No Magic in Orlando: Charlotte falls 3-1 to Orlando City
Another road game, another road loss for Charlotte FC. Charlotte fell to Orlando City 3-1 on Wednesday night. With this loss, The Crown drops to seventh in the east with an abysmal away record of 1-5-1. On the flip side, Orlando moves up to sixth with a home record of 4-1-2. Two very different teams took the pitch Wednesday night.
Maybe it was due to a short week or maybe Dean Smith wanted to change things up a bit. Whatever the case may be, the starting XI looked a little different than Charlotte fans are used to. Zaha and Abada still manned the attacking wings while Idan Toklomati got the start upfront in a position usually held down by Patrick Agyemang. The midfield three didn’t see any changes with Bronico and Westwood starting alongside Pep Biel in the attacking position.The defensive line saw some shakeup. Dean Smith went with a center back pairing of Malanda and Privett with Tim Ream on the left flank and new face Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty getting the start in place of the injured Nathan Byrne.
I’m not opposed to this lineup that Charlotte went with but it’s also not my favorite. I guess I just need to see a larger sample size before I can come to a conclusion. I also recognize that it can be tough to make lineup changes on a short week and expect it to fix all the issues Charlotte dealt with on the road this season.
Getting into the match, Charlotte found themselves behind early. Orlando opened the scoring in the eighth minute as Luis Muriel put one past Kristijan Kahlina. 1-0 Orlando. Martin Ojeda doubled the lead in the 24th minute to give the home side the momentum. However, all hope was not lost as Wilfried Zaha turned back the clock and fired one past the keeper to cut the lead to one in the 34th minute. This scoreline would hold until the 82nd minute when Ramario Enrique put the nail in the coffin. 3-1 Orlando and this score would hold until the final whistle.
I usually try to find the positive even in a loss, but i’m struggling a bit. I liked Zaha getting on the board and the substitutions that were put on the pitch. The team also showed some fight after the third Orlando goal until the final whistle. Pep Biel’s miss from close felt like a story we’ve seen all season, you have to convert your chances.
Getting into the stats, Orlando controlled possession 52% compared to 48% for Charlotte. Shots were also pretty even with Orlando finishing with 10 to Charlotte’s nine. The big difference came in the shots on goal, Orlando had six and Charlotte had one. You take more chances, there's a good chance you convert more than your opponent. One stat Charlotte got the edge in was total passes. Charlotte passed the ball 549 times compared to 540 from
Regardless of what happened, the boys are on to Chicago. A home game is up next as the red hot Chicago Fire come to town for a giveaway night and 7:30 pm kickoff on Saturday night. Charlotte then hits the road for their Round of 16 date with DC United on the 21st.