Orlando City vs. New England Revolution: Five Takeaways

Orlando City was back home last night and hosted Kei Kamara and the Revolution, who aren’t nearly as cool as Prince and the Revolution. This was the match that we had all been waiting for. It was the palate cleanser of a match that made you feel proud to be an Orlando City supporter, and brought a big smile to your face. Or at least it did for me. Felt good, didn’t it? Here are our five takeaways from the match.

A Night of Firsts

Antonio Nocerino scored his first goal as a Lion. Yoshimar Yotun scored his first goal as a Lion. Seb Hines scored his first goal this season. Dom Dwyer scored his first goal in Orlando City Stadium. Richie Laryea notched his first MLS assist. Orlando City scored the most goals it ever has as an MLS squad (the Lions scored seven goals three times in the USL). Oh, and Kaká scored a brace. Needless, to say, picking the Man of the Match is going to be a lot tougher than it was last week.

He Scores When he Wants

Dom Dwyer finally got his first goal in Orlando City Stadium to give the Lions a 5-1 lead, and it was a beautiful shot. Dom took it up the left side of the box, and deftly buried it past goalkeeper Cody Cropper into the upper right corner of the goal. He then joyously headed towards the fans and simply fell down with a look of relief, joy, and happiness that was reflected on the fans in the stadium. I’m sure it’s a preview of many more to come.

Yotún Should Take All the Kicks

I’m implementing a new rule. Yoshimar Yotún must take every free kick or corner from now on. The first two goals by Orlando City were on assists from Yoshi. Oh, and did I mention that Yotún also opened his Orlando City account with a goal in the 90th minute? Yotún was a force in the midfield during the entire match, though especially in the first 45 minutes. His service on the free kicks was flawless, and if he’s ever on the field with Carlos Rivas, and Rivas tries to take a set piece, Yoshi should point over the shoulder of Rivas and say “hey, look over there,” and take the kick.

Kaká is Good When Rested

It turns out the 2007 Ballon d'Or winner is still a pretty good player, especially if he’s had some rest. Kaká scored a brace in the match, on two very different types of goals. The first was an absolut screamer that buried itself in the top right corner to give Orlando City its third goal. The second was a nice little tap-in off a bounce in the box to give the Lions a 4-1 lead. He had good energy all night, until being subbed off for Cyle Larin late in the game. He even helped set up Nocerino’s goal by drawing a foul and Hines’ goal by winning a corner.

One Card, Two Card, Red Card, Yellow Card

Wow, the cards were flying last night. Fortunately, the big one went against New England. It turns out when the other team gets a red card it helps out the team that is up by a man. For the first time in what feels like forever, Orlando City was on the right side of the red card call. Being a man up makes all the difference in the world when trying to score. Or pass. Or defend. Or anything.

Well, maybe I am just giddy after such a dominating win, but I almost feel bad about how positive these takeaways are. That being said, it was the most fun I’ve had watching Orlando City play in a long time, and I’m smart enough to enjoy the moment. Was there something else you saw that we should have mentioned? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading!