After hanging with Atlanta United for forty-five minutes, Orlando City SC didn’t have the legs or the talent to stay with MLS’ top team last Friday. Josef Martinez scored his record-breaking 28th goal of the season to lift Atlanta to victory, and the Purple Lions only mustered two shots in the second half as a response.
But it was not all discouraging news for James O’Connor’s side. The additions of Jonathan Spector, Shane O’Neill, and Carlos Ascues created a more stout Orlando defense, and it was only Joe Bendik’s poor first half showing that let the Five Stripes open the scoring.
Ascues has only just arrived in the United States for his loan from Peru, and Spector is coming off a fairly long injury layoff, so even with an extra day off — Orlando has been resting since August 24 — it’s doubtful that O’Connor’s new defense will be 90-minutes ready by the start of September.
Will Johnson and Uri Rosell started alongside Ascues in midfield against Atlanta, but with Yoshi Yotun and Cristian Higuita returning from suspension, it’s unclear how Orlando City will come out against the Union. Additionally, Sacha Kljestan has been out since sustaining an injury against New England Revolution but could return to face Philly.
Even after scoring a single goal against the Five Stripes, Orlando’s offense remains productive, having notched at least two goals in five of their past seven matches. So even with the Lions struggling for points, Philly must be ready for a forceful attack with Orlando City on their home turf.
A final takeaway from last Friday’s match is that OCSC remains a work very much in progress. O’Connor came in with a reputation as a coach that demanded running and a high workrate. That doesn’t really describe the roster he inherited and it has been an uneven process of growth for both coach and players to figure out how to meet each other in the middle. With that in mind, it’s unclear how much pressure Orlando will seek to put on the Union, and Philly must be ready for a team that tries to disrupt their midfield play and one that, instead, sits back and looks to counter through Yotun’s distribution and Ascues’ ball retention.
The Union and Orlando City face off on Saturday, September 1 at 7:30PM EST.
