Defender Carlos Ascues returned to the starting lineup for Orlando City SC on Saturday, shuffling what had been a consistent defensive line through the first two games of the season.

Orlando City (0-1-2, 2 points) lost 3-1, however, to the Montreal Impact (2-1-0, 6 points) at Orlando City Stadium in front of an announced crowd of 22,352.

The first two matches of the 2019 Orlando City campaign featured an identical back line of defenders Alex De John, Kamal Miller and Shane O’Neill. Both games ended in draws.

This time, it was Ascues, O’Neill and outside backs Danilo Acosta and Ruan Gregório Teixeira in a 4-3-3. Consistency in the back line is something that evaded the Lions late last season. In their last seven games of the 2018 season, Orlando City fielded seven separate defensive lines. City’s record in that span was 1-5-1.

Ascues started nine games after joining City late last season in August, playing 90 minutes in seven of them. He suffered a quad injury during the preseason but returned to the squad against Montreal to play the full 90 minutes, his first minutes of 2019.

“[Ascues] has come in before, and he’s done really well for us. Obviously he hasn’t played well today, but I think, for us, when we look at [Ascues], we see someone who has great pedigree, great size and is very capable,” Lions Head Coach James O’Connor said after the match. “I think he started the game very nervously. I think, when you look, he was a little too laid back in the first 15 to 20 seconds, and he makes a mistake.”

A misplaced back pass by Ascues on the Lions’ opening possession almost allowed Montreal to score in the opening minutes. Later, Ascues was marking Impact forward Orji Okwonkwo when he slotted home his first-career Major League Soccer goal.

A long ball over the top from Impact midfielder Samuel Piette found midfielder Saphir Taïder, who got into the right part of the box and hit a cross past Acosta and found Okwonkwo. Ascues was marking him but was off-balance after the centering cross. Okwonkwo hit the ball low between Ascues and O’Neill into the bottom-left corner of the goal, giving the Impact a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute.

When play restarted after Montreal’s first goal, City immediately made it worse for themselves.

Dwyer restarted play with a pass to midfielder Jhegson Sebastián Méndez, who sent it back to Ascues. Ascues passed it back to O’Neill, who tried to send it back to goalkeeper Brian Rowe. His pass fell short, leaving two Montreal attackers alone with the ball and only Rowe in front of them.

Rowe left his line to tackle Impact forward Maximiliano Urruti, but the ball was sent to midfielder Ignacio Piatti before Rowe could get there. Piatti calmly slotted it home into the open net to make it 2-0 for Montreal in the 15th minute.

“We’re a goal down, and, then, within maybe 60 seconds, we’re 2-0 down,” O’Connor said. “You cannot play like that and then say you want to go win games. You make it really, really hard for yourself to go and actually get something out of the game.”

The Lions trailed most of the game, earning a consolation goal in the 90th minute after the Impact scored again in the 80th.

Lions forward Chris Mueller found the ball in the open field down the right flank and sent rookie forward Santiago Patiño with a through ball to the top of the box. Patiño, while being pulled from behind by a Montreal defender, sent the ball to Lions forward Dom Dwyer, who went to the ground to slot it home.

Patiño, drafted by the Lions third overall in the 2019 draft from Florida International University, was credited with an assist in his first MLS appearance.

“I got my chance,” Patiño said after the loss. “Since Minute 1, I’ve given everything I had for the team, and we just gotta keep moving forward.”

Who’s Next?

Orlando City travel to New Jersey to take on the New York Red Bulls on March 23. The Red Bulls will look to remain unbeaten, as they welcome the Lions for the 7:30 p.m. match at Red Bull Arena.

Edits Log

3/18/2019, 10:25 p.m.: Edited fourth paragraph to fix formation error.

For more on the Lions, as they seek their first win of the 2019 season, follow S.T. Cardinal on Twitter at @bySTCardinal.

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