As Scotland's summer Test series ended with a victory over Georgia that was far less comfortable than the scoreboard suggested until 69 minutes, it was hard to shake the feeling we had not learned much about this side over these four matches we did not know going in.

It should not have come as a real surprise a team missing so many front-liners suffered from a lack of cohesion for much of the match at Murrayfield, while Georgia stepped it up after a largely disappointing display in front of their own supporters at the Dinamo Arena a week prior.

Everything now is viewed through a World Cup lens and what we see in this Scotland team is measured against what they will need to do to turn over Ireland in their opening game on 22 September in Yokohama. In that context, some of the stuff on show was concerning.

The Scots conceded 11 penalties, not a disastrous total by any stretch - the commonly held belief is a penalty count in the single digits represents a good day's work - but if a team as ordinary as Georgia can milk 11 penalties then what will Ireland do?

Case for the defence

When the squad travel to Japan on Monday, they may find the on-flight movie options consist of just one genre - defence videos. Scotland missed 24% of their tackles against Georgia. Although these stats can often be misleading - a missed tackle is not really a missed tackle if you are ushering an attacker back into defensive traffic - defence coach Matt Taylor knows any weakness in this area will simply not cut it in three of the four World Cup pool games (Russia should not put up much resistance).

Despite a first-half display lacking zip, the two tries Scotland conjured were crackers, and when they cranked up the tempo as the Georgian fitness was waning, the gaps started opening up all over the place in the final quarter.

In terms of individual performances, Darcy Graham did his case for inclusion from the start against Ireland the most good. His enthusiasm and willingness to get stuck into the physical stuff is infectious, and five tries from his first seven internationals is a superb return.

Gregor Townsend has long favoured the back-three combination of Sean Maitland, Tommy Seymour and Stuart Hogg and it is a trio that provides both attacking flair and a sound defensive understanding. But Graham has made a compelling case to break up the established order. It is likely to be between him and Seymour for a starting berth in Yokohama.

Scotland's form has fluctuated significantly over the summer, from the meek surrender to France in Nice, to the vastly-improved defensive effort against the same opponents at Murrayfield, and some neat attacking play in the double-header against an admittedly limited Georgia.

We already knew the Scots had the undesirable trait of being soft touches on the road, although the win in Tbilisi was a welcome end to a 14-month barren away record. We knew they were capable of demonstrating a tougher streak at Murrayfield, which they did against France. We knew Scotland without Finn Russell struggle to find spaces only he seems able to recognise.

'The time is now for Scotland'

Consistency has been the great unobtainable for Scotland under Townsend. In 27 Tests, this is the first time his side has been able to put together three consecutive victories.

Even if two of those wins came against Tier Two opposition, Scotland now have some sort of momentum heading into the World Cup, something that would have seemed unlikely amid the wreckage of Nice.

The players and coaching staff have spoken about how that shellacking by the French took them all by surprise. But if a wake-up call like that was going to come at any stage of the preparations, better right at the start than at the end.

This Scotland team has had enough wake-up calls, enough days when they did not bring the required intensity to the Test match arena and allowed themselves to be blown away. Now we get to see if the lessons have truly been learned with the World Cup upon us. No more building towards a greater prize way off in the distance. The time is now and we'll see what this Scotland team is made of.

When addressing the fans from the Murrayfield pitch on Friday, Townsend reiterated his belief that Scotland can be a match for any side in the world on their day. Big wins against some of the top rugby nations in recent years has given credibility to that statement.

On their day they can beat anyone. To flourish at the World Cup, their good days will have to be better than anything they have produced before.

Back-row Magnus Bradbury will join Scotland's World Cup travelling party on Monday as "precautionary injury cover" for Jamie Ritchie.

Bradbury is drafted in after Ritchie suffered a facial injury in Friday's win over Georgia at Murrayfield.

Ritchie is to remain in Scotland for further assessment.

