Kye Rowles scored on a header in the 90th minute as D.C. United overcame its home-field jinx, rallying for a 3-2 win over injury-riddled Orlando City SC Saturday on a chilly night in Washington, D.C.
Jackson Hopkins and Louis Munteanu also scored for D.C. (3-4-3, 12 points), which snapped a six-game winless run in all competitions and won for just the second time in its last 15 MLS matches at home.
Sean Johnson added five saves as D.C. United won without their top scorer Tai Baribo, who was out with a thigh injury after scoring a hat trick in a 4-4 draw Wednesday at the New York Red Bulls.
After entering the week with an MLS-low four goals, D.C. put up seven in a four-day span.
The winning goal came off a corner kick to the opposite post by Keisuke Kurokawa. Jacob Murrell headed the ball to the middle of the box to a cutting Rowles, who scored for the first time in his two seasons as a starting defender for D.C.
Justin Ellis and Tyrese Spicer scored second-half goals to provide a 2-1 lead for Orlando City (2-7-1, 7 points), which is winless in five road games having been outscored 20-3.
Maxime Crepeau had five saves as the Lions were without three injured starters including dangerous threat Marco Pasalic, who missed his third straight MLS match, also with a thigh injury.
Hopkins scored the only goal of the first half when he took a pass from Kurokawa just outside the penalty arc, turned and fired a left-footed laser into the bottom right corner in the 10th minute.
In the 57th minute, the 18-year-old Ellis scored the first goal of his professional career, notching the equalizer on a right-footed shot from the middle of the box. Ellis’ goal came as he cleaned up a rebound from close range after Johnson stopped a header by Griffin Dorsey.
Ten minutes later, Spicer put Orlando in front when he ran down a long pass from Adrian Marin. Spicer’s shot from a tough angle deep on the left wing caromed off the inside of the top left post and into the net.
In the 84th minute, Munteanu tied it back up, 2-2, scoring his first-ever goal for D.C. when his right-footed shot from outside the box was deflected by a defender and bounced just inside the left post.
–Field Level Media
