ORLANDO, Fla. (July 23, 2022) - Orlando City SC (8-8-6, 30 points) fell to the Eastern Conference leaders, Philadelphia Union (11-2-9, 42 points), 1-0 on Saturday night at Exploria Stadium.
The game was driven by two critical VAR calls, the first overturning an on-the-field offside to give the Union a 1-0 lead. Then, late in the game, City defender Antonio Carlos appeared to be pulled down on a corner kick, but the play was deemed to not be an awarded penalty after a lengthy review.
At the 34-minute mark, center back Robin Jansson surpassed 10,000 minutes played for Orlando City, becoming the first player to accomplish the milestone in Club history. Saturday was Jansson’s 113th all-time appearance for the Lions, which is second all-time in the Club’s MLS era. The last time the Swedish international was subbed out of a game was August 6, 2020, in a match against Minnesota United as part of the MLS is Back Tournament.
The Lions will return to action in one of the most anticipated matches in Club history as they face off against the New York Red Bulls in the semifinal of the Lamar Hunt U.S Open Cup at Exploria Stadium on Wednesday, July 27. The match is set to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. ET and be streamed on ESPN+. Tickets for that match are still available here.
Head Coach Oscar Pareja:
“I am not going to blame that [VAR call], we will take the responsibility of the result. We have to be very clear to say that we had some chances, especially in the first half where we have to go up in the game. [Against] a team that defends well, you have to be polished. We couldn’t do it. After that it was a messy game for me. I don’t think it had a lot of continuity and [a lot of] stops in the game. Players would lay on the ground. That frustrated us more and we lost clarity to create more and the game became messy because we didn’t have any flow. The game would stop every three minutes. It was difficult. The second half was frustrating.”
Scoring Recap:
39’ Dániel Gazdag (Jakob Glesnes, Kai Wagner) - PHI 1, ORL 0
The visitors opened the scoring after they whipped in a corner kick to the near post and found the head of Jakob Glesnes. Glesnes flicked the ball goalwards and found Dániel Gazdag on the front step who was able to get a foot to it and put it into the back of the net. The goal was originally called offside, but after a VAR review, the goal was allowed.
Match Notes:
- Defender Robin Jansson became the first player in Orlando City history to reach 10,000 minutes played for the Club.
- Facundo Torres and César Araújo both made their 25th appearance for Orlando City.
- After a midweek friendly against Arsenal, Head Coach Oscar Pareja made four changes to the starting lineup with Rodrigo Schlegel, Ruan, Mauricio Pereyra and Ercan Kara all entering.
Next Match: The Lions will face off against the New York Red Bulls in the semifinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Exploria Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday night.
