Orlando City SC and the New York Red Bulls battled to a 1-1 draw on Friday evening at Camping World Stadium in a chippy affair.
The Red Bulls opened the scoring in the 19th minute, as Sal Zizzo sent a diagonal pass to Sacha Kljestan, who in turn passed up to Bradley Wright-Phillips. The English striker made a quick strike past Orlando City goalkeeper Joe Bendik to grab his third goal of the season.
Orlando City tied the score in the 67th minute on the counterattack, as Darwin Ceren played it forward up to Cyle Larin in the channel, who in turn sent a pass across the box that was converted by Kevin Molino.
The hosts went down to 10 men in the 85th minute as Cristian Higuita was shown a straight red card after a studs up tackle brought Kljestan down. All told, the game featured eight yellow cards in addition to Higuita's ejection.
Box Score
- 19’ – NY – Bradley Wright-Phillips (Sacha Kljestan, Sal Zizzo)
- 67' – ORL – Kevin Molino (Cyle Larin, Darwin Ceren)
- Full box score
- Stats
- Highlights
Three Things
- NO LOVE LOST: Looking back, it was perhaps inevitable that a player was going to be sent off in the game. In addition to the red card and eight yellows, the teams combined for 34 fouls, and tempers flared throughout the evening. Some games are just more chippy than others, but one figures this one is going to be remembered by the players and coaches for some time.
- FAMILIAR FOES: Coming into the match, the headline was that defender Aurelien Collin was making his debut for New York -- against the side that traded him to the Red Bulls. While Collin unsurprisingly got stuck in right away, the bigger story that emerged may be the run Wright-Phillips is on against the Lions. All three of BWP's goals this season have been against Orlando City. He didn't score against them at all in 2015, so one figures Wright-Phillips has a new favorite opponent this year.
- TURNING POINT? The call of the game arguably came in first-half stoppage time, as referee Ted Unkel pointed to the spot after Collin brought down Larin in the box. As Orlando City got ready to take the penalty, Unkel consulted with his assistant referee, who called Orlando City defender Seb Hines offside on the same play. As a result of the offside call, the penalty was overruled. Was it the right call? It's sure to be a talking point this weekend.
