César Araújo put together one of his best games in an Orlando City shirt on Saturday night, tenaciously battling deep into the night to keep Inter Miami off the board.
It all came together in the end, as Damion Lowe’s 92nd-minute own goal helped the Lions to a 1-0 victory against their Florida rivals. Araújo was voted Heineken Man of the Match by the Orlando City faithful for his performance and was named to the MLS Team of the Week bench.
The game was delayed nearly two and a half hours by a persistent thunderstorm, so perhaps Araújo was itching to get out on the pitch and go about his business. Either way, the young Uruguayan was sensational throughout the game, putting together some mind-boggling statistics while stifling any Miami attempts to build in possession.
It was truly a banner night – Araújo won more duels, drew more fouls and had more tackles than any Orlando City player in any individual match so far this season.
Araújo entered into an astonishing 21 ground duels and won 17 of them, completely dominating his matchup against Miami attacking midfielder Bryce Duke (4 for 15). The Uruguayan also notched a stunning nine fouls won, eight tackles (including five tackles won) and seven ball recoveries.
