Luis Muriel scored the first two goals of his MLS career, Pedro Gallese made a late save on Daniel Gazdag’s second penalty kick of the match and Orlando City held on for a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Union in Chester, Pa., on Saturday night.
Duncan McGuire added his fifth goal of the season for Orlando (3-5-3, 12 points), which has lost two in a row at home but is unbeaten in its past three away matches.
Nicolas Lodeiro assisted on all three goals in the Lions’ second consecutive road win against Philadelphia (3-3-5, 14 points) after a 2-1 triumph in March of 2023.
Before his second PK was stopped, Gazdag had scored earlier in the second half for his seventh goal of the year and second from the spot after a video review showed Lodeiro had handled the ball inside the area.
But Gallese denied Gazdag in the 89th minute after Ivan Angulo pulled down Nathan Harriel.
Mikael Uhre opened the scoring for the Union, who lost their third straight at home after suffering only four home defeats combined across the previous four seasons.
Muriel had gone nine appearances without finding the back of the net after Orlando signed the former Italian league star late this preseason.
But after McGuire leveled the match at 1-1 in the 21st minute, the 33-year-old Colombian went to work.
He put the Lions in front in the 42nd minute after Jose Martinez’s errant pass led to a transition opportunity. Angulo and Lodeiro connected to set up Muriel, who unleashed an exceptional shot from long range that sailed beyond the diving Oliver Semmle and into the top left corner.
Muriel’s second goal, coming in the 46th minute, was more straightforward, with the Colombian running between the centerbacks onto Lodeiro’s through ball to dispatch a low finish.
After Gazdag’s tally cut the Union deficit to 3-2 in the 66th minute, Jakob Glesnes flashed a promising header wide in the 71st minute and Uhre had an excellent chance saved by Gallese in the 78th.
Even after Gazdag saw his second penalty kick saved, the Union had 19 minutes of second-half stoppage time to search for an equalizer. They came the closest just seconds before the final whistle when Harriel fired high from close range off a corner kick.
–Field Level Media