Orlando City B Goals: Tsukada 45′, Solis 45+1′, Mohammed 63′
Goals from New York City FC II: Azzam Ruiz 23′, Arevalo 85′
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New York City FC II suffered a 3-2 loss to Orlando City B on Sunday night. City took the lead in the 23rd minute through a Camil Azzam Ruiz penalty. Yutaro Tsukada equalized just before halftime before Jhon Solis put them ahead in first-half stoppage time. Orlando made it 3-0 in the 63rd minute through Shakur Mohammed. City halved Orlando’s deficit in the 85th minute with a beautiful Ronald Arévalo goal. City pressed until the final whistle but could not find an equalizer and suffered a 3-2 away loss.
Match report
New York City FC II was in the Sunshine State this weekend and took on Orlando City B.
Matt Pilkington’s team came to Orlando after a convincing draw with the Red Bulls in their last game and were desperate to secure a win to boost their chances of moving up the table.
The game started quietly and neither team was able to create any clear scoring opportunities in the first few periods.
That changed in the 22nd minute when City had a great chance to take the lead with a penalty.
Máximo Carrizo was the man who earned City the penalty after snatching the ball away from an Orlando defender. The midfielder ran towards goal and looked certain to score, but was brought down as he attempted to get around the goalkeeper.
The penalty was taken by his teammate Camil Azzam Ruiz, who was allowed to play from the start in the absence of Taylor Calheira.
Despite a confident start, Azzam Ruiz’s first attempt was blocked, but he was on hand to convincingly fire the rebound into the net.
Orlando were desperate to equalise and came close ten minutes after Azzam Ruiz opened the scoring – Shakur Mohammed hit the post from a tight angle after beating goalkeeper Will Meyer.
The hosts equalised shortly before half-time when Yutaro Tsukada cut in from the left and fired a low shot past Meyer.
Unfortunately for City, one goal in first-half stoppage time became a second after Jhon Solis latched onto a loose ball on the edge of the box and fired a shot just wide of the left post.
City made two changes in the second half, with Azzam Ruiz and Jiménez coming off for Piero Elias and Nicholas Kapanadze.
City struggled to convert possession into chances, while Orlando Meyer was able to test them early on with several long-range shots.
After an hour, Pilkington was relegated to the bench for the second time, with Klevis Haxhari and Stevo Bednarsky replacing Jake Rozhansky and Andrew Baiera.
Unfortunately, this change resulted in the hosts conceding a third goal after Mohammed converted an Orlando corner from close range.
City tried to respond in the 72nd minute through Jonathan Shore, but his long-range shot was blocked and went outside the goal.
One final change for City came in the 83rd minute when Carrizo left the game and was replaced by Julien Lacher. Pilkington’s side scored their second goal of the night two minutes later when a snapshot from Ronald Arévalo flew past Orlando goalkeeper Jose Carlos Mercado.
City were reduced to ten men deep into injury time after a tackle on a City player led to a heated exchange between the players, with Kapanadze eventually receiving a red card for his reaction.
Although City pressed until the final whistle, they were ultimately unable to equalise and suffered a 2-3 away defeat.
