Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC: Final Score 0-0 (1-3) as Lions’ Offense a No-Show in North Carolina

Orlando City played tentatively and tense in Game 2 against Charlotte FC, creating next to nothing offensively except a late goal that was controversially flagged for an offside in the buildup, playing to a 0-0 road draw at Bank of America Stadium. The hosts then blew the Lions away 3-1 in a subpar penalty shootout, tying the series at 1-1 and sending it back to Orlando for a deciding Game 3 on Nov. 9.

A usually reliable shootout team produced only one goal on four shots from the spot as the Lions coughed up their lead in the series and all the good vibes from Sunday’s dominant performance. Nico Lodeiro and Duncan McGuire left their penalties too close to Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina, and Robin Jansson missed the net badly on his attempt, making him zero for his last two attempts.

All of that could have been avoided had the assistant referee kept his flag down on a controversial call in stoppage time when it appeared Facundo Torres had broken the scoreless deadlock. The play was too close to overturn on review, ultimately sending the match to the penalty spot after a scoreless 90 minutes of normal time and more than 10 added minutes.

“We wanted to be more offensive and create more situations to score, but these games in playoffs are like that,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “It’s tight and the tension of the game was (there) all the time for both teams. “

Pareja’s starting lineup for Game 2 was a carbon copy of Game 1, with Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of Rafael Santos, Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson. Cesar Araujo and Wilder Cartagena started in central midfield behind an attacking line of Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, and Torres, with Ramiro Enrique up top.

The Lions played the first half as if they were trying to protect a 2-0 aggregate rather than winning a second game in a best-of-three series. Orlando turned down chances to get forward, refused to attempt to switch the play quickly, and then started turning the ball over repeatedly to give the hosts opportunities to get forward. Meanwhile, Charlotte started the game as the more physical and aggressive team, racking up several fouls, and escaping punishment for kicking a ball away to prevent one Orlando restart and physically carrying it away from a free kick spot later in the half to prevent another.

The first shot attempt of note came in the ninth minute when Liel Abada fired wide from the top of the area in transition. Charlotte had a decent spell of attacking possession around the quarter hour mark, with Thorhallsson and Jansson doing well to clear crosses into the area.

The first dangerous opportunity came off a Charlotte corner in the 17th minute. Orlando cleared the initial service, but the ball pinged around in the area on the recycle, with Brandt Bronico sending it into traffic. Adilson Malanda’s shot was deflected and fell to Kerwin Vargas, who sent his attempt over the bar, ending the threat.

Abada sent a shot on goal that Gallese saved in the 23rd minute after Cartagena expected a whistle for an obvious handball on Bronico and didn’t get one. The Orlando midfielder let up, allowing the hosts to get forward and create a chance. Schlegel did well to clear a follow-up shot, although it appeared Gallese had it handled.

Orlando didn’t mount any kind of offense in the half, but nearly did so in the 30th minute when Ojeda sent a cross into the box, but none of his teammates were there. Ten minutes later, Ojeda tried to pick, out Enrique in transition. The striker went down under pressure from Tim Ream from behind but there was no foul given.

Gallese made a good save to deny a blast from Vargas in the 43rd minute, and that was the last good look for either side in the half.

At halftime, Orlando City had the edge in possession (60.4%-39.6%) and passing accuracy (89.3%-83%), but accomplished nothing over the opening 45 minutes. As the only side interested in trying to score a goal, Charlotte had more shots (7-0), shots on target (2-0), and corners (2-0).

“They’re playing at home on their field. Obviously we all know that they have the urgency that this is a must-win game, and we knew they were going to come out aggressive,” Pareja said. “The fact is we sustained that pressure but we couldn’t hurt them when we had the ball. I think it’s probably what we missed today. But the game plan was the same. It’s just that the games are not the same.”

Charlotte quickly got a look at goal after the restart when Santos whiffed on an easy-looking ball at his feet and Vargas picked it up and fired. Gallese got down to make the stop in the 46th minute. Three minutes later, it was Torres’ turn to cough up the ball. The Uruguayan left a soft pass attempt too close to Vargas, who quickly found Patrick Agyemang. The Charlotte striker sent his header right at Gallese.

Ojeda sent in a cross in the 52nd minute that he left too close to Kahlina for an easy catch.

A minute later, Charlotte won a corner. Ashley Westwood got his head to the back-post cross but could only get a piece of it, heading it softly wide.

