Orlando City vs. Santos Laguna, Leagues Cup: Final Score 3-2 as Wilder Cartagena Wins it Late for Lions

Wilder Cartagena’s late goal broke a 2-2 deadlock and lifted Orlando City to a 3-2 win over Santos Laguna of Liga MX tonight at Exploria Stadium in front of an announced crowd of 16,313. The Lions (1-0-1, 5 points) won the South 2 group in Leagues Cup and now advance to face rival Inter Miami in the Round of 32 on Wednesday. It was City’s first win ever against Liga MX competition.

The Lions fell behind in the first half on Raul Lopez’s goal before Duncan McGuire equalized. Mauricio Pereyra put Orlando City ahead just seconds after the restart, only to see Santos Laguna’s Harold Preciado pull it back 12 minutes later. Cartagena’s heroics came in the second minute of stoppage time to push the Lions to the top of the group and eliminate the Liga MX side from the competition. The Houston Dynamo (0-0-2, 3 points) finished second in the group and will advance to face Pachuca. Santos Laguna exits after a 0-1-1 record in group play.

“First, I want to congratulate our players for such an effort and a great victory over a great team,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “I think we gave a good step today towards our objectives and obviously keep walking forward in Leagues Cup and also showed many other things that are going to help us for the end of the season. I think it was a very complete performance.”

Pareja’s lineup was the one he’s become accustomed to starting in recent weeks, with Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, and Kyle Smith. Cesar Araujo paired with Cartagena in central midfield, behind an attacking line of Ivan Angulo, Pereyra, and Facundo Torres, with McGuire up top.

Santos Laguna was more than happy to sit back and look to counter in the first half and got a chance in just the second minute with a shot from a severe angle by Duvan Vergara that Gallese was able to stop.

Orlando City should have scored from a set piece two minutes later. A training ground free kick from distance was sent into the left side of the box for Jansson, who sent it back for McGuire. The rookie’s shot hit the post, ending the danger, and the play may have been offside anyway had it gone in and then been reviewed. A minute later, McGuire fired a shot right at goalkeeper Gibran Lajud, but the flag did come up this time.

Carlos did well to knock away a dangerous cross in the 20th minute and it went out for the game’s first corner. Santos Laguna couldn’t make the set piece pay off.

Angulo was active in the first half but his final touch — whether a pass or a shot — was an adventure and not usually a good one. He took a layoff from Torres in space near the top of the area in the 24th minute but his shot was nowhere near the goal frame.

Santos Laguna opened the scoring off a terrible mistake by Orlando. Angulo got under an attempted switch but his touch was heavy and he gave it away immediately to Raul Lopez. The Santos Laguna right back used Jansson as a screen and fired a hard, low shot that curled and skipped up off the turf and past Gallese to make it 1-0 in the 41st minute.

The Lions responded quickly, working the ball to Santos on the left. The Brazilian sent in an inch-perfect cross to find McGuire, who powered his header inside the left post, tying the game at 1-1 in the 44th minute. It was the rookie’s 10th goal across all competitions this season.

“Just a good team buildup,” McGuire said. “You know, we’ve been talking about it all week — don’t put our heads down if we go down one, so it’s good to see a good response from the guys and get a quick goal back. It pays to practice that a lot. Rafa and I’ve got a good connection. We’ve always talked about how we want that ball delivered, how he’s going cross it to me, so just a good connection we’ve had. It was good to see it work out in the game.”

The final few minutes of the first half were uneventful and the teams went into the break deadlocked. Orlando City held the statistical advantage at the break in possession (53.6%-46.4%), shots (5-3), shots on target (3-2), corners (3-1), and passing accuracy (84.3%-79.4%).

Orlando City jumped out in front in the first minute of the second half. Pereyra cut from left to right outside the area and seeing no options, blasted a shot into the upper right corner to make it 2-1.

“I had the opportunity to shoot, and I didn’t used to do it but the guys are telling me that I need to do (it) more,” Pereyra said. “Of course I’m happy for that.”

The Lions looked primed to add an insurance goal in the 52nd minute when Torres found himself in space but he blasted his shot just wide.

Five minutes later, Juan Brunetta fired just inches wide in transition the other way. But a minute later, the Liga MX side scored anyway. The Lions cleared a set piece and Santos Laguna recycled, sending in a cross. Preciado headed it in to tie the match in the 58th minute. The Lions appealed for a foul on the play but after review the goal stood.

“We knew that there were going to be moments where Santos was going to hurt us,” Pareja said. “You don’t want it, but this is a natural thing. But we resisted to it and not just resist to it but we found ways to hurt them, and scoring three goals against them is not an easy task.”

Orlando City kept fighting to get back on top. A good buildup in the 66th minute gave Santos a wide-open look on the left from just outside the area but the fullback smashed his shot wide of the near post.

As the game progressed into the final 20 minutes, transition opportunities looked dangerous both ways. Pareja sent on attacking players Ramiro Enrique, Martin Ojeda, and Ercan Kara for the stretch run.

Orlando lost the ball in the attacking third in the 73rd minute and it led to a chance at the other end, but Preciado fired wide of goal. A minute later, a dangerous attacking move down the left ended up in front for Omar Campos to direct on goal, but Santos was there to block the shot to preserve the tie.

Gallese did well to stop Preciado’s shot in the 80th minute but to be fair the Santos Laguna striker was in 1-v-1 and left his shot too close to the goalkeeper.

The winning play looked like it was going to go Santos Laguna’s way before it turned in Orlando City’s favor. The Lions lost the ball in the attack and the Liga MX side broke on a 5-v-3 transition opportunity. As the play entered the Lions’ attacking third, Araujo made a fantastic open-field play to take the ball away and start the break the other way. After a few touches in the attack, it ended up back on Araujo’s foot on the right side. The defensive midfielder slipped the ball in for Cartagena, who redirected it through Lajud, opening his Orlando City account on the winning goal in the 92nd minute.

“I’m very happy for the goal,” Cartagena said. “As a kid, you always dream of scoring goals like these and I was very happy that I was able to help the team. The play started with Cesar and then Facu, then to me, then to Kara, then to Cesar. I lifted my hand and Cesar saw me and he gave me a spectacular assist. My brother Cesar, that’s what he does.”

The winning goal never would have come without Araujo’s assist but it never even would have gotten that far without his timely tackle in transition.

“I saw them arriving. I saw them arriving with a lot of people,” Araujo said. “I tried to get as close as possible, and by luck I was able to win the ball and we were able to score on the other side.”

Orlando City finished with the advantage in possession (54.2%-45.8%) and passing accuracy (82.4%-80.3%). Santos Laguna finished with more shots (16-11) but each team got five on target. Both sides won three corners in the match.

“It was a tough game,” Cartagena said. “In the first 30 minutes we were very much on top of them and then they grew into the match. It was a very evenly disputed game, but we were able to get the better of them. I think that it was a great match for everyone to enjoy and we ultimately got the result.”

“Our preparation was based on being fine in the final thirds — theirs and ours,” Pareja said. “We knew that transitions in the middle were going to be wild, since you have players who can take that ball from defending third to the final third, and there is not too much time to think other than be good defending your area and then do the same in the other part. But again, we’re playing against one of the best teams in Mexico. This is a good response from our players and and for our fans as well.”

Orlando City has a short turnaround before playing at Inter Miami on Wednesday night in a Round of 32 Tropic Thunder matchup.