FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — For the second consecutive match, a slow start doomed Orlando City. The Lions fell behind early and never recovered during a 4-1 road loss to the surging New England Revolution Saturday.
New England wasted no time dismantling the Orlando defense, finding the back of the net in the third minute of play before the Lions had taken more than a handful of touches. Gustavo Bou collected a pass in the attacking third and backheeled the ball to Edgar Castillo, who served it back for a deft give-and-go. A quick burst of speed was all it took for Bou to bend a run around Lamine Sané, take a touch into space and bury his shot beyond Orlando City goalkeeper Brian Rowe’s fingertips.
“We shot ourselves in the foot,” Orlando City midfielder Dillon Powers said. “I thought we played a decent game, but when you get behind the eight-ball after two and a half minutes without touching the ball, we’re just making it very difficult on ourselves. We have to be very intentional going forward about making sure we’re starting bright and focused and aggressive.”
After the goal, the Lions immediately fell into a quicker offensive rhythm, leveling out possession and attacking the New England backline with increased fervor. Forward Tesho Akindele had a pair of chances in the box but fumbled his timing, getting a foot on the ball and nothing more before it was cleared out by the defense.
The Lions were outshot nine to five in the first half, but with several missed chances in front of the goal. Both teams’ attacks felt evenly weighted heading into halftime, yet Orlando City continued to flounder with finishing in the final third of the field.
“The final product was missing,” Akindele said. “I need to be better. Other people on our team that had chances need to be better. We created a lot of good chances and it was just the final piece. It’s frustrating for the forwards and I know it’s frustrating for the fans.”
The second half, however, was a different story. New England stepped on the gas from the opening whistle, and the Revs were rewarded with an early goal yet again, finding the net before Orlando City had any time to create possession. Within a minute, Cristian Penilla cut across the face of the goal, one-touching a cross into the net to stretch the lead to 2-0.
In the 55th minute, a shot in the box ricocheted off the arm of Sebas Mendez, and although play continued for several minutes, the referee eventually stopped the game to review the play. It took only seconds for officials to rule the play a handball, awarding the Revs a 60th-minute penalty kick, which captain Carles Gil slotted home to stretch the lead to 3-0.
Gil added an assist 15 minutes later, setting up Diego Fagundez, who ripped a shot from more than 20 yards away from the goal, sending the ball streaking across the box to the opposite corner just beyond Rowe’s reach.
“The start of the second half killed us,” Lions coach James O’Connor said. “It was a little bit mentally from there. But they kept going right to the end. At the end of the day, you need to make sure you’re clinical in front of goal and that you’re limiting your opponent to as few chances as you can give them. We can’t have chances and not take them.”
One attacking spark for the team came from forward Dom Dwyer, who entered the game in the 70th minute to replace Uri Rosell, who took a hard blow to the right ankle. After sitting out two games with a red-card suspension, the forward gave a jolt of energy to the attack, firing a shot almost immediately after taking the pitch and taking three total in the game.
Eight minutes later, he connected with Nani for a give-and-go in the box, centering in a ball for Akindele to run onto. This time, the forward connected cleanly with the ball, rocketing it into the back of the net to cut the lead to 4-1.
The Lions fired off a total of 12 second-half shots, but it was too little too late. Despite a stoppage time flurry of attack, the scoreline stayed solid to the final whistle.
“Tonight really is about the big moments,” O’Connor said. “The mix was just wrong. You can’t have the volume of chances and not take them and then also give up goals like that. It kills you.”
The night also resulted in another injury for defender João Moutinho, who took a knock in last week’s game against the Red Bulls and exited Saturday’s game at the half with a hip injury. Moutinho previously sat out almost a month of play with a hamstring injury.
The Lions fell to 7-5-11, extending to a three-game winless streak. Although Orlando City remains in the No. 9 slot in the conference, the team has fallen seven points below the playoff cutoff line. Orlando City will look to rebound next week as it returns home to host FC Dallas.