Orlando City and Houston Dynamo share the spoils with goalless draw
Orlando City SC dominated the possession on Friday evening in their match against the Houston Dynamo but couldn’t find a way through a dogged defence to take the three points. It was the first game since the shock departure of Head Coach Adrian Heath earlier in the week and although the Lions controlled the game in large portions the lack of end product was the crucial difference. On the plus side, City’s back-line earned only its second clean sheet of the season to extend the team’s Major League Soccer (MLS) home-unbeaten streak to 16 games, the longest active streak in the Eastern Conference.
The match was the first with interim head coach Bobby Murphy (pictured above) and after the game he summed things up by saying “In light of the events of the last couple days, I think there was a bit of an edginess to the guys. They wanted to do well. I told [the players] this in the locker room: right now we’re above the red line and we got our first clean sheet since Game 3 in New York. Those are two really positive things that we can hang on to going into this busy stretch the next couple of weeks.”
Orlando City dominated well over 62 percent of possession in completing 516 passes, over 200 more than the Dynamo, but none of it really had a cutting edge as the team moved the ball from one side of the field to the other without really causing too much harm to the opposition. Harrison Heath, (pictured above) making his second ever MLS starting appearance, had a fine game in central midfield but the team really had Joe Bendik, in goal, to thank for thwarting the best opportunities of the game that fell to the visitors.
Orlando’s best chance of the evening fell to Kevin Molino (pictured above) in the 50th minute. The Trinidad international collected a loose ball and went on a powerful run past several defenders before attempting to chip Tyle Deric in the Houston goal. The ball deflected off the grateful keeper and away for a corner.
The Lions now head out on a three-game road trip beginning Wednesday, July 13, at the New York Red Bulls. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. Following that match, City heads to Vancouver to take on the Whitecaps on Saturday, July 16, before heading to Columbus on Saturday, July 23. The Lions return to Camping World Stadium on Sunday, July 31, when they host the New England Revolution. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC – GK Joe Bendik, D Luke Boden, David Mateos, Seb Hines, Kevin Alston, M Harrison Heath (Servando Carrasco 88’), Cristian Higuita, Brek Shea, Darwin Cerén (Júlio Baptista 60’), Kevin Molino, F Cyle Larin
Substitutes Not Used: GK Earl Edwards Jr., D Conor Donovan, M Antonio Nocerino, Devron Garcia, F Hadji Barry
Houston Dynamo – GK Tyler Deric, D Jalil Anibaba, DaMarcus Beasley (Sheanon Williams 67’), David Horst, Raul Rodriguez, M Giles Barnes, Ricardo Clark, Alex (Andrew Wenger 58’), Boniek Garcia, Collen Warner, F Will Bruin (Cristian Maidana 74’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Joe Willis, D Agus, M F Mauro Manotas, Erick Torres
Attendance: 28,104
More photos at www.FloridaLeisurePhotography.com
