Orlando City at New York City FC: Five Takeaways

Orlando City traveled to a baseball field to take on New York City FC. This time it was Citi Field and not Yankee Stadium. While it is a slightly bigger field, it’s still not the way that soccer should be played. Nevertheless, the Lions had the opportunity to secure a playoff berth with a win or a draw against the Pigeons. A 2-0 loss to NYCFC made that a lot tougher.

What follows are the five takeaways from a mostly forgettable match in which Orlando City clinched a playoff berth despite the loss.

Gallese Keeps it Close

It started early with a huge save from Pedro Gallese on former Lion Andres Perea’s shot from inside the box. El Pulpo even made the save on Santiago Rodriguez’s penalty kick, but the follow up by Mounsef Bakrar was well away from him and thus there was not any way for him to make the save. Gallese ended up with five saves on the night and was a big reason that it wasn’t worse than it was.

Enrique is no Defender

Ramiro Enrique tracked back in defense, following Rodriguez after a midfield turnover. Unfortunately, Enrique is not a defender and he got his feet tangled with Rodriguez. Although it was initially called a goal kick and no foul was given, referee Ismail Elfath took another look at the play on the replay monitor. The penalty was probably rightly called and Rodriguez took the shot. As mentioned above, Gallese made the save but it still ended up in the back of the net due to a failure to react before Bakrar.

Second Half Adjustments

Oscar Pareja made some halftime adjustments, moving Ivan Angulo from the left side to the right, and pushing Facundo Torres more central. At the 58th minute mark he brought on Martin Ojeda, Duncan McGuire and Luca Petrasso. Given how Enrique and Rafael Santos were playing, this was a good decision. However, given these were offensive minded changes, Orlando City gave up a second goal. We’re so used to Pareja’s adjustments creating results that when they don’t, it’s a bit of a surprise.

Hangover Match

Orlando City played an emotional and draining match on Saturday. Enrique was a hero in that match, but was unable to sustain his performance in his time on the pitch against NYCFC. Of course, he wasn’t the only player who didn’t play as well as last match. The entire team looked out of sorts all night. The Lions have been good on the attack recently, but were unable to generate much in the way of decent chances. Of the 11 shots taken by Orlando City, only two were on target. I don’t usually say that Pareja should rotate the lineup heavily, but perhaps he should have on this night. I doubt it could have been worse.

Sloppiness is Contagious

Every team has sloppy matches. Some more than others, but it shouldn’t be surprising. What matters is when the sloppy match happens, how bad does it hurt? Fortunately, Orlando City made the playoffs thanks to Atlanta United earning a draw against D.C. United. The irony of Atlanta helping Orlando make the playoffs is something to enjoy.

Now, the sloppiness I mentioned. Rodrigo Schlegel was not his usual self. As mentioned above, Santos was not good, nor was Mauricio Pereyra. So many of Orlando City’s players were just a bit off, and the loss is the result. I’m not going to dwell on it though because it was merely match number two of three in a nine-day period. The Lions are in the playoffs and Inter Miami is up next.

That is what I saw in Orlando City’s loss to NYCFC last night. The good news is that Orlando City is now playing for home field advantage in the playoffs. Let me know your thoughts below.