Not too many teams would scoff at picking up a point on the road in MLS after going down a man early in the second half, but Orlando City SC felt there was a chance for their side to snatch all three after their 1-1 draw Sunday evening with the San Jose Earthquakes.
“Obviously when you played for 52 minutes with 10 men, you can’t be greedy,” OCSC head coach Adrian Heath told MLSSoccer.com in a phone interview after the match at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. “Obviously going ahead and then giving a penalty four minutes later, you’re disappointed. But on the whole, you have to say it was a fair reflection of the game.”
After a quiet first half for both teams, OCSC faced a major challenge in the 51st minute when Brek Shea was sent off after a difficult challenge against San Jose forward Sanna Nyasi.
Orlando City responded well to the booking, with Kaka scoring on a penalty kick in the 64th minute after Cyle Larin was taken down in the box by San Jose goalkeeper David Bingham.
But just four minutes later, San Jose came away with a penalty of their own, when Darwin Ceren knocked Jordan Stewart to the ground in the area, which was converted by Chris Wondolowski for his 100th career MLS goal.
“I think the penalty was a bit harsh,” Orlando left back Luke Boden said after the match.
Overall, it was a strong defensive performance for Orlando, who allowed just 10 shots from San Jose. Goalkeeper Tally Hall also came up with a big, diving save on a curling, left-footed shot from Matias Perez Garcia in the 72nd minute to preserve the point.
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“The center backs played well, and the full backs gave them good support,” Heath said. “The guys in front of them worked ever so hard stopping quality balls coming into the box.”
Still, there was a sense from the Lions that more could have been had.
“I think the gaffer and the team are disappointed,” Boden said. “We dropped two points that we could have had. Coming home with one is a bit of a disappointment.”
