Orlando City SC earned its second draw of the 2018 season with 12 games to go.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Since his return from the 2018 FIFA World Cup, midfielder Yoshimar Yotún has helped spark Orlando City SC’s attack. The Peruvian’s impact was most recently felt in the Lions’ (7-14-2, 23 points) 3-3 draw with the New England Revolution (7-7-8, 29 points) Saturday night at Orlando City Stadium in front of 23,879 fans.

Yotún posted two second-half assists off free-kick deliveries to tie the game twice before he was issued a straight red card in second-half stoppage time for “violent conduct.”

“I mean, when you look at [Yotún’s] quality, he’s got such ability to put the ball in very dangerous areas. He played a couple of really great balls through first half, as well…” Lions Head Coach James O’Connor said after the Lions’ second draw of 2018. “His eye for a pass is very sharp. I think his ability to open the game up is very, very good.

“And I think when you look at his quality, he can play that incisive pass where he split defenses wide open and put players straight in on goal when they, maybe, don’t expect it, and people don’t even see it.”

With the Lions trailing 3-2, Yotún used another second-half, free-kick opportunity to level the game for the second time in the match. This time, he delivered a service from near the right sideline and found the head of right back Scott Sutter to level the game at 3-3.

It was Sutter’s first goal of 2018, his second in a Lions uniform.

“It’s good that we got a point so late. Obviously, we’re all disappointed because we wanted more from the game,” Sutter said after the match. “I think, at the moment, we’re investing a lot into the games that we play, and we get little in return. I think the will is there; I think the movement’s there; I think the chances we create are there.

“I think we’ve been punished for mistakes that we make, so it’s, you know, good that we got a point, but, at the same time, it’s disappointing because we want more and need more.”

The mistakes Sutter referred to came early for Orlando City. Just seven minutes into the game, midfielder Juan Agudelo scored off a deep throw-in from the left sideline. Revolution left back Brandon Bye threw a high-arching ball that Agudelo was able to reach with his head and misdirect toward the near post and past a dropping Earl Edwards Jr.

New England didn’t take long to double its lead, scoring in the 18th minute. Attacking midfielder Cristian Penilla, a first-year Major League Soccer player, scored off an assist by forward Luis Caicedo.

Sutter centered the ball, but it was intercepted and sent forward to Penilla by Caicedo. The 27-year-old rushed toward a still Edwards Jr. and curled it to the far post for a 2-0 lead.

“Honestly, [giving up easy goals] has to stop,” O’Connor said. “I mean, you can’t score three goals again, and we get a tie this week… You have to stop. You can’t give goals away like that. We’re 2-0 down in the blink of an eye, and we’re not making teams work.

“It’s different if somebody gets the ball and shoots from 35 yards and sticks it into the top corner. You go, ‘Okay, that’s a hell of a strike.’ It’s a little bit easier to take… When you give up the goals that we are giving up, it’s not like teams are having to work for the goals.”

Trailing 2-0, Orlando City managed to even the score starting late in the first half. Forward Dom Dwyer, first, found the back of the net off utility player Tony Rocha’s third assist of 2018. Rocha worked the ball down the left sideline and one-hopped the ball to Dwyer, who leapt and knocked the ball past an onlooking Matt Turner.

In the 71st minute, City made it an even match off a set-piece goal. Yotún delivered a free kick from outside the left part of New England’s box and found the head of center back Amro Tarek. The first-year City player’s effort banged off the left post and toward Turner, whose mitt knocked the ball into the goal for a 2-2 scoreline.

O’Connor said Dwyer’s goal gave the team “hope” to go on and win the game. That hope, however, was thwarted when New England’s leading scorer and second-half substitute Teal Bunbury scored another go-ahead score in the 76th minute.

Bunbury, first, faked a touch to his left before moving forward with his left foot and scoring with his right through the legs of Edwards Jr.

For Rocha, splitting points at home felt like a loss this late in the season. City are seeking their first-ever MLS playoffs appearance with 11 games left in the 2018 season.

“Feels like a loss, honestly,” Rocha said after the match. “I mean, going down 2-0 early in the game and kinda putting ourselves in that situation — scoring three goals, we should be able to come out of here with three points.”

At least one point was salvaged from a matchup that looked all too familiar for a Lions team that had previously lost 12 of its last 13 games. Tarek, who started and played 90 minutes against New England after not playing in the previous two games, was instrumental in giving City a chance.

In the 30th minute, Penilla led midfielder Scott Caldwell into the left part of the box. Caldwell evaded Edwards Jr. off his line and scooted the ball past the fourth-year Lion for a would-be goal, but Tarek cleared the ball off the line.

Lions captain Sacha Kljestan suffered a foul by Bye in the 38th minute. He had to leave the field but returned before being subbed off for midfielder Josué Colmán in the 44th minute. Per Orlando City’s communications team, Kljestan is dealing with a right-ankle injury.

New England out-fouled Orlando City 23-11, but the Lions earned more bookings: three yellow cards and one red compared to the Revolution’s one yellow.

“… [From] Sacha, he wanted to try to push and to keep going… It shows you that they really care,” O’Connor said. “With regards to how it affects the game, they’re not players that you would look at think, ‘Well, okay, that’s a substitution that we want to make there.’ So, it certainly plays a role in how you try to get through the game, for sure.

“… I don’t [know how bad Kljestan’s injury is], to be honest with you. It was obviously pretty sore for him to come off… Hopefully it’s not too bad, but it’s obviously concerning.”

Who’s Next?

City take to the road for an Aug. 12 matchup with D.C. United. The match is slated to kick off at 8 p.m.

For more on the Lions, as they make their late-season push for their first-ever playoffs appearance, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.

To contact Victor, you can email him at vtan@newdayreview.com, or you can tweet at him.