Ruan, Torres Find Back of Net in Lions’ 2-1 Victory Over Charlotte FC

ORLANDO, Fla. (April 30, 2022) - Orlando City SC (5-3-2, 17 points) took a 2-1 victory on Saturday night in what served as its inaugural matchup with 2022 expansion side Charlotte FC (3-6-1, 10 points) at Exploria Stadium. Ruan and Facundo Torres each scored for the Lions, the former with his first of the year and the latter with his first in downtown Orlando throughout his Club tenure.

The match saw defender Robin Jansson tally his 100th appearance as a Lion in all competitions, earning the start on the night and tallying an assist. Jansson joins former City players Cristian Higuita and Chris Mueller in reaching the century mark in purple. 

In addition, midfielder Mauricio Pereyra set a new Club-assist record, tallying his 27th as a Lion to pass former City captain Nani for the all-time mark. Pereyra now has four assists to his credit in 2022, tied with Torres for the team high. 

Head Coach Oscar Pareja:

“It’s good to get back to good results. The victory, the three points, the goals, and the first half are the things I would highlight today. Mauro [Pereyra] setting a record with assists, Robin [Jansson] as well with an important honor with 100 games. All of those things are positive and we enjoy the victory, but our responsibility as well as the coaches is to see that in the second half we did not dominate that much so we need to become a team that has consistency throughout the game. I’m very pleased today with the effort of the players coming off a difficult result and getting this one, it was great.”

Scoring Recap:

• 16’ Ruan (Robin Jansson, Benji Michel) - ORL 1, CLT 0

The Lions took the early lead, with Benji Michel taking the ball down the left flank and playing a ball across the face of goal, finding Robin Jansson in the area. A flick on from the defender found a running Ruan into the box, who sent the ball in for the first-time finish.

• 45+1’ Facundo Torres (Ruan, Mauricio Pereyra) - ORL 2, CLT 0

City doubled its lead shortly before halftime when Mauricio Pereyra cleared the ball long to Ruan on a breakaway. The Brazilian defender laid the ball off past a charging Kristijan Kahlina to Facundo Torres, who hit the pass first-time down the middle of the net for City’s second tally of the night. 

• 60’ Christian Fuchs (PK) - ORL 2, CLT 1

The visitors got one back after Alan Franco was taken down in the box by City defender Rodrigo Schlegel. Schlegel was given a yellow card on the play. Charlotte captain Christian Fuchs stepped up to take the penalty kick and calmly slotted it into the lower left corner to open the scoring for the expansion side. 

Match Notes:

• Mauricio Pereyra set the Club-assist record in the match, earning the secondary on Facundo Torres’ finish for his 27th helper as a Lion across all competitions.
• Ruan scored his first goal of the year and the third of his Club tenure.
• Robin Jansson notched his first assist of the campaign on Ruan’s first-half finish. 
• Facundo Torres netted his second goal as a Lion and his first at home at Exploria Stadium.
• With a goal and an assist in the match, Saturday served as the first time Ruan has registered multiple goal contributions in a single contest. 
• Benji Michel tallied his first helper of the year, earning the secondary on Ruan’s goal.
• With the start, defender Robin Jansson recorded his 100th appearance across all competitions for the Lions. Jansson is now just the third player in Club history to reach the milestone in the Club’s MLS era along with former City players Cristian Higuita and Chris Mueller.
• Saturday served as the inaugural meeting between the Lions and Charlotte FC, with the North Carolina-based side having entered the league as an expansion side this year.
• Head Coach Oscar Pareja made one change to his starting lineup, with Benji Michel getting the nod for the Lions. 

Next Match: The Lions head out on the road to face CF Montréal on Saturday, May 7 in a 4 p.m. ET kickoff at Stade Saputo.