Orlando City News Release -- www.orlandocitysoccer.com
Sunday, July 17, 2011
ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando City and 6,932 fans welcomed the English Premier League’s Bolton Wanderers to the Florida Citrus Bowl Sunday night. The Lions fought valiantly, but ultimately fell 3-1 to the Wanderers in the first match of the 2011 Premier League Challenge.
Bolton started out the match on the attack, testing out the Orlando City defense early. The first chance for the Wanderers came in the 15th minute as Bolton midfielder Chung-Yong Lee caught Orlando goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo outside his box. Lee nearly lobbed it over Gallardo, but the shot was too high and the game remained scoreless.
Bolton's attack-minded mentality finally paid off in the 18th minute. Martin Petrov crossed over to an unmarked Kevin Davies who headed in the ball for Bolton’s first goal of the match. Davies' goal was Bolton’s first during their American trip.
Orlando leveled 10 minutes later when new Orlando City forward Matt Luzunaris received a pass from Jamie Watson that was placed right behind the Bolton defense. Luzunaris had a clear lane to the net and rocketed in his second goal in as many days to even up the match 1-1.
But Bolton did not wait long to strike again as a corner kick by Lee pinballed around the goalmouth. Confusion around the goal lead to Darren Pratley being unmarked, and he put Bolton back up 2-1 in the 37th minute as he slipped behind the City defense to catch Gallardo by surprise, tucking away his shot for his first goal as a Bolton player.
Although they had the lead back, Bolton did not let up. Petrov added a goal of his own two minutes later, taking advantage of a less experienced Orlando defense which had yet to recover from Bolton's second goal. Petrov broke away from City’s backline after taking the ball away from Orlando midfielder Luke Boden, which resulted in a one-on-one between Petrov and Gallardo. Petrov fired in a strike past Gallardo to put up Bolton 3-1.
Orlando had a couple of chances early in the second half, but the Lions were unable to convert those opportunities into goals. Max Griffin and Kevin Molino both had solid looks inside the penalty area, but both just missed to the left of the goal. Molino appeared to have scored a goal in the 73rd minute, but the goal was ruled out for offside as he was just past the Bolton backline.
Aside from those chances, though, both defenses held their own in the second half as the game ended 3-1 in favor of Bolton.
“It was a great experience for our players," Orlando coach Adrian Heath said. "The result did not come out in our favor, but this was a chance for our younger players to see what the top level of competition is like. I am very pleased with tonight.”
Be sure to catch City’s next international friendly on Saturday, July 23rd against Newcastle United! Tickets are available starting at just $25. Be sure to call our ticket office at 855-ORL-CITY (855-643-2489) to secure your seat today!