Lions defeat Chicago Fire 1-0 to pick up three valuable points on the road
Orlando City SC (9-13-8, 35 points) defeated Chicago Fire (7-16-6, 27 points) 1-0 before 20,280 fans at Toyota Park on Saturday night, marking the second consecutive victory for the Lions.
Second half substitute Bryan Róchez (pictured above) scored the game-winning goal in the waning moments of the game, notching his second goal of the season after scoring his first as a Lion in the team’s 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City last weekend.
After a slow start to the game, both sides produced an intensely contested match with goalkeepers Tally Hall and Jon Busch making difficult saves to keep their teams even.
However, in the second half, head coach Adrian Heath used all three of his substitutions, introducing Brek Shea and Bryan Rochez, who combined for the winning goal in the Lions’ win over Sporting, along with defensive midfielder Darwin Ceren – who returned to the pitch after missing last weekend’s game due to injury.
With four minutes remaining, all three players combined to score the game-winning goal – securing three points for Orlando. The play began when Shea collected the ball on the right wing and cut inside, playing an accurate pass in the box to Ceren who found Rochez for a clinical finish from six yards away.
“We wanted to keep it tight. In the end, it was good that all three subs were involved in the goal, but more importantly it was a great team effort from everybody,” said Heath. “We were always going to have to pick something up on the road to give us a chance, and we’ve done that tonight. Now, can we go again in New York next week. It’s give us a chance and as I said before, we’re going to keep fighting. I’m so pleased for us to win tonight, as we had over 100 people here from our office and some of our supporters so it was a great evening.”
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC – GK Tally Hall, D Rafael Ramos, David Mateos, Aurelien Collin, Luke Boden, M Cristian Higuita, Servando Carrasco, Adrian Winter (Brek Shea 70’), Carlos Rivas (Darwin Cerén 81’), Lewis Neal, F Cyle Larin (Bryan Róchez 70’)
Unused Subs: GK Earl Edwards Jr., D Seb Hines, M Eric Avila, F Danny Mwanga
Chicago Fire – GK Jon Busch, D Jeff Larentowicz, Joevin Jones, Ty Harden, Daniel Cyrus, M Patrick Nyarko (Mike Magee 85′), Razvan Cocis, Michael Stephens (Jason Johnson 85′), Harry Shipp (Gilberto 71′), D David Accam, Kennedy Igboananike
Unused Subs: GK Alec Kann, D Lovel Palmer, M Chris Ritter, Matt Watson
