Montreal Impact ends Orlando City Soccer play off hopes
In front of 26,041 fans, Montreal Impact (11-10-11, 44 points) beat Orlando City SC (7-11-14, 35 points) 1-0 to effectively end any hopes of a play off place for the home side.
On a sweltering hot afternoon at Camping World Stadium, the Lions played with a sense of urgency and dominated the match from the opening whistle. Despite controlling the game with 66.8 percent possession, having 22 shots on goal compared to Montreal’s four, practically doubling the Impact’s number of passes 525-273, winning 12 corner kicks and a slew of free kicks, Orlando City simply couldn’t find a way to score.
Montreal scored the only goal of the game in the 56th minute when Dominic Oduro received a forward pass that deflected off Lions defender Seb Hines. He sprinted past Orlando’s Luke Boden and neatly beat goalkeeper Joe Bendik with a neat finish to the right hand side for the game winner.
With the loss, Orlando City is eliminated from playoff contention.
“Obviously, we’re all very deeply disappointed. We all put a tremendous amount into that game. We really gave our hearts and souls to it, from the build-up the past several days, and even before that in the days before Toronto. We’ve given everything we can from coaching staff to the players’ point of view. I couldn’t be happier with the work everybody’s done [this season] and the effort everybody’s given,” Lions Head Coach Jason Kreis said. “But soccer can be a cruel game. I think that’s what we saw today. Because, in my opinion, we did everything but finish our chances. If we had finished one of our chances I think the game would’ve been much different.”
Orlando City gets two weeks off before its next game, when it heads to Philadelphia to take on the Union on Saturday, Oct. 16. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. ET. The Lions return to Camping World Stadium for the season finale when they host D.C. United on Saturday, Oct. 23.
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC – GK Joe Bendik, D Luke Boden, José Aja, David Mateos (Seb Hines 52’), Kevin Alston, M Servando Carrasco (Carlos Rivas 64’), Antonio Nocerino, Kevin Molino (Júlio Baptista 46’), F Matías Pérez García, Kaká, Cyle Larin
Substitutes Not Used: GK Earl Edwards Jr., D Tommy Redding, M Tony Rocha, Cristian Higuita
Montreal Impact – GK Evan Bush, D Wandrille Lefèvre, Laurent Ciman, Kyle Fisher, Ambroise Oyongo, M Marco Donadel, Hernán Bernadello, Patrice Bernier (Callum Mallace 70’), Dominic Oduro, Ignacio Piatti (Harry Shipp 90’), F Matteo Mancosu (Johan Venegas 78’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Eric Kronberg, M Lucas Ontivero, F Didier Drogba, Michael Salazar
Attendance: 26,041
More photos at www.FloridaLeisurePhotography.com
