ORLANDO, Fla. (June 22, 2021) - Orlando City SC (5-1-3, 18 points) took its second victory in four days time, routing the San Jose Earthquakes (3-6-1, 10 points) with a 5-0 shutout win in the Club’s first full-capacity contest at Exploria Stadium since its 2020 home opener.
Daryl Dike and Benji Michel each tallied a brace on the night, good for each of their first two finishes of the campaign. Nani extended his team-lead to five goals on the year, while Chris Mueller set tied former Lions’ captain Kaká for the Club’s all-time assist record, recording the 22nd of his professional career.
On the opposite end of the pitch, Brandon Austin tallied his first clean sheet as a Lion, having to record just one save to preserve the shutout. City’s five goals served as its most since a 5-1 victory over FC Cincinnati on May 19, 2019 and tied a Club-record for the Lions’ largest margin of victory, set on Sept. 27, 2017 in a 6-1 victory over the New England Revolution.
Head Coach Oscar Pareja:
“We’re feeling very proud of many things that we saw tonight. First, the fans, seeing the stadium on a Tuesday night in the rain and the fans there cheering and supporting with such energy, that for sure empowered our team. We’re very grateful for them. Secondly, to see the players putting together that effort and fighting all the way against a rival that, despite the result, has very good players and a great coach and it was for moments difficult to play against. We were very sharp in the back today, having that efficiency in our forwards just makes us feel very optimistic, so it was a very good night. We have to keep going but we’re very proud of all those things.”
Scoring Recap:
7’ Nani (PK) - ORL 1, SJ 0
The Lions found the back of the net inside the first 10 minutes for the fifth time this year, this time with Benji Michel drawing a penalty after driving into the area. City captain Nani then stepped up to the spot, putting his strike away into the bottom left corner for his fifth goal of the year.
16’ Benji Michel (Chris Mueller) - ORL 2, SJ 0
City doubled its advantage with Kyle Smith playing Chris Mueller on the right flank, who drove towards the edge of the box before slotting a ball through for Benji Michel. The Homegrown then managed to poke his foot around his defender to send the ball into the back of the net.
31’ Daryl Dike (Nani) - ORL 3, SJ 0
The Lions added yet another before the halftime break, this time Nani running onto a misplayed ball from San Jose and taking it up the middle of the pitch. The captain found Daryl Dike running through a trio of Earthquakes’ defenders, who then played it around goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski before playing the ball into the back of the net at a tight angle.
49’ Daryl Dike (Nani) - ORL 4, SJ 0
City continued its first-half form after the break, with Nani whipping in a free kick from the right edge of the area that found the head of Daryl Dike in the box to secure the brace on the night for the Lions’ frontman.
90’ Benji Michel (Tesho Akindele, Mauricio Pereyra) - ORL 5, SJ 0
The Lions’ Homegrown secured a brace of his own at the death, with Mauricio Pereyra finding Tesho Akindele in the box, who threaded a pass for Benji Michel on the right edge of the area to fire into the back of the net.
Match Notes:
- The Lions’ netted a season-high five goals in the match, their most since May 19, 2019 in a 5-1 victory at Exploria Stadium over FC Cincinnati.
- Nani scored his team-high fifth goal of the year, converting the Lions’ first penalty of the season in the seventh minute. With the finish, the captain moves to second in Club history with 26 finishes across all competitions, passing Kaká.
- Benji Michel netted his first goal of the year with his finish in the 16th minute. With his second goal on the night, Michel finished off his first career brace.
- Daryl Dike found the back of the net for the first time since his return from Barnsley FC, netting a brace in the match with finishes in the 31st and 50th minutes, respectively.
- With his assist on Michel’s 16th-minute finish, Chris Mueller tied former Lions’ captain Kaká with the most assists in Club history at 22. Mueller now leads the side with four on the year.
- Nani tallied his first assists of the season in the match, recording the helper on both of Dike’s finishes in the match. The Portuguese international trails Chris Mueller and Kaká in Club-history, now with 20 assists as a Lion.
- Goalkeeper Brandon Austin recorded his first clean sheet as a Lion, having to make just one save to preserve the shutout in the match.
- Uri Rosell made his 60th appearance across all competitions as a Lion in the match and his first of the campaign, entering in the 77th minute for Chris Mueller.
- Head Coach Oscar Pareja made three changes to his starting lineup from Saturday’s match against Toronto FC, with Chris Mueller, Benji Michel and Daryl Dike re-entering the fold for the Lions.
- Tuesday’s match included two weather delays, first one that pushed kickoff back approximately 30 minutes followed by a lightning delay in the 40th minute.
Next Match: The Lions face yet another quick turnaround, closing out a stretch of three games in seven-days at Inter Miami CF on Friday, June 25 at DRV PNK Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. ET.
