VIDEO: Orlando City Falls To Columbus On The Road 2-0, Host New York Red Bulls April 9

By  //  April 1, 2017

Orlando City SC falls to 2-1-0

ABOVE VIDEO: HIGHLIGHTS from Columbus Crew SC 2-0 victory over Orlando City SC.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (Orlando City) – In its first road match of the season, Orlando City SC (2-1-0, 6 points) fell 2-0 to Columbus Crew SC (3-1-1, 10 points) Saturday at MAPFRE Stadium.

Scott Sutter made his Lions debut and Tommy Redding made his first Major League Soccer (MLS) appearance of 2017.

“Disappointed to suffer our first loss in our first away game but a lot of positives from my point of view,” Lions Head Coach Jason Kreis said.

“I thought we created the right amount of chances. I thought we got into their half pretty well into some really good spots. I thought we lacked a little bit of sharpness, though, in the final third, which is difficult.”

“It’s our third game of the season [so] it’s not too surprising to say that we weren’t deadly and real sharp in the attacking third of the field when we have to combine and make plays. That’s pretty typical so I’m not surprised by it and I’m not too disturbed by it. Obviously disappointed that we don’t get the result but I think we got a lot of positives that we are moving forward with,” Kreis added.

ABOVE VIDEO: Giles Barnes talks to reporters following Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Columbus.

The Lions came out in the same starting XI that earned them a 2-1 win against Philadelphia on March 18 and with the same backline that earned a clean sheet victory on Opening Day. But with two weeks since its last match, City couldn’t hold off Justin Meram in the 13th minute when he beat the offside trap and slotted a left-footed shot inside the far post.

Several close opportunities nearly leveled the score before the half, namely Donny Toia’s first-time volley from the edge of the area after a cross was deflected high.

City came out and controlled much of the run of play to start the second half. Cyle Larin, Giles Barnes and Will Johnson were focal points of the attack and built off passes and runs from Matías Pérez García and Carlos Rivas.

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The Lions nearly equalized in the 51st minute when Larin made a well-timed run to get behind the Crew SC back line and drive the ball across the six-yard box to Johnson, but the Canadian connection went wide.

The match saw Sutter make his Lions debut. The Swiss defender entered the match at right back in the 71st minute. Sutter signed with City on March 3. Redding played his first match of the season after returning from the U.S. U-20 national team’s first ever CONCACAF U-20 Championship title.

The Lions return to the City Beautiful on Sunday, April 9, when they host the New York Red Bulls.

Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET at Orlando City Stadium.

The match will be nationally televised on ESPN.