Written By: Elliot Nunez
ORLANDO- It was a passionate matchup tonight where the Orlando City Lions tied Columbus Crew 2-2 in a packed Orlando Citrus Bowl where 31,430 fans were glued to their seats until the final whistle. Tonight’s match was the 6th game this season with an attendance over 30,000 and the fans sure did get a great game.
Columbus Crew emerged out of the gates posing a huge threat on offense, leading to an early goal in the 7th minute from Midfielder Tony Tchani.
“Early goals are a little bit tricky, it’s a bit of a punch in the face and you got to realize that things can happen early,” said Orlando City goalie Tally Hall.
The early Columbus threat would eventually come to a halt. In the 17th minute after a change in possession, momentum instantaneously shifted after Columbus defender Michael Parkhurst picked up a red card in the box for “handling the ball on the goal line”, as described by the Referee post game.
This gave Orlando City a penalty kick with a chance to draw even. Orlando City captain Kaka would take full advantage of the penalty kick by firing it in the back of the net.
Just seconds prior to the end of the half Orlando City Midfielder Carlos Rivas would be issued a yellow card for getting into an altercation and both teams headed into the locker room with tensions all tied up 1-1.
As we hit the second half, Orlando would come up empty on a couple of great opportunities. One of note that came in the 59th minute as Orlando City forward Cyle Larin would completely miss the ball on a open shot attempt inside the box.
“We had to many opportunities to score tonight and we haven’t done it” head coach Adrian Heath said of the Lions missed opportunities all night. The Lions out shot Columbus 23 to 9 in the match, with 9 total shots on target.
Columbus would end up capitalizing on Orlando’s misfortune in the 61st minute with a goal of their own, coming off a fast break turnover, assisted by defender Waylon Francis and headed in by Midfielder Kei Kamara. This gave Columbus a 2-1 lead over the Orlando City Lions.
However this would not stop the fighting Lions as they continued to push with their 1 man advantage. To the elation of the hometown fans, Orlando City was able to overcome adversity as midfielder Pedro Ribeiro drilled a shot from 20 yards out and it sailed into the back of the net in the 89th minute.
The late goal gave Orlando City a tie and improves their record to 3-5-5 on the season, they now have 14 points on the MLS season.
After fighting back for a tie, Orlando City SC looks to recoup Saturday, June 6th as they head to Toyota Park in Chicago and look to defeat the 3-5-2 Chicago Fire.
Columbus Crew emerged out of the gates posing a huge threat on offense, leading to an early goal in the 7th minute from Midfielder Tony Tchani.
“Early goals are a little bit tricky, it’s a bit of a punch in the face and you got to realize that things can happen early,” said Orlando City goalie Tally Hall.
The early Columbus threat would eventually come to a halt. In the 17th minute after a change in possession, momentum instantaneously shifted after Columbus defender Michael Parkhurst picked up a red card in the box for “handling the ball on the goal line”, as described by the Referee post game.
This gave Orlando City a penalty kick with a chance to draw even. Orlando City captain Kaka would take full advantage of the penalty kick by firing it in the back of the net.
Just seconds prior to the end of the half Orlando City Midfielder Carlos Rivas would be issued a yellow card for getting into an altercation and both teams headed into the locker room with tensions all tied up 1-1.
As we hit the second half, Orlando would come up empty on a couple of great opportunities. One of note that came in the 59th minute as Orlando City forward Cyle Larin would completely miss the ball on a open shot attempt inside the box.
“We had to many opportunities to score tonight and we haven’t done it” head coach Adrian Heath said of the Lions missed opportunities all night. The Lions out shot Columbus 23 to 9 in the match, with 9 total shots on target.
Columbus would end up capitalizing on Orlando’s misfortune in the 61st minute with a goal of their own, coming off a fast break turnover, assisted by defender Waylon Francis and headed in by Midfielder Kei Kamara. This gave Columbus a 2-1 lead over the Orlando City Lions.
However this would not stop the fighting Lions as they continued to push with their 1 man advantage. To the elation of the hometown fans, Orlando City was able to overcome adversity as midfielder Pedro Ribeiro drilled a shot from 20 yards out and it sailed into the back of the net in the 89th minute.
The late goal gave Orlando City a tie and improves their record to 3-5-5 on the season, they now have 14 points on the MLS season.
After fighting back for a tie, Orlando City SC looks to recoup Saturday, June 6th as they head to Toyota Park in Chicago and look to defeat the 3-5-2 Chicago Fire.