’s win was defined, in part, by the early play of Mueller. The aggressive but patient tone was established from the get-go, as Mueller scored 66 seconds into the match, Orlando City’s fastest MLS goal.

Midfielder Yoshimar Yotún crossed the ball from City’s half of midfield to Mueller deep down the right flank, and Mueller brushed off a physical challenge by defender Shea Salinas. He, then, entered the box with space and stopped just outside the six-yard box to score in the far corner.

“Yeah, I mean, as soon as I picked up my head, I just saw loads of space,” Mueller said. “The guys weren’t really coming with me–the center backs–because there were so many guys in the box; they didn’t want to leave guys unmarked for a pass across, so goalie went down kinda early, and I just lifted it, and it ended up going top corner.”

Mueller helped double the Lions’ lead in the 35th minute. Yotún led Mueller down the wide-open, middle-right part of the pitch, as Kljestan followed closely down the left. After evading Tarbell off his line, Mueller slipped the ball to Kljestan, who slid in his second goal of 2018.

Last season, Kljestan scored two goals all season. His career-high is eight from 2015.

“He was the assist leader in college last year,” Kljestan said after the win. “And you could see from early on in training sessions, even in preseason, he always had a good knack being around the goal that if there was an extra pass to be made and an open guy, he would slot it to him for a tap-in.”

After earning their first two wins by way of miraculous, last-minute comebacks, City have been looking for fast and better starts. They’ve accomplished that over the past two games, as Mueller and Dwyer also scored two first-half goals to beat the Philadelphia Union.

“It was a big objective for us because we hadn’t scored the first goal in our stadium yet [in] 2018,” Kreis said. “Every match that we’ve played here, our opponent scored first. And it’s my feeling that in order to take advantage of this terrific crowd and the terrific atmosphere we have, we need to have really bright starts…and [put] ourselves ahead in the game so we can manage it.”

Dwyer scored his 100th professional goal in the 70th minute, as Meram split the San Jose center backs with a slicing through ball to the second-year Lion. Dwyer dodged Tarbell off his line and scored on an open net.

He has now scored five goals in his first four appearances for City this season. Dwyer has had two other four-game goal-scoring streaks in his career.

“It’s been a fun week building up to this. There was a never a doubt in my mind it was going to come tonight,” Dwyer said after the win. “I think it was meant to be. It’s a special occasion. It was nice to have my family here. Got to have my son on the field afterwards… Very thankful to be a part of this team and a part of this group.”

Who’s Next?

The Lions will take to the road for one game, as they travel to face the Colorado Rapids on April 29. Colorado is seventh in the West with a 2-1-2 record.

For more on the Lions, as they look to extend their winning streak to five games for the second time in club history, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.

To contact Victor, you can email him at vtan@newdayreview.com.