One week after firing head coach Adrian Heath, and with their talisman Kaka out, nursing a calf strain, Orlando City faced off against the New York Red Bulls looking to try and get their first away win of the season, or score a goal for the first time in over 2 games. Neither happened.
Unlike Sunday's game against the Portland Timbers, the Red Bulls charged out of the gate, attacking the ball, and not really giving Orlando much room to breathe.
When Orlando did have the ball, there was always a Red Bulls player close at hand, attempting to stymie their attacks...
The Red Bulls continued to press against the Orlando defence...
...and were rewarded with their first goal of the evening, when Connor Lade latched onto a corner kick into the box, scoring the first MLS goal of his career,
Orlando were limited to 3 shots on goal throughout the game, with only one of those coming from inside the box, but with the Red Bulls holding the majority of possession in the first half, they were mainly concerned with stopping as much as they could, however they could.
...which resulted in 23 fouls called against Orlando...
...several of which were in prime shooting positions close to the edge of the penalty area. In the 59th minute Felipe scored directly from one of these free kicks.
...delighting Ronald Zubar
...and the Red Bulls crowd
Orlando keeper Joe Bendik ended the game bloodied and bandaged after being caught near his left eye with a trailing boot as he dove to make a save on a New York breakaway
The Red Bulls continued to attack Orlando
...bringing on Shaun Wright-Philips late in the game to try and get a third goal...
...but it wasn't to be, so the game ended 2-0 to the Red Bulls, a needed victory for them, that moved them up to 3rd in the East, and a painful defeat for Orlando, who fell to 8th.
