Orlando City vs. New York City FC: Final Score 2-1 as Lions Continue to Struggle at Yankee Stadium

Orlando City dropped to 0-4-2 in its last six meetings against New York City FC, struggling with turnovers and defending in a 2-1 loss at Yankee Stadium. The Lions (1-2-0, 3 points) handed NYCFC (1-1-1, 4 points) their first win of the season by conceding just moments after Luis Muriel scored a second-half equalizer and then failing to do anything with a man advantage for the final five minutes plus five more minutes of added time. Alonso Martinez and Hannes Wolf scored for the hosts, who were gifted the ball in their attacking half all night.

“Our feelings now are strong on the way we gave up the goals, and I think that changed the story of the game,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “The game was well played by Orlando. I thought we had very good chances and the way we neutralized the forwards in the way they attacked was very correct. I thought the discipline for the boys was very similar to where we planned during the week.”

Pareja’s lineup featured a couple of changes, with captain Robin Jansson making his season debut in the starting lineup after missing the team’s first two matches with a thigh injury. Luis Muriel got his first start of the year up top in place of Ramiro Enrique. Pedro Gallese started in net behind a back line of Rafael Santos, Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Alex Freeman. Cesar Araujo and Eduard Atuesta started in central midfield behind an attacking line of Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, and Marco Pasalic, with Muriel up top.

The first half was as sloppy and helter skelter as Orlando’s games at Yankee Stadium usually are. Once the Lions settled in and started creating some chances, they were wasteful with them, blowing a couple of golden opportunities to break the scoreless deadlock without even troubling NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese.

The Pigeons dominated the first 10 minutes, with the Lions barely able to successfully complete more than two consecutive passes. The hosts won their first corner early on when Freeman was forced into some emergency defending to clear a dangerous ball into the box. A short corner ended up with a ball in the box bouncing off the heads of Jonathan Shore and Keaton Parks before sailing over the net in the fourth minute.

NYCFC kept winning set pieces and getting the ball into the area in the early going. A Justin Haak shot off a free kick conceded by Atuesta won a second corner. Parks got his header closer in the eighth minute but popped it up, allowing Gallese to claim it in the air.

Orlando finally got a look at goal in the 12th minute. Angulo did well to find Muriel in the middle with a cross, but the Colombian couldn’t get any power on his header and popped it just inches over the crossbar. That began a good spell for Orlando City in which the Lions were able to recover the ball in the attacking half and create chances.

However, the Lions wasted those opportunities. Pasalic found himself open at the top of the area in the 16th minute but scuffed his shot and sent it wide. A minute later, Freeman did well to pick out Muriel, who shook free and fired with his weaker right foot, but again the shot went wide. Orlando City had two more good-looking attack buildups go awry moments later, with Angulo and then Atuesta giving the ball away.

New York City FC got back on the front foot, with Jansson nearly scoring an own goal in the 20th minute as Freeman and Pasalic got burned down the defensive right side to allow a dangerous cross into the area.

In the 22nd minute, it was Santos giving the ball away cheaply to ignite the NYCFC attack. Schlegel cleared the entry ball out, but only as far as Julian Fernandez at the top of the area on the right. The winger smashed a shot into the outside netting.

Martinez forced a Gallese save on a bouncing shot in the 25th minute after Angulo coughed up the ball in the attacking third by trying to dribble three defenders and jumpstarting the attack for the hosts.

Atuesta sent a poor shot well wide, and Muriel and Pasalic each had shots blocked late in the first half and the teams went to the break scoreless.

The hosts held the advantage in possession (62%-38%), shots on target (2-0), corners (4-1), and passing accuracy (79.8%-71.5%). The Lions attempted more shots (8-4) but did absolutely nothing with any of them, including two great chances to open the scoring.

If anything, the Lions were sloppier with the ball in the second half. Failures to adequately clear lines with time and space and giveaways even when outnumbering the opponents were problems.

Just like the first half, NYCFC came out with more energy than Orlando City and started creating issues and winning corners early. The Lions were able to hold on through those early moments.

