Orlando City
Orlando City vs. LA Galaxy: Final Score 2-0 as Designated Players Help Lions Stop Home Skid
Ercan Kara scored one goal and helped set up the second as Orlando City put in a complete home performance vs. LA.
Ercan Kara, Facundo Torres, and Martin Ojeda helped elevate Orlando City to a 2-0 win and an end to a four-match home winless skid in front of 22,519 fans at Exploria Stadium. The trio of Designated Players were a threat to the LA goal all night and two of them scored to lead Orlando City (4-3-2, 14 points) to a complete performance against the Galaxy (1-5-3, 6 points).
Kara scored the first goal and helped set up the second, leading the Lions in shots on goal (3) and finishing second only to Ojeda in shot attempts, with four. The win snapped Orlando City’s 0-3-1 home winless streak and a three-match losing spell in front of the home fans.
“I thought we played a very good half in the first half,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “We played very well against a team who changed the model in the second half and then occupied different spaces. But in the end, our players had the energy to decide the results, (and) create a couple more chances.”
Pareja shuffled his lineup a little due to injuries. Mauricio Pereyra (thigh) and Duncan McGuire (lower leg) were not on the team sheet. Pedro Gallese started in goal behind a back line of Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, and Michael Halliday — with the Homegrown fullback returning from an injury of his own. Cesar Araujo and Wilder Cartagena played in the central midfield behind an attacking line of Ivan Angulo, Ojeda, and Torres, with Kara up top. The club’s three Designated Players started together for the first time since opening night against the New York Red Bulls.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair but touches and passes were sometimes ruined by the wet conditions as players struggled with their first touch or to get onto longer or faster passes. Orlando had the better attacking movements but they often couldn’t pull off enough clean touches to free up a shot and a few times just a slight hesitation allowed Galaxy defenders to recover and cut off passing lanes. As a result, there weren’t many shot attempts in the opening half.
The first opportunity of the match fell to the visitors after a free kick from distance was given by referee Jon Freemon. The Galaxy played the ball short to Dejan Joveljic just inside the top of the 18-yard box but his shot attempt was blocked by Araujo.
The Lions should have had a great scoring opportunity six minutes in when a good switch by Smith found Halliday up the right side. Instead of crossing in to a wide-open Kara for a chance on goal, the Homegrown defender took an extra touch and it was a heavy one. He recovered at the end line and won a corner but nothing came of that.
Jansson broke up a good transition attack by LA in the 17th minute, getting in front of a Joveljic shot.
In the 25th minute, Tyler Boyd cut in from the left and fired with his right foot, but it was right at Gallese, who held fast to the wet ball.
Araujo put the ball in the net in the 33rd minute but it was quickly reviewed and overturned by Freemon for a handball in the buildup on Torres, who was run into from behind while in the air.
But five minutes later, the Lions had a goal that counted. Carlos sent a nice ball over the top down the right flank for Halliday. The fullback fizzed a cross into the 6-yard box that Kara flicked in for his first goal of the MLS regular season, putting Orlando City up 1-0 in the 38th minute.
“It’s a great feeling to score,” Kara said. “Big congrats to Mikey. He crossed it really well and I told him before the game that he can find me at the first post and, yeah, he found me.”
“The goal that Ercan did for us and Michael (Halliday) assisted as well, I think that’s the highlight from us and it’s very, very good for them,” Pareja said.
Orlando came within inches of doubling its lead in the 44th minute. A takeaway in the attacking half led to the Lions having numbers in the attack. The ball found Ojeda near the right corner of the box. He fired a shot in for the back corner but LA goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann got a fingertip to it and it fell just inches wide of the back post.
That was the last good chance of the opening half. Orlando held the advantage in possession (61.8%-38.2%), shots on target (2-1), corners (3-1), and passing accuracy (85.5%-78.9%), while the visitors led in shot attempts (4-3).
LA made two substitutions at halftime, chaning shape to five at the back after putting Eriq Zavaleta and Daniel Aguirre on for Boyd and Douglas Costa. It took Orlando a while to figure things out as LA quickly won a corner and looked more threatening to start the second half. Julian Aude cut in from the left and fired over the bar in the 48th minute.
