Daniel Gazdag and Lassi Lappalainen are ready to kick on after scoring their first goals for the Columbus Crew, coach Wilfried Nancy declared ahead of the visit of Orlando City.

Gazdag and Lappalainen were both on target as the Crew beat D.C. United 2-1 last week, a result that keeps Nancy's team four points adrift of Eastern Conference leaders FC Cincinnati.

Gazdag won and scored a first-half penalty against D.C., having failed to net in his first 15 outings for Nancy's team after joining as a designated player in April.

After Christian Benteke had levelled for the visitors, Lappalainen came off the bench to net the winner, having been hamstrung by injuries since his January move from CF Montreal.

Speaking after that game, Gazdag said: "I felt from day one that this is a very good, cohesive team.

"They welcomed me very well from day one. I never felt anything like I wouldn't get the ball or something like that. I didn't score the goal because of myself."

Asked what effect the pair's maiden goals could have, Nancy said: "Daniel, we know he wanted to score, and this is normal.

"Lassi, it's been difficult for him the last three years. He could have scored a second goal, so it's good for him. 

"We know that he has come far, so the idea is to give him confidence because we know that he's able to help the team to be good."

Oscar Pareja's Orlando are two places and six points back of Columbus, having ended a four-match winless run by beating the New England Revolution 2-1 last Saturday.

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

Columbus Crew – Daniel Gazdag 

Gazdag's first goal for Columbus came almost four months after he last netted for the Philadelphia Union, on March 29.

It was his 60th career regular-season goal since joining MLS in 2021, with only Cristian Arango (64) and Hany Mukhtar (73) scoring more in that time.

Orlando City – Martin Ojeda 

Orlando's Ojeda scored a brace versus the Revolution last time out, bringing his regular-season total to 22 career goals. 

He is the fourth player in Orlando history to record at least 20 goals and 20 assists for the club, joining Nani, Kaka and Chris Mueller.

MATCH PREDICTION – COLUMBUS CREW WIN

The Crew have won three consecutive meetings with Orlando across all competitions, dating back to a 2-0 victory in the MLS Cup Playoffs in 2023. 

However, Orlando have won eight of the last 13 meetings between the teams overall (D1 L4). The Lions also picked up their 10th win of the 2025 season when they defeated New England last time out. 

With that victory, Orlando joined the Seattle Sounders and Columbus as one of three teams to register at least 10 wins in each of the last six seasons.

But they might find things difficult at Lower.com Field, where the Crew have won four of their last five matches while scoring two or more goals in each victory.  

Columbus (32) are one of two teams (also the LA Galaxy – 30 games) over the last three seasons with at least 30 home games scoring multiple goals. 

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Columbus Crew – 53.6%

Orlando City – 22.6%

Draw – 23.8%