NASHVILLE — Iván Angulo intercepted a pass to score in the sixth minute to help second-seeded Orlando City advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 1-0 victory over Nashville on Tuesday night.
Orlando (19-7-9) earned its third consecutive 1-0 win over Nashville, including a victory on Oct. 30 with a 25-7 edge in shots. The Lions had won only one of their nine meetings with Nashville in all competitions before winning the last three.
Pictures: Orlando City wins first MLS playoff game against Nashville
“We came out with the intention to run and to really press them high and try to pin them back so I just kind of pressed into that area between the center backs and the holding midfielders that I really like to get in-between and force them to make a bad pass,” Angulo said.
Nashville (13-12-10) lost a knockout round match at home for the first time in club history, ending a string of seven wins and two draws in nine playoff and cup matches at home.
Angulo stepped in front of a back pass inside the penalty area and split two defenders with a shot that went over the head of goalkeeper Joe Willis.
Orlando goalkeeper Pedro Gallese made four saves for his 10th clean sheet of the season.
“I thought we played a very complete match, especially because we were solid in the attacking areas and could have probably scored a couple more goals, but against Nashville that is not an easy task,” Lions coach Oscar Pareja said.
Orlando, which has won three straight road matches for the first time in club history, will play the winner of the Columbus-Atlanta series.
Atlanta staved off elimination with a 4-2 win earlier Tuesday, forcing a decisive Game 3 on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.
