Injury-plagued Orlando City
falls to Adrian Heath and Minnesota United, 2-1.
There were no late-game heroics for Orlando City this time.
No super subs who could come on and salvage a point.
Just a disappointing finish for a club eagerly — and anxiously — awaiting the return of several key pieces.
Orlando City, despite controlling possession and creating chances in the final third, couldn’t overcome a brace from Minnesota United winger Ethan Finlay and fell 2-1 to the Loons in front of an announced home crowd of 24,038 Saturday. Finlay, who had the game-winner in the 79th minute, helped Minnesota coach Adrian Heath win his first match back in Orlando against the club that fired him.
“Obviously very disappointed to lose a game at home,” Lions coach Jason Kreis said. “Only our second game at home, to lose that one, I think, really hurts deep. We have to continue to draw the positives out of our performance. I think we have to continue to learn about ourselves.”
Things couldn’t have started much worse for Orlando City.
The Lions let in an early goal, with Finlay taking advantage of a one-on-one with Orlando City goalkeeper Joe Bendik in the 12th minute. Former Orlando City midfielder Kevin Molino found Finlay running free in the penalty area, and the winger had no trouble finding the back of the net.
About 10 minutes later, Orlando City was hit with another big setback.
Striker Stéfano Pinho, who scored the match-tying goal for Orlando City last week against D.C. United, had to be stretchered off the pitch after suffering a right ankle injury in the 23rd minute. Left back Mohamed ElMunir’s cross found Pinho, whose header was off target right before the injury.
Pinho was taken to the locker room – another addition to Orlando City’s growing list of unavailable players – and evaluated by the team’s medical staff. Chris Mueller – who was in the starting XI against D.C. United – came on in his place.
“[Pinho] is on crutches,” Kreis said. “So it doesn’t look like a good sign at all. Interesting that that kind of contact happens in the box and there’s no penalty decision. Maybe he tripped over his own feet, I’m not sure.”
Like last week, the Lions bounced back from early adversity. Orlando City dominated possession to close the half and generated several chances, eventually finding a breakthrough thanks to a penalty kick in the 42nd minute.
After two instances of Video Assistant Referee review went against Orlando City last week, the Lions had a review go in their favor against Minnesota United.
Finlay brought down midfielder Richie Laryea just inside the penalty area, which led to Orlando City’s first goal of the night. It was originally called a foul outside the box, but after several minutes of VAR debate, a penalty was eventually awarded to Orlando City. Midfielder Yoshimar Yotún converted the scoring opportunity.
“It was a tough result,” Yotún said through a translator. “We need to win every single game at home if we want to reach our objective. Minnesota did what they had to do. We controlled the possession, but they were able to score when they had the chances.”
Orlando City controlled possession, but captain Jonathan Spector wasn’t impressed with just holding onto the ball.
“We had a lot of possession, but we didn’t make good use of it,” Spector said. “Everything was in front of them. We didn’t threaten them enough. We didn’t put them under enough pressure. It’s no good having all the possession if you’re not going to use the ball well and create chances.”
Minnesota United, which came into the match with its own injury concerns, also saw a player stretchered off in the 49th minute. Molino’s right leg buckled when he tried to plant it while facing off against El-Munir. He went down holding his right knee and was taken off the pitch.
He was replaced by Collen Warner. He came back to the sideline, but was on crutches with ice on his knee.
“I thought we defended the box really well,” Heath said. “I’m delighted for the players. They’ve worked really hard the last couple weeks.”
Orlando City returns to action next Saturday against NYCFC, the club’s first road test of the season. While it’s unclear when injured players will be available, Sacha Kljestan will make his debut with the Lions and Victor “P.C.” Giro will return after serving suspensions.