Orlando City vs. Houston Dynamo: Final Score 1-0 as Toothless Lions Continue to Struggle

Hector Herrera’s goal was the difference in one of the least memorable games at Inter&Co Stadium, as the Houston Dynamo leave the City Beautiful with a 1-0 victory over Orlando City. The Lions (1-6-1, 4 points) continued their dreadful start to the season with a better defensive performance that was helped by poor finishing by Houston (3-4-0, 9 points), but the attack is as toothless as it’s been in years.

Orlando rarely looked threatening, and when it was, the ball went anywhere except in the net — off the woodwork, off the goalkeeper, or off bodies in front.

“The defeat hurts even more at home, where we want to win always,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said after the match. “Other than that, everybody saw what happened in the game. I think there was almost one team on the field dominating. We couldn’t score, and they found that goal in transition, and that’s the game.”

Perelman’s starting lineup featured Maxime Crepeau in goal behind a back line of Adrian Marin, Robin Jansson, Iago, and Zakaria Taifi, as both David Brekalo and Griffin Dorsey were unavailable. Braian Ojeda and Eduard Atuesta started in central midfield with wingers Ivan Angulo and Tyrese Spicer with Martin Ojeda and Tiago leading the attack.

Neither team could seize control in a back-and-forth first half that saw the Lions and Dynamo squander both squander chances, combining for one shot on target in 14 total attempts. While Houston wasted more opportunities, Orlando City botched the best scoring chance of the opening 45 minutes.

Mateusz Bogusz wasted no time getting involved, firing a shot from the top of the box in the game’s first minute that Jansson blocked. Houson’s early attack continued, with Marin blocking Guilherme’s attempt at the top of the area in the fourth minute. The follow-up shot from distance by Diadie Samassekou was way off target to the right.

The first threat from Orlando came 10 minutes in when Tiago sent a cross in from the left for Spicer on the backside. The Trinidadian went up to head the shot but sent it over the bar.

Both teams won a few set pieces in the middle section of the half but couldn’t pay them off. Ojeda came closest, missing the upper left corner on a free kick from distance on the right in the 30th minute.

With chances hard to come by, Guilherme tried his luck from extreme distance in the 38th minute but his attempt was always rising over the bar.

Orlando then survived a series of set pieces, with Crepeau making the game’s first save, going up to palm away Felipe Andrade’s header on the recycle of a corner in the 40th minute. A minute later, Andrade was left alone near the top of the area and sent a low shot just wide of the left post.

As the half wound down, the Lions had the best scoring chance of the opening period but muffed it. Spicer got down the left channel and sent in a great ball across to Tiago on the right. The young Brazilian had almost the whole net to shoot at but he hit the goal frame, wasting the chance.

That was the final look of the half and the teams went into the break scoreless. Houston held the advantage in shots (9-5), shots on target (1-0), and passing accuracy (88.2%-87.3%), while both teams won three corners.

Houston goalkeeper Jonathan Bond must have picked up a knock, as he was subbed off for Jimmy Maurer at halftime. Maurer had a busier half than Bond did, but the two allowed the same number of goals, which was none.

Angulo fired off target from outside the area three minutes after the restart with the first shot attempt of the second half, but Houston started the half better as it had in the opening 45 minutes.

Jansson did well to track back in transition to break up a three-on-three Houston attack on the counter in the 49th minute. Guilherme and Bogusz fired over the bar from similar spots in the 54th and 55th minutes as the Dynamo opened the half with more energy.

But Orlando City settled into the game and had good spells of possession, even if the Lions couldn’t make them pay off. The best opportunity to do that came in the 66th minute.

Martin Ojeda’s corner kick into the box fell for Braian Ojeda, who fired a shot that Agustin Resch blocked in front. Iago’s follow-up shot was blocked off the line by former Lion Antonio Carlos. Maurer made a save on the third Orlando City attempt in quick succession, as Martin Ojeda’s shot found the target but could not beat the substitute goalkeeper.

Houston nearly made Orlando pay quickly for failing to finish. In the 68th minute, the Dynamo countered and Bogusz sent in a great back-post cross from right to left to Ezequiel Ponce. The forward’s header went just wide of the right post as he tried to send the shot back against Crepeau’s movement.

The previous counterattacks should have served as warning signs, but Houston scored on one in the 75th minute. Angulo lost the ball in the attacking third and Lawrence Ennali broke down the right channel. Jansson ran with him, but as he neared the goal line, the Dynamo man faked a shot and Jansson went to ground. Ennali then picked out Ponce, who was all alone out front. Iago blocked Ponce’s shot off the line, but the reprieve didn’t last long. Herrera was completely unmarked and slotted it home for the game’s only goal.

“We lost the ball outside of their box, which I think we could have taken care of the ball a little bit more, but then they got the transition,” Jansson said. “I ended up to coming too close to Max, and then he dribbled me. And then we weren’t able to catch up on the rebound. I think it was Iago that saved it on the goal line. Herrera has an open goal and put it in, similar to what we had. Almost an identical situation. We don’t score. They score.”

Orlando kept pushing for an equalizer, but struggled to create clear-cut chances down the stretch. Harvey Sarajian and Ignacio Gomez each made their MLS debuts, coming on to add energy and fresh legs.

Second-half sub Justin Ellis took a pass just inside the area in the 81st minute, spun, and fired a shot. However, his effort was right at Maurer. Five minutes later, after Houston blocked several cross attempts, Iago tried an ambitious shot from distance, but he too sent his shot at Maurer, who wasn’t troubled by it.

Houston had a couple of late chances to put the match to bed, but Crepeau did well to deny Guilherme in the third minute of stoppage time.

Iago sent a header into the seats two minutes later in what turned out to be City’s last shot attempt. Braian Ojeda committed a foul in transition at the other end and Houston saw out the 1-0 road win.

Houston finished with the advantage in shots (19-17) and shots on target (6-3), while the Lions passed more accurately (88.1%-84.3%) and won more corners (4-3).

“We are building this team, coordinating the team again,” Perelman said. “I think the team is competing, and I have no doubt that goals are going to come again for sure.”

“In truth, I think the game tonight, we deserved to win,” Braian Ojeda said. “I come here sad tonight, because I feel like the group did everything that we needed to do to win. But at the end of the day, football is like that.”

“Super frustrating,” Jansson added. “I think we were playing a quite good game. We’re trying to become more playing with the ball than we’ve been doing in the beginning of the season, and yeah, we’re creating some chances, having some scoring opportunities, (hit) a post, and something similar to what they scored on, they have most likely their only big chance, they score on (it). And it’s super frustrating, of course, and we’re not happy with the loss. We’re here to compete for Orlando City. And to be completely honest, it hasn’t been good enough.”

It will be another quick turnaround for the Lions as they will host Charlotte FC on Wednesday.