Orlando City received Cavalry FC at Inter&Co Stadium for Champions Cup action. Profe Oscar Pareja, as expected, rotated his lineup with the pleasant surprise of having Martín Ojeda as captain, the debut of Luis Muriel, and Shak Mohammed as a starter.
In the first half, The Lions dominated possession but Martins and Shak (playing as a 10) turned over the ball twice, and Calvary went easily on the counter but did not capitalize. Orlando City dominated all chances in attack. Calvary did get a few set-piece chances, but Orlando’s backline stopped them in its tracks. Luis Muriel was fairly active in the first half, almost scoring off a backheel in a one-on-one chance. Ojeda provided the assist, the Colombian international hit Carducci with a backheel shot, and the Calvary keeper was able to come up with a huge save.
Muriel was hungry. In the first half, he had two clear chances. It seemed that the Colombian International’s time to shine was approaching. He kept asking the team to pass him the ball. Ramiro Enrique had two clear chances as well. This first half was all Orlando City. In the 35th minute, a third chance off a header from Ramiro Enrique, and Carducci came up big with the save. Orlando City was pushing forward, chances were there, but they did not finishing the job; this seems to be a constant by the Lions. The half ended in a draw, but Orlando City was the better team overall. 51.4% vs 48.6% possession for the Lions and .35xG, 80 passes in the final third for Orlando compared to merely 47 from Calvary. According to the stats, the best players in the first of the first half were Ramiro Enrique, which had 3 shots, 2 on target, and Wilder Cartagena with 41 completed passes and 14 completed passes in the final third.
In the second half, Orlando City made two substitutions, Lodeiro came in for Cartagena, and Araujo for Mohammed. In the 48th minute after a superb assist by Luis Muriel, Nico Lodeiro scored his first goal in purple. The Wall ERUPTED. Muriel unselfishly provided a wonderful assist, and the whole team embraced Nico. It was a beautiful moment. In the 57th minute, after a Ramiro Enrique counter, Carducci came up big with a huge save; it could’ve been 2-0 Orlando. In the 64th minute after bad coverage from Orlando City’s defense, Bevan scored and stunned the wall supporters. Orlando City provided momentum to a humble team like Calvary FC, on their only clear chance of the entire game. Minutes later, in the 71st minute, Ramiro Enrique scored a BANGER from distance, a beauty of a goal, and the lions were up by two. In the 88th minute, after a beautiful counter play, Kyle Smith scored a banger from distance assisted by Facundo Torres. Lions started to go in ultra instinct mode after Ramiro’s goal. Suprisingly, Calvary won the possession game in the second half, 48% to 51.1%, but the lions were more effective in the attacking third. Lions advanced to the round of 16 of the Champions Cup and will face Tigres on March 5th at Inter&Co Stadium.
Vamos Orlando!
All pictures thanks to Mark Thor and Orlando City Soccer Club
