COLUMBUS, Ohio. (July 21, 2018) – Orlando City SC (7-12-1, 22 points) fell 3-2 to Columbus Crew SC (9-7-6, 33 points) on Saturday at MAPFRE Stadium. Sacha Kljestan and Stéfano Pinho scored.
“Columbus are an excellent team and we’ve played really well,” Lions head coach James O’Connor said. “I thought we had some chances. We were unlucky not to score a couple more goals. But with regards to the effort, the commitment, the quality at times, I thought it was a really good performance. Really strong, but we didn’t deserve that.”
The Lions opened the scoring for the second time in three MLS games under O’Connor when Kljestan buried RJ Allen’s cross in the 16th minute.
Gyasi Zardes equalized for Columbus in the 51st minute.
City retook the lead just seven minutes later. Yoshimar Yotún played the ball up to Kljestan, who passed across for Pinho for his second goal of the season to make it 2-1.
It looked as though the Lions would leave Columbus with three points until Crew SC was awarded an extremely questionable penalty kick in the 86th minute. Joe Bendik, who replaced Earl Edwards, Jr. in the 32nd minute, guessed correctly but couldn’t catch up to Zardes’ shot.
Wil Trapp scored the winner from 30 yards out in stoppage time.
Kickoff was delayed roughly 40 minutes due to severe weather in Columbus.
The Lions return to Orlando City Stadium at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 26, to host New York City FC.
Tickets to all City home matches are available at OrlandoCitySC.com or by calling 855-ORL-CITY.
Match Notes
- D Shane O’Neill made his first MLS start since June 24, 2015, when he played 90 minutes for the Colorado Rapids against Orlando City. O’Neill made his Club debut on Wednesday.
- M Sacha Kljestan scored his fifth goal of the season in the 16th minute. Kljestan started the match with the captain’s armband for the 13th time in 2018, but M Yoshimar Yotún took the armband when Kljestan was replaced by D Mohamed El-Munir in the 60th minute
- M Yoshimar Yotún earned his team-leading sixth assist of the season. M Sacha Kljestan picked up his fifth assist of the season.
- F Stéfano Pinho scored his second goal of the season. He also played his first 90-
- M Cristian Higuita made his 70th MLS start for Orlando City, which passes M Kaká for 3rd-most in Club history, behind GK Joe Bendik (85) and F Cyle Larin (77).GK Earl Edwards, Jr. made his second consecutive MLS start but was replaced by GK Joe Bendik in the 32nd minute due to an apparent injury. It was the first time the Lions replaced a goalkeeper since Oct. 16, 2015 vs. NYCFC, when Josh Ford replaced Tally Hall in the 84th minute.
Scoring Summary:
ORL - Sacha Kljestan 16’
CLB - Gyasi Zardes (Niko Hansen, Harrison Afful) 51’
ORL - Stéfano Pinho (Sacha Kljestan, Yoshimar Yotún) 58’
CLB - Gyasi Zardes (PK) 88’
CLB - Wil Trapp (Mike Grella) 90+2’
Misconduct Summary:
ORL - Chris Schuler (Yellow Card) 26’
CLB - Jonathan Mensah (Yellow Card) 26’
ORL - Sacha Kljestan (Yellow Card) 43’
CLB - Pedro Santos (Yellow Card) 84’
ORL - Mohamed El-Munir (Yellow Card) 87’
ORL - Yoshimar Yotún (Yellow Card) 90+3’
CLB - Josh Williams (Yellow Card) 90+5’
Lineups/Substitutions:
Columbus Crew SC - GK Zack Steffen, D Milton Valenzuela (Mike Grella 84’), Josh Williams, Jonathan Mensah, Harrison Afful, M Wil Trapp, Artur, Pedro Santos, Luis Argudo (Patrick Mullins 68’), Niko Hansen (Edward Opoku 68’), F Gyasi Zardes
Substitutes Not Used: GK Jon Kempin, D Lalas Abubakar, M Ricardo Clark, Hector Jimenez
Orlando City SC - GK Earl Edwards, Jr. (Joe Bendik 32’), D Tony Rocha, Chris Schuler, Shane O’Neill, RJ Allen, M Cristian Higuita (Will Johnson 69’), Uri Rosell, Yoshimar Yotún, ⓒ Sacha Kljestan (Mohamed El-Munir 60’), Chris Mueller, F Stéfano Pinho
Substitutes Not Used: D Scott Sutter, Amro Tarek, M Josué Colmán, F Dom Dwyer
Details of the Game:
Time: 8:18 p.m. ET
Weather: Clear
Date: July 21, 2018
Attendance: 14,052
Stats:
Possession:
CLB - 57.3 %
ORL - 42.7 %
Shots:
CLB - 15
ORL - 9
Saves:
CLB - 3
ORL - 3
Fouls:
CLB - 10
ORL - 15
Corners:
CLB - 17
ORL - 0