"Jamie should be fine to join us at the end of the week and take a part in the World Cup, so that's a real positive," said Gregor Townsend.

Bradbury came off the bench to replace Edinburgh team-mate Ritchie on Friday.

He was given a place among the substitutes in the 36-9 victory despite being one of eight men cut by head coach Gregor Townsend last Tuesday.

Bradbury, capped eight times, had missed the three prior warm-up Tests with a rib problem.

Lock Ben Toolis and full-back Blair Kinghorn suffered head knocks against Georgia while Blade Thomson and Jonny Gray experienced hamstring issues but the Scottish Rugby statement on Ritchie makes no mention of the quartet.

Speaking at Gregor's Border Golf Challenge to raise money for the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, Scotland head coach Townsend told BBC Scotland: "On Friday we had six injuries, four had to go to hospital, and I wasn't in a good mood, I wasn't in a great place. Since then it's all come back with positive news."

Scotland open their World Cup campaign against Ireland on 22 September, with Japan, Samoa and Russia their other Pool A opponents.

CLERMONT, Ind. — Georgia late model driver Bubba Pollard made the tow to Lucas Oil Raceway in Indiana a memorable one as he blitzed the field when he needed to and staved off the star-studded competition to grab the $10,000 prize.

A special three-segment race for the CRA/ARCA Super Series Powered By JEGS at the famed .686-mile oval saw tight, three-wide, close quarter racing in each of the three 25-lap segments.

Outside front row starter Brian Campbell would beat Rapheal Lessard into turn one and off turn two to secure the lead on the start with the start studded cast in tow. Slowed by just one yellow flag, Pollard would maneuver from fourth starting spot to scoot past Campbell at lap 15 and go on to win the first segment.

Segment two would be a complete inversion from the finish of segment one, with Pollard on the tail. Now with Austin Nason on the pole he would blister off to the point setting pace. Eight laps into it and Harrison Burton would try his hand at the front when he sailed by Nason in turn one.

At lap 17, the one and only caution would drop with Pollard in fifth and Burton still on top. Fourth position was the key as the third and final stage would invert just the top four. Three laps from the segment’s finish Pollard breezed past Nason to secure fourth at the checkers.

Pollard would be on the front row with Casey Roderick when the green dropped for the money round. A dicey contest but Pollard was able to out duel Roderick and got on point. Unlike the first two segments, this one would see three yellow flags, the first at lap two. Another double file restart and off they went.

Pollard made it work as Roderick dropped in second with Burton third. Lap ten another yellow, another double-file restart. But this time Roderick muscled the top spot away looking to set pace. That pace lasted just one fast, quick lap as Pollard drove by like he owned the place and drove on.

A lap-15 yellow flag and restart yielded the same results as Pollard muscled away. Following Pollard and Roderick across the line was Burton third, Campbell fourth and Jack Dossey III rounded out the top five.

“We really did not know what we had all day,” said Pollard. “We just didn’t know which way the car was going to go when the race started. When I got to the front I knew I had a good race car. When I could go to the front like that, I knew I had a good car, we were really free the first run. Just a great race, a great format. The car just worked its way to us, just a lot of fun. We through a little strategy and mix into it, we had to work for it. Those guys made me work for it. I knew that second segment I had to get into the top five to set myself up for a good starting spot that last segment. It was something different, I liked it, lot of fun.”

CLERMONT, Ind. — Kody Swanson is now a five-time USAC Silver Crown winner in nine starts this season. The defending series champion led every lap Saturday night at Lucas Oil Raceway.

Swanson blistered the pavement by leading all 100 laps in his Gene Nolan No. 20 ride capturing the annual Rich Vogler Classic at the famed Indiana oval.

The front row of the 25-car field featured brothers Kody and Tanner Swanson, with Tanner on the pole. When the green flag waved, Kody Swanson muscled his way to the front followed by Tanner Swanson and Kyle Hamilton.

