During the first 30 minutes of the game, Orlando City SC controlled the possession of the ball without creating any clear opportunities on Philadelphia keeper Andre Blake’s goal, only one long shot from Kaka that went to wide. In the 35th minute of the game, the Colombian winger Carlos Rivas, made an excellent run that ended in a penalty after Andre Blake tackled Kaka on the one-on-one opportunity. Philadelphia Union’s Andre Blake became the first half hero after he saved Kaka’s penalty shot, giving Philadelphia Union a confidence boost for the 2nd half.
Philadelphia Union started the 2nd half with a lot of confidence, Tranquillo Barnetta, the former Swiss International created a lot of chances during the 2nd half, and in the 52nd minute of the game scored the first goal of the game from a assist by Chris Pontius.
In the 67th minute of the game Orlando City’s coach, Adrian Heath, gave the opportunity to Julio Baptista and Kevin Molino (who didn’t play last weekend due to a bad performance against Sporting Kansas City), that changed the games dynamic in favor of Orlando. Just 30 seconds after Molino entered the game; in the 68th minute, the Trinitarian winger equalized the game for Orlando after a collision between Larin (ORL) and Blake (PHI) left the goal open for Molino to score his 5th goal of the season.
In the 71st minute of the game, just 3 minutes after Molino’s goal, Cyle Larin was able to put in his 7th goal of the season, giving the lead to Orlando after a great run by Kaka, where he fed the ball into Larin, the Canada-Brazil connection notched their third goal in the last two games.
The celebration didn’t last long for Orlando City fans, after only 5 minutes, Ken Tribbett equalize the score with a goal after a great cross from Tranquillo Barnetta for the Union. This goal would give Philadelphia the second confidence boost of the game, creating several chances that were saved by Orlando’s goalkeeper Joe Bendik.
In the final moments of the game Cristian Higuita got his fifth yellow card of the season, giving him a one game suspension. In the 90th minute of the game Orlando’s David Mateos received a red card for a serious foul on a Philadelphia Union player, giving another problem to Orlando City’s coach, Adrian Heath, for the upcoming game against New York City FC. With the absences of Rafael Ramos, Seb Hines and David Mateos on defense, the coach will need to think of giving a chance for a Orlando City B center back for next game.
Adrian Heath addressed about the absences for Sunday’s game “It’s a little disappointing… but we’ll see what happens we got one game before the 3 week break… I’m pretty sure that whoever goes in will do alright”.
Orlando City SC will play again this Sunday, May 29th, against the New York City at Yankee Stadium. New York City FC will try to give their fans a reason to celebrate after the defeat 7-0 on the New York Derby against New York Red Bulls.