Ten-man Orlando City eked out a 0-0 draw against the visiting New York Red Bulls on Saturday afternoon.
Orlando City (3-2-3, 12 points) dominated the first half, forcing Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel (four saves) into several acrobatic saves.
However, the Lions played a conservative style of soccer after defender Rodrigo Schlegel picked up his second yellow card in the 55th minute. His high boot on Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting sent Orlando down to 10 men, changing the game’s momentum entirely. Schlegel will miss Orlando’s away match against Montreal.
The draw, their second straight, extends Orlando City’s unbeaten streak to five games. Orlando goalkeeper Pedro Gallese (one save) earned his 50th career clean sheet after the game.
Lions attacker Luis Muriel nearly opened the scoring two minutes into the game. Martin Ojeda played the Colombian talisman into space, but Muriel, six yards away from the net, fired his attempt squarely into the arms of Carlos Coronel.
For the Red Bulls (3-2-3, 10 points), Choupo-Moting was unlucky not to find his fourth goal of the season when he got on the right end of Emil Forsberg’s through ball minutes after.
Choupo-Moting found himself one-on-one with Gallese and converted the opportunity. However, the goal was disallowed as officials determined Choupo-Moting had been in an offside position.
Orlando City dominated throughout the first half, thanks to their dependable midfield and explosive offense.
Led by midfielder Dagur Dan Thorhallsson and defender Alex Freeman, Orlando City completed more than double New York’s passes in the first 45 minutes. New York found itself pinned in its half until Schlegel’s sending-off.
After Orlando went down to 10 men, New York got more involved in the game but still struggled to create chances. Hesitation among the Red Bulls’ attackers, along with an inability to maintain possession and apply their numbers advantage, doomed them to a barren draw.
Choupo-Moting, who scored three goals in the previous four matches, was unusually quiet.
The Cameroonian attacker had a golden opportunity to score the game-winner in the 95th minute, but mistimed his jump and completely missed Cameron Harper’s cross.
–Field Level Media
