Orlando City
Orlando City vs. New England Revolution: Final Score 4-2 as Lions Cough Up Two Goals Late in Loss
The Lions came back from 2-0 down to tie the game just before the end of normal time but melted down defensively in stoppage time to spill a point.
Orlando City was completely outclassed in the opening half at Gillette Stadium tonight but fought back from 2-0 down to pull level with a good second half. However, the pre-World Cup Lions showed up during the 10 added minutes, allowing the New England Revolution (14-8-4, 46 points) to score two late goals and win 4-2 on two wide-open shots.
The loss snapped a five-game unbeaten run in league play for the Lions (10-12-4, 34 points), who will feel they should have come home with at least a point after Ivan Angulo and Martin Ojeda — from the penalty spot — erased a 2-0 second-half deficit just before the end of normal time. But the same transition defense problems that have plagued the team all year showed up when Orlando should have been locking down a hard-fought road point.
Carles Gil and Peyton Miller each bagged a brace in the game to sink an Orlando side that has conceded 14 times in its last five away matches in all competitions.
“Very frustrated, of course, with the result,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said after the match. “There was a big challenge for us today, because we came here after the game on Wednesday, and facing a team who is doing well in the league — in their stadium — and they had rest during the week; they had a normal week. The context of the game was difficult. We knew that. And taking that into account, I thought we did a very big effort. We made some mistakes, especially in the first half, and then we were able to come back in the second half, compete, tie the game. And then, I think there we have some gaps to improve as a team. We need to close these kinds of games. So, that’s the frustration.”
Perelman’s lineup was without the injured Antoine Griezmann (thigh), with Maxime Crepeau starting in goal behind a back line of Bernardo Rhein, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, and Angulo, who ended up playing three different positions in the match. Joran Gerbet and Luis Otavio started in central midfield between wingers Tyrese Spicer and Marco Pasalic, with Justin Ellis and Ojeda up top.
Orlando City spent much of the first half on the back foot. New England did well to crowd Orlando’s outlet players and won the ball high with its pressure in the opening 45 minutes. The Lions, as a result, spent a lot of time trying to regain control of the ball and then often turned it over when trying to transition from defense to offense.
Ellis had Orlando’s first sight of goal in the ninth minute, but his shot was well off target from the left side, just outside the area.
Two minutes later, Miller tried a dipping, half-volley shot that didn’t miss by much, fizzing just over Crepeau’s crossbar.
Brooklyn Raines committed an ugly challenge on Ellis to break up a potential counter in the 14th minute, handing Orlando a long-range free kick. The service toward the back side was good, but the ball appeared to take a slight deflection before Jansson could bring it down and shoot on what would have been a wide-open chance. The ball got knocked to the top of the box and Rhein committed a foul to end the threat.
Just moments later, Gil opened the scoring. Gil worked his way from right to left just outside the area, but several Lions failed to close him down. He attempted a shot that deflected unkindly off Brekalo, looped just over Crepeau’s outstretched hand, and fell just under the bar to make it 1-0 in the 19th minute.
Ojeda found himself with an opportunity from the top of the area in the 22nd minute. Taking a layoff from Gerbet, the Argentine fired a shot over Matt Turner, who jumped up and tipped it over the crossbar. Not only did the Lions not pay off the ensuing corner, but Angulo had to hustle back to prevent Dor Turgeman from getting behind the defense for a transition chance.
The Lions had a couple of half chances in the 23rd and 24th minutes. Spicer got to the end line on the first and tried to pull a pass back for Ellis, but instead his attempt found the New England defense. A minute later, a blocked pass fell in the box for Ojeda, who headed it down in front of himself, but the ball bounced too far away on the artificial surface, allowing Turner to collect it.
The Revs took control for most of the rest of the half. Gil was again left unmarked outside the area just seconds after Ojeda’s half-chance, but the Spaniard fired just over the bar.
