Daryl Dike's header in the 97th minute lifted Orlando City SC to a thrilling 2-1 victory over D.C. United in a battle of Eastern Conference contenders on Saturday night at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Fla.
Dike's header from the center of the box beat D.C. United keeper Bill Hamid into the top right corner on an assist from Chris Mueller following a corner kick. It was Dike's seventh goal of the campaign.
WE LOVE A LATE WINNER @DarylDike | #ORLvDC pic.twitter.com/n8gN1kECOt
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) October 3, 2021
Robin Jansson also scored the 17th minute for Orlando (11-8-9, 42 points), which leapfrogged D.C. United (12-12-4, 40 points) into third place in the East standings with its last-minute victory. Pedro Gallese finished with one save for Orlando. Jansson's tally was his second of the year and came roughly 11 minutes after Julian Gressel put D.C. United on the board in the sixth minute.
Smashed it into the roof of the net @RJANSSON24 | #VamosOrlando pic.twitter.com/edWXC84ZvD
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) October 2, 2021
Gressel's goal was his second of the season — both in the last two matches — for D.C. United. Hamid made a pair of saves.
.@JulianGressel with the to give #DCU an early lead. #ORLvDC | @FanDuel pic.twitter.com/807CZre23d
— D.C. United (@dcunited) October 2, 2021
Orlando and D.C. United were tied 1-1 at halftime after a couple of early goals.
Gressel's goal gave D.C. United a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute. The defender took a feed from Russell Canouse to the top of the box and unleashed a right-footed rocket past a diving Gallese into the bottom right corner. The lead didn't hold for long as Jansson equaled for Orlando in the 17th. Júnior Urso's header off a corner kick by Mauricio Pereyra was initially stopped by Hamid before Jannson charged the net and slammed it home.
Gallese denied D.C. United a go-ahead goal four minutes after halftime as he stopped Donovan Pines' header from the center of the box. Urso then intercepted a pass through the goal box intended for Ola Kamara and cleared it one minute later.
Orlando earned a 1-0 road victory at D.C. United in the teams' first meeting on May 16.
