Pedro Gallese Comes Up Big in Last Night's Penalty Kick Shootout.
It does not matter if it was fate or a little bit of luck, but Orlando City advances to face Atlanta United in the Easter Conference semifinal. Duncan McGuire taken down in extra time and Facundo Torres' saved penalty parried back into his path - you could not script this ending any better (well, until you watched the end of the Inter Miami - Atlanta match).
It was ironic that last night's match again went to penalties. Eight days ago, Charlotte was perfect with their penalties, with Orlando not converting any of their spot kicks. This time, with Orlando City's Pedro Gallese leading the way, the outcome was reversed as Orlando buried their four penalty kicks with Gallese making two outstanding penalty kick saves.
Gallese and the Orlando City defensive effort, before 20,021 loud supporters at Inter&Co. stadium, held Charlotte to seven shots with Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, and Rafael Santos playing well in front of Gallese. Their supporting cast of Wilder Cartegena and Cesar Araujo helped the Lions cut out Charlotte's dangerous through balls to the always dangerous Patrick Agyemang and Karol Swiderski.
Orlando City dominated the match overall, totaling twenty shots and 9 corners. Only the efforts of Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina kept the score 1-1 at the end of regulation. Though they have two distinct styles, we may have seen Major League Soccer's two best goalkeepers last night in Kahlina and Gallese (well, until you watched Atlanta's Brad Guzan last night).
While most of us assumed Orlando City would reach the semi-final, in no way did we think the opponent would be Atlanta and not Inter Miami. This sets up what once was Major League Soccer's best rivalry match at Inter& Co stadium on Sunday afternoon, November 24. While manager Oscar Pareja could feel a bit of relief not having to travel to Ft. Lauderdale to deal with Messi & Co., he will need to sort out how Atlanta, the ninth-place Eastern Conference seed, has become so tough to play against - especially considering their starting midfielder, Dax McCarty, is thirty-seven years old. Side note: McCarty is from Orlando's Winter Park area, and Atlanta interim manager Rob Valentino, only a year older than McCarty, played for the Lions from 2011-2014.
Gary Levitt @gary1123 justmytake.net
photo credit: Major League Soccer
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