ORLANDO, Fla. (July 26, 2018) ā Orlando City SC (7-13-1, 22 points) fell 2-0 to New York City FC (13-4-4, 43 points) on Thursday at Orlando City Stadium
āThe biggest thing for me is Iāll never make excuses. The easy thing for me to do is to come out here and say, āOh we hit the post four times.ā Thereās something to that, but equally for me there shouldnāt be a disparity between the first and second half,ā Lions head coach James OāConnor said. āWhen you actually look at that midway through the second half, the supporters are absolutely on their feet, chanting, roaring, really supporting the team. It gets to the point where thereās a desperation to want to do well for those supporters. I ask them just to stick with us. As a Club weāre going through a difficult time. But I can promise you things will get better.ā
Goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. made his third MLS start of the season behind PC, Chris Schuler, Shane OāNeill and RJ Allen. Cristian Higuita started in the midfield alongside Will Johnston, Yoshimar YotĆŗn, Chris Mueller and Sacha Kljestan, who wore the captainās armband. Dom Dwyer started up top.
Orlando City and NYCFC played a closely contested first half that saw YotĆŗn hit the crossbar in the 37th minute. But in the 40th minute Maxi MorĆ”lez put away a rebound to open the scoring for New York City. Anton Tinnerholm made it 2-0 six minutes later.
The Lions came out in the second half pressing for their first goal. In the 61st minute after a lengthy spell of possession, YotĆŗn hit the post from seven yards out. Two minutes later, YotĆŗnās long-range blast forced Sean Johnson into a strong save and then another on Dwyerās rebound attempt. Schuler hit the bar in the 78th minute.
Edwards, who was Cityās third-round pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, made three saves, including back-to-back stops on MorĆ”lez when he was in alone in the fifth minute.
City was reduced to 10 men when OāNeill was shown a straight red card after Video Review in the 83rd minute.
City faces a short turnaround as it visits the LA Galaxy on Sunday, July 29, at 9:30 p.m. ET. The Lions return to Orlando City Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 4, to host the New England Revolution.
Tickets to all City home matches are available at OrlandoCitySC.com or by calling 855-ORL-CITY.
Match Notes
- D PC made his second MLS start and his third across all competitions in 2018.
- D RJ Allen made ninth start of the season and his 70th career regular-season appearance.
- D Shane OāNeill made his 50th career MLS start.
- M Cristian Higuita made his 86th career MLS regular-season appearance as a Lion, tying GK Joe Bendik for second in Club history. F Cyle Larin is the Club record-holder with 87 MLS appearances.
Scoring Summary:
NYC - Maxi MorĆ”lez 40ā
NYC - Anton Tinnerholm (Maxi MorĆ”lez) 45+1ā
Misconduct Summary:
ORL - Dom Dwyer (Yellow Card) 44ā
NYC - Thomas McNamara (Yellow Card) 58ā
ORL - Cristian Higuita (Yellow Card) 62ā
ORL - Shane OāNeill (Red Card) 83ā
NYC - Sean Johnson (Yellow Card) 85ā
NYC - Alex Ring (Yellow Card) 90+5ā
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC - GK Earl Edwards, Jr., D PC, Chris Schuler, Shane OāNeill, RJ Allen, M Cristian Higuita (Tony Rocha 67ā), Will Johnson (JosuĆ© ColmĆ”n 82ā), Yoshimar YotĆŗn, ā Sacha Kljestan, Chris Mueller (StĆ©fano Pinho 71ā), F Dom Dwyer
Substitutes Not Used: GK Joe Bendik, D Scott Sutter, Donny Toia, Amro Tarek
New York City FC - GK Sean Johnson, D Ben Sweat, Alex Callens, Maxime Chanot, Anton Tinnerholm, M Ebenezer Ofori, Alex Ring, Rodney Wallace (Jonathan Lewis 71ā), Maxi MorĆ”lez (Jo Inge Berget 88ā), ā Thomas McNamara (Ismael Tajouri-Shradi 63ā), F JesĆŗs Medina
Substitutes Not Used: GK Brad Stuver, D Sebastien Ibeagha, Ronald Matarrita, M Kwame Awuah
Details of the Game:
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Weather: Cloudy
Date: July 26, 2018
Attendance: 23,790
Stats:
Possession:
ORL - 49.6 %
NYC - 50.4 %
Shots:
ORL - 21
NYC - 14
Saves:
ORL - 3
NYC - 5
Fouls:
ORL - 6
NYC - 14
Corners:
ORL - 13
NYC - 3