Orlando worked the ball deep in the 28th minute on the left, with Pasalic trying a low-percentage, tight-angle shot from near the end line, but Turner had no issues with the save.
Turgeman should have doubled the lead in the 35th minute. A cross in from the left went through Brekalo’s legs to a wide-open Turgeman, with Jansson too deep to stop the cross and Rhein struggling to catch up from behind. However, the Revs’ forward sent his shot just wide of the right post.
The Lions quickly turned it over off the ensuing goal kick and Jackson Yueill found Gil, whose shot deflected just wide for the first corner in a series of them as New England kept Orlando penned in its own end.
When the Lions finally got a chance to break in transition again in the 38th minute, Angulo made a mess of trying to switch play, sending his pass right to Turner.
The Revolution went back on the attack and Miller tried an audacious shot from a tight angle on the right. Crepeau got his right hand on it to knock it away. Moments later, Matt Polster tried to carry the ball into Orlando’s box but Gerbet did well to beat him to the spot in the box, where Polster bundled him over, allowing the Lions to take the pressure off with a free kick.
New England kept coming, with Turgeman sending a soft shot at Crepeau and Yueill firing over the bar down the stretch. Brekalo was also forced into some emergency defending, knocking a cross out for a corner and then heading away the ensuing cross on the set piece.
That was the last meaningful action of the half.
New England dominated the stat sheet at halftime, holding the edge in possession (62.2%-37.8%), shots (9-3), shots on target (3-2), passing accuracy (90.3%-84.5%), and corners (6-1). The Lions were fortunate to only be down one goal.
“We tried to improve in terms of using the half space more direct, not committing too much,” Perelman said of his halftime adjustments. “We tried to adjust some defensive things in the low block and in the press, so we adjusted a bunch of things in the half, not only one.
Zakaria Taifi and Eduard Atuesta subbed on for Spicer and Otavio before the restart, moving Angulo to left wing, while the midfield saw a like-for-like change.
It took New England just 25 seconds to win another corner kick in the second half, but Brekalo and Jansson combined to clear the danger.
Taifi tried to make his mark on the game in the ensuing moments, drawing a foul and a yellow card on Will Sands after making a nice hesitation move. The Homegrown fullback then tried to pick out Ojeda in the box but the Argentine was defended well and couldn’t control it in traffic.
The Lions got what they were looking for in the 50th minute but squandered it. Taking the ball away, Orlando had a two-on-one break developing with Angulo and Ojeda. The Colombian, however, muffed his pass and sent it straight to New England’s defender rather than hitting Ojeda with a diagonal that would have seen him in on Turner alone.
Brekalo went on the attack in the 53rd minute when nobody closed him down. The Slovenian center back got to within about eight yards of the 18-yard box and had a go, but he sent his shot fizzing over Turner’s crossbar. A minute later, the Lions forced a quick turnover with numbers forward. Pasalic had the ball on his foot, but he was too indecisive at first and ended up taking a shot that deflected onto the roof of Turner’s net. The ensuing set piece fell to Pasalic in the box, but this time Raines cut out his pass and cleared the danger.
New England doubled the lead in the 59th minute when Angulo lost the ball in the attacking third. Despite appearing to be held, there was no call and the Revs broke the other way in transition. Turgeman turned and sent a ball to Miller, who was blazing down the left channel. Jansson had no chance to catch up to the speedy Miller, who slotted past Crepeau to make it 2-0.
Despite that bad break in what was otherwise a positive spell for Orlando City, the Lions got right back into the attack. Atuesta found space outside the box in the 61st minute and decided to have a go. His rocket had little chance of beating Turner to the near post, but the USMNT goalkeeper couldn’t handle it cleanly, fighting it off with two hands.
A minute later, the Lions cut the lead in half with a well-worked goal. Jansson played the ball to Atuesta near midfield, and the Colombian sent a straight ball to Ojeda ahead of him. Ojeda laid it off for Ellis and continued his run forward. Ellis turned and sent a gorgeous return pass through three defenders to Ojeda, who sent it left off a defender’s foot into Angulo’s path on the left. Angulo fired home to put Orlando on the board in the 62nd minute.
