Orlando City defeats Sporting Kansas 3-1 in crunch match
Orlando City went into tonight’s match against former affiliate club Sporting Kansas City knowing that only a win would be good enough to prolong their hopes of making the end of season play offs in the MLS Eastern Conference.
In front of 22,241 fans, the Lions roared off to the perfect start when Adrian Winter (pictured above) headed home his first MLS goal from a Luke Boden free kick in the third minute. Two minutes later Orlando nearly extended their lead as a Carlos Rivas cross was fumbled by Jon Kemplin in the Sporting goal. The ball fell to Lewis Neal (pictured below) on the edge of the six yard box but he saw his effort go just wide of the left hand post as Kemplin made a desperate challenge to block the shot.
Orlando’s fast out of the blocks start continued as they found plenty of space on both flanks and they nearly created another chance for Cyle Larin just moments later. Sporting then started to get a grip on the game and had some neat possession play that led to their best chance of the half in the 17th minute after ex-Lion Dom Dwyer headed just over the bar from a corner.
Half time came with Orlando still leading 1-0 and it was a chance for Women’s World Cup Winners Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux to take the field for a rousing reception. The happier of the two appeared to be Morgan who’s husband, Servando Carrasco was playing for Orlando while Sydney’s husband, Dom Dwyer was intent on hurting his former club.
The second half started and it was Orlando who started the strongest. The Lions should have found themselves two up in the 50th minute after a Graham Zusi loose pass was intercepted by Orlando’s Neal who in turn fed Larin who really should have done better than blast his shot high and wide of the right hand goal frame with just Kempin to beat.
Two minutes later, Kevin Ellis slipped at the crucial moment as he went to clear a Rafael Ramos cross and Larin failed to seize the chance to control the ball and slip it home.
In soccer, crucial misses like this are usually punished and so it was that Sporting leveled the score in the 59th minute as Kansas midfielder Benny Feilhaber found Krisztian Nemeth just outside the box. Nemeth dribbled into the box, beat a couple of light weight challenges and smashed home a terrific strike to the top right hand corner giving Tally Hall in the Orlando goal absolutely no chance.
Two minutes later, Orlando Head Coach introduced Brek Shea into the arena and it was a welcome return from a hernia injury for the Lions star as he played an instrumental role as Orlando went back ahead in the 66th minute. A long ball from defense by David Mateos up the left wing saw Heath’s other substitute Bryan Rochez (pictured above) compete for a ball with Sporting’s Kevin Ellis. Neither man touched the ball and it broke nicely for Shea who had acres of space in which to run into the Kansas box. Shea took a couple of touches and just for an instant it looked like he would shoot himself until he unselfishly played a clever cut back to the advancing Rochez who made no mistake with a neat finish to give the Lions the 2-1 lead with his first ever MLS goal.
Six minutes later, Orlando’s fans were in a hysterical state as their side went further ahead through another Winter goal. This time Ramos, on the right wing, fed an innocuous ball into the box that looked to be an easy clearance for Ellis. Ellis took a touch but then mysteriously allowed Rochez to steal the ball from him. Rochez played the ball to Winter who then played a delightful one-two with Neal before completing a fine finish to extend Orlando’s lead.
By this point, Kansas had enjoyed a good share of the possession with a game ending 52% majority but these two goals were killer blows. Worse was to come for the visitors in the 87th minute as Dwyer (Pictured above) was shown a red card for pushing Mateos down to the ground. It was a sad end to the match for the man who had made it clear that returning to Orlando was a special occasion for him. As he left the field he received some mighty acclaim from the Orlando supporters who had not forgotten his previous exploits for their side. It was refreshing to see in a day and age when players visiting their previous clubs are usually the subject of vicious abuse.
The three points were most welcomed by Heath after the game as he said, “I think we deserved it [the win]. I thought we started really well. We didn’t allow them to settle. I am really pleased for the players and delighted for our supporters, who have been incredible. We’ve given them something to cheer tonight. I think it has been a really good night for everybody. All the teams around us are all vying for that last place. We are all going to be in Montreal’s hands, but they have a lot of games to play in not many days. We will see where we go. Tonight gave us another chance and we got close to that red line.”
Orlando now moves up to seventh in the Eastern Conference, level on points with their next home opponent Montreal Impact on 3rd October. The home team will again need all three points on offer if they are to keep their play off hopes alive as next week they travel to take on Chicago Fire on Saturday 19th. The following Friday, 25th September they meet New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena.
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC – GK Tally Hall, D Rafael Ramos, David Mateos, Aurelien Collin, Luke Boden, M Cristian Higuita, Servando Carrasco, Adrian Winter (Eric Avila 73’), Carlos Rivas (Brek Shea 61’), Lewis Neal, F Cyle Larin (Bryan Rochez 57’)
Unused Subs: GK Earl Edwards Jr., D Tommy Redding, Seb Hines, F Danny Mwanga
Sporting Kansas City – GK Jon Kempin, D Saad Abdul-Salaam, Matt Besler, Kevin Ellis, Seth Sinovic, M Benny Feilhaber (Jordi Quintilla 73’), Soni Mustivar, Krisztian Nemeth, Jacob Peterson, Graham Zusi, F Dom Dwyer
Unused Subs: GK Mitchell, D Jalil Anibaba, Bernardo Anor, Jordi Quintilla, M Amadou Dia, M Mikey Lopez, F Marcel de Jong
More photos at www.FloridaLeisurePhotography.com