Three yellow flags would fall during the 100-lap event with the first coming on lap nine when a car hit the backstretch wall. Back green and off went Kody Swanson. By lap 29 Kody was five car lengths to the good and slicing through heavy lapped traffic.

This would allow Tanner Swanson and Hamilton to make up some ground but still chasing at best. Another yellow on lap 43 saw Annie Breidinger spin to a stop in turn two just to see Ryan Newman ram her tail tank severely damaging the NASCAR stars car and effectively ending his night.

Swanson led on the restart, but Breidinger spun on lap 65 to put the yellow out and give Kody Swanson a clean track with no dirty air in sight.

Swanson romped to a 6.165-second victory over his brother, Tanner.

Hamilton, Jim Anderson and Indy car driver James Davison completed the top five.

“I felt pretty good early, but sometimes it’s hard to tell,” said Kody Swanson. “The car was good early, but then it started getting tight on the long runs. Then we would get a yellow and the car would come back to me. I love these race tracks that have character to them. It’s the driver’s job to move around out there and find what’s good.

“I was just moving around to try and find what was good and help the lap times,” he added. “I moved around all night tonight, try to just make speed where I could using the banking, and use the good things my car could do. I picked up a pretty good vibration there the last thirty, but just keep going and digging. I am thankful to winning it, always grateful for everyone’s effort, a driver does not do it alone. The team, my family, I am grateful to win a race for them tonight.”

Ironically, the Swanson brothers have finished one-two nine times in USAC Silver Crown competition, eight times at the Lucas Oil speed plant. Tanner won the first six of the Swanson one-two sweeps, while Kody has owned the upper hand in the last three.

The victory also moved Kody into a three-way tie with Mike Bliss and Tanner Swanson for the most wins in series history at the track.

“What a part of history in USAC this track has played, let alone to tie someone like Mike Bliss, who had the ultimate stranglehold on this place for so long and Tanner did too for a number of years,” Kody Swanson said. “I had to get better or Tanner was just going to continue to beat me all the time. I’m thankful to pick off a few whenever we could to make it up. To tie them with five is pretty special.”

To see full results, turn to the next page.

PORT ROYAL, Pa. — Reigning Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 champion Aaron Reutzel enjoyed the biggest payday of his career Saturday night, winning the 52nd annual Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal Speedway.

Reutzel outdueled six-time Tuscarora 50 winner Lance Dewease and held off charging Anthony Macri to bank the $52,000 top prize. He also regained the  All Star point lead.

Although Reutzel’s trip to the Port Royal Speedway victory lane stage was a first feat for the defending All Star champion, the Texan is certainly no stranger to victory lane, now with 12 wins on the season, as well as 21 during a short full-time All Star career.

Macri advanced 10 positions to finish second, followed by Lance Dewease, Danny Dietrich and Logan Wagner.

“Unbelievable,” said Reutzel alongside his Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports/Folkens Brothers Trucking/Fischer Body Shop/Hollywood Blasting and Coating/No. 87 sprint car. “I’ve wanted to win this race so bad since the first time we came here. We got lapped by (Lance Dewease) that night. We were going to need a perfect race car that we could just maintain. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. This means a lot to me, to come into Pennsylvania and win one of the biggest races they have. I just don’t know what to say.”

Scheduled to start from the pole, Dale Blaney was forced to surrender his place at the front of the field due to engine issues. With Blaney’s spot vacant, fellow front row occupant Dewease inherited the pole for the start of the 50-lap program.

Utilizing his new starting spot, Dewease immediately jumped out to a commanding lead, extending his advantage to just over two seconds with only three laps checked off the counter. James McFadden slipped into second just after the opening green, followed by Alan Krimes and Reutzel.

A caution on lap four negated Dewease’s advantage just as quickly as he earned it. Despite the momentum shift, the ensuing restart allowed Dewease to resume control, now with Aaron Reutzel in tow, who drove around Alan Krimes for third on lap three before battling beyond James McFadden for second following the lap-four restart.

