Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Photo Gallery

Orlando City hosted Southeast rival Atlanta United on Saturday night in the first of two consecutive matches between the two clubs. While Orlando played a preferred lineup, Atlanta rotated more of its usual roster with a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal match coming up on Tuesday. The results did not reflect the lineup choices, however, with the teams drawing 1-1.

The Lions started well, taking the lead in the 18th minute on a well-worked Martín Ojeda pass to spring Ivan Angulo down the left. The Colombian cut the ball back to the top of the six-yard box where Griffin Dorsey was waiting to tap it home. However, Orlando was unable to fashion any other good chances in the first half, and center back Robin Jansson ended the half nursing an injury that would see him not return for the second-half kickoff.

The second half initially continued more the same, but the game leveled out after a few minutes. Again, the teams did not create a lot of decent chances for a while. Ojeda got a half-chance in the 52nd minute, taking a heavy touch after a give-and-go with Justin Ellis, which in turn forced him to fire directly at the keeper from a tight angle. Orlando was fortunate when Aleksey Miranchuk got in behind but couldn’t direct a tricky ball on frame in the 61st minute. The other Orlando chance of note came from Dorsey in the 72nd minute, with some good ball movement from Ojeda and Duncan McGuire finding him at the penalty spot, but he scuffed the chance well wide.

Orlando City’s neglect of Fortune at the top of the 18-yard box allowed the visitors to steal a point just a few minutes from full time. Fortune placed his shot from the right perfectly inside the left post to make it 1-1. From that point, Orlando tried to get forward but could not generate any real chances, and the match finished as a draw.

The two teams will play again Tuesday, hopefully with a better result. We hope you enjoy the photos from the match!