Orlando City Erases Early Deficit, Defeats Red Bulls 4-3

ORLANDO, Fla. (March 31, 2018) – In its first match in two weeks, Orlando City SC (1-2-1, 4 points) erased an early deficit to capture a 4-3 win over the New York Red Bulls (2-2-0, 6 points) Saturday at Orlando City Stadium. It was the Lions’ first win of the 2018 Major League Soccer (MLS) season. Dom Dwyer opened his 2018 account with a brace in his first game of the season after returning from injury.

“Hard fought win. Really difficult to get that result today,” Lions head coach Jason Kreis said. “Big, big credit to all the players that participated in that match and put their absolute best foot forward, because I think without 100 percent commitment we don’t walk out of here with all three points. Really pleased from an effort and commitment point of view, no doubt.”

New York started the scoring in the seventh minute when Florian Valot headed in Alejandro Romero Gamarra’s delivery to the far post.

City equalized eight minutes later. Kljestan, who wore the captain’s armband in his Orlando City Stadium debut against his former team, slipped a through ball for Justin Meram, who turned the corner and found a wide open Will Johnson for the tap-in. It was Johnson’s 30th career MLS regular-season goal.

Valot regained New York’s lead in the 24th minute.

But just two minutes later, Dwyer drove the near post to head Yoshimar Yotún’s corner delivery past goalkeeper Luis Robles. Then three minutes into the second half, Dwyer got on the end of Mohamed El-Munir’s throw-in and ripped it to the far post for City’s first lead of 2018.

New York equalized in the 82nd minute, but the tie was short lived. After a lengthy spell of possession in the 86th minute, Kljestan fed Sutter with plenty of space in front of him. Sutter took a touch and rifled a shot that deflected off Josué Colmán, past Robles and into the net. It was Colmán’s first MLS goal in his Orlando City Stadium debut.

The Lions return to action on Sunday, April 8, when they host the Portland Timbers at 4 p.m. ET at Orlando City Stadium.

Tickets to all City home matches are available at OrlandoCitySC.com or by calling 855-ORL-CITY.

Match Notes

• F Dom Dwyer scored his second brace as a Lion. Dwyer also had two goals in City’s 3-3 draw at Atlanta on Sept. 16, 2017.
• M Sacha Kljestan made his Lions home debut and earned his first assist as a Lion against his former team. Kljestan wore the captain’s armband for the second time this season.
• M Will Johnson scored his first goal of the season. It was Johnson’s 30th career MLS regular-season goal and his third as a Lion.
• M Josué Colmán made his Orlando City Stadium debut when he entered the match in place of M Cam Lindley at halftime. His deflection off D Scott Sutter's shot was his first MLS goal.
• D Mohamed El-Munir registered his first assist as a Lion on Dom Dwyer’s second goal.
  GK Joe Bendik earned his 20th win as a Lion.
• D Lamine Sané made his Orlando City Stadium debut and played his first full match in MLS.
• The second half marked the first time all three Designated Players (Sacha Kljestan, Dom Dwyer, Josué Colmán) were on the pitch at the same time in 2018.
• Four goals is City’s highest output since Sept. 27, 2017, when the Lions defeated New England 6-1 at Orlando City Stadium.
• It was City’s eighth MLS match with at least four goals scored.
• The match marked City’s second 4+ goal game against New York (W, 5-2 on Sept. 25, 2016 @ RBNY)
• Former Lions D Tommy Redding, Aurélien Collin and F Carlos Rivas were all in RBNY’s starting XI, marking the most former Lions to start a single game against City ever.
• The Coral Springs United boys soccer team was honored on the pitch before the match. Eleven members of that team and the coaches are members of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School soccer team.
  

Scoring Summary:
RBNY - Florian Valot (Alejandro Romero Gamarra, Marc Rzatkowski) 7’
ORL - Will Johnson (Justin Meram, Sacha Kljestan) 15’
RBNY - Derrick Etienne (Florian Valot) 24’
ORL - Dom Dwyer (Yoshimar Yotún) 26’
ORL - Dom Dwyer (Mohamed El-Munir) 48’
RBNY - Aaron Long (Marc Rzatkowski) 82’
ORL - Josue Colmán (Scott Sutter) 86’

Misconduct Summary:
RBNY - Aurélien Collin (Yellow Card) 38’
RBNY - Alejandro Romero Gamarra (Yellow Card) 54’
ORL - Lamine Sané (Yellow Card) 60’
ORL - Yoshimar Yotún (Yellow Card) 90+1’

Lineups/Substitutions:

Orlando City SC - GK Joe Bendik, D Mohamed El-Munir, Amro Tarek (RJ Allen 73’), Lamine Sané, Scott Sutter, M Cam Lindley (Josué Colmán 46’), Yoshimar Yotún, Will Johnson, ⓒ Sacha Kljestan, F Dom Dwyer (Chris Mueller 64’), Justin Meram

Substitutes Not Used: GK Earl Edwards, Jr., M Cristian Higuita, Dillon Powers, Richie Laryea

New York Red Bulls - GK ⓒ Luis Robles, D Connor Lade (Kemar Lawrence 46’), Aurélien Collin (Aaron Long 65’), Tommy Redding, Kyle Duncan, M Vincent Bezecourt, Marc Rzatkowski, Derrick Etienne (Bradley Wright-Phillips 75’), Alejandro Romero Gamarra, Florian Valot, F Carlos Rivas

Substitutes Not Used: GK Ryan Meara, D Tim Parker, M Daniel Royer, Tyler Adams

Details of the Game:
Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
Weather: Clear
Date: March 31, 2018
Attendance: 23,257

Stats:

Possession:
ORL - 54 %
RBNY - 46 %

Shots:
ORL - 15
RBNY - 10

Saves:
ORL - 1
RBNY - 4

Fouls:
ORL - 9
RBNY - 14

Corners:
ORL - 4
RBNY - 8