“Very happy with that part and for this run of scoring that I’ve been on,” Angulo said, after scoring in his third consecutive league game. “I’ve been working the same way that I’ve been working before, just getting a little bit more opportunity and getting the ball towards goal a little bit more. So, that’s great. But the thing to do is continue working, continue trying to do my absolute best out on the field every single time, and working together to fix the errors as a team that we committed today, so that way we can go out and get the victory next time out.”
The Revs tried to respond quickly, winning another pair of corners. Brekalo defended the second, which fell outside to New England center back Mamadou Fofana, who sent a shot nowhere near Crepeau’s goal.
Orlando went through another few minutes of continuously turning the ball over in its own end.
Ilay Feingold found Turgeman in front of goal in the 73rd minute but the Israel international could only stab at it and sent it over the goal. Miller’s shot from the right deflected out for yet another New England corner but the Lions handled their business. Crepeau then did well to save Feingold’s shot in the 78th minute and the Revs were offside when recycling the attack.
Miller blasted a shot on goal a minute after that chance but Crepeau made the save.
Orlando then calmed things down and got forward again. Taifi tried to pick out second-half sub Daryl Dike in the box in the 81st minute and nearly connected, but the big striker was trying to fight off a center back and couldn’t control it. A minute later, Gerbet found space just outside the box and fired a shot that Miller blocked. Gerbet and other Lions nearby appealed for a handball, but the initial decision was a free kick just outside the area. The video assistant referee instructed match referee Sergii Boiko to go to the monitor. Boiko ruled the contact with Miller’s arm happened just inside the top of the box and awarded a late penalty.
Ojeda took the spot kick, hesitating just before he got to the ball. That forced Turner to commit first, and the Argentine calmly slotted home to tie the game at 2-2 in the 88th minute.
A match that had started so poorly was improbably tied as stoppage time began. A seemingly generous 10 minutes were added on, but the Lions had been producing the better play down the stretch.
But the roof caved in on the Lions in injury time. The first was a seemingly innocuous play that turned into a breakaway for Miller. Gerbet could have committed a foul to end it before it got going, but he had no way of knowing how much chaos would ensue behind him.
A simple pass to the right ended up as a diagonal ball to Miller, who cut left to right between three Orlando defenders. Jansson made a desperate lunge to get a toe on it but it was out of his reach. Miller slotted past Crepeau for the second time in the 93rd minute to restore New England’s lead.
Chasing the game once again, Orlando got hit again by Gil in the sixth added minute. Raines blazed down the left channel, but Taifi did well to catch up and force him wide. What started as a four-on-three opportunity seemed to evaporate as the Lions started catching up. However, Raines passed into the box on the left to Turgeman, who had both Brekalo and Angulo on him. That left no one on Gil, who was behind Atuesta. A quick square ball from Turgeman to Gil and it was all over.
There weren’t any clear-cut chances for Orlando to try to pull one back, but the match was done and dusted by then anyway.
New England finished with the advantage in possession (53%-47%), shots (16-9), shots on target (7-5), corners (10-3), and passing accuracy (88.4%-85.6%).
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t keep the point,” Perelman said.
I think at this moment we’re left with some conclusions, obviously frustration for the way the game ended,” Angulo said. “It was a tough game, but we knew that it was going to be that way. And you know, at the end, the tie we let escape from us, and it leaves us with a more sour taste in our mouth than we were hoping for.”
The late collapse was reminiscent of the pre-World Cup play by the Lions, who were conceding goals at a record pace before the break due to negligent defending in transition and turnovers in dangerous areas of the pitch.
Orlando City has a normal match week ahead as the Lions’ next match is on the road at Philadelphia a week from tonight. There is an international window during that weekend, so both teams will be missing some key players. Ellis, for example, will be with the USMNT in Orlando on that day.