St. Louis City SC defender Timo Baumgartl (32) lays on the ground after Orlando City forward Ramiro Enrique (7) scored in the first half on Wednesday night in St. Louis. (Laurie Skrivan/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

For the second time this season, City SC is once again in another losing streak as the team rallied from an early deficit to make things interesting but fell short to Orlando City 4-2 Wednesday night. The team fell behind 3-0 early in the first half but rallied with two goals just before halftime to make it 3-2. City came close to even the score but couldn’t convert. Then on the 82nd minute of the match, Orlando City Winger Marco Pasalic fired a shot pass City SC goalie Roman Bürki’s left at the open side of the goal, ending the home team’s hopes of a dramatic comeback.

“We knew the game was going to be at a slower pace for us, said City SC interim coach David Critchley. “The next goal, as you know, was crucial. It was going to be 3-3 or 4-2, I knew there was going to be one goal in this half of football, and we have to make sure we defend those moments better.”

Orlando outshot City 24-16 overall and 12-5 in shots on goal. But goalie Roman Burki, making the 500th appearance of his club career, came up big with eight saves. “He kept us in the game, absolutely, and his performance was very good, said coach Critchely. “But he also would be very annoyed with himself that four goals have gone in today. For Roman’s performance, I was very, very happy with him. He made some big-time saves for the team today and kept us in the game quite a lot.”

City’s playoff chances are very slim, but their upcoming games against teams just above them in the Western Conference give the team some hope if they can pull off wins going into the second half of the Major League Soccer season. Their match is Saturday Night against the Houston Dynamo at 7:30 PM, are only five points behind the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. A victory will draw them much closer to turning their slim playoff chances into a reality.