But the Lions figured out how to deal with the Galaxy pushing wingbacks higher in an effort to keep Orlando from exploiting the flanks as it had in the first half.
“We understood the game,” Pareja said. “What was difficult for us to control was the volume in the middle. We knew that they will add another player there, but also that (if) they’re going to give the ball to us, we’re going to hurt them on the counter and that’s exactly what happened.”
Ojeda nearly doubled the lead in the 50th minute. Kara nodded the ball down into his path off another great pass from Carlos and the Argentine’s curling shot fizzed just inches wide of the far post.
In the 56th minute, Torres picked out Kara with a cross but it was behind the big Austrian and his scissor-kick attempt went over the bar. However, Orlando doubled the lead a minute later.
Kara knocked a ball to Ojeda in the middle with a filthy backheel touch and Ojeda sent Torres in with a good diagonal ball to beat Martin Caceres. Torres tried to hit a chip shot over Klinsmann, but the goalkeeper got a piece of it. The ball dribbled into the corner of the net anyway to make it 2-0 in the 57th minute.
Ojeda tried an audacious chip from midfield in the 63rd minute but his shot curled wide to the right side of the goal. He beat Klinsmann but the spin on the ball took it offline.
Klinsmann kept his team in the match with a good double save in the 66th minute, denying both Ojeda and Kara from good positions. On the ensuing the ball skipped to Kara, who fired on the bounce but his shot was right at Klinsmann.
The Galaxy poured numbers forward to try to get back into it but Joveljic curled a shot well wide in the 71st minute and Chicharito had two efforts denied by Gallese in the 76th and 83rd minutes. The latter of those was a great stop on a header off a scoop pass from Mark Delgado.
Pareja subbed liberally late in the match to help see it out. Among his changes was sending Homegrown Player Alex Freeman on for Halliday to make his MLS debut.
The Lions finished with more possession (55.1%-44.9%), passing accuracy (85.5%-81.7%), and shots on target (6-3). LA fired more total shots (15-14) and won more corners (6-4).
“I’m very happy that the team brought the performance to get the clean sheet,” Jansson said. “I think we looked solid all over the field.”
“The first thing, obviously, was to win at home,” Pareja said. “Just getting this result for us was crucial —just getting back our confidence.”
“I think that’s how we used to play normally,” Kara said of the performance. ” And that’s what everybody wants — the fans and we too, because that’s how we like to play. Keep the ball, and having chances, and I think we did today a great job, and we have to continue it, and we are all happy.”
The Lions will head on the road for their next few games, starting next Saturday at Montreal.
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. CF Montreal: Final Score 4-1 as Lions Run Rampant in Leagues Cup Opener
Four different Lions scored as Orlando City ran over CF Montreal.
Four different Lions scored as Orlando City blasted CF Montreal 4-1 at Inter&Co Stadium in Leagues Cup action in front of an announced crowd of 16,033. Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Facundo Torres, Ramiro Enrique, and Martin Ojeda provided plenty of offense on a night that Orlando City (1-0-0, 3 points) could easily have scored six or seven against visiting Montreal (0-1-0, 0 points). Josef Martinez prevented the shutout, but Pedro Gallese got the last laugh by denying the Venezuelan striker on a penalty kick a few minutes later.
“It’s a great night for us in front of our fans to score four goals against a very difficult rival,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “And you see a team in that evolution that we are looking for, keeping that momentum that we had in the last six games, and it’s all good to see.”
Pareja’s lineup included Gallese in goal behind a back line of Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, and Thorhallsson. Cesar Araujo and Wilder Cartagena started in central midfield behind an attacking line of Torres, Ojeda, and Nico Lodeiro, with Enrique up top.
The game was wide open in the early going, with each team getting forward in the attack. A good ball over the top by Cartagena sent Thorhallsson in behind the defense in the fifth minute, but Sebastian Breza did well to get a touch to it and knock it away from the Icelandic fullback. Enrique ran onto it and smashed it on target but right at Breza, who made the save. Orlando quickly won a free kick from the right and Ojeda picked out Jansson, who smashed a header toward goal, but Breza made a good save to keep the game scoreless.
