Orlando City secures first victory at Toronto
It took almost eight years, but on Saturday afternoon Orlando City won for the first time in Toronto.
The Lions scored the lone goal of the match in the second minute of stoppage time after Alexandre Pato’s corner was flicked in by Kyle Smith.
“Congratulation to the players,” coach Oscar Pareja said. “It’s such an important match and difficult place and with that personality, the collectiveness that we are pursuing in this project, we saw it today. Everybody participated in doing the job. I liked the way they controlled the game the whole time. We came here to win and the victory is ours, and we’re very pleased and happy.”
Playing a similar lineup to the one they deployed last week, the Lions had a foothold on most of the game in the attack, but Toronto goalkeeper Alex Bono came up in a big way throughout the match, making five total saves.
The best chance for Orlando in the first half was denied thanks to Bono on Mauricio Pereyra’s free
kick in the 39th minute, which looked destined for the corner of the goal. Bono managed to reach out and palm it away.
Statistically, Orlando dominated the home side through the 90 minutes, holding the advantage in possession and shots.
As the game wore on, it seemed as if the Lions would once again be thwarted in Toronto and add to their 0-4-3 record there, but Smith won a corner in the 92nd minute. Pato had crossed the ball toward the near post to find Smith unmarked, and he guided the ball into the back of the net.
The assist for Pato marked his
team-leading third of the year.
“I was unmarked in the box on the corner, so I knew I wanted to make a near-post run because Pato plays a good ball into the box that dips,” Smith said, “So that’s what I did. And luckily, the ball found me and I just tried to put it on frame.”
With that goal, Orlando City has scored in 10 of its 12 games, which no team in MLS has done more often this season.
More importantly, the Lions have kept a clean sheet in half of their games, which also leads the league. Goalkeeper Pedro Gallese leads the league with those six shutouts.
Orlando will have a week before playing for the first time at Austin FC on the night of May 22.