CARSON, Calif. (March 19, 2022) - Orlando City SC (2-1-1, 7 points) took a 1-0 victory over the LA Galaxy (2-2-0, 6 points) on Saturday afternoon at Dignity Health Sports Park, battling to its third clean sheet in just four matches to start the 2022 campaign.
With the shutout, goalkeeper Pedro Gallese recorded his 14th clean sheet in all competitions to set a new Club-record, passing former Lion Joe Bendik. “El Pulpo” tallied three saves on the afternoon to keep the Galaxy off the board in what served as his third shutout of the year.
Facundo Torres scored the eventual game-winner for the Lions in the ninth minute of play, heading in a cross from Ercan Kara for the finish. The goal served as the first for the Uruguayan as a Lion, while the assist from Kara was his first goal contribution in purple.
Head Coach Oscar Pareja:
“We’re very proud of the players. The full squad had a terrific week of training trying to bounce back from the result that we had at home. Today we showed a lot of things that we liked, which is our character, our willingness and our bravery to be the team that can go away and get results and also be strong at home. We’re really pleased. I think we won a game against a very good rival in a difficult place, at a difficult hour, too, and our boys did a fantastic job.”
Scoring Recap:
9’ - Facundo Torres (Ercan Kara, Ruan) - ORL 1, LA 0
The Lions got on the board early in the ninth minute of the match, with Ruan and Ercan Kara combining to unlock the Galaxy’s defense outside of the box. The Austrian forward fired a cross to a streaking Facundo Torres who headed a powerful ball past LA goalkeeper Jonathan Bond.
Match Notes:
- Pedro Gallese set a new Club-record for clean sheets on the afternoon, recording his 14th in all competitions and his third in just four matches to start the year. Gallese tallied three saves to keep the Galaxy scoreless in Carson.
- Facundo Torres scored his first goal as a Lion in the match, a week after earning his first goal contribution with an assist last Saturday against Cincinnati.
- Ercan Kara tallied his first assist in purple, credited with the helper on Torres’ first half finish.
- Ruan recorded his first assist of the calendar year with the secondary on Torres’ goal, now with 14 as a Lion.
- Entering the match in the 84th minute, Tesho Akindele now sits tied for fourth in Club history with his 92nd appearance as a Lion, matching former goalkeeper Joe Bendik. Akindele trails teammate Robin Jansson (93) and former Lions Chris Mueller (126) and Cristian Higuita (108).
- Kyle Smith registered his 75th appearance for the side, entering the game in the 68th minute.
- Head Coach Oscar Pareja made one change to his starting lineup from last week’s match, with Sebastián Méndez making his first start of the campaign in California.
Next Match: The Lions travel back to the west coast, this time for a visit with the Portland Timbers on Sunday, March 27. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET.
