“Goals Change Games.” Heath, Shea, and Others Discuss Orlando City’s Scoring Woes

In a match that saw Orlando City largely dominate while racking up 17 shots, the result in the end was an all too familiar 1-0 defeat.

Luis Silva’s stoppage time free kick gave D.C. United the win in front of 32,822 at the Citrus Bowl, as City fans left yet another home match disappointed. Orlando was also the better team against Vancouver in week three, but it was another injury time free kick that gave the Whitecaps a strikingly similar 1-0 victory. While it’s tempting to blame chance or bad luck for Orlando’s scoring woes, the trend is hard to ignore.

“Both games, we outplayed the other team,” said fullback Brek Shea. “Tonight, we were a way better team. We should have done more with our chances.”

Shea performed as well as any Lion on the night, and he whipped in a number of crosses that really should have been finished by his teammates. Kevin Molino alone missed two golden opportunities that came from Shea crosses.

For his part, while clearly disappointed with the loss, coach Adrian Heath appeared almost bemused by the lack of goals.

"It's the oldest saying in football," quipped Heath. "‘Goals change games' and we didn't score when we had really good opportunities at really important times."

That's perhaps the understatement of the century.

Molino's finishing on the night was truly shocking. Most forwards would kill to have the chances he had in one match, yet he was unable to convert any of them. Why he didn't lay the ball off to a wide open Cyle Larin on his breakaway in the 42nd minute, the world may never know.

Larin and Carlos Rivas were happy to chip in as well though, with Larin misfiring multiple times and Rivas failing to even hit the target when he found himself 1-on-1 with Bill Hamid in the 81st minute.

Defensive midfielder Amobi Okugo was not immune to the scoring troubles either. He placed two headers wide of the goal in the match. Afterwards, he acknowledged the Lions’ struggles but was quick to focus on the positives going forward.

"We're not assassins in that final third, and we end up getting punished," assessed Okugo. "If we just keep at it, the bounces will fall our way and we'll get a win."