ORLANDO — Orlando City put together a good performance, but the Lions still fell 2-1 to D.C. United at Orlando City Stadium Sunday. The Lions (1-2-2, 5 points) are winless during three home matches this season. Here are three takeaways from the D.C. United match:
Another strong performance from Mueller
Second-year winger Chris Mueller has made the most of the opportunities given to him so far this season.
He was on the pitch for less than five minutes before he sent a perfect cross to star striker Dom Dwyer for Orlando City’s first goal of the match against D.C. United. Nani found Mueller with a solid ball between multiple defenders, but Mueller showed class by sending the ball in for Dwyer while a defender closed in on him.
He nearly equalized the match in the first minute of second half stoppage time, but his header dinged off the post.
Mueller had 38 touches in 31 minutes and was dangerous whenever he had the ball. He’s clearly grown from last season and has been more decisive in and around the penalty area compared to his rookie campaign.
“Fantastic,” Orlando City coach James O’Connor said of Mueller. “You know, he’s come on, he’s hit the post, he’s done great for the goal. I thought he gave us some great energy. I thought he did really, really well when he came one.”
Dwyer also praised Mueller.
“Chris brought a tremendous amount of energy when he came on the field,” Dwyer said. “You know, he’s grown every single game. You know, it was a fantastic ball in from him and I’ve just got to put it away. It was pretty simple.”
Where is Colmán?
For the second match in a row, young designated player Josué Colmán wasn’t included in Orlando City’s match-day 18.
The Paraguayan attacking midfielder showed some flashes of prowess last season, but he struggled with consistency. Colmán told Pro Soccer USA a quad contusion he suffered during preseason training last year nagged at him throughout the 2018 campaign, but he was entering 2019 healthy.
At this point in the season, it becomes a question of which attacking player sits in order for Colmán to get minutes. In the middle of the pitch, O’Connor opts for two defensive midfielders and, so far this season, Sacha Kljestan, who has played well. Colmán isn’t going to start over Dwyer or Nani, who have proven to be two of Orlando City’s most valuable attacking pieces in 2019.
And then there’s Mueller, who has been a dynamic presence in the attack and has shown he can track back and play defense. Where does Colmán fit in the 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 formation that Orlando City has played well in?
“It’s not just Josué,” O’Connor said. “There’s Dillon Powers, there’s all these other players and everybody wants to speak about the young DP. Josué, to be fair to him, has been trying and he’s been trying to do some of the things that we’ve asked. I think he’s had a decent enough week’s training. But when you look at the way the guys who have been performing – you look at Chris Mueller coming off the bench, you look at Dom, you look at the players that are there, you know, he’s got a chance to be involved next week, but, again, we’ve got good young players.
“We want to give all the young players an opportunity. It’s two games. We play 34 in the season. For us, it’s really not that big of a deal. I think the media want to make it a big deal, but for me, it’s not a big deal.”
Another disappointing result
Orlando City dominated possession (54 percent to 46 percent), took more shots (16 to 4), had more corner opportunities (seven to one) and, in general, kept D.C. United busy in its own half Sunday night and still lost.
It came down to two set pieces. O’Connor said the team “fell asleep” and conceded a goal on the first one and was irate regarding the second because he thought D.C. United interfered with goalkeeper Brian Rowe.
Orlando City had its chances to equalize later in the match, but every chance that came after Dwyer’s goal went begging.
The match was just the latest during which Orlando City played well but something – whether it came down to officiating, inexplicable defending or another miscue – became a turning point that cost the Lions points.
“We’re upbeat,” Dwyer said. “The group sees a lot of positives from tonight. We played very well. I think we had a lot of chances and we conceded off two set pieces. That’s just how it goes. We’ve got to defend them a little bit better, but there’s a lot of positives to take tonight.”