Written by Raul Sosa
FC Dallas showed up fully determined to stop Orlando’s home winning streak from the very 1st minute of the game. They came all the way from Texas with one thing in mind: having the entire control of the game despite their visitor condition.
With Orlando City SC having a lot of trouble controlling the ball and retaining possession, FC Dallas felt confortable in the field little by little. Their attack was shy at first, but Orlando’s lacking attack and creativity gave Dallas the incentive to search their 1st goal of the night.
It was on a lost ball by Orlando City in the middle corridor when FC Dallas created a counter attack at full speed. Fabian Castillo stepped inside the penalty box and Cristian Higuita conceded a penalty after taking him down. High hopes were placed on Tally Hall of blocking the penalty, but Mauro Díaz converted the 0-1 at 45’+1 of the first half.
Being down in the score, the 30,513 Orlando loyal fans pushed their team to search the equalizer since the 1st minute of the second half. Despite their chants and their unstoppable support, the Purple Lions showed up very weak in every sense and had a night to forget.
Orlando City SC created very few good scoring chances; in fact, their most dangerous play in the entire match was a goal from Pedro Ribeiro that ended up in a very doubtful offside. Orlando had 0 shots on target in the entire game.
The crowd was furious with the 4 referees, but actually they were only frustrated with the poor performance of their players.
Since Orlando City had no reactions on scoring the equalizer, FC Dallas opted on attacking again in order to ensure their partial victory. It was in an amazing first-touch play in the left wing from 3 FC Dallas players, which found their way inside the box due to a tired Orlando City’s defensive line.
It was a simple pass to the net that ended up in the second goal of the night for FC Dallas. The crowd was shocked and that late 2nd goal finished with all hopes of having a positive score at the end of the night.
At the 87th minute, Orlando City received a penalty kick that gave everybody a little bit of hope. Carlos Rivas seemed determined on discounting the score onto a 1-2, but misfortune was witnessed at the Citrus Bowl, as Rivas sent the ball all the way to the parking lot…
<span “font-size:12.0pt;font-family:cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;=”” mso-fareast-font-family:”ＭＳ=”” 明朝”;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;=”” mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:”times=”” roman”;=”” mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:=”” en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-sa”=””>It was a tough night for Orlando City SC fans, coaches and players. Head Coach Adrian heath said: “I think it was the worst game in the entire year…”. Now they have to reactivate their spirit at face their next home game against the mighty New York Red Bulls at the Orlando Citrus Bowl.
