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Orlando City B Climbs Back and Bests Inter Miami II in PKs

David G.

Courtesy of Lucas Camerini (@shotsby.lucas)

Orlando City B (6 points, 2-0-1) were back at home hosting their in-state rivals Inter Miami II (1 points, 0-1-2). Due to the high profile of this match, the club moved the match to Inter & Co stadium, opening the East side of the stadium to welcome their fans.

Lineup

The starting lineup featured four first team players in Justin Ellis, Yutaro Tsukada, Harvey Sarajian, and Tahir Reid-Brown. The team had one more on the bench in Gustavo Caraballo.

Reid-Brown is playing his first game with Orlando City B this season, playing as a left-sided center back while also getting the captain’s armband.

First Half

Orlando City B started off with a bit of energy from the kickoff, looking to get on the front foot against Inter Miami II. They had some decent interchanges in the first few minutes but the good times wouldn’t last too long.

In the 3rd minute, Inter Miami II would strike first with a great build-up from Naej Desravins to Preston Plambeck. OCB got pulled out trying to defend the middle of the park but left Plambeck wide open on the left where the young winger was able to slam it home to give Inter Miami II the 1-0 lead.

Inter Miami II would be relentless in their attack as they picked up a second opportunity to score and took it quickly. This time Plambeck would be on the facilitating side as he put up a perfect long ball up the left wing to his striker Idoh Zeltzer-Zudbida. Idoh got a step on Titus Sandy Jr. and was able to put in a powerful strike to the opposite corner putting the young Herons up 2-0.


Thankfully, OCB woke up a bit and was able to string some quality offensive play together. Ellis, Sarajian, and Leão were all finding ways to get involved in the attack to make it difficult for Inter Miami II.

After a lot of hard work, Orlando City B got their breakthrough, as Justin Ellis played a great ball to Pedro Leão who curled it to the right post to make the score 2-1. The strike, taken first time, had just enough bend to beat the keeper and capped off a great offensive spell for OCB.


Unfortunately, for Orlando City B, Inter Miami II would charge right back. OCB was getting pressed rather hard after the kickoff, forcing Tristan Himes to play the ball to Tahir Reid-Brown quickly. Due to his loose touch, Reid-Brown struggled to control it and was dispossessed by Inter Miami II allowing them to break quickly. The young Herons took a shot right outside the six-yard box and put themselves up by two goals again, making it 3-1.


Orlando City B would have a few more chances before half but weren’t able to find a way to get one more goal on the board. They had a moment where there was a great chance on goal but the opposing keeper made a great save stifling the attack. The keeper appeared to be pretty shaken up as did one of his defenders but the defender got up quickly. The Inter Miami II keeper appeared to be struggling going into halftime. The young Lions would go into halftime down 3-1.

Second Half

At the start of the second half, Inter Miami II made a sub at goalkeeper after their starter took a pretty harsh blow at the end of the first half. The defense for Inter Miami II looked a bit unsettled to start the half but it turned out it wasn’t going to matter much.

Inter Miami were able to get another one on the board due to another great interplay between Preston Plambeck and Idoh Zeltzer-Zubida. There was a bad giveaway in the middle of the park after Tsukada was stripped of the ball and Plambeck nailed it forward to his striker who had a step on the entire OCB defense. Idoh took it all the way short of the end line and scored on a pretty tight angle shot, beating Himes on the far side. This put Inter Miami II up 4-1 and made the game seem like it was pretty out of reach.

Orlando City B had another spark after that goal, really taking the game to Inter Miami II. In that passage, they were able to get Idoh on a yellow after a bad tackle. The consistent interplay and fight eventually got a just reward after the young Lions earned a corner.

Off the corner, the ball was played in but squirted out to the right side of the box where Harvey Sarajian was waiting. He took a touch, turned his defender as he made a run towards the end line and was able to square the ball to the middle of the box where Ellis was ready to tap it in. It was a smooth effort by OCB and saw them grab one back making the score 4-2.