Pareja sent McGuire on for an ineffective Enrique in the 56th minute to get the offense going, but Charlotte quickly won a corner and Andrew Privett headed it softly wide. Vargas knocked heads with Privett when the two arrived at the ball at the same time, and they continued after treatment.

The Lions finally attempted a shot in the 65th minute. Thorhallsson cut inside and had a go, but his effort was deflected behind by the defense for an Orlando corner. Despite generating no offense all night, the Lions played the corner short, quickly passed it backward near midfield, and then sent in a lazy lob of an entry ball for Kahlina to catch.

Agyemang nearly got in behind two minutes later. Jansson did well to make a vital sliding challenge in the box to knock it out for a corner. Nothing came from that or another corner moments later, sandwiched around an unsuccessful Orlando corner at the other end.

Another corner kick was cleared outside the area in the 74th minute, falling for Nathan Byrne, who blasted his shot into the stands.

The Lions got their only shot on target of the night in the 83rd minute. Left with time and space just outside the area, Angulo sent in a shot, but it didn’t have a lot on it and sailed right at Kahlina.

A couple more wasted Charlotte corners and the game headed into an indicated nine minutes of stoppage time that ended up being a bit longer than that.

Torres looked to have finally broken the ice in the fifth minute of stoppage time. A good ball from Luis Muriel sent Lodeiro down the left. Lodeiro found Torres in the middle and the Uruguayan blasted the shot into the net, but the flag came up after the ball went in. The replay showed Lodeiro was about even with the last defender. His arm, which is not a part of the body that an attacker can score with, may have been beyond the closest defender, but Ream’s foot may have been keeping him on.

It was one of those plays that probably would have stood regardless of how it was called on the field, so it was fortunate for Charlotte that the flag came up.

“We have seen it already multiple times. Don’t understand why, knowing the ruling, why the team was flagged up without (it) just being so obvious,” Pareja said of the play. “And after we reviewed it, I have to say that I didn’t see it clear that it was an offside. Nothing that I say now is going to change that.”

That was the final attack and the game went to penalties.

Orlando City held the advantage in possession (55.3%-44.7%) and passing accuracy (86.7%-83.2%), while Charlotte had more shots (13-2), shots on target (3-1), and corners (11-3).

“I think they did a really good job of really sitting and waiting and staying compact together and trying to hit us on the counterattack, which they did very well,” Schlegel said. “You know, they’re a really strong team and a really physical team, so when they were defending us, they used that to their advantage. We have to take this week to fix those mistakes that we had today and really get stronger, so that way we can be the best team out there on Saturday and advance to the next round.”

“I think that we could have done much better after we extended our game to the middle third and then create some chances and put Charlotte in more difficult situations,” Pareja said. “But it was the game that was proposed for Charlotte, just waiting for any error and counterattack. At that moment we preferred just to have the control and see if we can break those lines in a different manner, but it really was tense for both teams. It was again very tight in the middle, not much spaces, and that’s very clear that we couldn’t break that line the way we wanted.”

Lodeiro was the first Orlando shooter and unfortunately he didn’t set the tone. Lodeiro’s shot was too close to Kahlina and a good height for the keeper. Kahlina guessed correctly and saved it.

After Agyemang scored for Charlotte, Jansson sent his penalty way over the bar to effectively end things. Karol Swiderski hit his penalty to give the hosts a commanding 2-0 lead after two rounds.

Muriel had no trouble with his penalty to get Orlando on the board, but Westwood answered, pushing Orlando to the brink. The Lions’ fourth shooter was McGuire, who hit it hard but left his shot far too close to the goalkeeper, and Kahlina made the save, ending the game.

“At the end, we could have won it,” Pareja said. “(The penalty shootout) It’s obviously frustration, but it’s part of this game. It’s something that I don’t want to stick with, and the players have to have the positivism and the courage that we always have to finish our game at home.”

“Obviously, not the result that we wanted tonight and a difficult way to have the final,” Schlegel said. “We’re a little bit angry at the result, because we felt like we played a really good game. We were driving the game at times, but we weren’t able to score that goal, and they were able to take the victory in penalties. So, certainly something to discuss this week. But yeah, we’re heated, and focusing on Saturday now.”

The Lions will host Charlotte on Saturday, Nov. 9 in a winner-take-all Game 3. The winner advances to the Eastern Conference semifinals, while the loser is done for the season. Like tonight’s game, a draw would immediately go to penalties.