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On the first half, Orlando City dominated most attacking chances. Tons of through balls were coming from both flanks but no one was able to capitalize on those chances. Cartagena turned over the ball twice and Colorado countered. Colorado’s strategy was to counter when Orlando made mistakes. Rafael Santos kept trying to find Ercan Kara and the Austrian was close to score off a header that went wide. In the first few minutes of the match, Colorado kept themselves very compact defensively. Kevin Cabral and Bryan Acosta were Colorado’s two players in the first half. Orlando City, on the other hand stayed solid defensively and Ivan Angulo started to become a big threat for Colorado. As well, great first half by Rafael Santos and Kyle Smith. Orlando City had all the momentum, again they just needed to finish the play and score goals. The first half saw two yellow cards. The first one was for Lalas Abubakar in the 6th minute and the second one was for Antonio Carlos in the 24th respectively. In the 39th minute, Galvan (Colorado) went for a brogue kick to Wilder Cartagena’s ribs and got a straight red. Colorado went down to 10 men. At stoppage time, Pereyra came close with a shot that Ilic contained perfectly and moments later, Ivan Angulo shot from distance and it went wide. Clearly Orlando was the better side in the first half. Colorado was an utter mess.
On the second half, Orlando City made two substitutions. Schlegel and Ojeda came in for Antonio Carlos and Wilder Cartagena. Orlando came out on the attacking onslaught, but again no one could finish the play. But, after countless chances the whole game, Facundo Torres scored the 1-0 Orlando. The goal was assisted by Mauricio Pereyra and a defender deflected the ball as it was going in. The momentum was with the Lions and Orlando City worked big time towards scoring a second one. In the 70th minute, a great shot from distance by Facundo Torres almost goes in. After Torres’ goal the game went back and forth and in the 75th minute, Abubakar got his second yellow and Colorado went down 9 men. It was all Orlando City at this point but yet again with 9 men the field, Orlando was not able to capitalize on a second goal. But in the 83rd minute, Ramiro Enrique scored his first goal in the MLS and also his first one with Orlando City, he was assisted by Facundo Torres. 18,711 fans erupted. Orlando City will travel to New England to face the Revolution next Saturday night.
Head Coach Oscar Pareja:
“We are very pleased and excited to get three points in front of our fans. It was certainly something on our mind today, winning at home and getting that confidence back. It is not an easy job. Today was very necessary to get this win and have this performance. We needed to win today. We are happy. We are having better performances and that is what we are aiming for.”
Rapid Fire:
- Ramiro Enrique scored his first goal as a Lion on the night.
- Facundo Torres recorded his fifth goal of the season, good for a team-high in league play and tying him for the team lead in all competitions with teammate Ercan Kara. It also counts as his third goal in the Lions’ last two matches.
- Torres picked up his third assist of the 2023 campaign earning the helper on the Enrique goal.
- With the start on Saturday night, Pedro Gallese became the first Orlando City GK to reach 100 appearances across all competitions as a Lion.
- After signing a short-term agreement earlier this week, Orlando City Academy product Alejandro Granados made his MLS debut coming into the match in the 90th minute, becoming the youngest player to make their MLS debut with Orlando City.
