Antoine Griezmann scored twice in the second half, the winner arriving in the 81st minute, as Orlando City SC came from behind to beat Real Salt Lake 2-1 on Saturday night at Inter.Co Stadium.
The Frenchman did nearly all of it himself, taking five shots — both of Orlando's efforts on target belonged to him — while no other Orlando player scored or set up a goal. The result ended a three-match winless run against Real Salt Lake stretching back to a 3-1 Orlando win in May 2018.
The visitors led at the break and probably should have led by more. Samuel Junqua crossed into the middle in the 36th minute and Dominik Marczuk steered a right-footed finish into the bottom-left corner. Marczuk nearly doubled it in stoppage time, meeting a Luca Moisa cross only for Maxime Crépeau to turn the shot away at his near post, one of two saves that kept the deficit at a goal.
Orlando made three changes at the interval — Daryl Dike, Justin Ellis and Joran Gerbet on for Tiago, Marco Pasalic and Luis Otávio — and the shape of the match turned with them. The equalizer came in the 53rd: Ellis crossed, Dike met it with his left foot from the center of the box, Mason Stajduhar saved, and Griezmann forced in the rebound from very close range.
What followed was the most convincing 20 minutes Orlando has strung together in weeks. Zakaria Taifi struck the left post in the 58th. Ellis had shots blocked in the 62nd and 73rd, the first set up by Griffin Dorsey, as Orlando worked the ball through midfield in longer, more patient sequences than the first half had produced.
The winner was scrappy and decisive in equal measure. Tyrese Spicer, on for Taifi in the 69th, attacked the left channel and delivered; the ball broke loose in the six-yard box and Griezmann steered a right-footed finish into the bottom right corner. Eduard Atuesta was booked a minute later and replaced by Wilder Cartagena in the 85th as Orlando defended six minutes of stoppage time, surviving three Real Salt Lake corners and a Junqua effort that flew high and wide.
The three points move Orlando toninth in the Eastern Conference at 7-3-11 with a minus-17 goal difference, level with Toronto FC and D.C. United. The Lions travel to Minnesota United on Saturday, kicking off at 8:30 p.m. ET at Allianz Field, streaming on Apple TV.
