ORLANDO, Fla. (June 4, 2017) – Orlando City SC (7-5-3, 24 points) played with 10 men for 40 minutes and with nine for nearly half an hour but hung on to a scoreless draw against the Chicago Fire (7-3-4, 25 points) Sunday night at Orlando City Stadium. Defender Rafael Ramos made his season debut and Joe Bendik tied his own Club single-season clean sheet record with five.
“I don’t want to talk about the decisions tonight because for me I don’t think it’s fair to the players to bring up a negative point of view,” Lions Head Coach Jason Kreis said. “For me the point of view should only be positive because the work that those guys put in tonight, the togetherness that those guys showed tonight, the commitment level that those guys showed tonight, what they were willing to do for each other, for themselves and for the fans I think was second to none.”
In addition to Ramos, Léo Pereira and PC returned to the starting XI and played a crucial role in the Lions’ second consecutive clean sheet. Orlando City showed promise early in the match, but Ramos’ first appearance of 2017 was cut short when he was issued a straight red card in the 26th minute. Ramos collided with Fire attacker David Accam going after a falling 50/50 ball.
Kreis stuck with the lineup the remainder of the half, moving Will Johnson to right back. He brought in Scott Sutter—who had played every minute at right back since debuting on April 1—in place of Giles Barnes. Kaká came on in the 59th minute in place of Carlos Rivas to try and spark the Lions’ attack, but efforts for three points were put to an end when Antonio Nocerino was shown a straight red card in the 66th minute.
It was the first time Orlando City was reduced to nine men since August 2015 in Toronto.
“We wanted to keep as many attacking players out there to see if we could hit them on the break,” Kreis continued. “We weren’t throwing in the towel by any means. Even as the game wore on at halftime I’m talking to the coaching staff about how we’re going to win the game, not about how we’re going to draw the game. All of our decisions were bending that way until we get the second ejection and then it’s just like, ‘How are we going to hold on?’
City continued withstanding wave after wave of pressure from Chicago and Kreis inserted defensive midfielder Servando Carrasco into the match for Cyle Larin. Bendik came up big again and then got some help from the woodwork in the waning seconds. In the first minute of stoppage time, Matt Polster blasted a shot from 15 yards out that rang off the bottom of the bar straight down and straight back up. Replays clearly showed the ball did not cross the line. Then on the Fire’s last push, PC deflected David Arshakyan’s sharp-angle shot off the bar.
Bendik, who along with Jonathan Spector was named yesterday to the United States’ 40-man national team ahead of the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup, finished with six saves.
Orlando City will see a two-week break from MLS play for the FIFA international window. The Lions begin their 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup run on Wednesday, June 14, against Miami FC. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET at Orlando City Stadium.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:
First Half
7’ Will Johnson wins the ball and fires a shot that is blocked. It goes out to Rafael Ramos, who curls in a lofting ball into the box but Matt Lampson makes the catch.
14’ Joe Bendik stands tall to punch out David Accam’s hard shot from the edge of the area.
17’ Léo Pereira does well to stop Accam 1-on-1 in the box.
24’ Carlos Rivas fires a knuckleball from 30 yards out that troubles Lampson enough for a corner.
26’ Ramos is shown a straight red card after going for a 50/50 ball with Accam.
33’ Larin races onto the end of a loose ball and pokes a shot into Lampson.
45 (+1)’ Bendik dives to his right to stop Nemanja Nikolic’s shot from inside the box.
45 (+2)’ After two minutes of added time, the referee ends the first half. Orlando City 0, Chicago Fire 0.
Second Half
46’ To start the half, Scott Sutter enters the match in place of Giles Barnes.
56’ Bendik comes up with a big save, diving to his left to stop Michael de Leeuw’s bouncing header.
59’ Kaká enters the match in place of Carlos Rivas.
64’ Bendik leaps through the air to catch Drew Connor’s sharp-angle shot.
66’ Antonio Nocerino is shown a straight red card.
71’ Servando Carrasco enters the match in place of Cyle Larin.
74’ Bendik comes up with a huge save after a failed clearance gives Chicago the ball in alone, but the play is ruled offside.
90 (+1)’ Matt Polster rifles a shot from 15 yards out that slams off the bottom of the bar, straight down and straight up but replay clearly shows the ball did not cross the line.
90 (+4)’ David Arshakyan gets on the end of a through ball and hits the crossbar.
90 (+4)’ After four minutes of added time, the referee ends the match. Orlando City 0, Chicago Fire 0.
Scoring Summary:
None.
Misconduct Summary:
ORL - Rafael Ramos (Red Card) 26’
CHI - Michael de Leeuw (Yellow Card) 60’
ORL - Antonio Nocerino (Red Card) 66’
CHI - David Arshakyan (Yellow Card) 81’
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC - GK Joe Bendik, D PC, Léo Pereira, Jonathan Spector, Rafael Ramos, M Cristian Higuita, Ⓒ Will Johnson, Antonio Nocerino, Giles Barnes (Scott Sutter 46’), F Carlos Rivas (Kaká 59’), Cyle Larin (Servando Carrasco 71’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Josh Saunders, D José Aja, M Matías Pérez García, Luis Gil
Chicago Fire - GK Matt Lampson, D Brandon Vincent, Johan Kappelhof, João Meira, Drew Conner (Djordje Mihailovic 71’), M Matt Polster, Bastian Schweinsteiger, David Accam (David Arshakyan 76’), Luis Solignac (Arturo Alvarez 55’), F Ⓒ Michael de Leeuw, Nemanja Nikolic
Substitutes Not Used: GK Jorge Bava, D Jonathan Campbell, Michael Harrington, M Brandt Bronico
Details of the Game:
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Weather: Clear
Date: June 4, 2017
Attendance: 24,469
Stats:
Possession:
ORL - 33.8 %
CHI - 66.2 %
Shots:
ORL - 21
CHI - 5
Saves:
ORL - 6
CHI - 2
Fouls:
ORL - 8
CHI - 14
Corners:
ORL - 1
CHI - 9
