Orlando City vs. Montreal Impact: Five Takeaways

Well, I guess you can say we really have seen it all this season.

Orlando City lost two defenders after a bloody collision five minutes in, Dominic Oduro scored a goal after kicking the ball out of Tally Hall’s hands, and Seb Hines scored a goal (!!!) as Orlando City kept its playoff hopes alive with a late 2-1 victory over the Montreal Impact on Saturday night in front of 35,421 people at the Orlando Citrus Bowl.

Now, some words and takeaways from what we witnessed last night.

See Ya In Three Weeks, Kaká

You may have missed it, but Kaká was handed a yellow card for a “foul” on Johan Venegas. That card was Kaká’s fifth of the season, and as a result, he’ll miss Orlando City’s big match-up against New York City FC in two weeks’ time, on Oct.16 at the Citrus Bowl. But that’s not all: Brek Shea also found himself on the receiving end of a yellow card near the end of the match, giving him a suspension for his troubles, too. So no Brek and Kaká when the Lions host David Villa, Frank Lampard, and Andrea Pirlo on national TV. Well done, PRO, you ruined that game for us.

Tough Luck For Center Backs

Orlando City can not catch a break with it comes to their young center backs making their first MLS starts. First, Conor Donovan went down with a knee injury against the Philadelphia Union in August less than 15 minutes in. On Saturday night, Tommy Redding saw his night end very prematurely when he knocked heads in an ugly collision with Rafael Ramos in the fifth minute of play. Redding suffered a likely concussion on the play — he left the Citrus Bowl with dark shades and walking like a zombie — and Ramos was taken to the hospital with a severe gash on his head. Tough break for the kid, but at least it shouldn’t be his last start with the club.

2016 Will Be Better, Rafa

It's been a season full of many ups and downs for the young Portuguese right back. Suspensions, injuries, missed Portuguese youth team call-ups, you name it, Ramos has been through it all, and Saturday night's game was just another example on the list. Here's the hoping this kid comes back next season and has the year of his life for Orlando City.

Rocking At The Citrus Bowl

If Orlando City falls short of making the playoffs in its first season, at least it'll have the memories of what felt like a playoff game last night against the Impact. One of the largest crowds of the season was on hand to watch the club fight back to beat Montreal, and from the very beginning the packed crowd had this feeling like more than just a regular season match.

Since this was just a regular season match, I can't wait to see what Orlando would do for a playoff game.

Next Man Up

Orlando City has seen a lot of players leave the field injured this season — and I mean a lot — and everything that happens, it feels like the next guy in to take his place doesn’t miss a beat. That man tonight was Seb Hines, who came off the bench to replace Redding early in the match. After dislocating his shoulder against the New York Red Bulls last week, Adrian Heath wasn’t ready to test Hines, but the early injury forced his hand. Hines not only played well in defense throughout the night, but came through with the game-winning goal in the 80th minute. Orlando City’s bench sure can prove to be deep when it needs to be.

Next team up: New York City FC. Go Lions!