The Orlando City Soccer Club was handed their first loss at home in over year. The Seattle Sounders beat the home team Lions soundly, 3-1 at Camping World Stadium. It was not the follow up to coach Jason Kreis’ debut win last week 3-1 over the New England Revolution.
The match had a promising start with Orlando City jumping on the board early in the match when Kaká delivered a corner service to Hines in the box. The English defender drove a strong header off the ground and in for his third goal of the season and Kaká’s seventh assist.
Seattle responded with the goals from U.S. national team captain Clint Dempsey who scored in the 14th and 37th minute. Dempsey earned a hat trick in the 48th minute.
The high energy Orlando City players seemed to be tapped out this week. “Very disappointed with the result but I think some of it’s natural. From what I saw tonight, we saw a group that the energy looked a little bit low, but we’ve been asking a lot of them for two weeks,” Head Coach Jason Kreis said. “The adjustment is going to take some time from a physical standpoint. But it doesn’t mean we’re going to work less. Their bodies are going to adapt. From a tactical standpoint, we’re still working. It’s going to take some time.”
The last Orlando City loss at home was a 2-0 shutout against the New York Red Bulls on July 18, 2015.
The Lions had their chances and dominated possession in the second half, but couldn’t get another ball past Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
Other notes on Sunday’s match:
Pérez García entered the match in the 55th minute in place of Hadji Barry, who made his fourth consecutive start. The Argentinian displayed his skill and technical ability, combining with Kaká, Baptista and Larin on several occasions on the attack.
Midfielder Servando Carrasco, who played three seasons for Seattle, made his 100th MLS regular season appearance.
The Lions now begin a two game -game road trip to Chicago (Aug 14) and Colorado (Aug 20). They return to Camping World Stadium on Wednesday, Aug. 24, when it hosts Toronto FC for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff.
