PHOTO BY JUSTIN GLATT VIA ORLANDO CITY SC
Orlando City SC (6-11-3, 21 points) fell 2-1 to Chicago Fire FC (11-6-2, 35 points) on Wednesday night at Inter&Co Stadium, in a match delayed nearly 90 minutes by bad weather just before halftime.
Chicago opened the scoring four minutes into the match when David Poreba intercepted a clearance from the Orlando defense and slid the ball to Puso Dithejane, who sent a shot to the far post and in for the opener.
After the weather delay, the teams played the final two minutes of the first half before taking a three-minute halftime on the field. Orlando equalized in the 52nd minute off a corner kick, with Antoine Griezmann sending the ball toward the post that David Brekalo met with a run through the box, heading it past goalkeeper Chris Brady. Greta job, Brekalo.
Chicago retook the lead after Robert Lewandowski was fouled in Orlando’s box (snicker) and awarded a penalty kick. The former FC Barcelona striker sent his attempt low into the left corner for the eventual game-winner in the 68th minute.
Interim head coach Martín Perelman made two changes to his starting lineup from the club’s previous match against FC Cincinnati, and put in Wilder Cartagena and Adrián Marín. Defenders Nolan Miller (knee) and Bernardo Rhein (thigh) and midfielders Braian Ojeda (foot) and Martín Ojedá (thigh) missed the match due to injury (which is what the brackets mean).
“Of course, disappointed with the result,” Perelman said after the match. “Very, very disappointed because we were playing at home and we wanted to win. I think it was a game where we could have gotten a different result. It’s over. Nothing to do. We played against a good team. We couldn’t score the chances we created. They were effective.”
Midfielder Luís Otávio, speaking through an interpreter from Portuguese, said the team started slower than expected. “I believe our team started a little bit lower than expected, lower than what we worked for and what we trained for,” he said. “After the break, we were able to come back better. Unfortunately, we received the penalty goal after the break, but I believe we can get better.”
The Lions will close out a six-game homestand at Inter&Co Stadium on Saturday, August 22, against Real Salt Lake, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. on Apple TV.
