Heavily rotated lineup earns Orlando City scoreless draw
A heavily rotated lineup and continuous offensive struggles prevented Orlando City from securing its second victory of the season, instead getting a scoreless draw against FC Cincinnati in front of an announced attendance of 18,062 at Exploria Stadium on Saturday night.
Pedro Gallese made a pair of big saves to deny Cincinnati in the first half. The first was in the 23rd minute when Brenner attempted a shot from outside the area, and the second save came in the 29th when the Peruvian keeper dived to deny Luciano Acosta’s free kick.
In the 54th minute, Cincinnati’s Brandon Vazquez nearly scored but his shot from close range hit off the crossbar moments before Gallese was forced to save the follow-up.
Gallese finished with 4 saves for back-to-back clean sheets at home to start the season.
For the second consecutive week, the Lions struggled offensively in the first half, producing just four shots, with none of them on target.
Orlando finished the game being outshot 11-7 with only one shot on target.
In the second half, Orlando struggled to get the ball under control into the final third.
Starters from last week Ivan Angulo, Cesar Araujo, Luca Petrasso, Martin Ojeda and Robin Jansson began Saturday’s game on the bench.
Coach Oscar Pareja eventually sent in Araujo and Jansson for Mauricio Pereyra and Rodrigo Schlegel to start the second half.
Ojeda entered the game for Facundo Torres in the 60th minute and Angulo for Ercan Kara in the 64th.
Ramiro Enrique, a second-half spark from last weekend, was held out against Cincinnati due to a coach’s decision, a club spokesperson confirmed.
Gaston Gonzalez made his MLS debut for Orlando after missing Week 1. Gonzalez played the full 90 minutes after missing the majority of 2022 because of an ACL injury.
Captain Pereyra played his 100th Orlando City game.
Orlando-based commentators Sergio Ruiz Torres and Miguel Gallardo were on the Spanish playby-play for MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app.
Next, the Lions travel to take on Tigres UANL in the Round of 16’s first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League. Kickoff is slated for 10 p.m. Tuesday and will be televised on FS2 and TUDN.