Orlando, FL. – MLS Heineken Rivalry Week, always right near the end of the season and always dramatic games that can alter postseason standings and where the teams finish. We had one of those games on our hands tonight, 1st place in the East, (48 pts) Atlanta United in O-Town to take on 8th place in the East, (34 pts) Orlando City.
Last time these two teams faced-off was just 17 days ago and there was a similar result in a similar place. On the 6th of August, Atlanta was back in Orlando for the semi-final match of the US Open Cup. That game finished 2-0 in favor of the Five Stripes but the match tonight would end 2-0 in favor of the visitors again.
Orlando City head coach, James O’ Connor, said postgame: “I think the chance creation from inside the box, we can say we were unlucky, but we were the architects for our downfall.” In the first half the home side played extremely well and coherent, mustering up 9 shots and plenty of chances in the 18-yard box that could have easily been put away. In a span of three minutes, Orlando had three shots on target but all would be saved by Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan. O’Connor also said: “If you look at the areas we got into we should’ve either shot sooner or punished them.”
Carlos Ascues was one of the players who had what seemed like endless chances in the box to put the Lions up in the first half and bring them level in the second half. When asked about Carlos finding that space, O’Connor had this to say: “I thought he had some wonderful chances tonight, I thought his understanding of space was excellent.” It goes to show that the players were finding the space and creating chances but just couldn’t find the finishing touch and that was killer in the end.
15 minutes into the second half is when the barrier was broken and Atlanta went up on what would be the game winning goal from the star striker, Josef Martinez. He curled the ball past Orlando City keeper Brian Rowe down into the bottom right corner of the net. This would extend Martinez’s scoring run to 12 games straight. To put that number into perspective, Kevin Durant wasn’t injured since Martinez last had a game where he didn’t score. This would also bring him to 22 goals on the season, just four behind MLS leading scorer, Carlos Vela of LAFC.
In total Orlando City had a staggering 21 shots but only managed to put four of those on target. Atlanta had 15 shots, three on target and 10 off target. Tonight’s match was just decided by the quality of finishing. You can bet James O’Connor is going to be planning lots of finishing drills for practice and Atlanta head Coach Frank De Boer is going to walk out of Exploria Stadium being grateful that Orlando couldn’t finish any shots.
Orlando looks to keep in the playoff hunt taking on San Jose on the 31st and then hosting LAFC for the first time in MLS history on September 7th. Two opportunities to pick up points from Western Conference teams and get over the bubble and into the playoffs for the first time in club history.
Written by Zach Bartkus
