Orlando City brought down the house with a statement win on Thursday night, seeing off the Philadelphia Union 2-1 to move back into second place in the Eastern Conference. And as has been the case more and more in recent weeks, Homegrown forward Benji Michel was right in the middle of it.
Michel was voted Heineken Man of the Match for yet another top performance, scoring his third goal of the season and working tirelessly on both ends of the field throughout his 78-minute shift.Ā
The Orlando native put Orlando in the lead in the 10th minute, making a clever run behind a distracted Union right back Olivier Mbaizo. Mauricio Pereyra threaded an insightful ball through to Michel, who tucked it neatly past Matt Freese to get the Lions out in front.
After the goal, Michel was relentless offensively and defensively. He finished the night with a key pass and a team-high two fouls won in addition to his goal while completing 83% of his passes. On the defensive end, Michel finished with two tackles, four ball recoveries, and an interception, winning seven of his 11 duels.
