Orlando City vs. Club León, Leagues Cup: Photo Gallery

Orlando City faced Club León for its second match of Leagues Cup group play, losing 2-1 Saturday night. While the Lions matched up reasonably well for the first half, they were unable to build on a first-half lead or avoid defensive lapses through the second half. Interim head coach Martin Perelman opted not to rotate heavily despite the fixture congestion, making only four changes from the side that beat Monterrey 2-1 on Wednesday, inserting Iago, Zakaria Taifi, Wilder Cartagena, and Martin Pašalić into the lineup for David Brekalo, Griffin Dorsey, Eduard Atuesta, and Justin Ellis, respectively.

The Lions started the game well, with Pašalić playing Antoine Griezmann in behind in the fifth minute, but despite a good touch to keep the ball in reach, the defense arrived to block the attempt, allowing León goalkeeper Oscar Garcia to collect. Orlando was able to keep a good spell of possession and create several decent buildups, but couldn’t convert them to clear-cut chances throughout the first phase of the game.

A few minutes after the hydration break, Orlando broke through. Griezmann and Pašalić worked a give-and-go in the midfield, with the Frenchman sending Tyrese Spicer down the left flank. Taking one touch to settle the ball, Spicer squared a pass to Pašalić about 20 yards from goal, and the Croatian’s shot found the inside of the far post to give Orlando City the lead.

After the goal, León held more of the ball, possessing the ball with more urgency and creating a couple half-chances through halftime. At the half, Griffin Dorsey entered the game for Taifi, but León was the beneficiary of the intermission. Iago attempted an acrobatic bicycle kick in the 50th minute from Dorsey’s flicked header of Griezmann’s corner kick delivery, but other than that, pressure mostly fell León’s way.

León broke through in the 54th minute when Orlando failed to defend a 50-yard set-piece. Dorsey was unable to win his battle against Juan Guevara, and regardless of who it came off of last, Guevara was credited with the goal as the ball changed direction just enough to slip inside the far post to tie the match.

Club León took the lead in the 72nd minute. Bernardo Rhein cleared the visitors’ cross-field switch to midfield, but the young fullback bombed forward to cover an opponent further up the pitch, leaving Ivan Moreno wide open on Orlando’s left flank behind him. León won possession off Rhein’s header and quickly sent it to Moreno to create a dangerous counterattack. Moreno found Daniel Arcila in the middle just outside the penalty area. Iago perhaps could have done more to crowd Arcila, but the striker’s shot was perfectly placed just inside the left post, leaving Maxime Crepeau no chance to prevent the go-ahead goal.

Chasing the game, Orlando pushed more players forward, but León dropped more defenders behind the ball and looked to counter to put the game away. The Lions looked for chances to play directly from deeper positions to deal with León’s defensive posture, and in the 84th minute, second-half substitute Ellis sprung fellow sub Harvey Sarajian in behind on the right. Guevara tracked back but never drew level with Sarajian and took him down with a physical play from behind, including an elbow to the neck, but the referee did not award a penalty, despite Orlando’s protestations.

For the remainder of the game, León stayed compact and kept the ball out of play as much as possible to see out the match. The loss hurts Orlando’s chances to advance in the tournament.

We hope you enjoy the photos from the game, despite the result.