ORLANDO, Fla. (May 21, 2017) ā Orlando City SC (6-4-2, 20 points) saw its six-game home-unbeaten streak come to an end with a 3-0 loss to New York City FC (6-4-2, 20 points) Sunday night.
āObviously grave, grave disappointment to lose our first game in front of our home fans. I thought the fans were excellent again tonight. The atmosphere in the crowd was terrific, the atmosphere in the stadium was terrific,ā Lions Head Coach Jason Kreis said. āAfter every single win we talked about the improvements we need to make and so after the loss we stay the same. Weāre not going to go into a shell or believe weāre the worst team in the league or that weāre in some very, very bad spot. We still need to improve. We still need to work hard every week. And we need to do our best to prepare ourselves for next weekās game.ā
City finishes the season series with six of nine possible points against NYCFC. LƩo Pereira, who was the first player moved between Orlando City and official partner Clube AtlƩtico Paranaense, made his second consecutive start. Center back Jonathan Spector returned to the lineup, as did left back Donny Toia. Scott Sutter rounded out the back line in front of Joe Bendik. Antonio Nocerino, Cristian Higuita, Will Johnson and KakƔ manned the midfield with Cyle Larin and Carlos Rivas up top.
NYCFC broke through first when David Villa scored from the penalty spot in the 14th minute. It was the Lionsā first penalty kick goal allowed this season. Rodney Wallace scored in the 35th minute before Villa tallied again in the 82nd.
Rivas put in a hard-working shift in his ninth start of the season. The Colombian raced down long ball after long ball, hounded NYCFC defenders and curled some nice balls into the box. The Designated Player finished with four shots.
āCarlos again worked really, really hard,ā Kreis continued. āTireless effort by Carlos. I thought he worked extremely hard to pressure defenders. All in all, itās difficult to be pleased with somebodyās performance but I thought Carlos gave us everything that he could.ā
The match saw Larin attempt his first career penalty kick, which he rang off the corner of the post in the 64th minute.
City will visit 2017 expansion side Minnesota United FC on Saturday, May 27. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET at TCF Bank Stadium. The Lions return to Orlando City Stadium on Wednesday, May 31, when they host D.C. United. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Tickets to all City home matches are available at OrlandoCitySC.com or by calling 855-ORL-CITY. Follow the latest Orlando City news and updates via Facebook, Twitter,Instagram and YouTube.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:
First Half
1ā Jonathan Spector dives in front of a shot from inside the 18-yard box.
6ā Carlos Rivas races onto a long ball and wins a corner. Will Johnson plays it short to KakĆ” and the Lions work it around.
9ā LĆ©o Pereira does well to clear a dangerous free kick delivery from Jack Harrison.
13ā Harrison curls an out-swinging ball that falls to Rodney Wallace at the back post. Wallace shoots the ball off KakĆ”ās arm and the referee awards a penalty kick.
14ā David Villa beats Joe Bendik to the far post. Orlando City 0, New York City 1.
19ā Mikey Lopez is shown a yellow card for a harsh challenge on KakĆ”.
22ā Rivas races onto a loose ball, curls it to the back post for Larin and earns a corner. Johnson swings the ball to Spector at the far post, Sutter feeds in another and the Lions continue pressing.
25ā KakĆ” picks up a clearance from Spector and begins the counter. The Lions work it out to the left wing for Rivas, who curls another ball for Larin but barely misses.
27ā Rivas uses his speed to find space up the left wing and earns another corner. Johnsonās service to the far post yields a goal kick.
32ā Donny Toia does well to beat Harrison for a header on the six-yard box.
34ā Rivas is shown a yellow card for tackling Villa.
35ā Wallace gets on the end of Ethan Whiteās cross for the goal. Orlando City 0, NYCFC 2.
45 (+1)ā Maxi MorĆ”lez is shown a yellow card for tackling Johnson.
45 (+2)ā After two minutes of added time, the referee ends the first half. Orlando City 0, New York City 2.
Second Half
55ā Bendik dives to his left to get a hand on MorĆ”lezā shot from outside the box.
60ā Giles Barnes enters the match in place of KakĆ”. MatĆas PĆ©rez GarcĆa enters the match in place of Antonio Nocerino. Will Johnson takes the captainās armband.
63ā Sutter races onto Rivasā through ball and earns a penalty kick.
64ā Larin shoots his first career penalty kick off the post.
71ā Bendik makes a diving save to his right and parries the ball away from danger.
75ā Luis Gil enters the match in place of Cristian Higuita. Gil immediately blasts a shot from 25 yards that forces Sean Johnson into his best save of the night.
76ā Rivas intercepts the ball and drives towards the box. Johnson rips a volley wide.
78ā MPG flies up the pitch and feeds Sutter on the wing. Sutter floats the ball in for Rivas who drives a header just wide.
80ā Barnes curls the ball in from the wing for Johnson but he cannot direct his header on frame.
82ā Villa gets in behind and makes it 3-0.
90 (+3)ā After three minutes of added time, the referee ends the match. Orlando City 0, New York City 3.
Scoring Summary:
NYC - David Villa (PK) 14ā
NYC - Rodney Wallace (Ethan White) 35ā
NYC - David Villa (Maxi Moralez) 82ā
Misconduct Summary:
NYC - Mikey Lopez (Yellow Card) 19ā
ORL - Carlos Rivas (Yellow Card) 34ā
NYC - Maxi MorĆ”lez (Yellow Card) 45 (+1)ā
ORL - LĆ©o Pereira (Yellow Card) 90 (+2)ā
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC - GK Joe Bendik, D Donny Toia, LĆ©o Pereira, Jonathan Spector, Scott Sutter, M Antonio Nocerino (MatĆas PĆ©rez GarcĆa 60ā), Will Johnson, Cristian Higuita (Luis Gil 75ā), āø KakĆ” (Giles Barnes 60ā), F Carlos Rivas, Cyle Larin
Substitutes Not Used: GK Josh Saunders, D PC, JosƩ Aja, M Servando Carrasco
New York City FC - GK Sean Johnson, D Ben Sweat, Alexander Callens, Maxime Chanot, Ethan White (RJ Allen 37ā), M Alex Ring, Mikey Lopez, Maxi MorĆ”lez, F Jack Harrison (Miguel Camargo 80ā), David Villa (Thomas McNamara 86ā), Rodney Wallace
Substitutes Not Used: GK Eirik Johansen D Frederic Brillant, M John Stertzer, F Sean Okoli
Details of the Game:
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Weather: Clear
Date: May 21, 2017
Attendance: 25,527
Stats:
Possession:
ORL - 48.3 %
NYC - 51.7 %
Shots:
ORL - 10
NYC - 12
Saves:
ORL - 2
NYC - 2
Fouls:
ORL - 18
NYC - 13
Corners:
ORL - 4
NYC - 3
