ATLANTA, Ga. – It’s finally happened. With new confidence after what they did in the MLS is Back tournament, Orlando City SC get their first ever win over Atlanta United FC on Saturday afternoon.
Orlando City Gets First Ever Win Over Atlanta United
The Lions got out to the front foot early, scoring just 13 minutes in. They won a corner off Eric Remedi. Chris Mueller provided the cross and Junior Urso ran straight up the middle with Remedi not following him to score with his head.
Atlanta tried to play through Pity Martinez but it was a frustrating afternoon the No. 10, with Adam Jahn starting up top and several attacking options on the bench.
United were down a man momentarily around the 35th minute. Orlando made it 2-0 with a fantastic counter attack. Mueller got the ball forward to Daryl Dike at the top of the box. He passed it through to Benji Michel, who squared it to a wide open Mueller for a tap in.
The half ended 2-0.
Orlando continued to find gaps to create chances in the second half while Atlanta made four subs by the 60th minute to get back into the game.
One of those subs paid off as Jurgen Damm found Lennon for a header goal in the 83rd minute. The Five Stripes hope was quickly dashed though as substitute Nani scored three minutes later after a poor giveaway at the back.
The match ended 3-1 to the visitors, giving Orlando City their first ever win over their southern rivals. The victory was slightly soured by João Moutinho sustaining an injury that had him stretchered off and subbed out.
The Birthday Boy got himself a gift 😈#ATLvORL | #VamosOrlando pic.twitter.com/Z8fmYov3je
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) August 29, 2020
Three Takeaways:
Orlando the more dangerous team: There no two ways about it: Orlando City were the better team. They were more dangerous and had several close calls on scoring goals. Oscar Pareja has this team playing like a playoff team.
Atlanta frustrated: It was another rough game for Pity Martinez. He sustained and dished out a few tackles. He wasn’t great and didn’t have much help in the attack. Furthermore, Atlanta almost seemed disinterested in defending when the game got away from them.
History made, it’s officially a rivalry: Orlando’s played well for several games in a row. They made the final of the MLS is Back tournament. Now they’ve gotten wins over their rivals in Inter Miami and Orlando. Make the playoffs and win a game, and the OrLando moniker will no longer apply to this iteration of the squad.
