Week in and week out Orlando City has the same problems that do not get fixed! Several turnovers in the midfield and the inability to close teams out defensively seems to be a typical week for the Lions. After an uneventful first half Orlando City took the lead on a SKC own goal in minute 67. The own goal was caused by a Kaka cross and a lot of bodies in the box.
After that it was back to the aforementioned problems for Orlando. Dom Dwyer scored a nice header from Benny Feilhaber in minute 74 to tie the game 1-1. 5 minutes later Peterson put in the second goal to take the lead. Congrats to Peterson on scoring the 300th goal at CMP.
Winless in 6 matches, the run of poor form continues for Orlando City. For the second time in four weeks Orlando is just the medicine struggling home teams to start turning things around. Orlando did not only lose the score line, they lost in every statistical category. The men in purple were outshot 34 to 7, out tackled 22 to 18, and out possessed 54 to 46. The bleeding doesn’t stop there. Brek Shea and Darwin Ceren appeared to leave with an injury. Ceren was unable to leave on his own will and had to be carted off by the phiso team.
Despite the team’s limp performances in the last 6 matches, Joe Bendik continues to be a bright spot for the team. Since coming over from Toronto in a highly criticized offseason move he has been the only part of the defense that has any consistency.
In my opinion, despite the missed shot in the 6th minute Brek Shea was really bad. He was often not in place defensively because he failed to track back after making offensive runs. That problem often lead to Orlando’s back line be suspect.
With two home games coming up, hopefully Orlando City can turn it around at Camping World stadium. However, if the turnovers in the midfield continue and the defensive woes don’t get fixed it soon its going to be a long summer in Orlando.
Sporting Kansas City
Orlando City
