1. What a game. What a night. What a win. From the first minute to the last, Orlando City played their hearts out in a rivalry match that lived up to the billing, with the Lions dominating Inter Miami by a scoreline of 4-1
2. For the first time, the Lions managed a full regular season sweep of the Herons with both goals having a three goal differential in both matches. It's always satisfying to win on the road, but to have a performance like that at home makes these three points all the sweeter.
3. It only took two minutes for the Lions to get on the scoresheet, thanks to the man coming off a hat trick just days before. A great interplay between MartÃn Ojeda and Luis Muriel got the Colombian into space. He burst into the box with a quick step, getting past the defense and in on goal. A quick flick of his boot later, and Inter&Co Stadium was sent into delirium.
4. It only took two minutes after that for the Lions to concede, leveling the game up. Orlando had many a chance to re-take the lead in the first half, but couldn't find the breakthrough. It took until just a few minutes into the second half for that man again to score, a goal that would prove to be the game-winner. Off a short corner from Ojeda, Muriel took the ball near the endline, dribbled through Jordi Alba, and fired a shot to the far post, putting Orlando in the lead. It's Muriel's fifth goal in two games as the DP has hit an absolute heater as of late.
5. The fun didn't stop there as Muriel turned from goal scorer into distributor. Getting the ball in midfield and picking his head up, he picked out Ojeda making a run towards goal. After slowing up his run with the ball, he fired a shot right past Sergio Busquets towards the near post. The shot came at too much pace as the goalkeeper Oscar Ustari couldn't keep it out. Adding his earlier assist to the goal, Ojeda now has 11 straight games with a goal contribution in league play. That's tied for third best run in league history, only behind Sebastian Giovinco (12 in 2018) and Josef MartÃnez (15 in 2019).
6. You ever seen an octopus fly? Well Pedro Gallese showed off his aerial ability tonight with a massive save in the 67th minute. In a transition for Miami, Luis Suarez tried an audacious chip from midfield, trying to catch El Pulpo off his line. He almost did. But the Peruvian goalkeeper managed to get a hand on the ball just before it past the goal line, jumping to punch it out of play. It ranks up there with one of the best saves that Gallese has had in Purple.
7. The cherry on top came in the 88th minute, when Marco Pašalić got in on the action. A ball overtop by Alex Freeman saw the Croatian in on goal with only the goalkeeper to beat. As he stepped to take the shot, Ustari read his shot and dove near post, making the save. The rebound came right back for Marco, who this time took it towards the middle of the box, getting past a defender that had come to help, and slotting the ball into the far netting, sealing the deal for the Lions at home.
8. Tonight marked a massive moment for the 3 Designated Players for Orlando, as all three got on the scoresheet for the second game this season. Thanks to Muriel's brace, all three now have double-digit goals, a feat that has never been achieved in Orlando City history. The club now has 70 goals scored across all competitions, with Muriel, Pašalić and Ojeda scoring 41 of those. Another level for the Lions attack.
9. The Lions will take this momentum into next week as the Lions will host Sporting Kansas City next weekend. That match will kick off at 7:30 on Saturday, August 16.
