HOUSTON, Texas (Sept. 21, 2019) - Orlando City SC (9-14-9, 36 points) fell 2-1 to the Houston Dynamo (11-16-4, 37 points) on Saturday night at BBVA Stadium. Dom Dwyer scored the lone goal for the Lions in the match, his seventh of the season to tie former Orlando City captain Kaka for second in Club history with his 24th goal as a Lion.
Head Coach James O’Connor:
“Obviously bitterly disappointed. I think when you look at the opportunities first half, I thought we had some decent possession, some control. Second half we’re trying to hang on, we’re trying to defend too early, we’re trying to counter. The injury to Cristian [Higuita], Mauricio [Pereyra] showed a little bit of tiredness and fatigue so that had an impact on the game, but I think what really hurt us was that we conceded a goal and then the reaction needed to be way better. We’ve conceded two in three minutes and I think from our standpoint that can’t happen. We need to react a lot better to the adversity than we showed tonight.”
Scoring Recap:
6’ Dom Dwyer (Mauricio Pereyra) - ORL 1, HOU 0
The Lions took the early lead with Mauricio Pereyra whipping in a free kick from the right side, finding the head of Dom Dwyer who hit it straight into the far post for the finish.
70’ Alberth Elis (Christian Ramirez, Memo Rodríguez) - ORL 1, HOU 1
The home side equalized with Christian Ramirez sending in a cross from the left side of the area that found the head of Alberth Elis at the far post, who hammered it home to level the two sides.
73’ Christian Ramirez (Mauro Manotas) - HOU 2, ORL 1
The Dynamo took the lead minutes later with Mauro Manotas driving the ball into the area before sliding a ball across the face of goal for Ramirez for the tap-in finish.
Match Notes:
- Dom Dwyer scored his seventh goal of the season in the match and his second in as many games. The finish served as his 24th for City in the MLS era, tying him with former Lions’ captain Kaka for second in Club history.
- Dwyer’s sixth minute finish served as the earliest goal scored by the Lions this season, with the previous being Chris Mueller’s goal against the Philadelphia Union on July 3 in the eighth minute.
- Mauricio Pereyra recorded his second assist as a Lion on Dwyer’s finish in the sixth minute.
Next Match: The Lions close out a two-game road trip at FC Cincinnati on Sunday, Sept. 29 at Nippert Stadium, with kickoff set for 5 p.m. ET.
Scoring Summary:
ORL - Dom Dwyer (Mauricio Pereyra) 6’
HOU - Alberth Elis (Christian Ramirez, Memo Rodríguez) 70’
HOU - Christian Ramirez (Mauro Manotas) 73’
Misconduct Summary:
ORL - Cristian Higuita (Yellow Card) 59’
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC - GK Brian Rowe; D Kamal Miller, Robin Jansson, Lamine Sané, Ruan; M Cristian Higuita (Carlos Ascues 64’), Sebastián Méndez (Chris Mueller 84’), Will Johnson; F Nani ©, Dom Dwyer, Mauricio Pereyra (Tesho Akindele 63’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Adam Grinwis; D Kyle Smith; M Uri Rosell; F Benji Michel
Houston Dynamo - GK Joe Willis; D DaMarcus Beasley, Maynor Figueroa, Aljaz Struna, Adam Lundkvist; M Boniek García, Matías Vera, Christian Ramirez (Darwin Cerén 90’), Tommy McNamara (Memo Rodríguez 63’), Alberth Elis; F Mauro Manotas (Tomás Martínez 78’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Tyler Deric; D José Bizama, Alejandro Fuenmayor; M Niko Hansen
Details of the Game:
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
Weather: Partly Cloudy
Date: September 21, 2019
Attendance: 15,146
Stats:
Possession:
HOU - 48.1%
ORL - 51.9%
Shots:
HOU - 15
ORL - 7
Saves:
HOU - 2
ORL - 4
Fouls:
HOU - 9
ORL - 11
Corners:
HOU - 13
ORL - 5
