Duncan McGuire's celebration of his game-winning goal said it all.
Coming off the bench Saturday night for Orlando City SC, the 23-year-old scored the 3-2 clincher at D.C. United with a stoppage-time golazo, beating goalkeeper Alex Bono after a brilliant through ball from Nico Lodeiro.
McGuire, whose initial 2024 plans were severely altered after a well-publicized loan attempt to Blackburn Rovers broke down, has responded well to the offseason adversity, scoring three goals in six appearances to keep pace with his breakout 13g/3a campaign last year. His strong super-sub performance on Matchday 9 shows he's set to fight for a spot on the US U-23 squad at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
Short-term, he helped Orlando extend their unbeaten run to three games. Following a season-opening four-game winless skid, the Lions improved to 2W-3L-2D (8 points).
“Well, it's a description of the unity that these players have as a group. The hard work that Nico, Rafael \[Santos\] and Duncan – normally, they have been playing as a starter,” head coach Oscar Pareja said post-match of three subs who directly helped the Lions take all three points from Audi Field.
“...That made me feel very proud because that gave us a lot of help on how we get much better every weekend and can escalate with this group.”
McGuire and Orlando visit CF Montréal on Saturday night, April 20 (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
