In their 28th match of the 2021 Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season, D.C. United fell 2-1 to Orlando City SC in a tight contest at Exploria Stadium. The loss dropped United temporarily into fourth place in the Eastern Conference, under Orlando, with 41 points with five games remaining in the regular season.
D.C. United started the first half with the foot on the gas. Julian Gressel opened the scoring in the 7th minute with a powerful right footed shot from outside of the box. Orlando City found the equalizer in the 17th minute from a corner. The ball sent into the penalty spot was pushed away by Bill Hamid, but the ball ricocheted fortunately for the hosts and fell to the feet of Robin Jansson who poked it home. The sides entered the break level, 1-1.
Both teams came out a bit more cautious in the second half and the first clear cut chance didn’t arrive until the 87th minute. Orlando City sprung forward on the counterattack an attempt on goal was slid under an onrushing Hamid, but Joseph Mora sprinted back to clear it off the line to keep the tie all square at 1-1. The hosts, however did find the winner deep into added time, through a controversially-awarded corner kick. Dike rose highest to head home a whipped in ball at the near post off the underside of the bar and Orlando City took all three points, 2-1.Â
D.C. United returns home after the international break to face-off against Nashville SC at Audi Field on Saturday, October 16, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. Tune into NBC Sports Washington Plus, TeleXitos, and www.dcunited.com to watch the match.