Not phased by Dewease’s pace after green-flag conditions returned, Reutzel did what he could to hunt down Dewease, relying on a quick, but very narrow cushion around the outer edge of the speedway. By lap 10, Reutzel cut Dewease’s command to less than a second, still relying on the highest groove on the speedway.

Traffic entered the picture for the first time on lap 12, which set the stage for Reutzel’s first bid for the lead. One circuit later, Reutzel was the new man in charge, using the top groove in turns one and two to blast around Dewease while he was hung up in slower traffic.

It would not take long for Dewease to return the favor on Reutzel, charging back to less than a car length by lap 16, all before drag racing the pilot of the No. 87 back to the flagstand on lap 19, and again on lap 20.

The race for the lead on lap 20 ended in Dewease’s favor, crossing the line a mere .02 seconds ahead of Reutzel. Dewease maintained the lead until yellow flags waved for a competition stoppage on lap 25.

After a five-minute break to allow teams to make adjustments and add fuel, green flag action returned with Dewease leading the way over Reutzel, Logan Wagner and Danny Dietrich.

Within two laps, Reutzel was back on the tailtank of Dewease, eventually setting himself up for a takeover attempt as the front runners crossed under the flagstand to complete lap 27. By the time the leaders exited turn two, it was Reutzel who was back in charge, once again utilizing the top groove through turns one and two to drive around Dewease.

Successfully pulling away, Reutzel’s only challenges during the remaining distance were periods of traffic, as well a fast-closing Macri.

“When I got by Lance, I said screw it. I’m going to give this 110%. I’m going for broke,” Reutzel continued. “We’re either going to put it in the fence or walk out of here $52,000 richer. I gave it my all and luckily it paid off. I just want to thank my guys. I really don’t know what else to say.”

The finish:

Feature (50 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [6]; 2. 39M-Anthony Macri [12]; 3. 69K-Lance Dewease [1]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich [9]; 5. 1-Logan Wagner [7]; 6. 55-Mike Wagner [3]; 7. 5-Dylan Cisney [11]; 8. 51-Freddie Rahmer [13]; 9. 70X-Justin Peck [16]; 10. 26-Cory Eliason [18]; 11. 87k-Alan Krimes [2]; 12. 70-Brock Zearfoss [10]; 13. 44-Trey Starks [23]; 14. 21B-Brian Brown [19]; 15. 2-AJ Flick [15]; 16. 14T-Tyler Walton [14]; 17. 99-Skylar Gee [26]; 18. 12-Blane Heimbach [20]; 19. 11S-TJ Stutts [25]; 20. 13-Paul McMahan [5]; 21. W20-Greg Wilson [24]; 22. 14-Tony Stewart [22]; 23. 33-Jared Esh [27]; 24. 9-James McFadden [4]; 25. 72-Ryan Smith [21]; 26. 71-Gio Scelzi [17]; 27. 2M-Kerry Madsen [8]; 28. 11-Dale Blaney [28] Lap Leaders: Lance Dewease (1-12), Aaron Reutzel (13-19), Lance Dewease (20-27), Aaron Reutzel (28-50)

CHICO, Calif. — Daryn Pittman’s hope of winning a second Gold Cup at Silver Dollar Speedway Saturday night manifested into reality every 12 seconds.

Even with Friday night’s winner Brad Sweet breathing down his neck, the Oklahoma driver continued to be the first to cross the start/finish line lap after lap.

However, with two laps to go, that manifestation was put on halt. A caution flag came out, putting Sweet on his bumper. Flashbacks of a previous Gold up loss projected in his head.

“I was having flashbacks of, I don’t know, [2014] or something and we led the whole race,” Pittman said. “It laid rubber on the bottom of (turns) one and two and I found that. It didn’t lay rubber in (turns) three and four until the last couple of laps and Johnathon Allard snuck by me coming to the checkered. That one still stings.”

