A lackluster, poor, and dull NYCFC ends up with a comeback win in Orlando | OneFootball

There is no question that delays are possible anytime New York City FC heads to Florida in the summer. The weather can be unpredictable, and the midweek game against Orlando City SC was no different. The teams were delayed until 8:15, making this the second match in a row that the Pigeons had a delay. But unlike the last time, the Bronx team ended the day with all three points, winning their second road game of the season in a 2-1 comeback win. This was despite poor play.

Interestingly, Mitja Ilenič was missing from the team, and the reason why was unknown.  However, rather than putting Tayvon Gray in as the starting right-back, Strahinja Tanasijević started over the natural right-back.

Moreover, Pascal Jansen made only one change for the midweek matchup.  Despite being in the middle of the road trip, the head coach did not make more changes when some players might have benefited from rotation.  Funny enough, the one player who was not influenced by this was Maxi Moralez.  The 38-year-old played well in a dull match for the Pigeons, and even pressured Orlando players like he was young again.

But Moralez could not save NYCFC from their road struggles and dull play against the Lions.  Jansen certainly could not coach his side to be their best either.  But somehow, Own Goal gave the team a shot toward the end of the game, and that led to the second road win of the season.

NYCFC plays poorly, but finds a way to win

The game began slowly for the Pigeons.  Orlando City dominated the play to begin, but eventually, NYCFC was better at maintaining possession.  Regardless, their offense was missing in the first half and still barely there for the rest of the match, which was different compared to the Charlotte FC fixture.  Sure, they did not score then, but at least they were threatening.

This time, the Boys in Blue were lackluster, especially in the first half.  Orlando held them to three shots with none on target.  The home side did well to limit their chances, but truly, the visitors could not find themselves in the attack.  Was it due to the short turnaround?  Or was it because of their road struggles?  Perhaps it was due to their friend, inconsistency.

Regardless of the reason, in which the answer could be all three, it is becoming very tiresome that NYCFC goes through periods where they cannot score.  There have also been too many times when their overall play is lackluster.  And, this was the story for the majority of the game.

For a while, it looked like the Boys in Blue were going to lose their second in a row.  Robin Jansson’s goal in the 36th minute for Orlando had them in front for a while.  If Tanasijević had done his job and cleared the ball, then maybe the game would have remained at 0-0, but instead, NYCFC had to fight from behind.

All it took was a little bit of luck to bring the team back into the game.  In the 87th minute, the Pigeons had a corner kick that led to some chaos in the box.  Andrés Perea’s shot was initially saved, but Own Goal became the hero of the night.  Orlando’s Kyle Smith kicked the ball into the back of the net to level the match 1-1.

Then, a few minutes later in stoppage time, Alonso Martínez found himself on the run towards the goal without anyone in front of him.  After his terrible miss in the 63rd minute that saw him hit the post, the striker redeemed himself.  He easily put the ball past Orlando’s goalkeeper, Pedro Gallese, scoring the winning goal.

The shock of the result is probably impacting both sets of supporters.  For NYCFC, it felt like they were on their way to another road loss.  But, despite the poor play, they stayed in the game and were able to capitalize on Orlando’s mistakes.

Oh, and this is the first win in Orlando since 2018.  It was ugly and not a great game for the Pigeons.  But, NYCFC is leaving with all three points, and that is what matters.