Montreal had the next big chance, as former Lion Ruan cut inside of Smith in the sixth minute and centered the ball for a shot from Mathieu Choinière, but it was right at Gallese.
One minute later, the Lions opened the scoring. The play started with a blast from Ojeda on the left that Breza saved. The rebound popped out of the box to Lodeiro, who fired a shot that Montreal’s defense was able to block. The ball rebounded to Thorhallsson, who blasted it just inside the right post to make it 1-0 in the seventh minute.
“I saw the ball come to me and I thought, ‘Well, I’ll just shoot it,'” Thorhallson said. “I took a touch and shot, and thankfully it went in, so it was a happy feeling. Pretty great.”
After the goal, the next 15 minutes were a bit sloppy by both teams. Passes were frequently sent off line or out of play completely, as the teams both struggled to find rhythm. Eventually it was Orlando City that settled in better. However, before that, Montreal had a pair of chances in the 25th minute.
Sunusi Ibrahim collected the ball at the top of the area, turned, and fired a shot that was blocked. The rebound fell to Gabriele Corbo, who fired a long-range effort at goal. It was on target, but Gallese parried the swerving shot away.
After the hydration break at the half-hour mark, the Lions looked like the more refreshed team.
Orlando hit on the counter in the 37th minute. Araujo made a good move to break through the defense down the right side, then sent in a fantastic cross with two teammates breaking. Enrique lunged for it but could only get a touch to it. The ball continued through the box to the far post, where Torres put it in. The goal was originally called offside, but Leagues Cup uses Virtual Offside Line technology, which (eventually) ruled it was a good goal, and the Lions led 2-0.
“Obviously very happy to be able to score the goal,” Torres said. “On the play I saw Ramiro going towards the center of the box, and then I saw Cesar play the ball towards him. So, I just thought I’ll run to the second post and be there, and then at first we thought Ramiro might be offside, but thankfully, when he was able to make the play on the ball, he wasn’t, and I was just able to bury it.”
Smith did well to send Torres into space in the 43rd minute, and the winger sent in a good cross for Enrique, but the Argentine’s header was wide. Orlando got its third moments later anyway.
The Lions broke forward in transition and Torres slipped Enrique behind the defense. Enrique took a touch to set himself up and then used the outside of his foot to send a shot past Breza in the second minute of first-half stoppage time to make it 3-0. It was Enrique’s fifth straight game with a goal in all competitions, tying Daryl Dike’s club record.
Torres got one more chance before halftime but his shot was blocked. Orlando couldn’t do anything with the ensuing corner kick and that was it for the first half.
Orlando City held the halftime advantage in shots (11-3), shots on target (6-2), and corners (3-0), while the visitors held a slim edge in passing accuracy (85.4%-85%).
“In the first half, we solved the game early in terms of just being sharp on scoring,” Pareja said. “We knew that Montreal would come to look for us in the second half and they will just give us some spaces, and that is what happened. And then again, we are fine in front of the goal and it’s something that just makes us look very good.”
The Lions tried to pick back up where they left off after the break. Enrique laid off a perfect drop pass for Cartagena in the 47th minute, but the Peruvian sent his shot just inches wide of the left post. Five minutes later, Ojeda picked out Lodeiro in front with a precise pass, but the Uruguayan’s shot was right at Breza.
It was Araujo’s turn to fire wide in the 54th minute after another good Orlando buildup.
Orlando extended its lead three minutes later. Lodeiro made a good move in the midfield to free himself from traffic and lifted a beautiful chip pass over the defense for Ojeda to run onto. The Argentine smashed a shot through Breza’s legs and in to make it 4-0 in the 57th minute. With that goal, Ojeda extended his goal contribution streak to seven games across all competitions, breaking Dike’s club record of six.
“Martin got his momentum once he improved his fitness and that physical condition that he knows that is required to perform at that level as a DP (Designated Player), and as a protagonist of the team, and somebody who can carry the team on his shoulders,” Pareja said. “And Martin raised all those numbers, and I think he’s now rewarded by the game.”
