ORLANDO, Fla. (www.floridasportswire.com) – Orlando City SC (7-11-3, 24 points) came back from a goal down to defeat Real Salt Lake (8-8-4, 28 points) 2-1 on Saturday night at Inter.co Stadium through Antoine Griezmann’s first brace as a Lion.
The visitors opened the scoring nine minutes before the halftime break as Sam Junqua sent a long cross to the far post for Dominik Marczuk behind the Lions’ defensive line. Marczuk volleyed it low to the ground and sent it back into the lower-left corner of the net for the opener.
Orlando City then responded in the second half, creating much more attacking presence and pressure on Real Salt Lake before breaking through in the 53rd minute. Substitute Justin Ellis sent a cross from the edge of the box to Daryl Dike, who spun and brought the ball down before having his shot saved by Mason Stajduhar. The rebound fell perfectly into Griezmann’s path to bury for the equalizer.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup winner then struck again in the 81st minute to put Orlando in the lead and complete the comeback. Tyrese Spicer fed Griezmann in the Salt Lake box, who then backheeled the pass into a defender before collecting his own rebound and slotting it low into the right corner of the net for his brace in Major League Soccer.
Goal Highlights:
36’ Dominik Marczuk (Sam Junqua, Alexandros Katranis) – RSL 1, ORL 0
53’ Antoine Griezmann – ORL 1, RSL 1
81’ Antoine Griezmann – ORL 2, RSL 1
Match Notes:
- Antoine Griezmann recorded his first brace as a Lion, tallying his third and fourth goals for the Club across all competitions.
- Griezmann has now made three goal contributions across his last two matches for the Lions (2g, 1a).
- With the start in tonight’s match, captain Robin Jansson has now made 250 starts across all competitions for Orlando City.
- Interim head coach Martín Perelman made four changes to his starting lineup from the club’s previous match against Chicago Fire FC, inserting Eduard Atuesta, Marco Pašalić, Zakaria Taifi and Tiago into the starting XI.
- Defenders Adrián Marín (thigh) and Bernardo Rhein (thigh) and midfielders Braian Ojeda (foot) and Martín Ojedá (thigh) missed the match due to injury.
Next Match: The Lions will now face a road test against Minnesota United FC at Allianz Field this Saturday, Aug. 29 (8:30 p.m. ET | Apple TV).
