Orlando City rescues point with last gasp equalizer against New England
Orlando City had their supporters to thank this evening as they managed to grab a point with a 3-3 draw after a last gasp equalizer by Scott Sutter against New England Revolution at Orlando City Stadium.
Woeful defending was again the story as Orlando City gifted goals to the visitors to make life difficult for themselves as they fought back from being 2-0 down and then 3-2 down.
“When you look at how the game played out, you have to come away and think, ‘Okay, 2-nil down, you get back into it.’ 3-2 down, you manage to get an equalizer late. You need to certainly look at it as very encouraging, both from a character standpoint with the fact that we’re able to get something out of it,” Lions head coach James O’Connor (pictured above) said. ”But when you look at the supporters, when you look at the atmosphere the second half, the way the supporters kept chanting, kept pushing, kept driving us on, massive, massive thank-you to the supporters tonight because I think they’ve really helped us to come back into the game and get that point.”
In another poor first half performance, the Lions found themselves 2-0 down after 18 minutes. The first came from a throw in close to the left hand corner flag. Brandon Bye threw the ball to the edge of the six yard box for Juan Agudelo to flick through the despairing dive of Orlando keeper Earl Edwards Jr. It was a poor goal to concede so early in the match and worse was to come when the Revolution made it 2-0 in the 18th minute.
Scott Sutter was culpable for playing a poor ball into Shane O’Neill who lost the ball under intense pressure from Luis Calcedo. The 22 year old Colombian then released Cristian Penilla who finished magnificently to bend the ball around Edwards Jr. into the top right hand corner. Ten minutes later New England should have sealed the game as Penilla played a clever ball behind the Orlando defence to Scott Caldwell. Caldwell took the ball around Edwards Jr. but saw his effort desperately cleared off the line by Mohammed El-Munir.
Orlando grabbed a lifeline right on the stroke of half time as Dom Dwyer (pictured above) pulled a goal back. It was a crucial boost for the home side who had only looked likely to concede more goals to a Revolution side that had previously lost their last three games. The goal came in the 45th minute as Tony Rocha crossed from the far side and Dwyer applied a fine left hand finish past Matt Turner in the Revolution goal.
Half Time : Orlando City 1 New England Revolution 2
Orlando stepped up the tempo in the second half as their fans turned up the volume and grabbed an equalizer in the 71st minute from an indirect free kick. Yoshimar Yotún curled the ball in and Amro Tarek met it with a firm header that hit the left hand post. The ball looked like it was going to bounce clear but Turner stuck out a hand and merely deflected the ball into his own net to the delight of the Orlando fans.
Five minutes later the visitors regained the lead as Orlando fell asleep at the back. Agudelo was allowed to run at the Lions defence and he slipped a ball into an unmarked Teal Bunbury who slickly finished low through Edwards Jr. legs into the middle of the net for his 11th goal of the season.
Scott Sutter (pictured above) then provided the rescue act in the third minute of added time. Yotún curled in a free kick from the right hand side and poor defending from the Revolution allowed the 32 year old English born defender to head home to level things up once again.
A moment of madness then descended on the game as Dom Dwyer unnecessarily flew into a challenge on Wilfried Zahibo that enraged the Revolution’s players. A mass brawl then broke out that eventually saw Dwyer yellow carded and Yotún dismissed with a straight red card for violent behavior.
Full Time: Orlando City 3 New England Revolution 3
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC – GK Earl Edwards, Jr., D PC (Stéfano Pinho 60’), Amro Tarek, Shane O’Neill, Scott Sutter, M Cristian Higuita (Chris Mueller 70’), Tony Rocha, Mohamed El-Munir, ⓒ Sacha Kljestan (Josué Colmán 44’), Yoshimar Yotún, F Dom Dwyer
Substitutes Not Used: GK Joe Bendik, D Chris Schuler, Donny Toia, M Will Johnson
New England Revolution – GK Matt Turner, D Brandon Bye, Antonio Delamea, Jalil Anibaba, ⓒ Andrew Farrell, Luis Caicedo, Wilfried Zahibo, Diego Fagundez (Cristhian Machado 87’), Scott Caldwell (Teal Bunbury 74’), Cristian Penilla, F Juan Agudelo
Substitutes Not Used: GK Brad Knighton, D Gabriel Somi, M Zachary Herivaux, F Krisztian Nemeth, Brian Wright
Attendance: 23,879
More photos at www.FloridaLeisurePhotography.com
