PHOTO BY MARK THOR VIA ORLANDO CITY SC
Orlando City SC fell 4-2 to the New England Revolution on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium, conceding two goals in stoppage time after fighting back to level the match late in the game. The Revolution took a two-goal lead by the first hour mark. Carles Gil opened the scoring in the 19th minute with a deflection, and Peyton Miller doubled the lead in the 59th minute.
Orlando cut the deficit four minutes later when Justin Ellis played Martín Ojeda into the box, and a deflection off the pass fell to Iván Angulo, who kicked home his third goal in as many league matches. The Lions leveled the score in the 88th minute after being awarded a penalty for a handball in the box, when Ojeda scored his 12th MLS goal of the season.
New England answered in stoppage time, though, with Peyton Miller scoring his second of the night in the 90+3rd minute and Carles Gil adding his second in the 90+6th minute to seal the win for the Revolution.
Interim head coach Martín Perelman said the result was frustrating given the difficult context of the match, with Orlando playing on short rest after a midweek game while New England came into the match rested. He said the team made mistakes in the first half but competed well to tie the game in the second, and credited the players’ effort while acknowledging the team still needs to improve at closing out matches like this one.
Perelman made three changes to his starting lineup from the previous match against Columbus Crew, inserting Luís Otávio, Marco Pašalić and Tyrese Spicer into the starting XI. Defender Griffin Dorsey, forward Antoine Griezmann and midfielder Braian Ojeda all missed the match due to injury, while defender Iago was suspended due to yellow card accumulation.
Orlando City falls to 10-12-4 with 34 points but remains sixth in the Eastern Conference with eight games left in the regular season. The Lions travel to face the Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park on Saturday, September 26.
