Orlando City B Goals: Tsukada 45’ Solis 45+1’, Mohammed 63’
New York City FC II Goals: Ruiz 23’, Arévalo 85'
Quick Read
New York City FC II suffered a 3-2 defeat against Orlando City B on Sunday evening. City took the lead from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute thanks to Camil Azzam Ruiz. Yutaro Tsukada would draw the hosts level on the stroke of halftime before Jhon Solis put them ahead in first-half stoppage time. Orlando would make it three in the 63rd minute through Shakur Mohammed. City cut Orlando's defecit in half in the 85th minute after a well-taken goal from Ronald Arévalo. City pushed until the final whistle but were unable to secure an equalizer, forcing them to suffer a 3-2 defeat on the road.
Match Recap
New York City FC II were in the Sunshine State this weekend as they took on Orlando City B.
Matt Pilkington’s side arrived in Orlando after a credible draw against the Red Bulls last time out and were keen to secure a victory to boost their chances of climbing the table.
A quiet start to the game saw neither side fashion clear-cut chances during the early exchanges.
That all changed in the 22nd minute when City were handed a great chance to take the lead via the penalty spot.
Máximo Carrizo was the man who earned City the spot kick after he nicked the ball away from an Orlando defender. The midfielder raced toward goal and looked certain to score, but was brought down when trying to round the goalkeeper.
Choosing to take the resulting penalty was teammate Camil Azzam Ruiz, who was handed a start in the absence of Taylor Calheira.
Despite a confident run up Ruiz saw his initial effort saved but was on hand to slam home the rebound convincingly.
Orlando were keen to restore parity and ten minutes after Ruiz’s opener they came close – Shakur Mohammed clipping the post from a tight angle after rounding goalkeeper Will Meyer.
The hosts would find an equalizer on the stroke of halftime after Yutaro Tsukada cut inside from the left and fired a low shot past Meyer.
Unfortunately for City, one became two in first-half stoppage time after Jhon Solis pounced on a loose ball on the edge of the box and curled a shot just inside the left post.
The second half saw two changes for City as Ruiz and Jiménez were taken off in place of Piero Elias and Nicholas Kapanadze.
City were finding it difficult to convert possession into chances while Orlando were able to test Meyer early on with several shots from distance.
The hour mark saw Pilkington turn to his bench for a second time as Klevis Haxhari and Stevo Bednarsky replaced Jake Rozhansky and Andrew Baiera.
Unfortunately, the hosts would claim a third goal in the wake of that change after Mohammed converted an Orlando corner from close range.
City would try to respond through Jonathan Shore in the 72nd minute, but his curled effort from distance was parried away from goal.
A final change for City would arrive in the 83rd minute as Carrizo left the game and was replaced by Julien Lacher. Pilkington's side would find a second goal of the night two minutes later after a snapshot from Ronald Arévalo flew past Orlando goalkeeper Jose Carlos Mercado.
City were reduced to ten men deep into stoppage time after a late tackle on a City player led to a heated exchange among players. Kapanadze was eventually shown a red card for his reaction.
In the end, although City pushed until the final whistle they were unable to secure an equalizer, forcing them to suffer a 3-2 defeat on the road.
How We Lined Up
What's Next
Next up for New York City FC is a meeting with Chicago Fire II on Friday, August 23. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30PM ET.
