Orlando City vs. Inter Miami: Five Takeaways

After dominating Tampa Bay in the U.S. Open Cup and now Inter Miami in MLS play, I think it is safe to remind everyone that, as we all have always known, Florida is purple. Orlando City thrashed the Herons 3-0 on Sunday night, and the Lions could, and probably should, have scored five or even six goals with all the breakaway chances they squandered during this game. Nevertheless, they still walked away from the greater Miami area with three big, beautiful points, and here are my five takeaways from the latest edition of Tropic Thunder.

El Pulpo Pulverized the Herons

Orlando City fans have come to expect great performances from Pedro Gallese in terms of keeping the ball out of his own net, but on Sunday night El Pulpo not only did that, but he also created the game’s opening goal with a perfectly placed bomb of a pass that looked like it might have been thrown by Dan Marino in his Miami Dolphins heyday. But this was Fort Lauderdale, not Miami, and it was Gallese, not Marino, who arced the ball through the night right onto the foot of Luis Muriel, and Muriel’s first touch was just as perfect as Gallese’s aim. Then the Colombian was off to the races before giving the Lions the lead with a well-placed shot to the far post. Gallese collected his second career assist with that pass and then went back to his standard practice of saving everything, stopping four shots and partnering with the stout back line to shut out Miami — only the second time all season Miami was held without a goal.

Miami Block Party

Speaking of that stout back line, Orlando City’s defenders looked more like the Orlando Solar Bears out there with how they were giving up their bodies all over the field to block shots. Our friends at fotmob.com tracked a season-high nine blocked shots by Orlando City defenders on the evening, and it felt like there were even more. Every starting defender had one block except Alex Freeman, who had two, and Iván Angulo, César Araújo, Joran Gerbet, and Muriel each chipped in one as well. Orlando City’s defenders did an excellent job of keeping their hands behind them or out of the way while blocking all of those shots, and the frustration on the faces of the Miami players was evident, as despite taking 21 shots, they were only able to put four on goal. Sunday night was definitely not the kind of Miami block party the Herons were hoping to attend.

Pašalić Goes Five-Hole

I did not plan to work in multiple hockey references when I started this article, but hey, at least Miami fans can be happy that their NHL team won on Sunday. Their, well, Fort Lauderdale’s team most certainly did not, and Marco Pašalić’s early second-half goal doubled Orlando City’s lead when he took a slightly deflected Martín Ojeda pass and powered it through the legs of goalkeeper Óscar Ustari. All three Designated Players participated in the goal, with Muriel showing some fancy footwork before playing it to Rodrigo Schlegel, who gave it to Ojeda, and then his deflected cross fell perfectly for the left foot of Pašalić, and Orlando City had a two-goal cushion.

Firepower From the Bench

Óscar Pareja has always been a coach who likes to ride a hot lineup, and the same is true for how he chooses who comes off the bench — the hot player gets the first opportunity. Ramiro Enrique had scored more recently than Duncan McGuire, so it was not surprising to see Enrique enter before McGuire in this game, and Enrique nearly made it three goals in his last four games, but a fingertip save by Ustari pushed his shot off the post. McGuire eventually entered in the dying minutes of the game, and he clearly showed his desire to get back up in the pecking order, because he was flying all over the field, and it paid off for him when he sprinted onto a ball from Kyle Smith and played a perfectly weighted left-footed cross to fellow substitute Dagur Dan Thórhallsson for the third and final goal, one where all three goal contributors (secondary assist, primary assist, and goal scorer) were substitutes.

Midfield Did Not Get Messi’d

It is hard to ever write about Inter Miami without writing about Lionel Messi, and while he played well and created opportunities, the Orlando City midfield duo of Araújo and Gerbet more than held their own against Messi. Miami dominated possession (64%), but it was Orlando City that created far more chances, creating eight big chances (defined as chances where the analyst could reasonably expect a player to score) to only two for Miami, according to Fotmob’s tracking. Messi’s heatmap shows a player who played most of the game attacking down the right side of the field, but Angulo, Araújo, Gerbet, and Smith, the four midfielders/defenders — Smith came on for Angulo but was essentially a fifth man on the back line — who played in the middle or on the defensive left all contained him and rarely let him get loose, despite his 97 touches. The Argentinean did take nine shots, but only two were on target, and of course, none went in the goal — a testament to the entire defensive unit. Gerbet continues to impress, not just for a rookie but as a player in general, and when Eduard Atuesta returns from injury, he may find himself coming off the bench if Gerbet continues this run of form.

Those are my takeaways from Orlando City’s 11th straight MLS game without a loss, an excellent and deserved road win that vaulted the team over Miami into fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

Let us know your thoughts about the Inter Miami match in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!