Uninterested in repeating that pain, Pittman closed the deal this time. Leading every lap, he won his second Gold Cup and fourth World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory of the year.

“Hats off to this whole Roth Motorsports team to get a win here in California, the Gold Cup, the biggest race in California,” Pittman said about giving his California-based team a home state win. “To win it for Dennis and Teresa (Roth) is just awesome.”

After a 17th-place finish Friday night, Pittman and his Roth Motorsports crew needed a new approach. And a little bit of luck.

They showed speed at the start of the night by qualifying fourth. That placed Pittman on the outside pole for his Drydene Heat race where he took the lead from Sweet at the start and went on to win.

Then luck helped out. He drew the pole of the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash and went on to win that, too.

He pulled away to about a straightaway lead in the first six laps of the Feature, with David Gravel in second and Sweet fighting his way past Brent Marks for third. Pittman found himself in lap traffic by that point, too, until a caution on lap 10 for Kraig Kinser going off track in turn four.

On the restart, Gravel stayed close to Pittman and launched in front of him for the lead in turn one. However, before the field could complete another lap, the yellow lights around the speedway turned back on for Ian Madsen in the turn four wall. The lap was not complete and Pittman remained the leader.

Sweet, looking for his first Gold Cup victory in his home state, had fallen back to fourth-place. However, on a restart with 26 laps to go, after a red flag for Jacob Allen flipping, Sweet powered his way by Marks for third down the front stretch and then rode the high side to take second away from Gravel before completing the lap.

While the “Big Cat” tried to track Pittman down, Gravel, Marks, Logan Schuchart and Tim Kaeding traded slide jobs and crossover maneuvers for countless laps, arguing over who would be third. Schuchart silenced the argument by taking third with six laps to go and the leaders in his sight.

“I love working out, I love being in shape for this deal and I’ve tried doing that in the past and sometimes I don’t feel like it makes a difference, but tonight it did,” Schuchart said. “The guys in front were starting to slow down a little bit and I was able to still race it hard and jump across the spots I needed to and make a lot of ground up.”

Pittman found himself caught in traffic, unable to always make a quick pass. Sweet and Schuchart fed off that, inching closer to the Roth Enterprises No. 83 car. Sweet even got close enough in the closing laps to dive underneath Pittman – slowed by lap cars – and take the lead.

Pushing the handling of his car to its limits, Pittman charged back around Sweet for the led the next corner, never allowing the Kasey Kahne Racing driver to officially lead a lap.

Then with a late caution, he had to hold on to that mentality for two more laps. He was not going to allow a repeat of 2014’s race. Mastering his restarts all night, Pittman put about a three-car length lead on Sweet into the first corner and kept it that way to the finish. The hope of winning was now a reality.

“My thought process was run as hard as you can on the top, because that’s what I thought it was going to take to win,” Pittman said. “I feel like at the green-white-checkered I went has hard as I had. The hard part about that is when you run hard against that tricky of a cushion, you’re putting yourself at risk to make a mistake and take yourself out. But I was more OK with trying too hard and losing than going too slow and trying to be safe.”

Sweet’s thought process was “attack, attack, attack,” he said.

“He had a good enough of a lead there, no matter how good, he would’ve had to mess up,” Sweet said. “He drove a great last two laps. We gave it all we had with the NAPA Auto Parts car. I was trying to move around and got my wing back a little too far I think at one point and got myself tight. I was a great race. We gave it all we had.”

While Sweet missed out on winning another Gold Cup, his runner-up finish was his third podium finish in-a-row. In those three races he’s also cut 10-time series champion Donny Schatz’s point lead over him down from 36 points to six.

Schatz was on track to potentially lose the points lead after taking the final transfer spot in the Last Chance Showdown to start last in the feature. He came close to getting lapped in the first half of the race, but was able to fight his way to an eighth-place finish.

