Torres gets creative with goal celebration

Facundo Torres continued his superb scoring form on Saturday night by converting a penalty kick early in the second half for Orlando City’s eventual 1-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls at Exploria Stadium.

His traditional selfie celebration reappeared moments after — a pose that grew into familiarity last season that takes the shape of oneself snapping an autoportrait with his teammates.

But then the Uruguayan winger tucked the game ball under his jersey and with his hands gripping the bumped figure, Torres blew two kisses into the stands.

What he was hinting in the 56th minute, he later confirmed after the game, was that he and partner Avril are expecting their first newborn.

The result and the announcement arrived at the right time.

“I’m very happy, I’m going through a very very happy time in my life right now, not just with my football but off the field as well,” Torres said. “Thankfully we were able to get hit three points as well against a Red Bull team that’s very difficult and in a game that was incredibly difficult.”

“They always run, they all press and they give you absolutely no space. So to take three points tonight was fantastic. It’s a great win for the team to be able to win here at home and also for the announcement [of my baby],” he added.

Lions coach Oscar Pareja also was ecstatic with Torres’ performance as well as with the announcement of an expected baby girl.

“We have a couple of ones there,” the coach said. “They’re young families, their first child and it’s fantastic to see them celebrating that moment that was special for him and for us priceless, which is a family for all of us,” Pareja said. Game management: Heading into the 90th minute with the Red Bulls pressing for the equalizer, Orlando City managed to find a way to hold on to the result.

Eight minutes of stoppage time, however, proved to be a crucial test for the Lions.

“I thought we did really well with managing that,” said firstyear Orlando City player Luca Petrasso. “Obviously, when you come close to the end of the game and we saw it was plus eight minutes of added time, it kind of

looked like it was in the World Cup with the stoppage time that they were adding, so we had to grind it out with the players that we have in the backline. We stuck together, we were really confident and we wanted to seal the deal.”

New York outshot Orlando 14-6 with four of those shots being on target. The Lions had only one shot on target, and that was the penalty taken by Torres.

Goalkeeper Pedro Gallese finished the game with four saves, with two of them coming in the final 10 minutes.

Pareja already knew the Red Bulls were going to be a nuisance and credited his team’s resilience for finding a way through.

“I think the best part of the game for us was that we covered that intensity at the time and our hearts were great today,” the coach said. “It was a very deserving three points. We are happy and pleased with the heart and obviously the first game at home opening in front of our fans, and getting three points against such a good rival is very valuable.”