Pareja enjoys a homecoming as FC Dallas' playoff chances fade
Orlando City enjoyed an easy opening hour as Oscar Pareja's side strolled to a three-goal lead before the home side staged a late comeback, but it was too little too late for Peter Luccin's men.
"To be honest, he first half today was the worst first half since we took over."
Coach Luccin only made one change from the win over LAFC, with Asier Illarramendi out through yellow card accumulation. Sebastian Lletget stepped into the midfield for the euskaldun.
The early stages of Papi's latest return home saw Orlando play little like those past Pareja-led teams, dominating possession and forcing FCD to defend deep.
Orlando took the lead on 19 minutes owing to some lackluster marking. Rafael Santos fed a cross in from the Orlando left after OCSC played the ball around the edge of the Dallas box for a while. Ramiro Enrique made a diagonal run from Marco Farfan – who was left marking two players – before popping up to win a near-post header in front of Omar Gonzalez.
Dallas got its first decent possession in the attacking third with Ruan in space down the right in the 25th minute. He threaded a low ball through traffic to find Patrickson Delgado near the six-yard line but the pass seemed to catch the Ecuadorian by surprise and he put it out for a goal kick.
The good guys had the ball in the net shortly after through a Petar Musa tap-in. Unfortunately for the Croatian, Paul Arriola was deemed to have fouled an Orlando defender while winning possession.
Luccin abandoned the back three at the break as Omar Gonzalez gave way for Tsiki Ntsabeleng. The move pushed Sebastian Lletget back as a six behind Tsiki and Delgado.
The Lions forced Maarten Paes into a save soon into the second half and doubled their lead in the 51st minute. A Martin Ojeda corner found the run of Rodrigo Schlegal. Giving up six inches to the Orlando defender, Tsiki Ntsabeleng wouldn't have had much luck winning the header even if he had kept up with Schlegel's run.
Four minutes later Orlando grabbed a comedic third through Facundo Torres. Ruan smashed a clearance off an Orlando City SC player, which fell to Enrique. The son of 1986 FIFA World Cup winner Hector Enrique took a touch as a Ruan challenge blew by. Torres ran clear for an easy feed to score.
"We knew they were going to be intense, the style that they play, and then the quality that they have up front," said FC Dallas captain Paul Arriola. "To be honest with you, we were a bit confused, trying to find the balance of building out and playing long. We just got caught in between."
FC Dallas reshuffled the attack in the 64th minute. Logan Farrington and Bernard Kamungo replaced Alan Velasco and Patrickson Delgado.
Paes made a couple of nice saves off Duncan McGuire. His opposite number, Pedro Gallese, didn't have a busy opening hour but was forced to stop a couple of long shots, and picked the ball off the feet of Logan Farrington. Tsiki Ntsabeleng saw a shot cleared off the line following a mazy run along the end line.
Nico Lodeiro has terrorized FC Dallas over the years, but the former Seattle man's lazy challenge on Bernard Kamungo let Dallas get on the score sheet. Kamungo had lost possession in the Orlando box but poked the ball away from Lodeiro before taking the contact. Paul Arriola rolled the ball down the middle to bring Dallas back within two goals.
FC Dallas nearly had something more to cheer about in the 80th minute as Gallese ran out of his area to head clear a long ball headed toward Jesus Ferreira. Logan Farrington shot for the empty net but hit a purple body. Ferreira cycled the ball out to Kamungo, only for Gallese to barely recover enough to tip the ball away.
The late show continued as Petar Musa saw a point-blank header saved two minutes later, from a Jesus Ferreira cross. Musa then smashed a shot off the underside of the bar in the 85th before watching it bounce clear.
Between the two Musa efforts, Luccin made a change with Show coming in for Sebastian Lletget.
The 16th consecutive sellout crowd erupted as the Burn pulled a second goal back in the final minute of regulation time through Logan Farrington. A lengthy VAR check found that Paul Arriola was offside in the build-up. The ball had been pushed out wide to the captain by Kamungo before a return pass. The Tanzanian wing squared the ball to Logan Farrington for a first-time left footed finish.
FCD pushed through eight minutes of stoppage time, but aside from another low save forced by Farrington, Orlando closed out the game comfortably.
A win for Minnesota United leaves FC Dallas seven points – and two wins in the first tiebreaker – off the final play-in spot ahead of a Wednesday trip to wooden spoon winners San Jose.