Pittman earned his 85th career World of Outlaws victory, moving him past his hero, Stevie Smith, to be the ninth winningest driver on the all-time series wins list. He also earned himself $15,000 and another glistening golden cup trophy – his first Gold Cup was earned 13 years ago.

“There’s not many drivers that can say they were here 13 years ago,” Pittman said with a smile. “Part of that dates me. It makes me feel old. But I feel like I’ve got a lot of good years left in me. I’m having a lot of fun, especially when you get good cars like this to drive.”

To see full results, turn to the next page.

ROSSBURG, Ohio — Jonathan Davenport won the famed World 100 dirt late model race at Eldora Speedway for the third time in five years on Saturday night.

Driving Lance Landers’ No. 49 with a “Brewster Baker” paint scheme, Davenport raced from seventh on the grid before a capacity crowd at the half-mile track.

But as then-leader Bobby Pierce approached lap 30, Davenport noticed something in his car starting to fade. Davenport raced the final 70 laps without power steering.

“It was definitely tough. It might have made me better to where I didn’t have to move the wheel much, but I was turning left into the corner with the brake pedal, just trying to hold the wheel straight and exiting the corner using just my foot to accelerate,” Davenport said.

From lap 30 onward, Davenport continued to move forward without the aid of power steering, catching and passing polesitter John Blankenship for second on lap 27. A restart on lap 31 marked the beginning of Davenport’s battle with Pierce over the next 40 laps, buying time and track position for Ricky Weiss and his efforts to catch the leaders.

As Weiss closed in, the battle between the “Smooth Operator” and “Superman” began to heat up, Pierce on the high side and Davenport chomping at the bit down low. The two had battled this way in lapped traffic 20 laps earlier, but Davenport was only able to get a dive deep enough into the corner to clear Pierce on one occasion – lap 48, where he just barely nosed Pierce at the line on lap 48. Come lap 62, Davenport got enough momentum on the low side to nip Pierce at the line again before Pierce took it back one circuit later.

The two sparred for a few more laps before encountering Weiss, who found something on the topside to make the move on Davenport for second. But that didn’t last long, as “JD” got a great run in the low groove on lap 67, going underneath Weiss and Pierce to take the lead for the final time

“It was awesome racing between us,” Davenport said. “Ricky got up there racing with us in lapped traffic, and I just moved around and found a couple more lines – just got into a rhythm of what I needed to do to rive my racecar the way it was.”

Davenport turned on the jets and opened up an advantage of almost two full seconds over Weiss by the time a caution came out with 17 laps remaining for Pierce, who had slapped the turn one wall, ending his chances for glory.

Davenport opened up another 2.6-second advantage after the lap-84 restart before another caution waived, placing Weiss and Jimmy Owens right on his rear bumper. His arms were giving out and he was feeling the pressure, but Davenport prevailed, hanging on to lead the final circuits and collect his third World 100 trophy under three different car owners.

“Ricky got a really good jump on that second restart,” Davenport said. “He jumped me just a little bit, and I didn’t spin the tires, but I was trying to be really patient. I pulled back by him just a little bit at the flag stand, had to slide him down here, I’m sure it was very close. But it’s the World 100, you’ve got to do what you can.”

His 2015 win came aboard the Kevin & Leeroy Rumley-owned Longhorn Chassis No. 6, the same year he became the third driver in Eldora Speedway history to win the Dirt Late Model Dream and World 100 in the same year. 2017 saw a red and white No. 49 pull into Eldora Victory Lane, owned by North Carolinian G.R. Smith.

It’s been a terrific season for Davenport, who has 15 overall victories and leads the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series standings.

“We’ve put ourselves in position to win so many crown jewels this year,” Davenport said. “Either bad racing luck has happened to us or we’ve dolled ourselves out in the 100-lappers… I thought it was going to happen again whenever the power steering started acting up and went out.”

