Tyrese Spicer’s goal in the 48th minute equalled the score and Maxime Crepeau’s stirring save in the 87th minute kept it that way as host Orlando City SC rallied for a 1-1 draw with FC Cincinnati on Saturday.
The much-maligned Orlando City (6-10-3, 21 points) defense continued its upward trend as Crepeau’s late stop of a shot by Cincinnati’s Kenji Mboma Dem allowed the Lions to earn points for the third time in four MLS matches (2-1-1) since the World Cup break.
Orlando City’s 48 goals allowed are still the most in the league, but only three have come over the past four outings.
The Lions had the game’s first legitimate scoring chance as Justin Ellis tested Roman Celentano with a right-footed shot in the 10th minute that made a bid for the upper-left corner before the Cincinnati keeper leaped to bat it away. Spicer later missed from the center of the box in the 11th minute after gobbling up the rebound of his own shot.
The Orange and Blue’s Bryan Ramirez had a great opportunity to find the net in the 20th minute when he bore down on Crepeau with Joran Gerbet an option at the far post. Ramirez slid the ball across the crease but it rolled past Gerbet before he could get a foot on it.
Pavel Bucha then found the net in the 23rd minute for Cincinnati (7-6-6, 27 points) by booting home a rebound of a shot by Evander that bounced off the head of Gerbet. Bucha beat Crepeau to the bottom-right corner for his fifth goal of the season and staked the visitors to a 1-0 lead.
Celentano made a fabulous save on another shot from Ellis, this one in the 36th minute, with a 38% goal expectation. Celentano also stopped Ellis one minute into first-half stoppage time, keeping Cincinnati on top at halftime.
Spicer provided the equalizer in the 48th minute when he raced down the field, muscled Bucha off the ball and then moved to his right foot to beat Celentano and defender Samuel Gidi into the middle of the open goal. Ellis and Ivan Angulo garnered assists on the play.
Kevin Denkey had a chance to answer and put Cincinnati back in front in the 53th minute but his shot bounced off the right post.
–Field Level Media
