Lions allow late goal, fall to in-state rival

During the final minutes of Orlando City’s match at Inter Miami on Saturday, Lions coach Oscar Pareja shouted two words loud enough to be heard on the broadcast: “No corners. No corners.”

The Lions didn’t heed Pareja’s words. Within seconds, Orlando City ceded a corner. And within seconds, Inter Miami (6-11-3, 21) punched home a last-ditch game winner — a header from Leandro González Pirez.

After 12 matches without a loss, the Lions (8-3-8, 32) saw their unbeaten streak broken by a 2-1 defeat, their second loss in Fort Lauderdale this season.

“I think it’s a wake-up call kind of moment for us,” Orlando City striker Tesho Akindele said. “We went 12 games unbeaten, but there’s a lot of draws in there, a lot of points left on the table. I think that actually losing the game here is going to be a big wake-up call and show us thatwe can do more.”

Orlando City rookie Daryl Dike plays some of his best football in Fort Lauderdale, but once again an early goal from the rookie wasn’t enough to hold off Inter Miami.

He debuted at Inter Miami CF Stadium in August, scoring his first professional goal and assisting another. On Saturday, Dike returned in a similar style to net the Lions’ lone goal in the 12th minute.

Centerback Antonio Carlos launched a full-field pass toward

Miami’s box, where Dike needed only one touch to dance free of his defender and thundered a strike into the net to take the early lead.

It was Dike’s fifth goal of the season. The1-0 lead didn’t last long as the match devolved into a backand-forth fight between both sides.

In his first match back from international play, Orlando City goalkeeper Pedro Gallese came under immediate fire. He made three leaping saves in the first half to fend off the relentless Inter Miami attack. Chris Mueller threw himself into a bicycle kick to save another shot off the goal line.

“At the end of the end of the first half, we were absorbing pressure,” Lions defender Kyle Smith said. “We just need to findways to get in their half, string passes together and get away from absorbing as much pressure as we did tonight, especially at the end of the first half.”

The Lions couldn’t hold off Miami’s attacking onslaught, ceding an own goal in the 45th minute when a ball ricocheted off the foot of Robin Jansson into the net.

Jansson has been the consistent core of the Lions’ defense all season. He played in all but one of the team’ s matches this season, logging more minutes on the pitch than any other player.

That remained true on Saturday. Jansson’s sliding clearances and brutal tackles broke up Inter Miami chances throughout the half, and he stepped in front of one of Rodolfo Pizarro’s best shots of the first half.

But a rare mistake by the centerback proved costly when he cleared a shot with his wrong foot. The error resulted in the Lions’ first own goal of the season, leveling the rivalry match in the final minutes of the half.

“It’s not his fault,” Smith said. “It happens in soccer; it happens to everyone. And I just kind of just gave him a pat on the back and told him to keep going, keep pushing.… We all have seen Robin play. We all know he’s a world-class defender. He is awall back there.”

Inter Miami’s attack overpowered the Lions. The team took 20 shots while the Lions took just nine, relying on an often hectic transition attack to find rare chances to challenge the Miami goal.

In the 88th minute, the Lions seemed to have found their gamewinner — a corner kick from Nani pinballed around the box, rebounding out to the feet of winger Benji Michel. But Michel’s strike slammed straight into the keeper’s stomach, robbing the Lions of a goal.

A 93rd-minute debut for Matheus Aiás wasn’t enough to offset Inter Miami’s late corner, and the Lions fell for the first time since their last trip to Fort Lauderdale in August.

Despite the loss, the Lions retained their top-four spot in the Eastern Conference table entering

Saturday night.

The team will now return to Orlando and prepare to host Atlanta United on Wednesday.

For Pareja, the next three days will be focused on using the loss to propel his team through the final four matches of the season.

“There [are] things that happen during the season that alert you, wake you up, send you messages that you have to absorb and pay attention to,” Pareja said. “One thing we’re not going to do is get desperate right now.

“We’re continuing. The team is playing well. … We’re going to continue with that identity. That’s us and we’re going to keep getting better.”