7 - All hands on deck
Saturday night’s 3-2 Orlando City win over Toronto FC was a team effort. Between goals, assists and secondary assists, seven different Lions contributed to a goal to help lift Orlando over the Reds. Andrés Perea and Mauricio Pereyra assisted Tesho Akindele’s opener, Silvester van der Water and Akindele combined to provide Nani’s second, and Júnior Urso’s winner was supplied by Chris Mueller.
1 - Fortress
Exploria Stadium has lived up to its enormous potential under Oscar Pareja. Including Saturday night’s “away” game against Toronto, Papi’s Orlando City have lost just once in 15 regular-season matches at Exploria since the start of the 2020 season. The Lions are one of five teams in the league with one or fewer home losses in that span, joined by Seattle, Columbus, Nashville and Dallas, who are the only undefeated home team in that stretch.
25 - Nani level with Kaká
Nani’s thumping header in the 8th minute on Saturday night was his 25th goal for Orlando City in all competitions, putting the captain in rare company. With that goal, Nani is now tied with none other than the Lions’ first MLS captain Kaká for second in club history. The Portuguese star is off to a torrid start to 2021, scoring in four of his last five appearances.
266 and 275 - Summertime droughts
Both of Orlando City’s opponents this week are having a tough time finding the scoresheet as the weather heats up. The San Jose Earthquakes, Tuesday’s foes, have not found the back of the net in 266 minutes, since new midfielder Eduardo “Chofis” Lopez scored early in a 3-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City on May 22. That’s slightly better than Friday's opponent Inter Miami CF, who have taken three-consecutive clean sheet losses and haven’t scored in 275 minutes, since Brek Shea’s winner against FC Cincinnati on May 16.
1.5 - FAIRWINDS Credit Union
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