Orlando City SC (4-7-3, 15 points) lost to the LA Galaxy (8-5-1, 25 points) 1-0 Friday night in front of over 24,000 fans at Orlando City Stadium. The Lions took a team record 19 shots but never hit the back of the net.
The Galaxy were without their superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was serving the second game of a two game suspension for fighting in their match against the New York Red Bulls.
The boys in purple but up a good fight, and at the end of the night, one play mattered. LA’s Jonathan dos Santos fired a rocket from outside the box and in the net for a goal in the in the 19th minute for the winning shot. Orlando goalie Brian Rowe didn’t have a shot at blocking it.
Orlando managed 6 shots with 3 on target in the first half compared to LA’s 1, and 13 shots in the second half with 4 on target compared to LA’s 3 shots. But the shots don’t matter unless they go in
“Obviously very bitter game for us to accept. ” Said Orlando Head Coach James O’Connor “I think when you look, it’s a stereotypical smash and grab. I think when you look at the volume of chances that we’ve had, the possession that we’ve had, [and] I think they’ve had one shot on target. So I think it’s a really difficult one to take because you look at that and it’s hard to say that we deserved to get beaten in that game, that’s for sure.”
Orlando did get a penalty kick chance for the second consecutive game, but Nani’s attempt was blocked by Galaxy Goalie David Bingham.
The consensus from players Chris Mueller, Josue Colmon and coach O’Conner can be summed up in one word: “Frustrating”.
“We wanted to win that game really badly, felt like it was really important at home to get the three points and we threw everything we could at them.” Said Mueller “It’s like you said, it’s really frustrating not to come away with a win. But we just got to keep moving forward, right? We’ve got to focus on the next game. This one stings, and hopefully it’s the springboard for what’s to come.”
The wear of three games in one week has really made in impact on the Lions. Tesho Akindele started running out of gas in the second period and was replaced by Kyle Smith in the 55th minute. Sasha Kljiesta came on in the 56th minute and added some much needed energy, but no scoring.
Orlando heads out on the road for the next three matches, starting with the Montreal Impact on Saturday June 1st a State Saputo in Montreal.
