Orlando City came into Wednesday night’s matchup against D.C. United looking for revenge after D.C. beat the Lions with a last-gasp free kick last month at the Citrus Bowl.
But despite a promising start via Cyle Larin’s well-taken goal in the 11th minute, it all came crashing down again for Orlando, as United capitalized on two scoring opportunities late in the second half to snatch a 2-1 comeback win that left Lions head coach Adrian Heath fuming.
“I don’t think they deserve not to take anything from the game,” Heath said afterwards. “But we can’t keep killing ourselves. We shoot ourselves in the foot every week.
“Tonight, we let ourselves down again; people aren’t doing their job.”
Orlando seemed largely comfortable holding off the D.C. attack, until center back Aurélien Collin pulled up with a hamstring injury and was forced to leave the game in the 67th minute. Injuries have thus far been a hugely detrimental factor in Orlando City’s debut MLS season, and it only got more difficult after Collin went down.
The Frenchman’s departure forced Tyler Turner, a young right back with no experience at the center back position so far this season, into the lineup. With Seb Hines not fit for the match, andAmobi Okugo suspended due to yellow-card accumulation, Heath had no other option.
It didn’t take long for United to take advantage of Turner’s inexperience. In the 70th minute, Taylor Kemp’s free kick found the head of Kofi Opare, whose header beat Orlando goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.
“Today is very difficult because we won the first half. The second half we just didn’t play and do the little things that makes a difference,” said Lions captain Kaká.
“We have to be concentrated the whole game, the whole game. There are some moments during the game that we can’t lose concentration.”
About 10 minutes later, D.C took the lead.Jairo Arrieta knocked a beautiful cross over the head of Turner – who was caught ball-watching – and into the stride of Chris Rolfe, who put a beautiful volley past a helpless Ricketts to seal the victory for D.C.
“It doesn’t help losing Aurelien, but if people do their job, pick up people we should be marking, then we’ll be okay,” said Heath. “I’m fed up of going through this.”
Orlando City cannot seem to catch a break from injuries, and can only hope that Collin’s injury is a minor one. OCSC have already lost Pedro Ribeiro and Martin Paterson for extended periods this season due to hamstring injuries, and Kevin Molino is out for the year after he tore his ACL some two weeks ago.
The Lions have also been robbed of a lot of depth with injuries to Lewis Neal and Tony Cascio, and lost likely starter Cristian Higuita for tonight’s game after he suffered a concussion in training. He was replaced by Heath’s son Harrison, as the 19-year-old made his MLS debut.
To make matters worse, Orlando City have precious little time to lick their wounds: They face the defending MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy Sunday at the Citrus Bowl (5 pm ET, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes in US, TSN2 in Canada).
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