Montreal finally got a half-chance in the 60th minute when second-half substitute Tom Pearce cut in from the left and sent a bad-angle shot wide of the right post. The visitors grew in the game a bit as Orlando appeared to take its foot off the gas. The first warning sign was a decent attacking movement that resulted in Jansson having to make a lunge to concede a corner rather than a scoring chance, but Orlando cleared the set piece.
Montreal pulled a goal back through an old Orlando City nemesis. The visitors worked the ball into the box, with Ariel Lassiter sending a pass to fellow second-half sub Martinez, who broke free of Jansson and powered a shot toward the left post that Gallese couldn’t keep out, making it 4-1 in the 69th minute.
Just minutes after the goal, Martinez had a golden opportunity to cut Orlando’s lead to two. Araujo was whistled for a foul in the box, handing Montreal a penalty kick. Martinez tried a cheeky stutter-step approach, but Gallese dove to his right and got a strong hand on it to keep it out with a huge save in the 74th minute.
“You have to wait until the last minute, especially with how Josef takes his penalties,” said Gallese, who made his third save on six penalties faced in 2024. “So you have to wait in those moments right before (he shoots). You have to maintain your calm and just focus on what’s about to happen.”
“It was an amazing save and important, because I felt like we were a little bit slowing down, which is not good,” Thorhallson said.
The Lions should have had a fifth goal in the 75th minute. Torres got in behind on the right, pulling Breza out of goal. The Uruguayan stopped and unselfishly played a pass to Enrique, who fired a shot right at the only defender in the penalty area, who made an easy block.
Orlando kept looking for goals, with substitute Luis Muriel firing off target in the 81st minute and fellow second-half sub Rafael Santos heading just inches wide of the left post on a corner kick a minute later. Araujo then found space just outside the area but was leaning back when he shot, sending his effort high into The Wall behind the north goal. Muriel sent a left-footed effort over the bar a few minutes later on the last look of the evening.
The game came to an end after only two minutes of stoppage time and the Lions had a win in their opening game of the competition.
Orlando City finished with the advantage in shots (24-8), shots on target (10-4), corners (5-2), and passing accuracy (87.8%-86.8%), while Montreal finished with more possession (54.2%-45.8%).
“We’re happy with the result, but as this competition tells us, we need to get ready for the next one,” Pareja said.
The Lions will finish up Leagues Cup group play on Sunday, Aug. 4 vs. Liga MX side San Luis. Montreal will host San Luis Tuesday night in the other group match.
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. CF Montreal, Leagues Cup: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions begin their 2024 Leagues Cup quest at home against Montreal.
Welcome to your match thread for a Friday night Leagues Cup matchup between Orlando City and CF Montreal at Inter&Co Stadium (8 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+). It’s the first match of the competition for both teams, and tonight’s game marks the third time the two Eastern Conference sides will meet this season. The teams split the points in both regular-season matchups, drawing both times. More on that later.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.
History
The Lions are 8-9-5 against Montreal in the all-time regular-season series and 9-10-5 in all competitions since they joined MLS. OCSC is 4-4-3 in its home stadium against Montreal and 5-4-3 in the greater Orlando area when including a win in the knockout rounds of the MLS is Back Tournament in 2020.
The two sides last met in Montreal on April 20, trading goals back and forth in a 2-2 draw at Stade Saputo. Mason Toye opened the scoring early but Facundo Torres equalized from the spot a few minutes later. Ariel Lassiter appeared to win it late in normal time for the hosts, but Ivan Angulo struck in stoppage time to earn Orlando City a road point. These teams opened the 2024 season against each other in Orlando and played to a 0-0 draw. The Lions dominated the stat sheet but had a goal waved off for offside and simply weren’t lethal enough in front of goal.
The teams met twice in 2023, completing the season series on Sept. 30, 2023, with the Lions winning 3-0 in dominant fashion. Jonathan Sirois’ own goal opened the scoring, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson and Torres added strikes for Orlando City. That was a good measure of revenge for OCSC, after Montreal defeated Orlando City 2-0 and handed the Lions their first road loss of the 2023 MLS season on May 6 at Stade Saputo. A Robin Jansson own goal got Montreal started in the second half and Romell Quioto added a second goal four minutes later.
