Brek Shea made his first appearance since June and made an immediate impact. Brek Shea’s assist on his second touch propelled Orlando City to a 3-1 win.
Orlando City has been reeling so much, it needed something to give it momentum. An early goal or some emotional charge. Anything to breath confidence into the team and propel them forward. Even if it is something somewhat manufactured.
The Lions have been so desperate for something.
They got the momentum they needed on multiple occasions Sunday night, righting the ship at least for one night and restoring hope for a late-season postseason run.
Adrian Winter scored his first goal of the night three minutes into the game on a header off a free kick from Luke Boden. In the second half after giving up the equalizer, they got the emotional lift from Brek Shea’s return, his first game since June 24.
On one of his first touches, he took a gorgeous long ball from David Mateos and began attacking from the left wing on the break. He faked his way toward net and passed it to Bryan Rochez running along the middle of the field. Rochez went near post and beat the keeper to give Orlando City the lead again.
Winter scored again when Rochez stole the ball from Sporting Kansas City’s defender inside the box, passed it to Winter who did a nice give and go to run free toward net and put the ball into the goal.
The 3-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City was the emotional push Orlando City needed at the absolute right time. Three points were a virtual must for the Lions to continue entertaining the playoffs.
There is not much more Orlando City could have asked for from the game. Was there still the general sloppiness and moments of uncertainty defensively? Yes. The Lions gave up a goal when Aurellian Collin’s clearance deflected off Rafael Ramos and back to Krisztian Nemeth for a scorcher past Tally Hall. That moment was followed by a similar poor clearance from Collin that Sporting Kansas City could not take advantage of.
The Lions were able to keep more possession and connect better with the front line. This was particularly after Cyle Larin, who coach Adrian Heath admitted felt a bit “leggy” after his international duty the last two weeks, was subbed out for Bryan Rochez.
After Rochez scored his first goal, the young striker was oozing with confidence. So too was Orlando City with Brek Shea in the game.
When he checked in at about the 60th minute, Orlando City began dominating possession more and keeping Sporting Kansas City out of the attacking third. They attacked and got down the pitch thanks to Shea’s skill and pace and everyone caught up.
It was really amazing to see Orlando City’s temperament and attitude change. They were no longer sitting back or trying to chase a lead, they were attacking and dictating the tempo of the game. That is not something the Lions have done much in the last two months of the season.
That emotional buoy that came from the early goal and then was renewed with Shea’s return was the elixir the team needed. The hope is that Kaka’s return, and the return of what is essentially Orlando’s true starting lineup, will provide the same kind of lift.
The Lions have lost a lot of games to injuries and dealt with circumstances beyond their control. Now it seems things are coming back into place.
The hope is that it was not too late for the Lions to get above water and back into the Playoffs.
[…] Sunday’s win over Sporting Kansas City saw something of a marriage of the two. Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux were in Orlando to support their significant others (Morgan is married to Servando Carrasco of Orlando City and Leroux is dating Kansas City’s Dom Dwyer) and took in the game. They will be the ones on the field in a bout a month. […]