Orlando City vs. LAFC: Final Score 6-0 as Lions Continue Club’s Worst Ever Start

Orlando City came back from the international break with no break in the difficult schedule the Lions have had to start the season. LAFC (5-0-1, 16 points) came in having surrendered no goals all season, so they were going to be at a premium. Orlando’s greatest weakness is its defense, and that shone through as the Lions (1-5-0, 3 points) surrendered five goals in the first 40 minutes on the way to a 6-0 defeat.

Denis Bouanga fired home a first-half hat trick and Son Heung-min assisted on four goals as LAFC punished Orlando repeatedly for turnovers in all sections of the BMO Stadium pitch.

“It is what it is,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said after the match. “We will face it, because working is what we do and we’re waiting (for positive results).”

Much like after the Nashville game, Perelman had few answers for media questions after the match, simply repeating, “It is what it is.” What it is, so far, is the worst start to any Orlando City season, and that continued emphatically against Western Conference-leading LAFC.

Perelman rolled out a new lineup. Griffin Dorsey was unavailable due to lower back pain. Maxime Crepeau started in goal behind a five-man back line of Ivan Angulo, Iago, David Brekalo, Nolan Miller, and Braian Ojeda. Colin Guske manned the defensive midfield with Eduard Atuesta. Marco Pasalic, Martin Ojeda, and Tiago led the attack.

From the start, LAFC poured on pressure and Orlando City cracked regularly. Crepeau wiped out a one-on-one vs. Son as the defensive highlight early on. In the sixth minute, Brekalo made a tackle at the top of the box which sprung Angulo for a 4-on-2. Angulo put the ball behind Pasalic which caused him to turn it over and negate the attack.

In the seventh minute, Son was sent through past Iago down the right side and crossed it to Nathan Ordaz. Brekalo deflected the cross, but he unfortunately knocked it into the back of the net for an own goal. It was a sign of things to come.

The Lions kept finding space to counter as LAFC was hungry to score, but it was always a mishandled or missed pass that spoiled any threat. In the 20^th minute, Pasalic’s poor touch was picked up by Marky Delgado. He tapped it up to Son and Atuesta went in hard but missed. Son then put Bouanga through with a great pass, and the Frenchman chipped Crepeau to double the lead. Atuesta picked up a yellow card after the goal for his poor tackle.

In the 23^rd minute, Pasalic dropped the ball right to Atuesta, but the Colombian gave it away to Ordaz. He sent it backwards to Bouanga, who tapped it on to Son. The Korean fired a 50-yard through ball that Bouanga ended up on the end of, and he sent a curling shot into the top corner of the net to make it 3-0, effectively putting the game to bed early.

Bouanga did one thing wrong finally, picking up a yellow card in the 26^th minute trying to pick the ball off Angulo as he went by.

Iago controlled the ball in the 28^th minute with time and space to clear, but the Brazilian passed it right to Bouanga, who laid it off to Son, who returned the favor and teed up Bouanga for the final goal of his first-half hat trick.

In the 39^th minute, Bouanga picked up the ball on the right side and slotted it to Son right at the goal line. Son found Sergi Palencia, who volleyed it past Crepeau. That was Son’s fourth assist, and really his fifth, because it was his ball that hit off Brekalo to open the scoring. The Lions had lost their first two road matches this year by identical 5-0 scorelines. LAFC managed that feat before halftime, furthering the Lions’ embarrassment.

Orlando City continued to scuff opportunities but also kept LAFC from finding the back of the net for the rest of the half. Crepeau went down just after added time started but was able to continue and see out stoppage time before the half mercifully ended.

Surprisingly, the possession at halftime was tied (50%-50%), which speaks to the fact that Orlando City could get the ball and possess for a while but couldn’t really put anything dangerous together. It also points to the speed at which LAFC scored on the counter when it did. LAFC led in shots (12-3) and shots on target (5-2). Orlando City led in passing accuracy (92.1%-90%) but LAFC won significantly more corners (7-2).

