It seems safe to say that is the worst day of Adailton's professional life. Scoring one own goal is bad enough, but two in one match? That seems unbearable. It only gets worse when one remembers that Chicago blew a late lead in the second half, and his second own goal proved to be the "winner". However, it gets even worse when Adailton remembers that he is the first player in MLS history to score two own goals in one match.
Yes, this is a match that anyone of a red persuasion will want to forget. The combination of it being the first home match in quite awhile with decent weather, the start of summer vacation and the allure of Kaka brought out a superb crowd to Toyota Park on Saturday night, and chances are they'll have a hard time forgetting this match.
Chicago began as much the better side, and picked up the game's opening goal after a training ground set piece routine worked to perfection. David Accam played the ball short to Harry Shipp, who in turn found Matt Polster on the edge of the box. Polster picked his head up and picked out Accam, who'd made a darting run into the box. He slid a cross back across the face of goal for Kennedy Igboananike to finish a flowing move and give the Fire the early lead.
Although Chicago had more shots overall and more shots on target, it was Orlando who bossed the game. The Lions wound up with the lion's share of possession at just a hair over 63%, and created their first clear cut opportunity of the match in the 39th minute. Kaka made a darting run down the left wing and whipped in a cross that was half cleared by Jeff Larentowicz. The ball bounced out to Darwin Ceren, who struck it sweetly on the half volley and forced Jon Busch into a terrific save.
Moments later, Orlando would get their equalizer through Adailton. After a corner kick, Sean St. Ledger got his head to the ball at the back post and forced Busch into another good save. However, he redirected the ball into the middle of the box, and Adailton unwittingly slotted the ball into the back of the net.
However, Chicago did not allow the own goal to affect their mentality and they came out after the break looking to attack. In the 57th minute, they retook the lead through Accam. After Kennedy Igboananike went on a mazy run deep into the Orlando half, he laid the ball off to Accam who in turn found Shipp. The midfielder took two dribbles before hitting a lovely reverse pass right into Accam's stride in the middle of the box, and he finished sweetly into the side netting.
Karmically, it seemed that Chicago should win. They'd looked to play good football and had scored two good goals while Orlando had gotten one off an own goal. Unfortunately for the Men in Red, there is no karma in football. In the 82nd minute, Cyle Larin equalized for Orlando after picking Adailton's pocket deep in Chicago's half. The Brazilian defender would finally get to play the role of goat one last time in the 86th minute, when he turned in a cross from Carlos Rivas to complete a horrendous day at the office.
With the win, Orlando rises to fourth in the Eastern Conference on 17 points while Chicago drops to ninth on 14.