Adrian Heath admitted one moment of madness from young fullback Rafael Ramos proved immensely costly to Orlando City SC in their crushing 3-0 defeat at Columbus Crew SC.
The Orlando City head coach was left largely helpless as his team lost its first road game of the season in self-destructive fashion with a series of mental errors, starting with a defensive giveaway by Ramos that led straight to the Crew’s opening goal and then a straight red card for the Portuguese right back — who had earned plenty of plaudits in the first six games — for a wild challenge on Waylon Francis.
Things went from bad to worse for the Lions in the space of five second-half minutes as another turnover in their own penalty box made it 2-0 and then Kei Kamara was allowed to run free to lob a third unanswered goal.
“Rafa’s had a lot of really good publicity in the last week, but then tonight he has cost us dearly,” Heath insisted. “Just because you don’t get a decision doesn’t mean you can go and recklessly tackle somebody.
“He has got a lesson to be learned here and we will have a look at it on Monday and sit down with him and have a chat about it. We have spoken to him in the past, but today it has been costly for his teammates.”
Infuriatingly for Heath, the game had been delicately poised until Ramos’ dismissal, and, even at halftime, there was no immediate sign of the team collectively hitting the rocks as they continued to have a fair share of play and almost equalized but for a fine save by Crew SC goalkeeper Steve Clark on an attempt by OCSC's Kevin Molino.
“I actually thought we played some good stuff in the last 30 minutes of the first half,” Heath added. “We had one or two chances and, even at 1-0 down, I felt we were in with a shout and we could still get something out of it.
“But all three goals were down to individual errors and you can’t gift teams goals at this level, especially good teams like Columbus. Rafa should have cleared the first one, Cristian [Higuita] should have cleared the second and the third was from a poor goal kick. You don’t win too many games when you concede three on the road.”
The 20-year-old Ramos was quick to hold his hand up to his unfortunate role as he took to Twitter straight after the game to apologize to his teammates and fans.
“You guys are right, it was really bad behavior!” he tweeted. “I apologize myself to the team, every member of the club and every fan! It won't happen again.”
Heath was quick to point the way ahead for his men, though, as they prepare for the visit of Toronto FC on Sunday, April 26 (7 pm ET, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes).
“Obviously we have a long week before the next game,” he said. “But we have time now to get everyone together and make sure we keep the confidence in the group. These are still early days and these things happen. It is how you deal with it and what you do next that counts."
Simon Veness covers Orlando City SC for MLSsoccer.com.
