ORLANDO, Fla. (May 27, 2023) – Orlando City SC (5-4-5, 20 points) drew Eastern Conference rival Atlanta United FC (6-4-5, 23 points) 1-1 on Saturday night, with the two sides meeting for the first time this season at Exploria Stadium.
The Lions jumped ahead in the first half courtesy of a goal from defender Kyle Smith, who took advantage of a deflected Facundo Torres shot to score his second career goal against the Five Stripes. Atlanta leveled things late in the match on an 86th-minute Tyler Wolff goal.
With the draw, the Lions extended their unbeaten run to four-straight matches, with a 1-0-3 record over the span.
Scoring Summary:
30’ Kyle Smith – ORL 1, ATL 0
The Lions opened the scoring on the night 30 minutes into the match with some tight passing in the Atlanta box. Mauricio Pereyra played a breaking ball into Ercan Kara at the six-yard box, who played it back to Facundo Torres who took a shot that deflected out to Kyle Smith out on the right. Smith’s shot nutmegged goalkeeper Brad Guzan before hitting the corner of the net for City.
86’ Tyler Wolff – ORL 1, ATL 1
The visiting side leveled things late in the match after Pedro Gallese made a diving save on a shot from outside the box. However, the deflection fell to Tyler Wolff, who roofed it from the left side.
Head Coach Oscar Pareja:
“I have to say that we played well today and I want to congratulate that group of players that pushed that match and that energy. That’s the team that we want to see. The other part is the frustration of giving up another goal at the end and not walking away with the three points. At that part, the equation gets through things, soccer, fútbol, concentration, many things. But we want to see that team more often and we want to see that energy more often. We want to see that Orlando City. And to our fans, that support deserves much, much more. We wanted to walk off not with frustration but with joy, but I’m proud of this group today. Seriously, I think they played well.”
Match Notes:
- Orlando City is unbeaten in its last four games, holding a 1-0-3 record over the span.
- Defender Kyle Smith scored his first goal of the 2023 campaign in the match and his fourth goal in purple all-time. Smith’s goal was also his second against Atlanta United, making him the first Orlando City defender to score multiple goals against the Georgia-based side.
- Orlando City has seen four different goal scorers over their last four goals, coming from Smith, Rafael Santos, Martin Ojeda and Ercan Kara.
- Facundo Torres made his 50th start across all competitions for Orlando City.
- Head Coach Oscar Pareja made one change to his starting 11 since his side’s last match at Inter Miami CF, with Mauricio Pereyra getting the start and the armband on the night.
