Griezmann's Brace Flips the Script as Orlando City Downs Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake took the lead at Inter&Co Stadium and for nearly an hour looked set to walk away with all three points. But Antoine Griezmann had other ideas: he scored twice in the second half to flip the scoreline and hand Orlando City SC a 2-1 win in MLS.

The first half belonged to Real Salt Lake's defensive discipline, as the visitors weathered Orlando's pressure and struck first. In the 35th minute, Dominik Marczuk connected with a cross from Samuel Junqua and finished low, just inside the left post, for the 0-1. Marczuk had already given a warning with an earlier shot that went wide, and he had another clear chance right before halftime, in the 49th minute, when Maxime Crepeau denied him. Orlando went into the locker room down a goal despite controlling more of the ball.

The second half flipped the script almost immediately. Orlando came out with three substitutions (Daryl Dike, Justin Ellis and Joran Gerbet all entered), and the equalizer arrived just seven minutes later: in the 52nd minute, after a Dike shot was saved, Griezmann pounced from close range to tap it into the middle of the goal and make it 1-1. The game opened up from there. Zakaria Taifi rattled the post in the 57th minute, and Justin Ellis tried his luck a couple more times without success. Real Salt Lake, meanwhile, shuffled its bench with the introductions of Diego Luna, Saba Lobjanidze and Morgan Guilavogui in search of regaining control, but could only manage a few long-range efforts from Guilavogui and Luna.

The winner came in the 80th minute: Griezmann again, this time with a right-footed strike from the center of the box that found the right side of the net for the final 2-1. Late on, Eduard Atuesta picked up a yellow card, and Real Salt Lake pushed for an equalizer from set pieces but couldn't find a way through.

By the numbers

Orlando controlled possession and generated more overall attacking volume, though not always with precision. Real Salt Lake, sitting deeper, made the most of its chances in both boxes.

The xG generated in the match, an in-house estimate based on shot location, came out to 1.47 for Orlando and 0.45 for Real Salt Lake, a gap that backs up the comeback even though the final margin came down to just one goal.

Heading into the match, we had projected a 45 percent chance of an Orlando win, 26 percent for a draw and 29 percent for Real Salt Lake, with expected goals of 1.79 for the home side and 1.41 for the visitors. The result ended up matching that favoritism, though the path there was rockier than expected, with Orlando forced to come from behind after trailing for most of the first half.

With this result, Orlando City SC moves to 24 points from 21 matches played in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 7 wins, 3 draws and 11 losses, in a competition currently led by Nashville SC with 49 points. For a team with a notably negative goal differential, picking up all three points thanks to a brace from its star man is welcome news in the fight to climb the standings.