Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Vancouver Whitecaps: Final Score 2-1 as Lions Blow Late Lead in Loss
Orlando City was moments away from a vital win in the race for playoff positioning, but an unlucky bounce and a goal deep in stoppage time flipped the game around.
Leading after 80 minutes, Orlando City puked away a late lead at Inter&Co Stadium, conceding twice from the 81st minute on — including the winner deep in stoppage time — in a 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps. Dagur Dan Thorhallsson’s first-half goal was moments from being a game-winner when disaster struck, allowing the Whitecaps (18-6-9, 63) to climb to the top of the Western Conference with the win.
Kyle Smith smashed a clearance attempt off of Nelson Pierre and into his own net in the 81st minute, and the Lions (14-8-11, 53 points) survived a bobbled save by Gallese on his own goal line that was reviewed before leaving Thomas Muller alone at the top of the area in the seventh of what was originally given as five minutes of stoppage time.
Despite the heartbreaking nature of the loss, it was a deserved win for Vancouver, which dominated the game almost from the jump. Orlando City, playing without several starters, could not break out of its own end for much of the first half and essentially all of the second half, suffering wave after wave of Vancouver attack, and nearly surviving until the end until Smith’s gaffe spoiled a game well played by the veteran defender. Smith was only playing center back at all because of another key injury to Orlando that took place early in the match.
“Especially the second half, I think we could have been better. We played against a rival who — especially in that half — put a lot of people in between lines, and we couldn’t manage it or sustain the ball a little longer,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “That was a big part of the difference in the game. We couldn’t get out of that domination that they had in the second half, and that cost us.”
Pareja’s lineup included Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of Adrian Marin, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Thorhallsson. Kyle Smith and Eduard Atuesta started in central midfield between wingers Ivan Angulo and Nico Rodriguez, with Martin Ojeda and Luis Muriel up top.
Muriel drew a free kick on the right side near the corner of the box in the third minute. Rodriguez took the set piece and blasted a curving effort on goal that Yohei Takaoka punched away. Orlando recycled and it ended up on Marin’s foot outside the area. The Spaniard shot, but the ball was deflected, sailing just wide of the right post for a corner. Vancouver cleared the ensuing set piece.
Ojeda picked out Muriel in front in the sixth minute, but the Colombian couldn’t get any power on his header, and Takaoka scooped it up, ending Orlando’s longest spell of sustained pressure of the half.
Vancouver’s first look at goal came on a Muller shot from outside the area in the 10th minute. Gallese had to make a diving stop. He spilled it, but the Whitecaps were offside on the rebound.
Moments later, the Whitecaps tried one of several direct balls over the defense to Daniel Rios. Jansson did well to get back and break up the play, but his leg buckled and he stayed down. The captain could not continue, and Duncan McGuire checked in, sending Smith to the back line and changing up the midfield, with McGuire up top and Ojeda at right wing.
“It’s a big shock when you lose probably the biggest player in the squad,” Thorhallsson said. “He’s the captain. He leads the team. It’s a big blow, but I’m praying to God that he’s OK.”
“Very disappointed with all this adversity, especially to keep losing players at this moment of the season,” Pareja said.
Gallese made another sprawling save in the 20th minute, getting down to stop a Sebastian Berhalter shot from outside the area.
Vancouver won a free kick two minutes later, but the Lions were able to deal with it. Orlando City then scored on the counter in the 24th minute. Ojeda took a pass from Thorhallsson on the left in transition and sent a ball to McGuire on the right. The big striker headed it down for Thorhallsson to run onto. The Icelandic midfielder took a touch to settle it and slotted past Takaoka to open the scoring.
“I got the ball and played it to Tincho (Ojeda),” Thorhallsson said. “He passed it to Duncan, who heads it to me and just does it really good. And I just take a touch and tried to finish as good as I can. And a happy ending, a goal. It was a really good feeling, actually. I’ve been waiting a long time for this goal.”
Vancouver spent most of the rest of the half in Orlando’s end. The Lions tried to counter multiple times but failed to connect on passes out of the back.
Edier Ocampo cut inside on the right in the 37th minute and fizzed a shot just inches outside the left post. Two minutes later, Gallese came out as Smith was beaten for pace on a ball over the top. Gallese got enough of the ball to slow the play down, shielded it, and picked it up once it entered the area.
Muriel took a pass from Ojeda and scored in the 40th minute, but he was well offside on the play and the flag correctly came up.