These two sides played their biggest game against each other in the 2022 MLS playoffs, with CF Montreal knocking Orlando City out of the postseason by a 2-0 scoreline on Oct. 16, with goals by Ismael Kone and Djordje Mihailovic — the latter coming deep in stoppage time from the penalty spot.
Each team won at home in the two-game, regular-season series in 2022, with Montreal thumping Orlando 4-1 on May 7. Joel Waterman, Mihailovic, Joaquin Torres, and Zachary Brault-Guillard did the damage on the scoreboard and Orlando City managed just two shot attempts, with Joao Moutinho’s goal on a set piece helping the Lions avoid a shutout. Orlando City did not have either starting center back for that match, and it showed. The teams also met on opening day of the 2022 season, when Orlando City captured a 2-0 home win behind second-half goals from Alexandre Pato and Benji Michel.
In 2021, the teams met in Montreal on Decision Day, with the Lions earning a 2-0 road victory at Stade Saputo to clinch a playoff spot. Sebas Mendez and Daryl Dike provided the goals. That season’s matchup in Orlando came on Oct. 20, 2021, with the visitors managing a 1-1 draw. Chris Mueller struck for the Lions just before halftime, but Rudy Camacho answered on a corner kick header shortly after the restart. The first meeting of 2021 took place Sept. 15 in Orlando with the Lions falling 4-2 and finishing the game with just nine men after both Nani and Andres Perea were sent off. Quioto led Montreal with a goal and two assists. Mathieu Choiniere and Quioto put Montreal up 2-0, but despite already being down one man, Jansson and Ruan tied things up. The visitors got two more from Lassi Lappalainen and Sunusi Ibrahim.
The teams met at Red Bull Arena in late 2020 as the team then known as the Montreal Impact played home games in New Jersey due to the pandemic. Orlando City got a Dike goal in the 39th minute to win 1-0 on Nov. 1, 2020. It was the second meeting of the 2020 season, with Orlando also beating Montreal 1-0 in the MLS is Back Tournament knockout rounds on July 25 to advance to the quarterfinals. Tesho Akindele scored the game’s only goal on a Montreal defensive mistake.
Orlando City snapped a six-game winless streak against Montreal (0-5-1) in MLS regular-season play dating back to 2016 when the Lions put the Impact to the sword in a 3-0 drubbing at Stade Saputo on June 1, 2019. Nani (penalty), Akindele, and Will Johnson supplied the offense that day. The Lions fell 3-1 at Exploria Stadium back on March 16, 2019, and Ignacio Piatti was a big reason why, scoring his ninth and 10th career goals against Orlando, adding to a strike by Orji Okwonkwo. Dom Dwyer added a cosmetic goal late for Orlando City to spoil the clean sheet.
Montreal did not allow a goal against the Lions in 2018, sweeping the two-game set from Orlando, and the Impact shut out Orlando City in three of the six meetings in that 5-0-1 run. The lone draw in that time frame was a 3-3 shootout in Orlando in 2017, in which the Impact led deep in stoppage time, only to see Jonathan Spector’s well-placed header steal the Lions a point.
Orlando won the first two meetings in 2016 by a combined score of 6-2. The teams split three meetings in 2015, with each going 1-1-1.
Match Overview
Orlando City enters this match on a five-game unbeaten run (4-0-1). The Lions are coming off a tightly contested 1-1 home draw against New York City FC on Saturday. The only Orlando goal was provided by Ramiro Enrique, but the Lions conceded a Hannes Wolf strike five minutes later. Enrique is in fine form, having scored goals in each of his last four games. Regardless of Orlando’s form, this competition is not part of the MLS regular season, so it’s difficult to know how teams and players will approach it. In addition, it’s not like the Lions have lit it up at home in 2024, amassing a poor record of 3-5-4 at Inter&Co Stadium. However, the Lions have been better of late, going 2-0-1 in their last three at home.