Muriel finally got Orlando City a shot on target in the 58th minute, taking a nice ball from Ojeda and firing from the right with his weaker right foot, forcing a sprawling, if not difficult, save. It was a costly missed opportunity, because the hosts opened the scoring a minute later.

Orlando had possession in the defensive third, but kept making unexpected short, weak passes to each other and eventually NYCFC pounced, as Atuesta barely got a touch on the ball before being dispossessed. That to a Maxi Moralez shot from distance that hit off the post. Gallese had sold out to try to stop it and was unable to reach the rebound before Martinez raced past the defense and swept it into the empty net to make it 1-0 in the 59th minute.

“I think it’s something that we expected, and we had worked during the week to be able to withstand that burst of energy in the first (15 minuts) of each half,” Muriel said. “But yeah, especially New York City playing at home tonight, the energy they had in the first 15 was expected, but it was also noticeable on our part. And you know, at the end of the day, we have to continue working as we move forward to take the results that we want and get better from here.”

Fernandez cut inside of Santos and fired a shot in the 62nd minute, but Gallese was there to make the save.

The Lions got back into the attack finally but could do nothing with a corner kick opportunity and Santos was caught between two minds in the 67th minute, sending either a weak shot or a poor cross right at Freese from the left wing. A minute later, the ball found Pasalic in the area with space, but he took too much time on the ball and was dispossessed.

Orlando City equalized in the 69th minute anyway, and Pasalic played a part in the goal. The Croatian pounced on a layoff by Muriel that may have been deflected and broke up field. He did well to wait for Muriel’s run and fed the ball right. Muriel fired home inside the left post to make it 1-1 in the 69th minute.

“Marco was crossing in front for that quick touch and turned it into space. And he was able to really take it forward, and he controlled the space well and allowed me time to run into that open space,” Muriel said. “And he played a great ball that basically all I had to do was was finish it and put it on goal.”

“What we felt as soon as we tied the game, it was that we were not just controlling the game, (but) that we had the chance to win it,” Pareja said.

The hosts pulled the goal back almost immediately as the Lions fell asleep defensively. Schlegel got pulled out to the right in the buildup, with Araujo dropping into the middle. Martinez took a shot from distance that Gallese palmed down, but the Peruvian did a poor job with his rebound control, leaving the ball unattended in front of goal. Fernandez had made a run in behind, with Araujo’s presence keeping him just onside on the play. As a result, Fernandez got to the ball first and squared it back across to Wolf for an easy goal that proved to be the game winner in the 71st minute.

“It’s very obvious that we conceded too many goals on those three games,” Pareja said. “We can share the same thoughts that we find a way to defend much better. But when you see the nature of the goals, it may be even more painful, because it was not structural. It was something probably that we could correct better individually. But it’s the reality that we have, and surely we will keep addressing that part.”

Atuesta had a chance to pull Orlando level again when he found the ball inside the box in the 78th minute and fired a shot on target, but he left it too close to Freese, who made the save.

Orlando was thrown a lifeline in the 86th minute when Kevin O’Toole saw a second yellow in nine minutes for pulling back substitute Gustavo Caraballo. The NYCFC player was sent off, giving the Lions a man advantage for the final minutes of normal time and five added minutes.

The Lions’ moment came in the 90th minute. Freeman won a corner kick and Caraballo’s service found Araujo near the back post for a free header. The midfielder got under the ball and popped it up over the net, wasting a great opportunity.

Orlando generated nothing of note in injury time and the referee didn’t add anything to the five extra minutes for egregious time wasting by Freese, ending the proceedings with Orlando’s second loss of the young season.

New York City FC finished with the advantage in possession (56.3%-43.8%), shots on target (8-3), corners (7-4), and passing accuracy (78.9%-76.2%). The Lions edged the hosts in total shot attempts (14-13).

“We were the team who had probably — especially in that first half — the clear possibilities,” Pareja said. “But definitely our pain right now is how we conceded those goals, and that’s what just brings this feeling of frustration.”

The Lions will return home, but they’ll have to fly northeast again next weekend as they look to bounce back when they visit the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night.