Orlando City rebounds with 6-1 victory over hapless New England Revolution
Orlando City returned to Orlando City Stadium after a four game road trip that saw them take just four points including an extremely poor performance in Portland last weekend. The Revolution had beaten Orlando 4-0 at the start of that run so the Lions were set on putting a few things right going into the mid-week match.
An 11th minute red card for Xavier Kouassi after a foul on Seb Hines via video review changed the course of the game and Orlando romped home in their biggest victory to date in Major League Soccer as they ran out 6-1 winners.
Antonio Nocerino (pictured above) opened the floodgates in the 22nd minute for his first goal in purple colors as he flicked on a Yoshimar Yotún free kick after Kaká had been fouled just outside the right hand side of the penalty area. Seb Hines (pictured below) then added a second ten minutes later with a fine header from a Yotún corner on the left hand side.
Kaká added a third in the 43rd minute as he unleashed an unstoppable shot from the edge of the penalty area to give Orlando a 3-0 lead before the Revolution pulled one back from a Lee Nguyen free kick in first half stoppage time.
New England came out of the blocks well at the start of the second half and it was hard to tell Orlando had a man advantage. Eventually it began to tell and Kaká added his second of the night and his team’s fourth in the 77th minute when Dom Dwyer (pictured below) narrowly failed to convert from close in.
Kaká earned a standing ovation as he exited the match for Cyle Larin in the 84th minute, and the Canadian brought the crowd to its feet again just four minutes later. Larin found Dwyer for his first goal at Orlando City Stadium as the two combined for a goal for the third time in four games. Dwyer now has three goals and four assists in his last four games.
The Orlando fans couldn’t believe they were seeing from their team and comically chanted “We want six! We want six!” as substitute Richie Laryea found Yotún in the 90th minute and the Peruvian made no mistake with a blistering strike low into the right-hand corner to make the final score 6-1.
Orlando City now stands in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, five points behind sixth-place New York.
The Lions face another quick turnaround when they host FC Dallas on Saturday, Sept. 30. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET at Orlando City Stadium.
Tickets to all City home matches are available at OrlandoCitySC.com or by calling 855-ORL-CITY.
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC – GK Joe Bendik, D Donny Toia, Léo Pereira (Tommy Redding 54’), Seb Hines, Scott Sutter, M Servando Carrasco, Yoshimar Yotún, Antonio Nocerino, Giles Barnes (Richie Laryea 71’), F Dom Dwyer, ⓒ Kaká (Cyle Larin 80’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Earl Edwards, Jr., D Rafael Ramos, M Dillon Powers, F Carlos Rivas
New England Revolution – GK Cody Cropper, D Benjamin Angoua, Chris Tierney (Gershon Koffie 46’), Je-Vaughn Watson (Diego Fagundez 75’), Antonio Delamea, Claude Dielna, M Scott Caldwell (Daigo Kobayashi 54’), Xavier Kouassi, Lee Nguyen, F Teal Bunbury, Kei Kamara
Substitutes Not Used: GK Brad Knighton, D Andrew Farrell, F Juan Agudelo, Krisztian Nemeth
Attendance: 23,018
More photos at www.FloridaLeisurePhotography.com