Montreal sits four spots and seven points behind Orlando in the Eastern Conference standings at the Leagues Cup break, struggling to defend in 2024. CF Montreal has allowed 49 goals this season, which is just one fewer than D.C. United’s conference-worst 50. The Canadian club, which is coming off a 1-0 home loss to rival Toronto on Saturday, is 2-7-4 on the road this season and is 0-7-3 in its last 10 road games against MLS competition (0-7-4 on the road in all competitions in its last 11).
A new competition offers hope for both teams, especially Montreal. There is not as much pressure to get a result for the underdog visitors, and it’s a chance to reset and chase a trophy. Ibrahim and old nemesis Josef Martinez are offensive players the Lions must account for, as they are Montreal’s leaders with six and five goals, respectively. Former Lion Ruan will present enough speed to keep up with Orlando City’s Angulo, so that will be an interesting battle to keep an eye on tonight (assuming both play).
“First, we are very excited to participate in this tournament. Last year, I thought it was a successful one, and the experience we had playing the two leagues was good,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “We played against Houston [Dynamo] and Santos [Laguna], which is one of the best teams in Mexico, and the experience was good. Overall, we are preparing and respecting the tournament as much as we can. Everyone is excited to be a part of it.”
As of this writing, it doesn’t appear that availability reports will be a thing for the Leagues Cup, but it’s fair to say the Lions will be without Duncan McGuire (international duty), Mason Stajduhar (lower leg), and Michael Halliday (knee).
Match Content
- Our most recent episode of The Mane Land PawedCast features our key match-ups and score predictions for tonight’s game.
- Our David Rohe provided his three keys to an Orlando City victory over Montreal.
Official Lineups:
Orlando City (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.
Defenders: Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.
Defensive Midfielders: Cesar Araujo, Wilder Cartagena.
Attacking Midfielders: Facundo Torres, Martin Ojeda, Nico Lodeiro.
Forward: Ramiro Enrique.
Bench: Javier Otero, Rafael Santos, Luca Petrasso, Alex Freeman, Rodrigo Schlegel, Felipe, Jeorgio Kocevski, Favian Loyola, Yutaro Tsukada, Luis Muriel, Jack Lynn.
CF Montreal (3-4-1-2)
Goalkeeper: Sebastian Breza.
Defenders: Fernando Alvarez, Joel Waterman, Gabriele Corbo.
Midfielders/Wingbacks: Joaquin Sosa, Nathan Saliba, Victor Wanyama, Ruan.
Attacking Midfielder: Mathieu Choiniere.
Forwards: Matias Coccaro, Sunusi Ibrahim.
Bench: Jonathan Sirois, Lassi Lappalainen, Dawid Bugaj, Bryce Duke, Ilias Iliadis, Ariel Lassiter, Joseph Martinez, Kwadwo Opoku, Tom Pearce, Rida Zouhir.
Referees:
REF: Adonai Escobedo González.
AR1: Enrique Bustos Díaz.
AR2: Enedina Caudillo Gómez.
4TH: Lizzet Garcia Olvera.
VAR: Melissa Borjas Pastrana.
How to Watch
Match Time: 8 p.m.
Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.
TV/Live Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.
Radio: FM 96.9 The Game (English).
Twitter: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow along at @TheManeLand, as well as Orlando City’s official Twitter feed (@OrlandoCitySC).
Enjoy the match. Go City!
Orlando City
Examining the Sustainability of Ramiro Enrique’s Scoring Explosion
Is Ramiro Enrique’s scoring outburst sustainable, or is a regression to the mean on the horizon?
Since Orlando City’s 5-0 thumping of D.C. United back on July 6, Ramiro Enrique has tapped into a red-hot vein of form. He’s got four goals in four games, matching his scoring output from the entirety of the 2023 season, and doing so in four matches and 245 minutes, as compared to 30 matches and 1,019 minutes last year. That brings us to the big question: is this sort of output sustainable?
We’ll start by looking at the expected goals on each of his four tallies. While xG isn’t a perfect statistic, it provides a fairly good measure of how good a chance is. To get a clearer picture, we’ll also take a look at each goal to help gauge how difficult the chance is.