After that passage of play, both teams decided to make subs to change the game. OCB brought on Parker Amoo-Mensah for Jaylen Yearwood and Gustavo Caraballo came on for Yutaro Tsukada. Sarajian shifted to the left side and Caraballo played on the right. The team was clearly going more attacking to try and get after the game which would pay off within the next ten minutes.

In the 68th minute, OCB pushed the ball forward through Bernardo Rhein who not only made a few players miss but he also was able to lay it off to Leão who got it to Ellis and then finally landing at Caraballo’s feet. Caraballo was then able to curl the ball towards the left post and beat the keeper to put OCB within one goal of the visitors with the score at 4-3.


Orlando City B would continue to push and fight but they were lacking just a bit of their finishing touch. The young Lions would get a lifeline when Inter Miami II’s backup keeper ended up needing to come off after suffering a leg injury. The opponents would be forced to put a field player in net to cover the rest of the game but they would also have to play a man down. OCB earned a corner kick in the second minute of stoppage time and put in an amazing olimpico over the keeper to tie the game at 4-4.


They would not be able to find another goal before the final whistle which resulted in the game being tied 4-4. Per the MLS NEXT Pro rules, the game had to end in a penalty-kick shootout, with OCB having the clear advantage due to the goalkeeper situation for Inter Miami II. Orlando City B made all four of their penalty kicks with Caraballo, Ellis, Sarajian, and Amoo-Mensah making them. Ellis had a nervy kick that was almost saved by the emergency keeper but it went in. Inter Miami II made their first two kicks but missed their third, with a kick save from Himes, and then skied their fourth kick over the crossbar.

Orlando City B would grab the extra point and send their in state rivals home with disappointment after being up 4-1 in the second half.

Players to Highlight

    • Justin Ellis-Ellis gets the top spot this week since he was all over the field in the offensive half. He not only notched two assists and a goal, he found a way to be involved in almost every goal for OCB on the night. He continues his hot start for the club, making this the third straight game with a goal. He ended the match creating four chances, six shots on target, three successful dribbles, and won 50% of his ground duels. Ellis is the real deal and should get some serious looks for the first team.
    • Gustavo Caraballo-In many people’s heads, he should be the man of the match for OCB and it’s hard to argue with that. He scored two goals in his 32 minutes played, with his final goal being an amazing olimpico to bring the game to 4-4. He was accurate with his passing and shooting (sitting in the mid 70% for both), was lethal with his long balls, and won his duels during his limited appearance. The common complaint for him has been that he gets bodied too much but when he’s able to be shifty and make space, that doesn’t matter and he showed it.

  • Harvey Sarajian-You all know I’ve been high on this guy for weeks and I’m still buying as much Harvey stock as I can. He continued to show his shiftiness and skill throughout the match. While he only had the one assist, he was active on the offensive end. He created three chances, shot six times, won both his dribbles, was 100% with his long ball, won 50% of his ground duels, and also had three recoveries. He continues to be a great tool on both sides of the ball. Another player that needs more first team looks.
  • Pedro Leão-Pedro had a very efficient game. He scored in this game early but was still involved throughout the game before being subbed off. He ended with a 92% passing rate, created two chances, had four shots on target, and won his only ground duel. Leão continues to level up his game and is showing glimpses of what he was able to do with Flamengo’s U20 squad. I’m excited to see how he continues to level up.
  • Bernardo Rhein-I’ve had back and forth thoughts on Rhein all season but in this game, he silenced me a bit. He was the best defender on the field against Inter Miami II and I don’t think it was close. He was accurate with his passes (81% accurate), created five chances, had two shots on target, three tackles, one clearance, one interception, and eight recoveries. For a player that many thought would just be a left winger, he has really embraced the transition to left back and has made it his own. I’m excited to see him continue to grow.

What’s Next?

After this result, Orlando City B slots into 5th place in the East, on 8 points. They are only 4 points out of the top spot and really seem to be hitting their form. They are off next week but come back on April 11th to take on Chattanooga FC away. Chattanooga has been up and down this season so it should be a winnable game for Orlando City B. The team may only get their hands on a few first team players since they play the day before and the first team is traveling to Columbus to take on the Crew that Sunday. Either way, Orlando City B are must watch at the moment, taking on the “cardiac cats” nickname!

 

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