ORLANDO, Fla. (Oct. 24, 2021) - Orlando City SC (12-8-11, 47 points) split the points with the 2021 Supporters’ Shield winners New England Revolution (21-4-7, 70 points) on Sunday night at Exploria Stadium, extending its current unbeaten run to five-consecutive matches.
Nani and Daryl Dike both found the back of the net for the Lions in the match, the former extending his team-lead with 10 goals on the year, while the latter tallied his seventh in 2021. With the finish on Sunday night, the Lions’ captain became the second player in Club history to record multiple double-digit goal seasons for the Club in the MLS era, the first of which being former City forward Cyle Larin.
The Lions return to action at the midweek, traveling to face the Columbus Crew on Wednesday, Oct. 27 before returning to Exploria Stadium for their final home match of the regular season on Sunday, Oct. 31 to take on Nashville SC. Tickets for that contest are available here or by calling (855) ORL-CITY.
Head Coach Oscar Pareja:
“Very disappointed obviously with giving up those two goals at the end and not accomplishing the objective which was no less than those three points that we were pursuing tonight. Difficult as well just to recognize that we did good things today where we could’ve put the game away very early again and then at the end, we finish with a very tight game with them sending crosses in and that’s the way they scored the goals. The proximity of the games doesn’t allow us to get down. We have to move on and try to get the points in the three games that we have left.”
Scoring Recap:
39’ Nani (João Moutinho, Júnior Urso) - ORL 1, NE 0
City took the lead just before halftime, with Júnior Urso playing the ball back from the endline to João Moutinho, who took a touch before teeing up a left-footed cross into the area. Moutinho’s ball found the head of Nani at the center of the box, whose strike was just powerful enough to edge past New England goalkeeper Matt Turner into the back of the net.
50’ Daryl Dike (PK) - ORL 2, NE 0
The Lions doubled their advantage just after the break with Nani drawing a penalty after being clipped in the box. Daryl Dike stepped up to the spot, sending his shot straight into the lower right corner for the finish.
81’ Adam Buksa (Gustavo Bou) - ORL 2, NE 1
The visitors halved the deficit late in the second half after Gustavo Bou sent a ball in behind the City defense for a running Adam Buksa, who was able to poke it into the net with his first touch.
90+3’ Adam Buksa (DeJuan Jones, Carles Gil) - ORL 2, NE 2
New England leveled late, this time with DeJuan Jones sending in a cross and finding the head of Buksa once again for the equalizer.
Match Notes:
- Nani extended his team lead with his 10th goal of the season in the match, becoming the second player in Club history after Cyle Larin to record multiple double-digit goal seasons for the club in the MLS era. The Portuguese international sits at second in franchise history with 31 goals as a Lion in all competitions.
- Daryl Dike netted his seventh goal of the season in the match, converting from the penalty spot for the second time this year. The finish served as the 2020 MLS SuperDraft selection’s second of the year against the Revolution, scoring in the side’s previous matchup on Sept. 25 at Gillette Stadium.
- João Moutinho tallied his first assist of the campaign in the match.
- Júnior Urso earned his first assist in 2021 with the secondary on Nani’s first half finish.
- Sebastián Méndez tallied his 50th start as a Lion in all competitions on the night.
- Head Coach Oscar Pareja made four changes to his starting lineup in the match, with João Moutinho, Antonio Carlos, Sebastián Méndez and Nani all reentering the fold for the side.
Next Match: The Lions head out on the road this week, facing a quick turnaround with a midweek match at Columbus Crew on Wednesday, Oct. 27 with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
