Orlando City SC's home record had been exemplary all season as they welcomed Seattle Sounders FC to Orlando, and many felt that their run of 17 matches unbeaten at home would continue Sunday night. Seattle had other plans though, and put together a very good performance to come come away from Camping World Stadium with three points.
The focus of the match had been on who, between Nicolás Lodeiro and Kaká, would inspire their team to the win. Lodeiro definitely came out on top in the battle of the South Americans as he was central to all that the Sounders did going forward while Kaká never seemed to find enough space to influence the game.
Both teams start fast
Both teams had no problems bombing forward at every opportunity and it made for an entertaining start to the match. Seattle were looking to their full-backs to provide the width while Orlando were using the speed of Hadji Barry to target the Seattle defense. It was a good run by Barry that led to Orlando's opening goal.
In the seventh minute of the game, Barry forced Seattle's Joevin Jones into playing a poor back pass to Stefan Frei which Frei ended up slicing out of bounds for a corner kick. Kaká stepped up and put in a great delivery for Seb Hines who had lost his marker Brad Evans in the box. Hines powered home the header and Orlando were one goal up.
Seattle were not out of it and continued to find Tyron Mears in space out on the right time and time again. It was this tactic that lead to the equalizer for the Sounders as Lodeiro drifted towards the center and found an on-rushing Mears out on the right. Mears drove towards the byline before cutting back the ball to Clint Dempsey who had found space in the box. Dempsey made no mistake and Seattle were back on level terms in the 14th minute. Lodeiro was finding all kinds of space in between Orlando's midfield and defenders, and he picked a fantastic ball for Andreas Ivanschitz to run onto three minutes later but Ivanschitz could only push his effort just wide on his weaker foot.
Seattle take over the match
After their equalizing goal, it was all Seattle. They had the majority of the possession and they continued to find gaps in Orlando's backline with ease. In the 20th minute, Jones got forward on the left hand side before combining with Jordan Morris to spring free to the byline. His cross found Dempsey but under pressure, Dempsey could only steer it towards Joe Bendik in goal for Orlando. Orlando did not help themselves with playing with a high line as the pace of Morris and the vision of Lodeiro were constantly exploiting the space behind them. If the passes had been a little bit lighter, Morris could easily have been one-on-one with Bendik on more than one occasion.
In the 37th minute, those Morris runs finally paid off for the young striker. Cristian Roldan played a long ball over the top for Morris to run onto which he did. Morris then hesitated long enough for Bendik to come out and try and close him down before Morris slid the ball to his right where Dempsey was all alone in the box. Dempsey tapped the ball home and Seattle were 2-1 up just before half-time. Orlando could not stop Seattle's midfield from dominating and they could not keep up with Morris' pace which was punishing them throughout the half.
Quick start to the second half by Seattle
After the break, Seattle carried on right were they had left off. A quick break in the 47th minute saw Lodeiro, Dempsey and Morris running towards Orlando's backline. Lodeiro played a lovely through ball for Morris, who once again drew Bendik out before squaring the ball to Dempsey. Dempsey slotted into the empty net and Seattle were now firmly in the lead. After that goal, Seattle dropped off and slowed down the pace as they decided to manage the game and keep Orlando out of their box.
Orlando did try and come back into the game. Kevin Alston came forward for the first time in the match during the 62nd minute and found Hines who had lingered in the box after a previous free-kick. Hines could not get a strong enough touch on the ball and his effort went just wide of Frei's left hand post. Substitute Julio Baptista came the closest to getting a goal back for Orlando in the 71st minute. A free-kick was sent in by Kaká and was met well by Baptista who thought he had scored but his effort hit the crossbar. Hines followed up on the rebound which was saved low by Frei before Seattle substitute Zach Scott booted the ball away from the box.
Late chances fall to the Sounders
As Orlando pushed forward, Seattle used Lodeiro's vision to try and find players on the break and get more goals. In the 80th minute, the Uruguayan found Ivanschitz out wide. The Austrian got by his defender before passing the ball to an on-rushing Nelson Valdez but the forward could not connect properly and hit the post. It was a sign of how short of confidence Valdez was since that opportunity had been easier to score than to miss. Another substitute, Álvaro Fernández had the chance to add another goal to Seattle's total late into stoppage time. Lodeiro, who had a masterful performance, found Morris on the break who then proceeded to speed past his marker before passing to an open Fernández. Fernández could not get his contact right and ended up hitting the post instead of scoring.
Seattle are now eight points away from a playoff position and seemed to have turned a corner. Their last remaining matches are all against Western conference teams and if they continue to improve as they are doing, a playoff berth may not be beyond them yet. Orlando, on the other hand, will have to sort out their defensive issues quickly if they plan on making it to the playoffs. If they do not manage to do that, all of their attacking threat will mean nothing as they will continue to draw or lose games as the regular season draws to a close.