ORLANDO, Fla. (April 9, 2022) - Orlando City SC (3-2-2, 11 points) took a 1-0 shutout victory over visiting Chicago Fire FC (2-1-3, 9 points) on Saturday afternoon at Exploria Stadium, with Designed Player Ercan Kara scoring the game-winner, his first finish as a Lion.
Kara got the Lions on the board in the 59th minute, with Alexandre Pato and Facundo Torres each recording an assist on the finish, the second of the year for both players.
With the victory, Pedro Gallese matched the Club’s all-time wins record in between the sticks with his 25th victory as a Lion, tying former City goalkeeper Joe Bendik, while extending his clean sheet mark with his 14th in all competitions. “El Pulpo” tallied two saves on the afternoon to keep the Fire scoreless.
Head Coach Oscar Pareja:
“Good day to walk out with three points in a game where the red card changed a lot for the rival. We may think that winning just 1-0 wasn’t enough, but I said to the players that we can choose between being negative about the things that didn’t go the way we wanted or enjoy the victory. It was a necessary [victory] for the team, a well played game that wasn’t easy and that we created a ton of chances. I know we’ll have that feeling that we need to be more precise, but we’re good. I’m pleased, the players had a terrific effort today and they walk out with three points that were very necessary.”
Scoring Recap:
59’ Ercan Kara (Alexandre Pato, Facundo Torres) - ORL 1, CHI 0
The Lions got on the board off a free kick from Facundo Torres from the left side, finding the head of Alexandre Pato who directed it across the face of the goal to the head of Ercan Kara for the finish.
Match Notes:
- Ercan Kara scored his first goal as a Lion with the game-winner in the 59th.
- Goalkeeper Pedro Gallese matched the Club wins record by a goalkeeper, tying Joe Bendik for his 25th victory in between the sticks.
- Gallese also notched his fourth clean sheet of the campaign, his 14th in all competitions as a Lion to extend his Club-record set earlier this year.
- Alexandre Pato and Facundo Torres each recorded their second assist of the campaign on the Kara goal.
- Chicago was reduced to 10 men just before halftime when Brian Gutierrez was shown a second yellow card in the 43rd minute.
- Head Coach Oscar Pareja made two changes to his starting lineup for Saturday afternoon’s match with Rodrigo Schlegel and Sebastián Méndez stepping in for the side.
Next Match: The Lions head out on the road to take on the Columbus Crew on Saturday, April 16 at Lower.com Field. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
