Lions outmatched, concede four goals in loss at Montreal
Orlando City traveled to Montreal looking to string together back-to-back MLS wins for only the second time this year but was outperformed in the venue against the team the Lions eliminated from playoff contention last season.
Joaquin Torres delivered a goal and two assists on Saturday to lift host CF Montreal to a 4-1 victory over the Lions, who were outmatched in every significant statistical category.
“It was a difficult afternoon for us against a team that has a lot of initiatives going forward,” Orlando coach Oscar Pareja said after the game. “We couldn’t first get the ball back and second we couldn’t create much. There was a point in the second half when we woke up a bit and were more of ourselves. But with the mistakes that we had to allow them to score the goals just kept us far from a better performance.”
In a match that saw Montreal (5-3-2, 17 points) dominate from the very beginning, the home side had a 20-2 shot advantage and allowed the Lions (5-4-2, 17 points) only one attempt on target as the team’s lackluster offense continues to struggle 11 games into the
season.
Joel Waterman’s goal in the 21st minute gave Montreal the lead when a corner kick taken by Djordje Mihailovic bounced off Benji Michel’s chest and went toward Waterman, who pounced from close range to get the ball past keeper Pedro Gallese.
In the 36th minute, Lassi Lappalainen almost doubled the lead after beating Ruan on a 50-50 ball but struck the ball wide of the goal. In the 40th minute, following a Sebastian Mendez turnover, Gallese produced a crucial save to deny Mihailovic from close.
The struggles for the Lions continued early in the second half after a turnover from Joao Moutinho resulted in a Montreal counter led by Torres, who found Alistair Johnston making a run down the right flank. Johnston got the ball to Milhailovic
to double the lead in the 52nd minute.
Moutinho cut Montreal’s lead to 2-1 in the 72nd minute after heading a ball off a corner kick by Mauricio Pereyra.
But Montreal responded in the 81st when Torres was able to retrieve the ball from close before turning and scoring for a 3-1 edge.
Zachary Brault-Guillard capped the scoring in the 84th minute after receiving the ball from Torres before rocketing it in from a tight angle.
The loss was Orlando’s fourth this season, and the second time this year the Lions gave up four goals.
Swedish defender Robin Jansson missed the game because of a suspension for yellow-card accumulation. To help fill in the void at centerback, 17-year-old homegrown Thomas Williams made his first MLS start.
Jacke Mulraney, who was traded to Orlando from Atlanta United on Thursday, made his debut for the Lions after entering in the 57th minute for Michel.
“I flew in Thursday night and trained with the boys Friday morning,” Mulraney said. “The coach tried to give me as much information as he could. He gave me literally as much information as I needed today and I can understand the shape and what way we play and I just need to do it now more often.”
The Lions have a short turnaround as they now shift the focus to Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup game against the Philadelphia Union at Exploria Stadium at 7 p.m. before going on the road again on Saturday to take on Toronto FC.
“We have just to turn the page off,” Pareja said.
“We need to learn from those things. Our focus for tomorrow is going to be Philadelphia. We’ll have a game in front of us in the middle of the week, and also we have another game away against Toronto and we have to be prepared for that.”