ORLANDO, FL – Orlando City SC (11-8-9, 42 points) defeated DC United (12-12-4, 40 points) 2-1 on a goal by Daryl Dike in the last minute of stoppage time at Exploria Stadium.
The win Gove the Lions 3 much needed points after 4 winless matches and the playoff push coming to a head.
DC opened up the scoring in the 6th minute when Julian Gressel blasted a 25yd blast into the Orlando net past Goalkeeper Pedro Gallese.
In the 17th minute, Robin Janssen was able to put his foot on a set piece rebound and hit the back of the net for the equalizer.
The match went into the half with that score, but teams strategies seemed to shift in the second half.
DC was more aggressive in the first half, but seemed content to go home with a draw in the second half as they pulled back their defense as opposed to starting high, which they did in the onset of the game.
Orlando seemed determined to not go home with the tie, and constantly searched for space in the half.
It all came down to a corner kick in the final minute of stoppage time. Elevated play by Emanuel was was crucial towards the end of the match, as his play back and forth with Chris Mueller resulted in some set plays.
It was Mueller that sent in the ball for the winner. Dike happened to be right on the spot as Mueller’s ball came in, and he headed it towards the right corner, hitting the crossbar and bouncing into the goal, sealing the win.
The question was, how did Dike wind up with the purple sunglasses that he was wearing when celebrating the goal?
“I don’t know,” Said Dike “Andres (Pareya) just handed to me and I put them on.”
Lions head coach Oscar Pareyra was emotional after the win, gathering his players into a big circle, hugging and congratulating each of them as he arranged the circle, and they just let out an explosion of joy with each other, celebrating the end pop the winless streak.
The win give the Lions a much needed three points and as of this writing puts them back in third place in the MLS Easter standings.
The lions next travel to Cincinnati to face FC Cincinnati at West End Stadium on October 16th.