Owens also hung onto his runner-up spot from the lap 92 restart, battling with Weiss, Chris Madden and Stormy Scott in the final stages to bag a solid second-place in the World 100 finale.

“I was really worried about restarts the first time, but we took off in front of Madden, who’s had a great car all weekend,” Owens said. “I was happy with third and thought ‘man, we’re pretty good right here.’ But the longer we run, the further out those guys would get.”

Weiss wrapped up a podium finish in his very first World 100 start after running up front all weekend.

“It was a good race until that last restart, we just went for it,” Weiss said. “I mean, second or third… heck, I could’ve got a DNF with the way I drove it in there. But we also could’ve maybe won it, so it was worth it.”

The finish:

Feature (100 Laps): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[7]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[12]; 3. 7W-Ricky Weiss[8]; 4. 2S-Stormy Scott[5]; 5. OM-Chris Madden[21]; 6. O-Scott Bloomquist[14]; 7. 1-Chad Simpson[16]; 8. 17M-Dale McDowell[3]; 9. 39-Tim McCreadie[13]; 10. 50-Shanon Buckingham[11]; 11. 71-Hudson O’Neal[6]; 12. 23B-John Blankenship[1]; 13. 40B-Kyle Bronson[9]; 14. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[22]; 15. 18-Shannon Babb[10]; 16. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[4]; 17. 25C-Shane Clanton[27]; 18. 14-Josh Richards[29]; 19. 28-Dennis Erb Jr.[19]; 20. 22F-Chris Ferguson[20]; 21. 1ST-Johnny Scott[17]; 22. 71C-R.J. Conley[28]; 23. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr.[18]; 24. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 25. 1T-Tyler Erb[26]; 26. 29-Darrell Lanigan[25]; 27. 157-Mike Marlar[15]; 28. 18J-Chase Junghans[23]; 29. 72-Michael Norris[30]; 30. 3S-Brian Shirley[24]

Diego Rossi scored his 15th goal of the campaign in the 78th minute to help visiting LAFC avoid their first consecutive losses of the season and salvage a 2-2 draw against Orlando City on Saturday night.

Adrien Perez also scored for LAFC (19-4-6, 63 points), who are now winless in their last three matches but still hold a comfortable lead in the Western Conference and Supporters' Shield standings.

The visitors were without MLS leading scorer Carlos Vela for a second straight game due to a hamstring injury, and because of additional injuries and international call-ups, only dressed 16 of the allowed 18 players for their gameday roster.

- Stream a replay of this game on ESPN+
- Major League Soccer standings
- France's Giroud open to MLS move down the road

Nani scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season for Orlando (9-13-8, 35 points), which trailed after 12 minutes before taking the lead eight minutes later.

But the Lions remain four points beneath the seventh-place New England Revolution for the final playoff spot in the East with only four matches remaining to earn their first postseason berth. The Revs, who have five games remaining, visit Orlando next Saturday.

Two minutes after Santiago Patino hit the post on a potential third goal for Orlando, Rossi tied it at 2-2 on a slick give-and-go with Adama Diomande. After finding Diomande near the top of the penalty area, Rossi cut into the left side of the box, took Diomande's incisive return pass and finished easily past Brian Rowe.

Orlando went behind early, but Nani evened the game exactly 10 seconds following the restart, when Cristian Higuita ambitious through-ball took a deflection and wrongfooted LAFC's defense. Nani raced onto it and chipped a cool finish over charging goalkeeper Tyler Miller.

It was a combined team effort that then put the hosts into the lead. Nani combined with Oriol Rosell and Higuita on the right before Higuita played Ruan into the right side of the penalty area. Ruan drove a low service across the box and past Miller at the near post, and Benji Michel beat his defender to smash it into an open net from close range in the 20th minute.

Perez opened the scoring when he was first to reach Lee Nguyen's deflected cross, smashing in an effort that deflected off an Orlando defender on its way past Rowe.