After a short Sunday to Friday turnaround, Orlando City were minutes away from bringing home a point from their road trip to Philadelphia. Unfortunately, a masterful free kick from the Union’s Tranquillo Barnetta disrupted those plans. It was an ending that could have disheartened even the most veteran of teams, but the message from the Orlando City locker room left a different impression.
“We managed to get back in the game,” Seb Hines said on the teams recovery after going behind early. “We had chances to win the game in the second half. It’s very disappointing, but we’ll move on. We’ve got a home game coming up, so we’ll be ready for that”
Adrian Winter’s goal at the end of the first half was an example of the team’s resilience. Just over a minute after the Union’s late goal he almost did it again. Substitute Carlos Rivas whipped in a great cross that found Winter off the far post. He cracked a volley, but Union goalkeeper Andre Blake was there to make a fantastic save.
“We had a good chance. [The keeper] has made a great save, to be fair, of Winter. A great cross from Carlos Rivas, but it wasn’t enough.”
It’s the chances like those that Orlando City will hope to bring with them as they return to the Orlando Citrus Bowl next Sunday night to face the New England Revolution.
“It’s unfortunate that we lost the game,” said Kevin Molino after the match. “But we take something positive from the game and look forward to the next one.”
