A Hard-Fought 1-0 win at Orlando's Inter&Co Stadium Against a Surprising Atlanta United Side Will Have the Lions at Inter&Co Stadium Against New York Red Bulls on November 30.
On a perfect Orlando weather day at a sold-out Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando City and Atlanta United left it all on the field in what was once Major League Soccer's best rivalry game. There is still no love lost between the clubs, as right from the opening whistle both sides played hard with the game getting chippy from the tenth minute on. Orlando benefited from two Atlanta injuries with Orlando's lone goal moving the Lions on to a home Conference Final against New York Red Bulls.
Orlando City's goal came from Atlanta United's inability to clear the ball off a corner kick. The ever-present Ramiro Enrique pounced on the loose ball and drove it by Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan. Orlando City will need to be much more clinical with their decision-making and service in the final third on Saturday night.
The stalwart defense put in by Orlando's backline of Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Dagur Dan Thórhallsson, backed by goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, again showed why opposing teams have so much trouble breaking them down. A big late season surprise has been Schlegel, who has put his emotions away, using his tremendous physicality to win second balls and mark attackers out of the game.
It is a bit difficult to benchmark defensive midfielders, but I will take the tandem of Wilder Cartagena and Cesar Araujo over any other MLS midfielders. Their tremendous work rate and ball-winning abilities are uncanny, with both able to go box-to-box for much of the match. While I provided kudos to Orlando's back four, Cartagena and Araujo are a reason why the Lions defense has held up against playoff opponents including Inter Miami and Atlanta United. They will need to do the same against NYRB, who shut out NYCFC 2-0 to reach the conference final.
There is no doubt that Orlando City's Inter&Co Stadium and the crowd of over 25,000 provided a bump to the Lions' performance on the field. If you have not been to this stadium, you are missing one of the best overall game-day experiences in MLS. Of course, yesterday's cloudless, 72-degree weather certainly helped.
The Red Bulls visit Orlando this Saturday night with an extra day's rest after their 2-0 win on Saturday. The individual matchups should be an interesting dilemma for Orlando manager Oscar Pareja, as the Red Bulls lineup includes strong goalkeeping in Carlos Coronel, and a midfield led by their captain, Swedish international Emil Forsberg. Saturday night at Inter&Co Stadium should be an epic battle between two good teams. The winner advances to the MLS Cup and will visit the winner of the LA Galaxy - Seattle conference final on Saturday night, December 7th.
Saturday, November 30
Eastern Conference Final
No. 4 Orlando City SC vs. No. 7 New York Red Bulls
(7:30 p.m. ET/7:40 p.m. ET kickoff, Inter&Co Stadium, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV)
Western Conference Final
No. 2 LA Galaxy vs. No. 4 Seattle Sounders FC
(10 p.m. ET/10:10 p.m. ET kickoff, Dignity Health Sports Park, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV)
Gary Levitt @gary1123 justmytake.net
photo credit: GL
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