Flashback Friday: June 22, 2024 vs. Chicago Fire

Another Friday means another opportunity for us to take a trip down memory lane to an Orlando City game from years gone by. Last week we reminisced on a booking-heavy affair against the Houston Dynamo that took place all the way back on June 18, 2022. This week we won’t be going quite as far down memory lane, as we’ll be rewinding to June 22, 2024 and a home match against the Chicago Fire.

Things weren’t exactly going smoothly for the Lions in the leadup to this game. Orlando was mired in a run of five games without a win, and had suffered losses to the Columbus Crew, LAFC, and the New York Red Bulls. OCSC had also only scored four goals in those five games, and was badly in need of a positive result.

In order to attempt to right the ship, Oscar Pareja ran out a lineup consisting of Mason Stajduhar; Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson in defense; a midfield Ivan Angulo, Nico Lodeiro, Cesar Araujo, and Facundo Torres; with Luis Muriel and Duncan McGuire up top.

The Lions came roaring out of the gate and had a decent case for a penalty kick just two minutes in, but nothing was given and the good guys opened the scoring two minutes later anyway. Thorhallsson fed Torres on the right edge of the box, and the Uruguayan cut just inside the area and unleashed a curling left-footed effort that nestled into the side netting over a fully stretched Chris Brady.

Stajduhar made a massive save in the 11th minute to prevent Hugo Cuypers from leveling things up, and Maren Haile-Selassie wastefully blasted a fairly juicy rebound over the bar. In the 19th minute, Orlando was awarded the penalty kick it missed out on earlier in the game. Angulo knifed through the defense and Allan Arigoni pulled him back once the Colombian was inside the area, so referee Natalie Simon rightfully pointed to the spot. From there, Muriel stepped up and calmly sent Brady the other way and rolled the ball home to make it 2-0 Orlando.

Chicago once again should have pulled a goal back shortly after conceding, but Stajduhar’s right post kept out a great Brian Gutierrez effort and kept the lead at 2-0. The Lions then got a third goal in the 29th minute. Thorhallson wriggled his way to the end line and crossed for McGuire, who had his effort well saved by Brady. Unfortunately for Chicago, Angulo was quickest to the extremely juicy rebound, and he tapped it home to make it three Orlando goals just inside of 30 minutes.

The teams traded chances and saved shots in the remaining minutes before halftime. Once the whistle for the break blew, both teams had earned one corner kick, but Chicago had an advantage in possession, (55%-45%) shots (8-3), shots on target (4-3), and passing accuracy (93%-88.3%).

The chances started immediately flowing for both teams once the second half started. Stajduhar stonewalled Gutierrez in the 47th minute, McGuire was barely beaten to a through ball by Brady a minute later, and the alarm bells were ringing loudly for both sides. It was perhaps unsurprising then, that disaster struck for Orlando in the 51st minute. Schlegel tried to block a cross in the box and the ball hit the arm that he was putting down to brace himself. With the arm not yet supporting him though, Simon gave a penalty kick, and Haile-Selassie put the ball in the same spot Muriel did to spoil the shutout in the 53rd minute.

Orlando kept attacking, and Muriel forced Brady into a save from a free kick in the 55th minute before he was subbed off for Martin Ojeda just four minutes later. Torres then scored Orlando’s fourth of the night and his fourth of the season in the 60th minute. He picked up the ball at the top of the box, brought it onto his left foot, and squeezed off a strike that beat Brady high to restore the three goal lead.

The Lions didn’t do a very good job of protecting that lead though. The men in purple seemed allergic to passing to their teammates, and it wasn’t surprising when the Chicago pressure paid off, thanks in large part to an Orlando mistake. A fairly normal cross went into the OCSC box in the 69th minute and Jansson stuck out a leg to clear it but missed,. When the ball deflected off Santos it went towards Stajduhar’s goal. Cuypers was first to the loose ball and he swept it home to make it 4-2.

The Lions then proceeded to try to see the game out but had some hairy moments in trying to get over the line. Turnovers were the main culprit, and Stajduhar was forced into saves in the 79th, 80th, and 83rd minutes to keep the advantage at two. He then had an absolute peach of a stop in the 86th minute, getting a quick hand up to deny a header from Georgios Koutsias who had been played in over the top of the defense.

OCSC had a chance to get a fifth goal two minutes later, when Angulo beat Brady to a through ball and managed to get it to Ojeda, but the Argentine volleyed over the net from range and the nervy finish continued when nine minutes of stoppage time went up on the board. Stajduhar made yet another save in stoppage time and punched away some dangerous crosses to bring the game to an end with a 4-2 victory for the Lions.

Similar to halftime, Chicago finished with an edge in all of the big statistical categories. The Fire led in possession (59.7%-40.3%), shots (18-8), shots on target (12-6), corners (3-1), and passing accuracy (90.3%-82.2%). Unfortunately for them, Orlando led the most meaningful statistical category and picked up a badly needed three points.

Former TML writer Nic Josey was on Player Grades for this one, and he unsurprisingly awarded two-goal-scorer Torres the Man of the Match with a grade of 8.5 out of 10. Other highly graded players included 10-save Stajduhar with an 8 out of 10, and two-assist Thorhallsson with a 7.5 out of 10.

That win started a much better phase of the season for Orlando City, as the Lions lost just four league games for the rest of the season and made a run all the way to the Eastern Conference final. Doing something similar this year will probably take a lot of doing, but never say never. Vamos Orlando!