Orlando City vs. Inter Miami: Photo Gallery

Inter Miami (8-2-4, 28 points) made its annual foray north into Lion territory Wednesday night, and both The Herons and Orlando City (3-5-4, 13 points) looked like travel-weary teams playing a midweek game. Both teams gave it a go with as regular lineups as were available, but by about the 55th minute it was apparent that both teams had been in the northeast three days earlier.

While Orlando outshot Miami 14-7, the teams were even on shots on goal with three apiece, continuing the Lions’ trend of poor looks and poor shot execution. Otherwise, the two teams were relatively evenly matched and the game ended in a scoreless draw with only a handful of good chances.

The sellout crowd of 25,046 contained an extra smattering of Messi followers, but the Argentine did not travel due to a knock picked up in Saturday’s game.

Luis Muriel reinforced why the club needs to find a way to keep both him and Duncan McGuire on the field at the same time, leading or sharing the team lead in shots, shots on target, chances created, and successful dribbles. Unfortunately, some will probably remember him one of his few poor touches on the night when he lost the ball in the Miami box late in the match, after Facundo Torres passed to him between two defenders rather than continuing to drive to goal on an open lane.

Wilder Cartagena turned in another stellar performance as a deputized third center back, it will be interesting to see if Oscar Pareja continues with this trend. However, with the short turnaround and fellow defensive midfielder César Araújo receiving his fifth yellow card, earning an accumulation suspension, the team may be forced to change formation yet again.

We hope you enjoy the photos from the game. Orlando is next in action at San Jose on Saturday.