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Orlando City was decimated by the New England Revolution at Exploria Stadium last night. Honestly, there is nothing more to say, that hasn’t been said already. Orlando had chances, did not convert them. Orlando’s possession game was on point, but no one finished the attacking play. New England embarrassed the lions at their turf and in front of their fans. Orlando is not, as of now, in the playoff picture and their schedule does not get any easier for the upcoming weeks
In the first half, Orlando City attempted attacking chances through the flanks using their backs, Ruan and Joao Moutinho. Benji Michel was close to score in the 6th minute but again the finishing was not there. First 10 minutes of the game, the lions dominated possession and attacking chances. The Uruguayan trio (Facu, Pereyra and Araujo) excelled both offensively and defensively, they were creating plays out of nowhere. But, unfortunately, Orlando’s momentum dwindled down and Polster scored in the 20th minute. New England was up 1-0. Orlando’s backline, that was spot on throughout the beginning of the first half, fell asleep and New England was able to capitalize. Orlando City’s momentum dwindled down after New England’s goal. Still, the lions kept the attacking chances coming, but there was too much passing and not enough finishing the attacking play. The Revs only weapon was to attempt the counter play and hoping to catch Orlando’s backline off guard, as they did in their first goal. In the 30th minute, Orlando came close to score the equalizer after a great shot by Pato. Petrovic denied. In the corner kick that followed, Benji almost scored off a header that went completely wide. After that, the game became very back and forth, and Orlando kept playing the possession game but again, no one finished the play. Game went to half time with New England up 1-0. 259 passes for Orlando City and only two shots on target. 53% possession for the lions and only 46% for the revs.
In the second half, Orlando City came out with the same approach as they did in the first half. But, New England had other plans, since Carles Gil was marked throughout the game by Cesar Araujo, they had no choice but to create chances through the flanks. In the 51st minute, Carles Gil found Kaptoum completely unmarked in Orlando’s box, and The Revs doubled their lead. The Wall went somber. Silenced plagued Exploria. After New England’s second, Orlando City resulted in unnecessary fouling. Still New England, without passing the ball a lot, created better counters and their attacking plays were far more dangerous than the lions’. In the 60th minute, Orlando City came close to score, when a great shot by Facundo Torres hit the post. Then in the 69th minute, great play on the right flank by Joao Moutinho and Pato was completely opened to score and missed terribly. Orlando’s momentum started to grow with Ivan Angulo and they started to gain some momentum but The Revs’ defense delivered. In the 74th minute, off a set piece, Henry Kessler scored and city fans started to leave the stands. The revs were up 3-0. In the 88th minute, Orlando attempted to score through the feet of Alexandre Pato off a free kick that went completely wide.
Orlando City, lost 3-0 at home in a lackluster performance by the lions. As of now, the lions are not in the playoff picture due to negative goal difference, and not being able to win games at home. Everyone knows that in the MLS, losing games at home makes it or breaks it, especially if you want to make playoffs. Let’s hope for a turnaround. The fans that came out and supported left Exploria very unhappy about the result. No one expected for a team that is going to a final, to lose in such fashion in front of their devoted fans.
Iván Angulo made his Orlando City debut in the match, entering the game in the 58th minute for Júnior Urso. Benji Michel earned his 50th start as a Lion on the night, while teammate Facundo Torres notched his 25th. Head Coach Oscar Pareja made no changes to his starting lineup from the side’s last matchup, marking three-consecutive fixtures he’s rolled out the same starting XI.
Oscar Pareja in postgame press conference:
“A difficult night for us. There aren’t many words, but to just keep the mentality to walk forward with this group. The disappointment is worse to explain as it was a difficult match. We had our chances as always, we saw that, but we couldn’t finalize, but I think it is much more than that because through the game we lost energy. The second half was painful for us and we couldn’t find a rhythm and we stopped being dangerous as well. What we will do is refresh this group, that is what we are going to do in the next couple days. Try to rest and try to get the energy back. The effort was there, the boys tried. As I said, we couldn’t find that second gear or that second energy and the game just went away.”
