Reflections on Orlando City’s Leagues Cup Performance

Orlando City finished its run in the 2024 Leagues Cup Friday night after a 0-0 draw, exiting at the hands of Liga MX side Cruz Azul in the team’s first ever penalty kick shootout loss. With the sun now set for the Lions on this year’s version of the clash between clubs from Canada, the United States, and Mexico, what positives can be taken from the competition?

What follows are some of my reactions to the squad’s performance over the three matches in Leagues Cup play.

Hot Start

Orlando City started Leagues Cup with an emphatic 4-1 victory over CF Montreal. For a team that was enjoying a scoring resurgence prior to the start of the midseason competition, it was reasuring to see the offensive success continue. Forward Ramiro Enrique led the Lions with two goals over three matches and also added an assist. Designated Player Facundo Torres also had three goal-scoring contributions in the competition with one goal and two assists. Martin Ojeda and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson joined the stat sheet with goals as well. While the goals dried up as the Lions advanced into the knockout round, the team was still creating good chances, and if that can continue down the stretch of the regular season, the Lions should be able to solidify a playoff spot.

El Pulpo Continues Strong Play

Believe it or not, earlier in the season some fans were calling for Peruvian No. 1 Pedro Gallese to be benched in favor of backup goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar. Gallese’s performance in Leagues Cup and over the last several weeks of the regular season prior to the competition should have all but have eliminated that notion. My favorite moment of the entirity of the 2024 competition came thanks to El Pulpo in the first match of group play when Gallese faced familiar Orlando City foe Josef Martinez from the penalty spot. Gallese stood tall and stonewalled Martinez, denying the persisent thorn in Orlando’s side a second goal on the evening. The most meaningful performance by El Pulpo came in the knockout round, when he kept a clean sheet after saving six shots through 90 minutes, helping to get Orlando City into a position where it could advance to the next round. Had his teammates been a bit more clinical, the game against Cruz Azul might not even have been close.

Streaks Come and Go

The second match of Orlando City’s foray into the 2024 Leagues Cup continued multiple impressive streaks. One was Enrique’s scoring streak and the second was Orlando City’s spotless record in penalty shootouts. Enrique’s scoring streak started in the July 6 beatdown of D.C. United, and he managed to score in six consecutive matches to break Daryl Dike’s club record of five. His streak finally came to an end against Cruz Azul, as he failed to score for the first time in over a month despite having multiple good chances. Enrique may not be the most physically imposing player on the field, but he is easily enjoying the best stretch of his young Orlando City career, as he was able to score in both of the group stage matches and converted his penalty kick attept against Atletico San Luis.

Speaking of penalty kicks, Orlando had already locked up the group stage by drawing the match against Atletico San Luis, and I had never been a part of a shootout which carried no weight whatsoever. It was kind of neat! Orlando made it nine unbeaten shootout victories by beating San Luis from the spot. Just like Enrique’s goal-scoring streak, Orlando’s perfect record in shootouts also fell against Cruz Azul, which was a painful reminder that all good things eventually come to an end. Both captain Robin Jansson and Thorhallsson had their attempts saved.

Ultimately, the Lions will not lift the Leagues Cup trophy this year and will have a more difficult road to qualify for the Concacaf Champions Cup for a third year in a row. However, the team played some quality minutes during the Olympic break, and in watching the Lions, I think that there is some strong chemistry to ride down the stretch of the regular season.