Orlando City eager for rivalry win
Lions ready to treat fans to first win over Atlanta United at home.
A week ago, Orlando City notched a personal milestone the club has chased for years — beating Atlanta United for the first time.
The Lions didn’t just pick up the win. They beat their rival soundly, claiming a 3-1 victory on Atlanta’s home turf. A week later, Orlando City (4-2-3, 15) returns home Saturday to defend their Exploria Stadium in a rivalry rematch. Kickoff is at 8 p.m. and the match will air nationally on FOX (WOFL-35).
Orlando City will again allow a limited number of fans to attend the game due to coronavirus precautions. The Lions feel an obligation to reward the fans when they again face Atlanta (3-4-1, 10).
“Of course, it was great to beat them there, but we want to beat them in front of our fans,” striker Tesho Akindele said. “Our fans have been wanting that win especially; we know that.”
Orlando City seems to be riding high after climbing to the No. 3 ranking in the Eastern Confer
ence table following a 1-1 draw at Nashville SC on Wednesday. But the Lions carried a chip home from Tennessee after allowing a sloppy goal during what could have been their third consecutive win.
When the team landed in Orlando at 3 a.m. Thursday, coach Oscar Pareja said he was struck by the attitude of his players. As they shuffled off the plane, he
overheard constant chatter about the next game — how to hurt Atlanta, how to get behind its defense, how to improve from its last matchup.
Pareja said he encouraged players to rest, but the team was fixated on erasing the sting of the draw with another win.
“The professionalism of the
players and their mentality is incredible,” Pareja said.
Despite the short time between the two matches, Saturday’s game could see a major change in the Atlanta lineup. The team will most likely be without one of its strongest attackers — Pity Martinez, who has scored two of Atlanta’s seven goals this season.
The Athletic reported earlier this week Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr FC purchased Martinez for $18 million.
Atlanta United president Darren Eales confirmed there is a “deal in principle” between his club and Al-Nassr for Martinez, although he did not specify when the deal will go through or the amount the Saudi Arabian side will pay.
It remains unclear whether Martinez will be available on Saturday, but it’s rare for a player in the midst of a trade to play for the club he’s about to depart to avoid the risk of injury that would crush the deal.
Pareja, however, said Martinez’s likely absence won’t fundamentally change the way he prepares the Lions for the match.
“I don’t prepare the games based on one player,” Pareja said. “I think that’s Atlanta’s issue. I want to talk about Nani and Benji [Michel] and prepare for the games thinking we can have the best of our players. [The] Pity Martinez saga, I don’t know for sure. We’ll be prepared to play against him and Atlanta first as a club. If he comes, we will be ready. If he doesn’t, we will be ready as well.”
With the Atlanta attack further weakened, the Lions will look to repeat the dominant offensive performance they delivered in Atlanta.
Pareja rested starters Nani, Mauricio Pereyra and Akindele while relaxing his team’s typically aggressive high press. Yet
Orlando City still managed to pin Atlanta back and net three goals.
The match was a success for the whole team’s defense as Orlando City clogged the midfield in a nearly impenetrable block.
The Lions’ defense has lost a valuable piece of its cohesiveness with the absence of outside back João Moutinho, who sustained a groin injury in Atlanta and is unlikely to return for Orlando City’s next two matches.
But if the Lions can maintain discipline through the backline and midfield, the team will be well-positioned to notch its first home win over Atlanta.
“It was a great game defensively for us,” Pareja said of Orlando City’s win at Atlanta. “And also because we had the personality to play the ball and get the ball out from them and we possessed it. I would like to keep doing it, to invite our players to have the initiative to dominate the possession of the ball. In Atlanta we did it, and hopefully we can do it again here.”