ORLANDO, Fla. (July 26, 2018) – Orlando City SC (7-13-1, 22 points) fell 2-0 to New York City FC (13-4-4, 43 points) on Thursday at Orlando City Stadium
“The biggest thing for me is I’ll never make excuses. The easy thing for me to do is to come out here and say, ‘Oh we hit the post four times.’ There’s something to that, but equally for me there shouldn’t be a disparity between the first and second half,” Lions head coach James O’Connor said. “When you actually look at that midway through the second half, the supporters are absolutely on their feet, chanting, roaring, really supporting the team. It gets to the point where there’s a desperation to want to do well for those supporters. I ask them just to stick with us. As a Club we’re going through a difficult time. But I can promise you things will get better.”
Goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. made his third MLS start of the season behind PC, Chris Schuler, Shane O’Neill and RJ Allen. Cristian Higuita started in the midfield alongside Will Johnston, Yoshimar Yotún, Chris Mueller and Sacha Kljestan, who wore the captain’s armband. Dom Dwyer started up top.
Orlando City and NYCFC played a closely contested first half that saw Yotún hit the crossbar in the 37th minute. But in the 40th minute Maxi Morález put away a rebound to open the scoring for New York City. Anton Tinnerholm made it 2-0 six minutes later.
The Lions came out in the second half pressing for their first goal. In the 61st minute after a lengthy spell of possession, Yotún hit the post from seven yards out. Two minutes later, Yotún’s long-range blast forced Sean Johnson into a strong save and then another on Dwyer’s rebound attempt. Schuler hit the bar in the 78th minute.
Edwards, who was City’s third-round pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, made three saves, including back-to-back stops on Morález when he was in alone in the fifth minute.
City was reduced to 10 men when O’Neill was shown a straight red card after Video Review in the 83rd minute.
City faces a short turnaround as it visits the LA Galaxy on Sunday, July 29, at 9:30 p.m. ET. The Lions return to Orlando City Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 4, to host the New England Revolution.
Tickets to all City home matches are available at OrlandoCitySC.com or by calling 855-ORL-CITY.
Match Notes
- D PC made his second MLS start and his third across all competitions in 2018.
- D RJ Allen made ninth start of the season and his 70th career regular-season appearance.
- D Shane O’Neill made his 50th career MLS start.
- M Cristian Higuita made his 86th career MLS regular-season appearance as a Lion, tying GK Joe Bendik for second in Club history. F Cyle Larin is the Club record-holder with 87 MLS appearances.
Scoring Summary:
NYC - Maxi Morález 40’
NYC - Anton Tinnerholm (Maxi Morález) 45+1’
Misconduct Summary:
ORL - Dom Dwyer (Yellow Card) 44’
NYC - Thomas McNamara (Yellow Card) 58’
ORL - Cristian Higuita (Yellow Card) 62’
ORL - Shane O’Neill (Red Card) 83’
NYC - Sean Johnson (Yellow Card) 85’
NYC - Alex Ring (Yellow Card) 90+5’
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC - GK Earl Edwards, Jr., D PC, Chris Schuler, Shane O’Neill, RJ Allen, M Cristian Higuita (Tony Rocha 67’), Will Johnson (Josué Colmán 82’), Yoshimar Yotún, ⓒ Sacha Kljestan, Chris Mueller (Stéfano Pinho 71’), F Dom Dwyer
Substitutes Not Used: GK Joe Bendik, D Scott Sutter, Donny Toia, Amro Tarek
New York City FC - GK Sean Johnson, D Ben Sweat, Alex Callens, Maxime Chanot, Anton Tinnerholm, M Ebenezer Ofori, Alex Ring, Rodney Wallace (Jonathan Lewis 71’), Maxi Morález (Jo Inge Berget 88’), ⓒ Thomas McNamara (Ismael Tajouri-Shradi 63’), F Jesús Medina
Substitutes Not Used: GK Brad Stuver, D Sebastien Ibeagha, Ronald Matarrita, M Kwame Awuah
Details of the Game:
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Weather: Cloudy
Date: July 26, 2018
Attendance: 23,790
Stats:
Possession:
ORL - 49.6 %
NYC - 50.4 %
Shots:
ORL - 21
NYC - 14
Saves:
ORL - 3
NYC - 5
Fouls:
ORL - 6
NYC - 14
Corners:
ORL - 13
NYC - 3
