NYCFC earned a 3-0 clean sheet against the Orlando City Lions in their third bout of the season. The Lions were victorious in the first two matches with impressive scoring performances from Cyle Larin but, David Villa proved that a prepared NYC team can be victorious in any given match. Lion efforts could not take away from Villa’s eagerness to leave Orlando with anything less than three points.
Out of sync would best describe the Lions as they hosted a very prepared NYCFC. The Lions usually thrive with home field advantage but could not seem to use it to their advantage. A costly handball by Kaká inside the Lions 18 would result in Villa stepping up to score his first goal on a penalty kick. Carlos Rivas sought out Larin repeatedly but the two struggled to convert opportunities into goals. A momentum changing goal was scored by Rodney Wallace in the 35th. As Wallace made his run to get behind Lion defenders, Ethan White drew in defenders and crossed a ball in front of the net that Wallace finished while sliding. Another penalty kick would take place in the 64th, this time in Orlando City’s favor after Scott Sutter was fouled inside the 18. In a rare occurrence, Cyle Larin did not convert on the opportunity, as his shot met with the right post of the goal. Villa would deal the finishing blow to the Lions in the 83rd while the Lions gambled on defense by running a high line on defense.
The Lions have gone five straight games without earning a victory. “At the beginning of the game, I felt things were going to go in a good direction for us and then the penalty decision was made. I think that took some air out of us. Then I thought we were doing ok, and the second goal comes to take some more air out of us” stated Coach Kreis when reflecting on the outcome of the match. Kaká added, “We can say a lot of things about the loss but I think it’s time to think about what we can do for the next games”. Defensive anchor, Jonathan Spector mentioned, “I don’t think how many times we played them had any impact (on the results of the game). I think tonight just was a night where we weren’t firing on all cylinders and things really did not go our way. From start to finish, it was one of those games where everything that could go against us did”.
The Lions are feeling the effects of not winning. The club has dropped to fourth place in the MLS Eastern Conference standings, only six points away from Toronto FC who sit in first. Looking forward to next match, Coach Kreiss stated “I think we have to stay level- headed. I think that when we were 6-1, we clearly could have been feeling a lot better about ourselves than we were. We tried to stay grounded then. After every single win, we talked about improvements we need to make and after the loss, we will stay the same”. The Lions will need to take advantage of every match in the race to earn more points. Minnesota United is the next challenge for the Lions and winning on the road should be one of the only things they have in mind.
Orlando City
NYCFC