Orlando City at D.C. United: Five Takeaways

It wasn’t beautiful, but Orlando City SC managed to end an eight-game winless streak with a 2-1 road win over D.C. United. As usual, the Lions had good and bad moments on the field in the country’s capital. Let’s discuss five of them:

Offense Regains its Form

For the first time in over two months, Orlando City managed to score more than one goal in a match — the last time had been in a 3-3 draw with the Montreal Impact on June 17. Add to that the fact that D.C. United had not conceded goals in four of its last five matches and the Lions’ achievement looks even more promising.

The Dwyer-Larin Connection Finally Works

After sharing the field for five matches, it looks like Dom Dwyer and Cyle Larin are starting to build some chemistry in Orlando’s front line. The duo combined to give the Lions the lead in the 19^th minute when Dwyer assisted Larin in the box to score. Hopefully it was the start of a very prolific partnership.

Hines Reaches Milestone, Sees Red

With Jose Aja suspended and Jonathan Spector returning from injury, Jason Kreis decided to take a chance on Seb Hines, who played his first MLS match in 2017. The match was doubly special for the center back, who played his 50^th match in a Lions uniform in D.C. The Englishman helped Orlando with three tackles, three interceptions and seven clearances before being sent off after the 90^th minute.

Discipline Can Be an Issue

For the third time in the last five matches, Orlando City was outnumbered by its opponent at the end of regulation. This time Servando Carrasco and Hines, at the 79th and 90th minutes, were the ones who were shown the red card. It was also the second time the Lions had two red cards in the same match, although Rafael Ramos had his rescinded a few days after the home game against Chicago.

A Good Farewell to RFK Stadium

It was the third and final time Orlando City played at RFK Stadium. With D.C. United building a new stadium, which is expected to host the team’s matches from 2018 on, it’s unlikely the Lions return to the stadium, which was built in 1961. The farewell, though, was memorable, since it was Orlando’s first win at RFK following 2-1 and 4-1 defeats in 2015 and 2016, respectively.