Orlando City SC overcomes missed VAR omen to beat LA Galaxy | OneFootball

The LA Galaxy wasn’t about to let Orlando City SC beat them in a third straight meeting. But with skill and ambition, the Lions won the third consecutive match.

The LA Galaxy opened their home match against Orlando City SC like gangbusters. The players set a goal to score early and often. By the 14th minute, they started.

Midfielder Edwin Cerillo passed the ball to defender Miki Yamane. After crossing to striker Christian Ramirez, the first assist went to Yamane, and Cerillo got the second. At first, supporters reacted with disappointment, thinking the Lions should have handled the scoring attempt. But that reaction evolved.

Through halftime and about a half-hour into the second half, supporters passed phone pictures of the early Galaxy score. Someone even posted it on social media, including X.

The image eventually circulated to the Lions' broadcast team, who agreed with supporters that Ramirez looked offside, at least borderline. The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) should have triggered to confirm the goal, but didn’t.

So until the 76th minute, Orlando City showed a tight defense to the Galaxy and played on.

Early this season, Orlando has accumulated more goals than any other MLS team. Yet, they’ve brought a spotty defense to the pitch. They’ve conceded almost as many goals.

The defense had to get better in a match like this, and it did. Before the Galaxy could add to their slim lead, Head Coach Oscar Pareja said the Lions had to make modifications through the remainder of the first half to manage the spaces that their opponents were using.

More modifications were made at halftime. They continued executing clean sequences and controlling their half of the pitch. But they now opened up their offense.

The Lions missed getting their equalizer in the first half. But they got it in the 76th minute on midfielder Martin Ojeda’s penalty kick. Orlando City kept the brake on the Galaxy. Throughout the match, Lions netminder Pedro Gallese suffered one goal and converted the only other save attempt his backline allowed.

Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy made two saves. Orlando City players had only four shots on goal. Two scored.

The winning goal came in the 90th minute. Striker Luis Muriel took a free kick from beyond the box. He hit a screamer toward the net. McCarthy got a hand on it. But the pressure forced the ball into the net for the win.

A tough, close grinder match requires persistence and brilliance for the win. Orlando City SC brought it to the pitch and won it.