NYC FC (13-4-4, 43 points) came into Orlando City Stadium and continued their dominance over the Orlando City (7-13-1, 22 points) with a 2-0 win in front of a crowd of 23,790.
Orlando City started the match looking like they had never played together. Errant passes, wide open defensive spaces were on display on the purple side as the fans tried desperately to cheer on the home team. Orlando has not defeated NYC since April 2017.
Goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. made his third MLS start of the season and defender PC also got a chance to show new Orlando coach James O’Conner what they can do. PC did not have a good first half, getting beat on plays, including allowing NYC striker Maxi Moralez a one on one against Edwards Jr. where the goalkeeper made a remarkable save by not only blocking the initial shot, but also corralling the shot off of the rebound for a double same.
in the 40’, Moralez reacted quickest when the ball deflected back off the post after Rodney Wallace’s pressing created chaos at the top of the box.
Moralez wheeled away in delight after sweeping home his eighth goal of the season. One became two in the only minute of stoppage-time when Tinnerholm came up with yet another goal from full-back, cutting inside and slotting into the far corner with finesse from the corner of the area.
“The biggest thing for me is I’ll never make excuses. The easy thing for me to do is to come out here and say, ‘Oh we hit the post four times.’ There’s something to that, but equally for me there shouldn’t be a disparity between the first and second half,” Lions head coach James O’Connor said. “When 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 there’s a desperation to want to do well for those supporters. I ask them just to stick with us. As a Club we’re going through a difficult time. But I can promise you things will get better.”
The Lions came out in the second half pressing for their first goal. In the 61st minute, Yuri Yotún hit the post from seven yards out. Two minutes later, Yotún’s long-range blast forced Sean Johnson into a strong save and then another on Dwyer’s rebound attempt. Schuler hit the bar in the 78th minute. Orlando’s shots hit the bar in close calls 4 times in the match.
ity was reduced to 10 men when Shane O’Neill 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.
