HARRISON, NJ – After fighting Atlanta United to a scoreless draw last week, the Red Bulls return home to face an Orlando City side looking to leave the New York Metropolitan area with three points after dropping their match to New York City FC at Yankee Stadium.
With his team beset with injuries early on, coach Sandro Schwarz made some changes in his starting lineup, inserting Raheem Edwards in midfield hoping to shore up the attack with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting being the lone striker in the formation.
Orlando City got on the scoreboard first in the 18th minute, thanks to questionable defending by the Red Bulls. Martin Ojeda took a great pass from Luis Muriel and ran it right down the middle unopposed, and launched a blistering shot that evaded the outstretched hands of Carlos Coronel as the home supporters looked on in stunned silence.
Red Bulls responded shortly after Robin Jansson looked like he fouled Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in the box, and the official initially waved off the call. But after further review, the penalty was given, and Choup-Moting converted the penalty kick, scoring his first goal with the club.
Orlando City struck right back in the 39th minute as Marco Pasalic somehow found an opening in the Red Bulls’ defense, and took back the lead for the visitors. A team proud to have given up one goal in three matches, the Red Bulls have now given up two in one half.
Red Bulls didn’t waste any time equalizing the match just after the start of the second half as Peter Stroud launched a cross that met the head of Dennis Gjengaar, scoring his first goal of the season, and allowing the home supporters to breathe a sigh releife for the time being.
Marco Pasalic was very involved in getting his side in front, took a pass from Ivan Angulo and launched a shot from a distance after finding himself wide open. Thankfully, it glanced off the post. Orlando City was still on the attack, Marco Pasalic was looking for his second goal in the match, but Carlos Coronel easily parried his shot away with a timely save.
The Red Bulls pressed for the lead late in the match as Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting kept the ball in play, taking a shot that hit an Orlando defender. Dennis Gjengaar hopped on the loose ball and took a shot off the rebound, but the ball slammed off the post, just inches away from a match winning goal.
but his chance was easily saved by Coronel, to the relief of the home supporters.
Orlando City had some chances to take the lead, but they were thwarted by Carlos Coronel, who made some excellent saves. One was from a shot by Ramiro Enrique, and the other was from Rafael Santos, who took his shot from a difficult angle.
The final whistle cemented the final result, leaving the team disappointed that they didn’t claim all three points in this match, thanks to soft goals they gave up in the first half. Head coach Sandro Schwartz didn’t mince words during the post-match press conference, feeling that they “have to do better in matches like this” if they want to play complete matches this season.
Starting XI:
Orlando City SC: Pedro Gallese, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Kyle Smith (David Brekalo 82′), Alexander Freeman, Eduard Atuesta, Joran Gerbet, Iván Angulo (Rafael Santos 83′), Marco Pasalic (39′)(Ramiro Enrique 82′), Luis Muriel (Duncan McGuire 87′), Martin Ojeda (18′)(Dagur Thórhallsson 68′)
New York Red Bulls: Carlos Coronel, Noah Eile, Dylan Nealis (Julian Hall 76′), Sean Nealis, Alexander Hack, Peter Stroud (Felipe Carballo 76′), Emil Forsberg (Wiki Carmona 90+2′), Dennis Gjengaar (47′)(Serge Ngoma 87′), Raheem Edwards, Daniel Edelman, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (29′)
Scoring Summary:
18′ – Orlando City SC – Martin Ojeda, assisted by Luis Muriel
29′ – New York Red Bulls – Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, converted penalty kick
39′ – Orlando City SC – Marco Pasalic, assisted by Eduard Atuesta
47′ – New York Red Bulls – Dennis Gjengaar, assisted by Peter Stroud
Disciplinary Summary:
68′ – New York Red Bulls – Peter Stroud – Yellow Card
74′ – New York Red Bulls – Sean Nealis – Yellow Card
82′ – Orlando City SC – Robin Jansson – Yellow Card
90+2′ – New York Red Bulls – Serge Ngoma – Yellow Card