Orlando City at Chicago Fire: Five Takeaways

Orlando City went on the road and won 3-1 against the Chicago Fire, with all four goals coming in the second half. It was an eventful match that featured plenty of goals and close calls. Facundo Torres, Wilder Cartagena, and Ivan Angulo scored Orlando’s three goals. Here’s what I took away from the road win.

Cartagena Becomes a Scoring Threat

Midfielder Wilder Cartagena’s first MLS goal couldn’t have come at a better time, as his header leveled things for Orlando just moments after the Fire took the lead. His other shot of the match was a fantastic effort from distance that forced Fire goalkeeper Spencer Richey to make an impressive save to keep it from curling into the top right corner. While this was his first goal for Orlando in league play, it came less than a month since his winner against Santos Laguna in the Leagues Cup. The Peruvian has been defensively sound all year, but took a step forward in terms of what he can bring to Orlando’s attack as well.

Orlando Puts Out the Fire

Things looked fairly dire for the Lions when the Fire scored just a couple of minutes after halftime. In the scoreless first half, Orlando’s attack struggled to deal with the Fire’s pressure and the defense looked leaky without center back Antonio Carlos. However, the Lions responded to the Fire’s goal immediately. Orlando equalized in the 50th minute, took the lead in the 54th, and then found an important third goal in the 68th. In the span of 18 minutes, the Lions had completely flipped the game on its head. That’s no small feat considering just how much it looked like Orlando was out of ideas in the first half. It wasn’t smooth sailing by any means, but the defense ultimately did enough to hold on against the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri and Kei Kamara.

A Game of Inches

It was a closer game than the score suggests, as some pivotal moments were defined by fine margins. The Fire had a goal disallowed in the first half after it was determined by video review that Georgios Koutsias was offside, although he wasn’t off by much. Later in the first half, Richey appeared to get the faintest of touches on the ball while taking down Torres in the box, which may have been just enough to avoid a penalty kick for Orlando. The Lions did get a penalty kick in the second half when Miguel Navarro fouled Dagur Dan Thorhallsson at the very edge of the box. If Koutsias had taken a step back in the first half and Navarro had intervened against Thorhallson a step sooner, this game could have ended differently.

Facundo Torres Steps Up

Facundo Torres, who had a brace against the Fire back on July 1, found success against Chicago in this one too. He was the only Orlando Designated Player to start and put in a strong performance with a goal and an assist. His penalty kick was superb and his corner kick served the ball to Cartagena on a silver platter. Torres’ movement on and off the ball is worth noting as well, as he made great runs to slip into dangerous areas or open up space for Orlando’s other weapons. His technique will deservedly get the spotlight, but he put in plenty of the dirty work for the Lions to claw their way to victory

Orlando’s Defense Doesn’t Thrive, But Survives

Carlos picked up a knock in training and his absence was impossible to miss. Thorhallsson wasn’t awful at right back, but he was often up the field and Rodrigo Schlegel looked out of sorts in his first start for the senior team since July 1. The back line was particularly vulnerable when the game got hectic. Chicago looked to have scored off of a lethal counter attack that left Brian Gutierrez wide open. The Fire’s goal came off of a recycled set piece that resulted in a ball over the top that gave Mauricio Pineda enough time to correct his aim and beat Pedro Gallese. The defense settled in once it had a lead to protect, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say it was bailed out by a flurry of Orlando goals.

Bonus Takeaway: The Bear is Back

Junior Urso made his first appearance for Orlando City since last year’s playoffs, coming on in the 79th minute. It will admittedly take some time to get used to seeing him wearing No. 21, but it was nice to see him back out there. Orlando’s midfielders as a whole played fairly well, although there were some concerning turnovers by the trio of Angulo, Cesar Araujo, and Mauricio Pereyra. Having a veteran player like Urso available off the bench is only a positive thing.

That’s what I took away from Orlando’s second 3-1 win against the Chicago Fire this season. The Lions move into fourth in the Eastern Conference after this result. They will now prepare to host a St. Louis City side that sits atop the Western Conference on Saturday. Let me know what you gathered from Orlando’s win in the comments below.