ORLANDO, Fla. (Feb. 27, 2022) - Orlando City SC (1-0-0, 3 points) started the 2022 Major League Soccer (MLS) campaign with a win, defeating visiting CF Montréal (0-1-0, 0 points) 2-0 at Exploria Stadium. The match marked the season opener for both sides, with the Lions remaining undefeated in debut matches, moving to 2-0-6 all-time.
With the clean sheet victory, the Lions have now posted three-straight season opening shutouts dating back to a 0-0 draw against Real Salt Lake to open 2020. Pedro Gallese has been in net for each of those clean sheets.
After missing much of 2021 due to injury, forward Alexandre Pato scored his first-ever goal as a Lion in the match, with Benji Michel adding the insurance goal. New Lions Facundo Torres, César Araújo and Ercan Kara all also registered their first minutes in purple.
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Head Coach Oscar Pareja:*
“It’s a great moment to recognize the importance of the energy of the people. The players were talking about it in the locker room and I want to be generous with the fans. They helped us a lot today in a difficult moment, so giving them these three points is very important. I thought we played against a very good team [today]. Montréal has been in competition earlier than everybody else and we found that to be a difficulty, but we matched that and ended up scoring goals and being precise where we had to. At the end, the game became messy, but I thought we had the maturity to deal with it and bring these three points to the people. We’re happy with this start.”
Scoring Recap:
49’ Alexandre Pato - ORL 1, MTL 0
The Lions got on the board shortly after the halftime break with Mauricio Pereyra threading a ball in behind for Ruan down the right flank. The Brazilian defender was able to outrun his defender before sending a ball across the face of goal, finding Alexandre Pato at the back post for the finish.
59’ Benji Michel (Mauricio Pereyra, Júnior Urso) - ORL 2, MTL 0
City doubled its advantage 10 minutes later, this time with Mauricio Pereyra slotting the ball to a running Benji Michel on the left side of the box, who hit it first time past CF Montréal goalkeeper Sebastian Breza into the back of the net.
Match Notes:
- Alexandre Pato scored his first Orlando City goal on the afternoon. The finish served as the first for Orlando City on opening day since the 2019 campaign.
- Benji Michel netted his first goal of the season, good for his 17th across all competitions in purple.
- Mauricio Pereyra tallied his 24th assist in all competitions as a Lion on the afternoon, tying him for second in Club history with former City forward Chris Mueller and putting him two shy of matching former Lion Luis Nani (26) for the Club-record.
- The Lions recorded their third-straight opening shutout on Sunday, with goalkeeper Pedro Gallese in net for each one.
- César Araújo and Facundo Torres each registered their first starts for the Lions in what served as their respective Club debuts after joining the side this past offseason.
- Ercan Kara recorded his Orlando City debut on Sunday afternoon, entering the match in the 69th minute for Benji Michel.
- CF Montréal was reduced to 10 men in the second half, with Romello Quioto being sent off with a straight red card for violent conduct in the 66th minute.
Next Match: The Lions head out on the road for the first time this campaign, set to take on Chicago Fire FC at Soldier Field on Saturday, March 5. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. ET.