Against D.C. United, Enrique latched onto a flicked-on header from a corner kick and used a header of his own to score the Lions’ fifth and final goal of the night. That strike had an xG of 0.1. In truth, that number seems a bit low to me, as once Enrique’s in front of his defender, he has the whole net to aim at, and the ball comes in at a great height for him to get his head on it. He makes no mistake and sticks it into the side netting, where the goalkeeper has no hope of reaching it.
Against the New England Revolution, the Argentine again scored from a corner, sneaking in front of goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic and flicking the ball past him before he could collect Cesar Araujo’s header. His second goal of the season had an xG of 0.4. That number seems more reasonable to me. Once he does the hard work of losing his marker and getting across Ivacic, the goalkeeper is helpless to stop any ball that isn’t coming straight at him, and it’s a good finish.
Against Nashville, he collected a pass from Ivan Angulo a few yards outside of the six-yard box and blasted it off the crossbar and in. The tight angle from which he scored means the xG of 0.04 isn’t too surprising. Once again, Enrique managed to lose his defender and got himself into a really nice area of open space. The finish is outstanding, but it wouldn’t have been surprising to see a save or shot off target from this angle.
His fourth goal of the year had elements of skill and luck, as he redirected Martin Ojeda’s shot against NYCFC. The effort from Ojeda took a deflection off Enrique that caught the goalkeeper leaning the wrong way and had enough pace to carry it into the net, for an xG of 0.11. Again, I’m surprised the number is as high as it is. That’s probably due to the deflection happening in the box and leaving Matt Freese next to no time to react. While it was a clever touch to redirect it, there was also a good deal of luck involved.
Those totals add up to 0.65. In other words, Enrique would be estimated to score 0.65 goals off those chances (or one, rounding up, as there are no fractions of goals), and he instead bagged four. There are a couple ways you can view that. The optimist would say that he’s simply a good finisher and has been making the most of the chances that have come his way, even when they aren’t very good ones. The pessimist would say that him converting low percentage chances at this rate isn’t sustainable, and he’s due to regress back to the mean soon.
We can also look at the bigger picture of his statistics up to this point in the year. Across 11 games and 483 minutes, Enrique has taken 18 shots, put nine of them on target, and scored from four of those. He’s also got a season xG of 3.52, which is pretty much in line with his goal total of four, although he’s slightly outperforming it. That isn’t a bad thing though, as the best strikers score difficult chances too, not just the easy ones. Cristian Arango, Christian Benteke, and Denis Bouanga are the top three scorers in the league, and Bouanga is the only one not outperforming his xG (17.68 xG compared to 16 goals).
In my opinion, the truth of Enrique’s case lies somewhere in between. He’s put 50% of his shots on target this year, which is a great number, and getting the ball on frame is half the battle in this sport, so that’s an encouraging place to start. Each of his first three goals in 2024 came as a result of getting into space in a dangerous area and making no mistake with his finish once the ball arrived. Against D.C., he did well to get in front of his defender. In New England, he snuck in from the blind side of the defense. And against Nashville, he found space in the box and stayed onside until Angulo was able to find him. That sort of movement and ability to get yourself into dangerous areas is something that can be replicated, even if finishing low-percentage chances like the strikes against Nashville and NYCFC probably isn’t.
If Enrique continues being clever with his movement and finding dangerous spaces, Orlando’s offense has begun to look fluid enough that his teammates will find ways to get him the ball. As long as he keeps getting shots on frame and his finishing stays sharp, it isn’t unreasonable to assume that he’ll grab some more goals this year. It probably won’t be at the rate he’s done so in July, but if nothing else, he should be able to provide some extra firepower to an OCSC attack that has woken up in recent weeks. Keep your fingers crossed, folks. Vamos Orlando!
Orlando City vs. CF Montreal: Final Score 4-1 as Lions Run Rampant in Leagues Cup Opener
Orlando City vs. CF Montreal, Leagues Cup: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
Examining the Sustainability of Ramiro Enrique’s Scoring Explosion
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