Orlando City lose to Toronto
Orlando City suffered another home defeat as they crashed to a 2-0 defeat to Toronto FC at the Orlando Citrus Bowl on Sunday night.
The only bright spot of the evening was the turnout from fans eager to see a first home win as 30,908 fans helped the club surpass the record for an expansion team in its first four home games. The record was previously held by the LA Galaxy who had an average of 38,826 at their first four home games while Orlando is now averaging 39,328.
The match itself was a disappointment as Orlando struggled to get to grips with a strong Toronto team containing such players as U.S. Men’s National Team striker Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley. It was Bradley who controlled the game in a dominant performance but it was Altidore who took home the plaudits with two second half goals to seal the Canadian team’s win.
Orlando will look to the fact that they had approximately 65% of the possession but it is goals that win football matches and in truth, Orlando didn’t do enough to threaten the Toronto goal. The games decisive moments fell to Altidore and he showed the men in purple how to take chances when they come. His first goal came four minutes into the second half as he brought down the ball and turned past the City defence in one movement before tucking the ball into the net past the bewildered Donovan Ricketts in the Orlando goal.
The second goal arrived in the 83rd minute as Orlando committed more men to attack. Altidore ran on to a ball floated deep into the Lions’ half and beat both Seb Hines and Ricketts to slot the ball away.
“It was obviously a difficult ending for us, but I don’t think we played well enough tonight,” said head coach Adrian Heath. “In terms of moving the ball, this was probably the worst game we’ve had all season. They (Toronto) did what we thought they’d do and played their most experienced team. It made things difficult and blocked off the middle of the pitch. We fell into the trap of continuously trying to force it through the middle, and overall, I don’t think we were good enough to win the game.”
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC – GK Donovan Ricketts, D Brek Shea, Aurélien Collin, Seb Hines, Tyler Turner, M Amobi Okugo (Carlos Rivas 64′), Darwin Cerén, Cristian Higuita, Kevin Molino (Danny Mwanga 76′), Kaká, F Cyle Larin (Bryan Rochez 67′)
Toronto FC – GK Joseph Bendik, D Nick Hagglund, Damien Perquis, Justin Morrow, Ashtone Morgan, M Jackson (Warren Creavalle 64′), Michael Bradley, Benoit Cheyrou, F Sebastian Giovinco (Colleen Warner 85′), Robbie Findley (Jonathan Osario 65′), Jozy Altidore
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