Orlando City came into their season opener with high expectations. Undefeated in the preseason and destroyed the poor Canadian Premier League’s Calvary FC in the Champions Cup competition. But coming into this game as favorites did not favor the Lions whatsoever. In the first 10 minutes of the game, Orlando’s backline looked extremely sloppy, and the midfield kept turning over the ball due to the great press in transition from the Montreal players. Montreal forced Orlando City to make mistakes and will go on the counter. Pedro Gallese had two amazing saves in the 7th minute. Orlando regained composure and started to hit Montreal where it hurts, the wings. With Ruan and Corbo completely exposed, Angulo and Facundo Torres started to work their magic, setting chance after chance but they could not capitalize on them. 30 minutes in and Orlando City still dominated attacking chances but did not capitalize on any of them. The whole team showed hustle trying to get the ball back when they turned it over. Great game by Dagur Dan, Angulo, and Torres in the first half. Orlando City, when at Montreal’s box, seemed to over touch the ball too much instead of going for the shot from a distance. Before the end of the half, Coccaro got into Wilder Cartagena’s head, and the Peruvian International came in with a bad tackle from behind and got his first yellow of the season.
In the second half, Orlando City kept dominating on chances created, but there was not any scoring prowess for the Lions. Great runs by Nico Lodeiro and Martin Ojeda, as well as by Ivan Angulo and Dagur Dan, attempting to break down Montreal’s superb backline. Orlando also created chances on the counter with Dagur Dan, who was their best player throughout the whole game, and Martin Ojeda causing some danger in the middle. A very choppy game turned out to be after Montreal made some substitutions and Josef Martinez came in. The Wall made him known he was not welcomed. Sounds of boos and curse words resounded throughout the stadium. In the 75th minute, Orlando City came close with Ramiro Enrique and Rafa Santos coming up big and creating set-piece chances, but luck was not on their side. Montreal’s backline delivered. Orlando City dominated possession, created chances but they did not score. As the saying goes, “Goals you do not score, your rival team scores on you.”, but thankfully, Martinez and Ruan had one of the few chances for Montreal and they missed poorly. David Brekalo, when subbed off, was talking to Oscar as he was walking to the bench. In the 80th minute, the referee disallowed Martins’ goal due to being offside. Disappointment ensued among 24,249 fans that were at Inter&Co Stadium. Orlando City did not give up and kept hitting Montreal through the flanks with crosses left and right from Ramiro Enrique and Dagur Dan. Ojeda was close to connecting one cross from Dagur. In the 88th minute, Orlando City again crossed after cross, and Dagur Dan came close with a header caught by Siriois, who had a superb second half. The game ended with a 0-0 draw that left some fans disappointed for more. With the result, Orlando City remains undefeated across all home openers in club history. Next is Calvary FC for the Champions Cup on Tuesday.
Vamos Orlando!
All pictures thanks to Mark Thor and Orlando City Soccer Club
