Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Five Takeaways

The final Wednesday night match of May is officially in the books, and it provided a decent amount of fireworks and what turned out to be a nightmare finish for Orlando City. OCSC held a 2-1 lead with a little less than 13 minutes to play, but the Lions saw that lead evaporate into thin air after a silly red card was issued to Cesar Araujo. The advantage allowed the Five Stripes to earn back-to-back home wins with a 3-2 victory. Here are my five takeaways from the Wednesday night match that I truly cannot wait to forget.

On the Board Early

Despite being the road team, Orlando started the match on the front foot, controlling the pace and possession over the first five minutes with relative ease. Their efforts paid off in the fourth minute of the match when Martin Ojeda played a ball toward the middle of the field. The pass found two Orlando City players occupying essentially the same space, with Marco Pasalic and Araujo standing shoulder to shoulder outside the box. Pasalic laid it off for Araujo, who struck it well, beating Brad Guzan on the bounce to put Orlando City up 1-0 early in the match. The play was reviewed as Ramiro Enrique was in an offside position, but ultimately it was deemed that he did not affect or obstruct Guzan’s sight line.

A Quick Equalizer

It didn’t take a long time for the home side to find an equalizer as the teams were level once again before 20 minutes of game time had been played. Alexey Miranchuk found the back of the net as he cleaned up a sloppy bouncing ball right in front of Pedro Gallese. Atlanta likely was going to see the equalizer one way or another, as the ball took an awkward bounce up into the arm of Rodrigo Schlegel before Miranchuk’s shot. It wasn’t a particularly fancy setup to score, but there should be something to be said for being in the right place at the right time, and Miranchuk’s effort to do so was rewarded.

Enrique’s Motor Pays Off

Atlanta and Orlando looked destined to reach halftime tied 1-1 as both sides were unable to do much with possession after the Miranchuk goal, but a poor touch from defender Derrick Williams allowed speedy Argentinian striker Enrique to get in on Guzan unscathed. Enrique did well with the placement, firing a well-struck ball past the outstretched body of Guzan to put Orlando City up 2-1. It is reassuring to know that regardless of who gets the nod to start up top there is quality at the foot of all three forwards. Enrique had been a passenger for much of the first 30-plus minutes of the match, but he demonstrated how lethal he can be if given a small opening.

Missed Opportunities

If you stopped reading the takeaways right now, not a single Orlando City supporter could blame you. Orlando had the chance to put the game to bed multiple times but failed to find the final touch, which could have secured all three points. The first blown opportunity started at the feet of Ivan Angulo, who laid off a brilliant pass to a streaking Ojeda. Orlando’s No. 10 had gotten in behind the back line, picked his head up, and saw Alex Freeman making a back-post run. The chip on the ball was perfectly placed across the front of goal, but unfortunately for Freeman, the ball took a late bounce on the artificial turf and caused him to miss what would otherwise have been a sitter.

The second great opportunity came at the foot of Marco Pasalic in the second half, who finally got the ball on his favored left foot before sending a curling shot towards goal. It beat Guzan but clanked off the post. The ball ricocheted out to Ojeda, who lined up a blast from the left-hand side, only to have Guzan collect himself in enough time to deflect the ball out of bounds. These missed opportunities ultimately proved monumentally costly as the final 10 minutes of the match finished in a heartbreaking style.

Senseless Decision Making Proves Costly

Now is the time to discuss the large elephant in the room. I will go to my grave believing that Atlanta did not win the game, but rather a few individual decisions from Orlando City players instead lost the game. In the 77th minute, after a dead-ball foul, Araujo was shoved in the back by Mateusz Klich. The overly aggressive shove warranted a yellow card for Klich, who should likely already have been on one for a professional foul moments earlier, but the resulting action by Araujo went a long way toward sealing Orlando’s fate before the final whistle was even blown. Arujo, after the shove, got up and quickly put his hand around the throat of Klich directly in front of the ref and was immediately shown a straight red card.

After being reduced to 10 men, the equalizing goal for Atlanta seemed like an inevitability, and that came in the 83rd minute. Orlando enjoyed some additional nervy moments but managed to get the game into stoppage time still at 2-2 before another careless decision all but gifted the home squad the victory. Second-half substitute Eduard Atuesta took control of the ball in the 94th minute and could have made the simple decision to clear the ball down the field. Instead, his feet got caught up on the ball trying to do too much, resulting in a turnover. The back line was caught disorganized when Atlanta quickly regained possession, and a simple chip over the top resulted in a tap-in for Jamal Thiare in the 95th minute.

There is no better way to summarize the match than to say the ending thoroughly sucked. Without a result, Orlando’s 12-game undefeated streak in MLS play finally came to a halt, and the Lions find themselves alone in fifth place in the table now as Nashville, Columbus, and Cincinnati all walked away from their midweek matches with draws. There is one final quick turnaround to be had before the calendar finally flips to June. Orlando City will end the month back at home against the Chicago Fire on Saturday.

Let us know your thoughts about the Atlanta match in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!