ORLANDO, Fla. (Oct. 3, 2020) - Orlando City SC (8-2-5, 29 points) extended its Club-record unbeaten run to nine matches on Saturday afternoon, defeating the New York Red Bulls (6-7-2, 20 points) in a 3-1 victory at Exploria Stadium.
Antonio Carlos scored his first MLS goal in the match, adding the insurance goal in the fifth minute of second half stoppage time. Daryl Dike and Júnior Urso each found the back of the net for the Lions as well, with the 2020 MLS SuperDraft selection opening the scoring in the 24th minute and The Bear adding another in the 50th.
Defender Kyle Smith registered his first MLS goal contribution on the afternoon, earning the assist on Dike’s first half finish, while Homegrown signing David Loera made his MLS debut, entering the game in the 91st minute of play for Urso.
Head Coach Oscar Pareja:
“It’s another important victory against a team who has had recently very good results and has shown a lot of versatility and dynamics in the way they attack. Today we did a great job on controlling that part for most of the game, even though there were moments in the second half especially where they pushed us back and we had to put our blocks lower than we wanted. Overall we had a very good, especially for the youngsters. I’m very glad to see Daryl [Dike] growing, Chris Mueller growing, Benji [Michel], the debut of David Loera today is important for the Club, a kid who comes from the Academy. All of those things just magnify our victory. We beat a good team, it was a very hard game, but I liked the performance and we should be proud.”
Scoring Recap:
24’ Daryl Dike (Kyle Smith, Mauricio Pereyra) - ORL 1, RBNY 0
City opened the scoring with Mauricio Pereyra finding Kyle Smith on the right flank, who lofted a ball into the box finding the head of Daryl Dike for the finish.
50’ Júnior Urso (Chris Mueller) - ORL 2, RBNY 0
The Lions doubled their advantage shortly after the halftime break, with Chris Mueller playing a through ball in behind the Red Bulls’ defense to a running Júnior Urso. The Bear bodied off his defender and took his space before ripping his shot over the head of goalkeeper David Jensen.
54’ Florian Valot - ORL 2, RBNY 1
The Red Bulls answered quickly with Florian Valot getting on the end of a deflected ball in the box to halve the deficit for the visitors.
90+5’ Antonio Carlos (Benji Michel, Nani) - ORL 3, RBNY 1
City sealed the victory in the fifth minute of stoppage time, with Nani starting the play and sending Benji Michel through in behind the Red Bulls’ defense. The Homegrown then laid a ball across the face of goal to a wide-open Antonio Carlos, who tapped it in for his first MLS goal.
Match Notes:
- The Lions extended their Club-record unbeaten streak to nine games with the victory.
- Daryl Dike scored his fourth goal of the year in the contest, passing teammate Chris Mueller for second in Club history in goals scored by a Lions’ MLS SuperDraft selection in their debut season.
- Júnior Urso scored his third goal of the season in the match, with Chris Mueller extending his team lead in assists with his sixth of the year on the finish.
- Antonio Carlos scored his first MLS goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time, with Benji Michel earning his second assist of the year on the goal.
- Kyle Smith recorded his first MLS goal contribution with the assist on Dike’s 24th minute finish, while Mauricio Pereyra tallied his fifth in 2020 with the secondary.
- David Loera made his MLS debut in the match, entering the game in the 91st minute for Júnior Urso.
- With the secondary assist on Antonio Carlos’s stoppage time finish, Nani takes sole possession of third in assists in Club history with his 15th as a Lion to pass former City midfielder Yoshi Yotún.
- Chris Mueller registered his 50th start in MLS regular-season play in the match.
- Head Coach Oscar Pareja made three changes to his starting XI from the Lions’ last match against FC Dallas, with Kamal Miller, Andrés Perea and Daryl Dike earning the start on the afternoon.
Next Match: The Lions face a quick turnaround, traveling to Atlanta United FC on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. ET.
Scoring Summary:
ORL - Daryl Dike (Kyle Smith, Mauricio Pereyra) 24’
ORL - Júnior Urso (Chris Mueller) 50’
RBNY - Florian Valot 54’
ORL - Antônio Carlos (Benji Michel, Nani) 90’
Misconduct Summary:
RBNY - Mandela Egbo (Yellow Card) 14’
ORL - Mauricio Pereyra (Yellow Card) 15’
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC - GK Pedro Gallese; D Kamal Miller (Antonio Carlos 79’), Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Kyle Smith; M Chris Mueller (Alex De John 86’), Júnior Urso (David Loera 90+1’), Andrés Perea, Mauricio Pereyra (Benji Michel 46’); F Daryl Dike (Joey DeZart 79’), Nani ©
Substitutes Not Used: GK Brian Rowe, Mason Stajduhar; M Jordan Bender, David Loera, Robinho
New York Red Bulls - GK David Jensen; D Kyle Duncan, Tim Parker, Aaron Long, Mandela Egbo (Jared Stroud 58’); M Cristian Cásseres Jr. (Dru Yearwood 80’), Florian Valot, Jason Pendant, Kaku (Marc Rzatkowski 73’), Daniel Royer (Omir Fernandez 73’); F Brian White (Samuel Tetteh 80’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Ryan Meara; D Sean Nealis; M Ben Mines; F Mathias Jorgenson
Details of the Game:
Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
Weather: Clear
Date: October 3, 2020
Attendance: 3,184
Stats:
Possession:
ORL - 53.7%
RBNY - 46.3%
Shots:
ORL - 8
RBNY - 11
Saves:
ORL - 2
RBNY - 2
Fouls:
ORL - 12
RBNY - 9
Corners:
ORL - 4
RBNY - 5
Heineken Star of the Match: Daryl Dike
