ORLANDO, Fla. (Nov. 29, 2020) - Orlando City SC saw its historic 2020 Major League Soccer season come to an end on Sunday afternoon, falling 3-1 to the New England Revolution at Exploria Stadium in the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. Júnior Urso scored the lone goal for the Lions in the match, his first in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
The Lions finish the year after having set Club records on both sides of the ball in the regular season, averaging 1.74 goals per game in the back of the net, while conceding just 1.09 goals per game. After a historic regular season, City would go on to win its first playoff game in its history in Round One of the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs against New York City FC. In his first year at the helm, Head Coach Oscar Pareja finished as a finalist for Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year, while rookie forward Daryl Dike was a finalist for the AT&T Young Player of the Year award.
Head Coach Oscar Pareja:
“A tremendous season as you said. I think the boys have done a tremendous job during the season just putting the Club and the team and we are in this stage where we were close to advance, being recognized during the year, having the opportunity to compete all year and be protagonists as we asked them all the time. Obviously at this moment there is a lot of pain and there is a lot of frustration that we have been carrying in the last 10 days probably with things that happened and we could not apparently flush them off. We’re proud of them. I’m backing them up all the time because I know how hard they worked for this objective and now we need to grow. Certainly this will help us for sure.”
Scoring Recap:
17’ Carles Gil (PK) - NE 1, ORL 0
The visitors got on the board first after Tajon Buchanan drew a foul in the area to earn a penalty kick. Carles Gil then stepped up, sending Brian Rowe the wrong way to convert from the spot.
25’ Gustavo Bou - NE 2, ORL 0
New England doubled their advantage just minutes later on the counterattack after Carles Gil found Tajon Buchanan overlapping down the right flank. Buchanan then whipped in a cross, with a sliding Buksa’s attempt hitting off the post before Bou struck in the rebound.
33’ Júnior Urso - NE 2, ORL 1
The Lions halved the deficit after Nani lofted in a ball for Chris Mueller from the left side of the pitch, who was able to chest it down before being swarmed by two Revolution defenders. After goalkeeper Matt Turner was unable to control it, Mueller poked the ball out to Júnior Urso, who was there to hit it into the open net.
86’ Gustavo Bou (Carles Gil) - NE 3, ORL 1
The Revolution added the insurance goal late in the match with Adam Buksa flicking it back to Carles Gil, who slotted in a through ball for Gustavo Bou in behind the City defense for the finish.
Match Notes:
- Júnior Urso scored his first postseason goal in MLS on the afternoon, serving as the first for City in the run of play in the 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. Urso finishes the year with four goals for the Lions this season across all competitions.
- Goalkeeper Brian Rowe started in between the sticks for the Lions for the fourth time this season, the last coming on Oct. 18 against the New York Red Bulls.
- Kamal Miller made his first start at the back since Nov. 1 against the Montreal Impact.
Scoring Summary:
NE - Carles Gil (PK) 17’
NE - Gustavo Bou 25’
ORL - Júnior Urso 33’
NE - Gustavo Bou (Carles Gil) 86’
Misconduct Summary:
NE - Adam Buksa (Yellow Card) 28’
ORL - Antonio Carlos (Yellow Card) 47’
ORL - Daryl Dike (Yellow Card) 53’
ORL - Mauricio Pereyra (Red Card) 60’
ORL - Nani (Yellow Card) 62’
ORL - Júnior Urso (Yellow Card) 75’
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC - GK Brian Rowe; D Kamal Miller, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, Kyle Smith (Benji Michel 78’); M Chris Mueller (Tesho Akindele 78’), Uri Rosell (Andrés Perea 66’), Júnior Urso (Robinho 88’), Mauricio Pereyra; F Nani ©, Daryl Dike
Substitutes Not Used: GK Mason Stajduhar; D Alex De John, Rodrigo Schlegel; M Joey DeZart; F Alexander Alvarado
New England Revolution - GK Matt Turner; D DeJuan Jones, Henry Kessler, Andrew Farrell, Tajon Buchanan (Brandon Bye 67’); M Scott Caldwell (Tommy McNamara 90’), Matthew Polster (Lee Nguyen 78’), Teal Bunbury (Kelyn Rowe 67’), Gustavo Bou, Carles Gil ©; F Adam Buksa (Michael Mancienne 90’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Brad Knighton; F Kekuta Manneh, Justin Rennicks
Details of the Game:
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Weather: Clear
Date: November 29, 2020
Stats:
Possession:
ORL - 61.2%
NE - 38.8%
Shots:
ORL - 11
NE - 9
Saves:
ORL - 3
NE - 2
Fouls:
ORL - 14
NE - 16
Corners:
ORL - 6
NE - 5
Heineken Star of the Match: Júnior Urso
