Orlando City earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory in its first match against second-year club San Diego FC on Saturday night, keeping its first clean sheet in eight games across all competitions.
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Orlando City improved to 8-11-4 with 28 points in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference standings. San Diego is 8-9-6 and remains with 30 points in the Western Conference. As the season starts to enter its final stretch, the victory helps the Lions solidify a potential playoff spot. Orlando City entered the weekend in ninth place, good for a wild card berth. San Diego FC was eighth in the West entering the weekend.
The Lions controlled the game from start to finish, putting in one of their most complete performances of the season while keeping a dangerous San Diego side from threatening. Orlando City improved to 6-4-2 at home.
“The group was very disciplined tactically and with the ball,” Orlando goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau said. “We saw tonight what it’s going to take for the next two months of the season. This is how we need to play for the next two months, and we will be above that little red line at the end if we keep going like this.”
Griezmann scored Orlando’s goal in the 28th minute. Daryl Dike passed the ball in toward Justin Ellis, who immediately poked it through for Griezmann to fire past goalkeeper Carlos Dos Santos for the 1-0 lead.
It was the 35-year-old Griezmann’s fifth goal in his first eight MLS matches. It was the eighth assist for the rookie Ellis and the first this season for Dike in five appearances.
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Orlando outshot San Diego 15-7, only allowing two shots on target from the visitors. The Lions finished with 2.27 expected goals (xG) compared to San Diego’s 0.50. Crépeau finished with two saves for Orlando City for his third shutout in 23 starts this season. He has nine shutouts over 157 career starts. Dos Santos turned away three shots on goal for San Diego.
Martin Ojeda came on in the 51st minute as he continues his return to fitness after missing 10 MLS matches due to an injury suffered just before league play resumed following the World Cup. He had an excellent pass to Ivan Angulo in the 72nd minute, but Angulo’s heavy touch gave San Diego the chance to clear the ball and keep the game within reach.
Wilder Cartagena thought he scored in the 89th minute when the ball bounced off the crossbar down toward the goal line. It just narrowly stayed out after making contact with San Diego defender Manu Duah.
Orlando also honored Remi Crépeau, Maxime’s father, who recently passed away. It was an emotional moment for the Canadian international before the match, but the support from the team and the soccer community at large has been extremely important for him and his family.
“I want to say that I’m grateful to be in a place where I’ve had so much support and love from my teammates, the staff, everybody in the organization, the city of Orlando,” Crépeau added. “Sometimes it’s more difficult than other situations, but once the whistle blows, football helped me a lot to go throughout the last couple of months.”
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Orlando’s next match is on the road against Atlanta United on Wednesday.