You wouldn’t expect the goalkeeper to be the highlight in a 5-0 loss, but that’s exactly what Pedro Gallese was for the Lions on Sunday night.
On a night to forget for Orlando City in the Bronx, El Pulpo made a host of impressive saves, earning Heineken Man of the Match honors from the fans for his efforts.
Gallese made back to back stops late in the first half that will show up on any highlight reel of his this year. In the 35th minute with the score still at 0-0, El Pulpo got a hand up to stop a point-blank shot from Ismael Tajouri-Shradi, then covered in the face of a potential rebound.
El Pulpo was called into action again a minute later. Malte Amundsen put a second ball back into the penalty area, finding Taty Castellanos deep inside the six-yard box. Gallese, who had been moving left along with the direction of the ball, planted his back foot and made an incredible kick save to deny Castellanos the opener.
Gallese ended the night with nine stops and had no realistic chance at four of the five goals, even getting a hand on Tajouri-Shradi’s goal in the 53rd minute. El Pulpo and the Lions will look to bounce back from the result this Friday night at Exploria Stadium against Atlanta United.
