Orlando City vs. New York City FC: Five Takeaways

Orlando City was shell shocked out of the gate on Major League Soccer’s smallest field en route to a 4-2 loss to fellow 2015 expansion side New York City FC. What follows are my five takeaways from a match where Orlando City lost more than just three points.

Early Giveaways

After an initial chance for Orlando in the first minute, NYCFC grew into the match much quicker than the Lions did, asking questions early and often and ultimately finding the breakthrough goal in the 15th minute. On a field where you must be aware of the opposition at all times, Nico Lodeiro was dispossessed from behind by Alonso Martinez, leading to a wide-open shot by Santiago Rodriguez, which found the bottom left corner of the goal past an outstretched arm of Mason Stajduhar. For a veteran like Lodeiro, the giveaway comes as a praticularly frustrating mental lapse and allowed NYCFC jump out to a far-too-easy lead.

Gruesome Injury

On the heels of arguably his best game as a Lion, Stajduhar once again was slotted into the starting 11 as Pedro Gallese continues to represent Peru in Copa America. Just after the first NYCFC goal, Malachi Jones found himself streaking down the pitch and met the legs of a sliding Stajduhar near the top of the box. The Homegrown keeper suffered a horrific lower leg injury in the collision with Jones, requiring an extended stoppage of play as Mason’s leg was immobilized and he was ultimately stretchered off the field. While the extent of the injury isn’t known at this time, it seemed like the kind of thing that will force Stajduhar to miss the remainder of the 2024 MLS season. All of us are wishing him as fast a recovery as possible.

Lions Stop Nothing in Stoppage Time

With 13 mintures of injury time added on at the end of the first half, it seemed as if the best-case scenario for Orlando City was to make it to the break only down by a goal. Instead, the Lions essentially played themselves out of the match, conceding an additional two times before limping their way to the lockerroom. NYCFC simply outhustled Orlando on both opportunties and effectively put the game to bed after just one half of play. It is understandble for the players to be rattled after watching their teammate get carted off the field, but that isn’t an excuse for the sloppy marking and poor communication, which seemed to plague the back line over the final minutes of the half.

Second-Half Effort

Orlando could have packed up the bus, headed to the plane, and got out of town without playing the second half at all, but the Lions did come back out onto the pitch and put in a much better effort over the final 45 minutes. Even in a defeat there were small positives to take away from this match, such as the play of Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, the maturity of Jeorgio Kocevski, and the levelheaded play of Rodrigo Schlegel. Arguably the best Lion on the baseball field, Thorhallsson’s second-half efforts paid off when he was able to head a perfectly weighted cross from Martin Ojeda into the back of the net for Orlando’s first goal of the match. Maybe Orlando looked better due to NYCFC taking its foot off the gas. Maybe the Lions decided that — win or lose — their pride was still on the line.

No Quit

Orlando did just enough to make the final moments of the match interesting before ultimately allowing a fourth NYCFC goal. Just after the 90th minute, thanks to continued pressure and a little bit of sloppy defense, Duncan McGuire was able calmy toe poke the ball into the back of the net for his seventh goal of the campaign. If we are being honest, Thorhallsson probably should have shot the ball in the buildup but made an extra pass in the box, resulting in a rebound from a bad back pass by NYCFC. That deflection led to a failed attempt by Luis Muriel that fell to McGuire. Again, Orlando could have easily given up in this one after being down 3-0 at halftime, but somehow, with 90 seconds to go in stoppage time, the Lions found themselves only down a goal.

Those were my takeaways from a disappointing 4-2 loss to NYCFC. Orlando will look to regain its winning form next week north of the border against Toronto FC in a match where we might see a handful of Lions return from international duty. What were your thoughts from this game? Be sure to let us know in the comments below and, as always, vamos Orlando!