Orlando City B
Orlando City B vs. Chattanooga FC: Final Score 2-2 (3-4) as 10-Man Young Lions Rally but Blow Late Lead
A shorthanded OCB squad came back from 1-0 down to lead deep in stoppage time. But the Young Lions couldn’t hold the lead and then smacked two shots off the woodwork in penalties.
Orlando City B fell behind a goal early in the second half and went down a man, but rallied to take a late lead before settling for a 2-2 draw against Chattanooga FC (8-6-7, 35 points) at Osceola County Stadium. In the ensuing penalty shootout, OCB (7-10-4, 27 points) hit the woodwork twice and handed Chattanooga the extra point by missing the target.
Nathan Koehler gave the visitors the lead in the first minute after halftime and a quick pair of yellows saw Bernardo Rhein dismissed to make things difficult for OCB. Thalles and Shak Mohammed brought OCB back and it appeared the Young Lions were headed for an unlikely victory, when disaster struck at the other end and Chattanooga equalized at the death.
Head Coach Manuel Goldberg’s starting lineup included Carlos Mercado in goal behind a back line of Tahir Reid-Brown, Thomas Williams, Jackson Platts, and Riyon Tori. Colin Guske and Bernardo Rhein started in central midfield behind an attacking line of Shak Mohammed, Justin Ellis, and Favian Loyola, with Thalles up top.
Orlando City B carried the play in the first half, generating more scoring chances but not cashing in on them. Chattanooga had a good spell of sustained pressure late in the first half, but the visitors could not capitalize on a series of set pieces in the attacking third.
The first promising look came in the sixth minute. OCB broke up the left side off a nice turning pass by Ellis to release Rhein down the flank. Rhein’s cross was too high for Mohammed in the box, but Loyola picked it up on the other side and fired a shot that was blocked out front. Thalles tried to center a pass for Ellis in the 11th minute, but the defense cleared it out to Loyola, who sent a back-post cross with no teammates making the run.
Chattanooga created some angst at the other end in the 12th minute, with a good cross to the back post by Tate Robertson finding Daniel Mangarov at the left post, but his sliding attempt flew over the bar.
The Young Lions tried to make a set piece pay off in the 16th minute. Tori’s service found Williams’ head but the defender got under the ball and it sailed well over the bar.
Milo Garvanian was left in acres of space just outside the area in the 26th and blasted a shot toward Mercado’s goal, but he missed the target.
Loyola went looking for a penalty on a counterattack opportunity in the 31st minute. There was a bit of contact, but the referee deemed it was not enough to award a spot kick. Two minutes later, Thalles got a touch in the box and sent a shot on target but Eldin Jakupovic had no trouble making the save.
The visitors immediately went the other way and were calling for a handball on Reid-Brown, and probably should have gotten the call, but it was outside the area anyway. Chattanooga would likely have preferred the free kick from there over the no-call, but the referee played on.
OCB went back the other way and Ellis had a look at goal from just outside the area. However, the attacker sent his shot over the bar and just wide to the right in the 35th minute.
Chattanooga handed OCB a great opportunity to open the scoring in the 37th minute on a bad back pass. Thalles got there first but his first touch was an attempt to poke it past a sliding Jakupovic, who smothered the rebound.
Guske should have broke the deadlock in the 38th minute. Ellis sent Mohammed down the left channel, and the winger sent a quick cross in front for an open Guske, who somehow got his shot partially deflected over the bar. An OCB miscue on the corner resulted in a Chattanooga counterattack that the Young Lions were able to deflect out for a corner. Garvanian went for a bicycle kick but he mishit the shot. Orlando cleared, but Chattanooga quickly recycled and Williams blocked a shot out for another corner for the visitors.
Although Williams headed away the ensuing corner, Chattanooga kept the pressure on OCB, pinning the Young Lions in their defensive third.
Orlando finally was able to turn down the heat on the visitors’ attack and even got a couple of late chances before halftime. Both came deep in stoppage time. Mohammed’s shot attempt was partially blocked right at Jakupovic, and moments later, Loyola blasted a cannon shot from distance but the Chattanooga goalkeeper made another save to end the half with nothing on the board for either side.
At the break, OCB had the advantage in shots (7-4), shots on target (3-0), and passing accuracy (85.2%-77.3%). Chattanooga won more corners in the first half (4-1).