“We didn’t come out playing the way that we had been working towards and doing things the way that we had been working them” Martin Ojeda said. “We didn’t do that in the first half and we are and will be our biggest self-critics.”

After the half, Perelman made three changes. Tahir Reid-Brown came in for Nolan Miller, Duncan McGuire came in for Tiago, and Zakaria Taifi came in for Guske. LAFC also subbed in Mathieu Choiniere for Timothy Tillman.

That seemed to change the tenor of things as the Lions maintained possession in the attacking half for the first three minutes before another Atuesta turnover. In the 53^rd, Martin Ojeda found Taifi on the right and he tried to cut it back to Angulo on the other side of the box but it was intercepted.

In the 56^th, Taifi won a free kick from 40 yards out. Martin Ojeda sent a dangerous ball in that LAFC cleared to the top of the box, but Taifi was waiting and rocketed a shot that forced Hugo Lloris into his first big save of the night.

Son broke free in the next minute but shot it wide. He and Bouanga were subbed off shortly after as LAFC started to empty its bench. David Martinez came in for Son and Jacob Shaffelburg took Bouanga’s place.

In the 61^st minute, Tyler Boyd sent a 40-yard switch to Ordaz who volleyed it just wide. Braian Ojeda forced Shaffelburg over the goal line a minute later to negate another dangerous attack. Angulo was able to put Martin Ojeda behind in the 65^th, but his ball across the goal mouth missed just wide of the right post.

McGuire came in late and high a minute later to pick up a yellow card. End-to-end action came a minute later when Shaffelburg crossed the ball to Ordaz, who forced a save from Crepeau but then the counter had Angulo find Martin Ojeda alone again down the left side of the box, but he again couldn’t put the shot on frame.

Atuesta was able to retire from a bad game when Luis Otavio came on for him in the 68^th, ending Orlando City’s allotment of subs.

Shaffelburg’s precise passing finally struck home as he was left alone on the left and crossed the ball to Boyd between Brekalo and Iago in the 70^th minute. Iago lost track of Boyd, who headed it home with pace to make it 6-0.

Angulo tried to answer with a curling shot a minute later, but Lloris was able to force it away for a corner. Pasalic sent a screaming corner to the far post, but Otavio couldn’t connect with the ball in front of an empty net.

The teams settled in for the next 10 minutes before Pasalic aggressively took the ball to the middle and hit Martin Ojeda, who blasted it at Lloris at the near post.

Martinez got on the end of a scramble in front of goal moments later, but Jeremy Ebobisse was offside in the scramble. Martin Ojeda challenged Lloris a minute later off a turnover but, again, it was within reach of Lloris.

Angulo took a well-earned rest and was subbed out by Yutaro Tsukada as the teams moved to close out the game. LAFC didn’t bring the same fire and heat as it did in the first half, but it had rotated a lot of players by that point. Otavio intercepted a pass in the second minute of added time and unleashed a rocket from 30 yards that Lloris had to fend off.

In the end, the game turned out as many would’ve thought before the game, with Orlando City falling 6-0 to LAFC. The lack of experience at center back and the introduction of several new players has this team out of sorts and unable to defend, especially against talented players like Son and Bouanga. The swapping out of players in the second half allowed Orlando City to put some positive notes forward but the Lions couldn’t beat Lloris.

“We’re hurt and we know our fans are as well” Ojeda said. “I’m not going to ask for patience or calm, because we know how much these results are hurting them as well.”

As befit the change in tone in the second half, Orlando City ended up with the edge in possession in the game (54.4%-45.6%) and passing accuracy (92.1%-88.1%), and closed the gap a bit in other areas. LAFC finished with more shots (18-13) and corners (8-7). Each team had put seven shots on target.

The only stat that matters, though, is the scoreline and it’s an embarrassing one.

The Lions will continue looking for their first point and first goal on the road when they head to Columbus to take on the Crew on April 12.