SDFC's away-day troubles continue in 1-0 loss to Orlando City

Road woes continue for the Chrome & Azul, falling 1-0 at Inter&Co Stadium on Saturday night, with French icon Antoine Griezmann being the difference in Orlando City SC’s tight victory. 

A first-ever meeting between the two sides took place Saturday night, with Orlando City SC hosting San Diego FC.

SDFC came into this interconference matchup riding a two-match winning streak at home, including last Saturday’s intense 3-1 win over SoCal rivals LA Galaxy that featured the return of former SDFC designated player Chucky Lozano. 

Last Saturday’s win and three points also bumped SDFC back into MLS Cup Playoff positioning, coming into their Sept. 5 matchday in eighth place in the Western Conference. 

SDFC started the match on their defensive heels, with Orlando applying offensive pressure from the opening whistle, holding the ball in dangerous areas as San Diego stayed compact and organized in the early stages. 

But from a long ball, the Lions finally broke through in the 28-minute, with the inside-the-box chance falling right onto the right foot of World Cup-winning French star forward Antoine Griezmann, who buried the ground shot across goal and into the bottom-left corner for the 1-0 lead.  

SDFC were unable to create much in the first 45-minute, leaving the opening period with only three total shots, hitting the target once despite winning the possession battle at 55% to 45% over Orlando. 

Much of the same in the second half, with Orlando getting the majority of the better chances, with SDFC fullback Kieran Sargeant forced to make a goal-saving empty-net intervention in the 72-minute to deny Iván Angulo the 2-0 score. 

The best non-goal chance of the night came in the 88-minute, with SDFC coming inches away from falling two goals behind after Orlando’s Wilder Cartagena's shot blasted off the crossbar and bounced off SDFC's Manu Duah, nearly clearing the goal line. 

Despite nine minutes added in stoppage time and a threatening offensive period for SDFC in the dying moments of the match, Orlando City held on to their slim lead and secured their victory, with SDFC falling 1-0 at Inter&Co Stadium on Saturday night. 

Saturday night’s loss handed SDFC their sixth defeat on the road this MLS season, having only collected all three points away from home twice in eleven road matches. 

San Diego FC will look to keep their home winning streak alive at Snapdragon Stadium when they face in-state rivals San Jose Earthquakes in a midweek MLS battle on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 7:30 p.m.

Revenge looms large for SDFC, who suffered a 3-0 defeat to the Earthquakes at PayPal Park earlier this campaign on April 4.