The Lions Light Up Toronto F.C. 4-0 On Independence Day.
After playing a hard-fought match on Saturday night against Chicago, Orlando City put in another workmanlike effort against Toronto to earn three points before 17,604 at Exploria Stadium. A few bullet points from last night's game:
I know I keep harping on the depth of Orlando's player pool, but again the ability to change players without diminishing the quality of play continues to be a factor for Lions. With another match away to Real Salt Lake on Saturday night, Orlando Manager Oscar Pareja was able to get Mauricio Pereyra, Kyle Smith, Ivan Angulo, Facundo Torres, and Duncan McGuire out of the match last night midway through the second half. These changes actually picked up the pace of Orlando's attack with Dagur Dan Thorhallsson and Ercan Kara scoring, and Martin Ojeda, who took over for Pereyra at the fifty-eighth minute, adding to his team-leading assist total with his 8th of the season.
Orlando's Cesar Araujo continued to show the league that he is a top box-to-box midfielder, with his first goal of the 2023 campaign, as well as an assist on Thórhallsson's 77th minute tally. Araujo was well-rested, having served a yellow card accumulation suspension on Saturday night. That rest served the Lions well as Araujo, along with Wilder Cartagena, dominated the middle third of the field. Araujo's sixteenth-minute goal was both started and finished by him, as he won a duel in center of the field and subsequently scored off a nice cross by Rafael Santos.
Other than Italian stalwart Federico Bernardeschi, who received a red card in the sixty-second minute, Toronto showed nothing special in the attack. One of those reasons was Orlando's center back pairing of Antonio Carlos and Robin Jansson. Enjoy this tandem while you can as rumors are swirling about with Antonio Carlos moving on to another club.
Orlando, on points, is now tied with Philadelphia for fifth place in the eastern conference. The trip to America Field First in Salt Lake City this Saturday night will be Orlando's third game in seven days. It will be interesting how manager Oscar Pareja approaches this away game with both the starting eleven and tactics. Does Orlando continue to press forward on the road, or do they take a step back, look for the counter, and at a minimum get out of Utah with one point?
Gary Levitt @gl1123 justmytake.net
photo credit: Orlando City Soccer Club