PHOTO BY MARK THOR VIA ORLANDO CITY SC
Orlando City SC beat rivals Atlanta United FC 3-2 on Wednesday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with Antoine Griezmann scoring twice to lift the Lions to sixth in the Eastern Conference.
Atlanta opened the scoring in the seventh minute when Paulo Díaz headed the ball to Breel Embolo, whose shot deflected off Orlando defender David Brekalo and into the net. Huge bummer, but we forgive him.
Orlando answered in the 26th minute when Griffin Dorsey found Joran Gerbet down the right wing. Gerbet’s low cross found Griezmann near the post, who beat his defender and finished past goalkeeper Lucas Hoyos to level the score.
The Lions took the lead in the 58th minute when captain Robin “Former Horseshoe Maker” Jansson played a lofted ball for Martín Ojeda, who found a wide-open Iván Angulo to slot home Orlando’s second goal.
Griezmann doubled his tally in the 77th minute, picking up a turnover in the final third before playing a one-two with Justin Ellis to go one-on-one with the keeper and kick home Orlando’s third goal.
Atlanta pulled one back in the seventh minute of stoppage time on an own goal deflected off a headed ball from a set piece, but the Lions held on to close out the win.
Interim head coach Martín Perelman said the team is entering the most stressful and important stretch of the season and needs to focus on solving each match individually, since every remaining game carries weight. Midfielder Joran Gerbet, who recorded his first assist of the season across all competitions on the play, called it a big win on the road in a rivalry match, saying the team controlled most of the game outside of a rough opening and closing stretch.
Griezmann’s brace marked his second of the season and gave him 10 goal contributions, seven goals and three assists, through his first nine MLS appearances, the most in club history for a player through his first nine matches, surpassing former Orlando City forward Nani. Angulo’s goal was his second of the year and 14th all-time for the club. Ojeda’s assist was his second of the campaign and 44th all-time, putting him three helpers behind former Lion Mauricio Pereyra for the club record. Justin Ellis recorded his ninth assist of the season on Griezmann’s second goal.
Orlando City improves to 9-11-4 with 31 points and returns home to Inter&Co Stadium on Saturday, September 12, to host Toronto FC, before traveling to Ohio to face the Columbus Crew in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinal on September 16.
