Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Five Takeaways

Orlando City traveled across the country to resume the season against the San Jose Earthquakes late Wednesday night. Then the Lions absolutely dismantled San Jose 4-0, and it should have been more. Orlando City could not have scripted a better way to introduce Antione Griezmann to MLS. I’m not certain what Martin Perelman did over the break to change this squad, but hopefully it sticks. Here are my five takeaways from the match.

An Unexpected Start

Orlando City jumped out to an early lead thanks to a set piece header from David Brekalo. Eduard Atuesta delivered his best free kick so far this season from way out on the right-hand side of the pitch and onto the head of an unmarked Brekalo. I was surprised how early the Lions scored, I was surprised by how good the service from Atuesta was, and I was surprised that it was Brekalo who put the ball in the back of the net. Unexpected, but welcome.

Angulo’s Timely Arrival

Ivan Angulo had not scored in 49 regular-season matches coming into this game. He snapped that bad streak with a monster goal from about 25 yards out to double the lead. It was once again Atuesta with the assist on Orlando City’s second goal. I think the problem previously was that Angulo was trying to score from the left and on breakaways. He is obviously much better arriving at the top of the box from the right and putting the ball through a few defenders. More of this, please.

Free-flowing and Fun

Orlando City came out flying. The Lions showed more of the position-free soccer we saw against the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the recent friendly. The difference is that this time they did it against the second-place team in the Western Conference. The passes were quick and confident, players moved around the field as if they knew where to be, and they were often smiling. It was a very different look for Orlando City as compared to earlier in the season. Speaking of fun, I’m going to include Braian Ojeda’s goal here, as there’s nowhere else to put it, but my goodness what a header. It was also Atuesta’s third assist on the night.

Crepeau the Great

The stat sheet doesn’t do Maxime Crepeau’s performance justice. He got a hand on everything that came his way, even when offside was ultimately called. If he didn’t have the match that he did, then Orlando City wouldn’t likely have left San Jose with the full three points. The Canadian keeper was credited with seven saves on the night, but it was probably double that if you include shots on plays that were called offside. Oh, and he earned a clean sheet.

Griezmann Delivers

Antoine Griezmann did Antoine Griezmann things. He was everywhere. He contributed on offense, and he contributed on defense. He directed his teammates when he didn’t have the ball and when he did. The quality of his passing was evident (five key passes), but the results of those passes were better than I expected given his limited time training with his teammates. Did I mention he scored his first official goal for Orlando City? No? Well, he did, and it was also his 300th career professional goal. He also went the full 90+ minutes. 10 out of 10, no notes.

That is what I saw in the invigorating road win over the San Jose Earthquakes. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!