ORLANDO, Fla. (Sept. 14, 2019) - Orlando City SC (9-13-9, 36 points) played to a 3-3 draw with the New England Revolution (10-10-10, 40 points) on Saturday night at Exploria Stadium. The Lions overcame a two-goal deficit to earn a point in the match.
Nani was involved in each of the Lions’ three finishes on the evening, finding the back of the net in the 22nd and 54th minutes, respectively to secure his third brace of the year. Dom Dwyer scored his sixth goal of the season in the 47th minute, with Nani recording the assist on the finish.
Head Coach James O’Connor:
“Obviously incredibly proud of the second half performance. It was incredible when you look at the guts and you look at the quality, on another night we end up winning it. I think the second half after probably about 15 minutes when we went to 3-3, then the game really opens up and then they have a couple of chances, we have some chances. I think to be 3-1 down and then come back out second half and fight like that, the players deserve enormous credit.”
Scoring Recap:
15’ Tesho Akindele (OG) - NE 1, ORL 0
The visitors took the lead early when a cross from Gustavo Bou deflected off the foot of Tesho Akindele for an own goal.
23’ Nani (Mauricio Pereyra) - ORL 1, NE 1
The Lions leveled the match off a set piece, with Mauricio Pereyra whipping in a corner from the left side that found the head of Nani at the near post, who sent it into the opposite netting for the finish.
35’ Cristian Penilla (Carles Gil) - NE 2, ORL 1
New England regained the lead with Carles Gil sending a ball in behind for Cristian Penilla, who was able to chip it over the head of goalkeeper Brian Rowe from right outside the area.
41’ Gustavo Bou (Carles Gil) - NE 3, ORL 1
The Revolution doubled their lead with Gil finding Gustavo Bou at the edge of the area, who took a touch before sending a shot into the left side of the net.
47’ Dom Dwyer (Nani) - NE 3, ORL 2
The Lions cut the Revs’ lead in half right after the break, with Nani sending a ball in from the right side, finding the head of Dwyer, who flicked it back into the far post for the score.
54’ Nani - ORL 3, NE 3
City leveled once more with Nani taking it himself, toying with New England defenders at the edge of the area before sending a shot in with his left foot into the right side of the net.
- Match Notes:
- Nani secured his third brace of the season in the match to extend his team-leading scoring account to 12 goals in 2019. The City captain also registered the assist on Dom Dwyer’s finish in the 47th minute.
- Dom Dwyer scored his sixth goal of 2019 in his 50th start for City.
Mauricio Pereyra registered his first goal contribution as a Lion, earning the assist on Nani’s finish in the 23rd minute. - With the draw, the Lions remained unbeaten at home against the Revolution, now sitting at 2-0-4 record against New England in Orlando.
- Tesho Akindele’s own goal in the 16th minute was the first conceded by the Lions this season.
Next Match: The Lions head back out on the road to face the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, Sept. 21 with kickoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET at BBVA Stadium.
Scoring Summary:
NE - Tesho Akindele (OG) 15’
ORL - Nani (Mauricio Pereyra) 22’
NE - Cristian Penilla (Carles Gil) 35’
NE - Gustavo Bou (Carles Gil) 41’
ORL - Dom Dwyer (Nani) 47’
ORL - Nani 54’
Misconduct Summary:
ORL - Kyle Smith (Yellow Card) 15’
ORL - Robin Jansson (Yellow Card) 60’
ORL - Cristian Higuita (Yellow Card) 88’
NE - Antonio Mlinar Delamea (Yellow Card) 90’
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC - GK Brian Rowe; D Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, Lamine Sané, Ruan; M Cristian Higuita, Mauricio Pereyra (Benji Michel 46’), Carlos Ascues (Sebastián Méndez 57’); F Nani ©, Dom Dwyer (Santiago Patiño 76’), Tesho Akindele
Substitutes Not Used: GK Greg Ranjitsingh; D Kamal Miller; M Will Johnson, Sacha Kljestan
New England Revolution - GK Matt Turner; D DeJuan Jones, Antonio Mlinar Delamea, Andrew Farrell, Brandon Bye; M Cristian Penilla (Teal Bunbury 85’), Luis Caicedo, Diego Fagundez (Scott Caldwell 74’), Carles Gil; F Gustavo Bou, Juan Fernando Caicedo (Michael Mancienne 68’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Brad Knighton; D Jalil Anibaba; F Tajon Buchanan
Details of the Game:
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Weather: Rain
Date: September 14, 2019
Attendance: 22,419
Stats:
Possession:
ORL - 52.4%
NE - 47.6%
Shots:
ORL - 19
NE - 15
Saves:
ORL - 4
NE - 4
Fouls:
ORL - 15
NE - 9
Corners:
ORL - 7
NE - 5
