D.C. United traveled to Florida to take on Orlando City SC in its second road match of the season on Saturday night. The team was coming off back-to-back draws against the Chicago Fire and CF Montréal. The Black-and-Red was unable to handle Orlando's attacking pressure and succumbed to a 4-1 loss at Inter&Co Stadium.
Orlando were on the front foot in the opening 45 minutes and created the best chances of the first half. They were rewarded in the 21st minute when Orlando defender Alex Freeman found space down the right flank and put a cross into the box that found the head of Luis Muriel who converted from close-range to give Oralndo a 1-0 lead. They continued to apply pressure and found their second goal in the 44th minute when a MartÃn Ojeda shot deflected off Aaron Herrera and found the bottom right corner to double the lead going into halftime.
In the second half, Orlando were quick to reassert their dominance on the game. In the 50th minute, Orlando's Alex Freeman got on the end of a cross and powered his header into the back of the net to give the home team a 3-0 cushion. Shortly after, Marco Pasalic found himself in acres of space and curled his effort into the top corner for the fourth and final Orlando goal.
Defender Lukas MacNaughton made his first start for the Black-and-Red, replacing Kye Rowles who is on international duty with Australia. The 30-year-old scored a consolation goal for D.C. United in the 91st minute after substitute Rida Zouhir played in a cross that Benteke passed back across the box to MacNaughton who headed in the Black-and-Red's lone goal.
The Black-and-Red return to the nation's capital ahead of the match against Columbus Crew SC on Saturday, March 29. Tickets are available for purchase at dcunited.com/tickets.
D.C. United Lineup: Joon-Hong Kim, Lucas Bartlett, Lukas MacNaughton, Aaron Herrera, David Schnegg (Derek Dodson 79'), Boris Enow (Dominique Badji 53'), João Peglow (Jacob Murrell 64'), Gabriel Pirani, Jared Stroud (Rida Zouhir 79'), Hosei Kijima (Fidel Barajas 79'), Christian Benteke
Unused Substitutes: Luis Barraza, Garrison Tubbs, Brandon Servania, Gavin Turner
Head Coach: Troy Lesesne
Orlando City SC Lineup: Javier Otero, Rafael Santos (Gustavo Caraballo 88'), Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Alex Freeman, Cesar Araujo, Eduard Atuesta, Ivan Angulo (Dagur Thorhallsson 72'), Marco Pasalic (Duncan McGuire 88'), Luis Muriel (Ramiro Enrique 83'), Martin Ojeda (Joran Gerbet 83')
Unused Substitutes: Carlos Mercado, Shakur Mohammed, Kyle Smith, Thomas Williams
Head Coach: Oscar Pareja