Chattanooga FC took the lead just seconds after the break. Thalles went down under some contact and thought he’d been fouled, but there was no call and the visitors broke the other way. Koehler was on the ball and had no one closing him down, so he smashed a long-range shot just inside the left post, beating Mercado to make it 1-0 in the 46th minute.
Things got more difficult for OCB in the 58th minute when Rhein got his second quick yellow card. He was chasing down a counterattack and grabbed at the Chattanooga player but he never really got hold of him. That was a poor yellow card, and an unnecessary one, but one he got minutes before that was worse, as he got it for yelling at an official for a perceived incorrect throw-in decision. The Young Lions were down a man for the final half hour.
Tori got booked seconds after Rhein went down for a foul near the corner. OCB cleared the ensuing set piece.
Robertson sent a ball just wide of the left post in the 69th minute. OCB then quickly went the other way and Koehler blocked Ellis’ shot int he box as the teams played end to end.
OCB equalized in the 77th minute on a bizarre play that started with an attack up the right. Ellis played a good ball to send Tori down the right. Tori dropped it off for second-half sub Gustavo Caraballo, who made a move to the end line and then scorched a cross into the area. It hit someone in front and popped up into the air. Thalles had his back to Jakupovic and nodded it backward and into the net to make it 1-1.
Chattanooga FC came staight down the pitch on the restart and won a corner. The visitors played it short and it was sent toward goal by Robertson, but it went over the bar for a goal kick, ending the threat. However, Platts coughed up the ball to ignite the counter and OCB’s defense did well to block a shot near the top of the area.
The visitors won several set pieces down the stretch in the second half as they had in the first. As they kept the pressure up, they started to create chances. Two dangerous chances came in the 97th minute. The first was cleared off the line by the defense on a scramble in front of goal that ended with a Jalen James shot from point-blank range. The second was sent just wide of the right post from a tight angle on the left by Colin Thomas.
Mercado made a diving save in the 87th minute on a shot that looked innocuous from distance by Xavier Rimpel but nearly was able to sneak inside the right post. The OCB keeper knocked it wide for a corner. The Young Lions cleared it and went in transition but Caraballo was offside trying to hold up his run and he was booked for kicking the ball toward goal after the whistle.
OCB took the lead against the run of play in the second minute of stoppage time. Ellis sent a ball long to ignite the break and Caraballo quickly played it to Mohammed in the middle. Mohammed sent it back to Caraballo, who raced down the left channel. Instead of shooting against the onrushing goalkeeper, Caraballo chipped a pass into the middle and Mohammed blasted it just under the bar into the empty net to give OCB an improbable 2-1 lead.
The celebration didn’t last long. As the five minutes of stoppage time was about to turn into an eighth, Chattanooga sent a ball into the area that created chaos and it appeared James was able to bundle it home to make it 2-2 in the seventh extra minute, though the goal was credited to Koehler.
Chattanooga finished with more shots (18-11) and corners (11-1). OCB had the advantage in shots on target (5-4) and passing accuracy (88.3%-81.9%).
Because matches in MLS NEXT Pro that end in draws go to penalty shootouts, the teams lined up to take spot kicks to determine which would get the extra point in the standings.
Robertson opened the shootout by beating Mercado just inside the right post, despite the goalkeeping guessing correctly. Ellis followed with a shot off the bottom of the crossbar that he thought crossed the line, but the match officials ruled no goal. The stream angle wasn’t great, but the initial bounce on the ground did appear to have the ball behind the line.
Rimpel scored by sending Mercado the wrong way, giving the visitors the advantage in the shootout. Caraballo sent in a cheeky chip to get OCB on the board, but Chattanooga held a 2-1 advantage after two rounds.
Garvanian shot third for Chattanooga and sent his shot into the left side as Mercado dove the other way. Platts then hit the right post, to give the visitors a huge advantage.
Callum Watson hit the fourth Chattanooga shot off the top of the crossbar to keep OCB alive. Mohammed buried his spot kick to make it 3-2 heading into the fifth round.
Farid Sar-Sar sent Mercado the wrong way and won the shootout for Chattanooga.
Orlando City B has now won just one match in the team’s last nine.
The Young Lions will head out on the road for their next game, visiting Columbus Crew 2 on Aug. 19.