Real Salt Lake forward Corey Baird settled a ball from Joao Plata in front of the goal and faced Orlando goalkeeper Joe Bendik one-on-one.
It was reminiscent of the goal Baird had scored in the 12th minute, when he chipped Bendik to open scoring for RSL, but this time, as Baird tapped a shot to Bendik’s right when he leaned left, the keeper stuck out his foot to knock away the shot. Just a minute later, Orlando earned a corner kick and scored the go-ahead goal.
“Up until 65, 70 minutes,” RSL coach Mike Petke said, “I thought we were walking out of here with points, whether it’s one or three.”
Real Salt Lake lost 3-1 at Orlando City Stadium Sunday, and Orlando (6-2-1, 19 points) stretched its winning streak to six matches, a club record.
Real Salt Lake (3-5-1, 10 points) on the other hand, remained winless on the road.
In the span of three minutes, RSL watched Orlando turn the match on its head.
Storylines<br>• Orlando City SC sets a club record, extending its winning streak to six matches.<br>• Real Salt Lake suffers two consecutive losses for the first time this season.<br>• Orlando City remains undefeated (2-0-2) against Real Salt Lake.
Just before Bendik’s kick save, Orlando midfielder Sacha Kljestan recovered from a clean tackle by RSL defender Nick Besler to chip a cross in front of the goal. Orlando City forward Dom Dwyer headed it in for the equalizer in the 61st minute.
Three minutes later, Lamine Sané netted his first MLS goal. Orlando Midfielder Yoshimar Yotún took the corner kick, sending it into a packed penalty box. Sané made a run to get open and rose up to score the go-ahead goal with his head.
Yotún added his own goal in the 78th minute, finishing the rebound off a save by RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando, to put the match out of RSL’s reach.
“You don’t win five in a row in this league unless you have some quality and unless you have smart players and some experience,” Petke said of Orlando. “So they showed it. They hung in there, down 1-0 for a while and then they took their opportunities.”
Before Dwyer kicked off Orlando’s second-half scoring spree, RSL had led the match for almost 50 minutes.
Back in the first half, Damir Kreilach won the ball off Sacha Kljestan as the Orlando midfielder attempted to settle it. Kreilach picked his head up and sent a long ball behind the Orlando back line for fBaird.
Baird raced against Sané, pulling a step ahead of the Orlando defender as Bendik came off his line to defend the breakaway. Baird chipped a shot over Bendick and into the back of the net.
It was one of RSL’s nine shots on goal, compared to Orlando’s seven. Real Salt Lake bounced two shots off the goal frame, the first coming from Baird and the second by Albert Rusnák.
“We’ve got to put the ball away,” Baird said. “And that’s coming from me leading the line. I’ve got to be getting more chances, I’ve got to be putting away the chances I get.”