The Whitecaps won a few late set pieces but couldn’t pay them off despite having the ball pinging around Orlando’s penalty area. Schlegel and Marin blocked a couple of late shots, and Gallese saved Tate Johnson’s shot off the deflection deep in stoppage time on the last chance of the half.
Vancouver finished the first half with a huge advantage in possession (64.6%-35.4%) and the edge in shots (8-3), shots on target (3-2), corners (5-1), and passing accuracy (88.9%-83.5%). The Lions, however, had the only goal.
The Whitecaps started the second half the way they ended the first, keeping the ball in Orlando’s end for virtually the entire 45 minutes. The Lions periodically relieved the pressure simply by launching the ball down the field, giving it right back, but that was better than the way they turned it over trying to play through the visitors, often failing to string more than two passes together. Orlando had no answers for Vancouver’s press or counterpress.
Orlando City didn’t even attempt a second-half shot, as the Lions couldn’t get the ball into any position of danger through misplaced passes, poor touches, or a lack of composure.
Schlegel conceded the first chance of the second half with a foul just outside the area after Angulo turned the ball over. The defender earned a yellow card for his foul on Emmanuel Sabbi. Berhalter sent the free kick well over the crossbar and Vancouver committed a foul on the set piece anyway.
Smith made a crucial block to deny Rios two minutes later from point-blank range on a good cross in from the left. Marin then got up to challenge Jeevan Badwal in front, allowing Gallese to collect the loose ball in the 51st minute.
Atuesta conceded a free kick in the 65th minute after Angulo was unable to collect the ball at midfield and Vancouver broke in transition. The Colombian midfielder made up for the foul by blocking Berhalter’s free kick attempt.
Ocampo sent in a wicked cross from the right in the 71st minute that hit Gallese’s crossbar. The Whitecaps picked up the loose ball on the left and recycled the attack, with Muller firing just wide from the top of the area.
The only real attacking movement from Orlando in the second half came in the 73rd minute. Muriel took a pass and turned, sending Ojeda in behind the back line. Ojeda, however, took a heavy first touch and the ball skipped away from him, ending what might have become the Lions’ only shot after halftime.
J.C. Ngando sent fired a good shot in the 76th minute that sent Gallese diving for another stop.
The game changed in the 81st minute on a scramble in the box. The Lions looked to survive a ball pinging around in the six. Ngando laid off a pass for Berhalter, who fired off the left post. The ball went past a sliding Ryan Gauld, when Smith tried to fire it up the field. Unfortunately, the ball hit Pierre and ricocheted into the net to tie the match. There was a brief review to see if Vancouver handled the ball before the goal, but the call on the field stood and the goal counted.
Gallese made another save on Ocampo in the 84th minute as Vancouver pushed for a winner. The Whitecaps thought they’d scored it in the second minute of stoppage time. Berhalter fired a shot on the left side toward the near post. Gallese got there to make the diving stop, but he spilled it as he sprawled out of control. The ball nearly crossed the line and the Whitecaps protested. The play went to review and the call on the field stood, as there was no clear video showing the entire ball crossed the line.
It wasn’t a terribly lengthy stoppage for the review, but extra time was added, and that ended up being a bit too much time for the Lions.
A gassed Orlando defense could not close down Muller in the seventh minute of stoppage time and the ex-Bayern Munich star cut past Atuesta and sent a shot from the top of the box just inside the right post and past Gallese to win the match.
“We may be sad we conceded in the last moment of the game, but it’s not that but it’s the whole thing,” Pareja said. “I think in the second half we could have been better, and they were better than us.
The referee allowed the game to restart, and waited about a minute, but the Lions continued to be unable to hold onto possession and the match ended in disappointing fashion for the 23,465 Orlando City fans in attendance.
Vancouver dominated the stat sheet the way it dominated the match, finishing with the advantage in possession (64.8%-35.1%), shots (23-3), shots on target (9-2), corners (6-1), and passing accuracy (88.7%-79.9%).
“They just were very intense throughout the whole game,” Thorhallsson said. “They pressed man to man and just came. It felt really heavy, and they came quickly. Just a really, really good team with good players. It’s also something we need to do better, when teams actually come really high and press us, that we need to be able to be calm on the ball and keep it a little bit better.”
The loss means Orlando City cannot finish in the top four. As a result, the Lions will not have home field for the first-round, best-of-three playoff series and could still end up in the wild card play-in game.
Orlando City will head to Toronto for a Decision Day matchup a week from tonight against Toronto FC.