Starting as you mean to go on.
An old idiom constantly thrown around the sports world has even more meaning after Saturday night’s match in Chester, Pennsylvania, after Orlando City broke the Philadelphia Union’s 24-match home undefeated streak with a 2-1 victory.
The Lions used two goals in the first 10 minutes, one by Martín Ojeda and one by Iván Angulo, to set the tone for the match as they executed their game plan to secure three points away from home.
“It’s important to score early in the game,” Orlando City coach Oscar Pareja said. “That just gave us confidence for sure, against a rival that is very strong at home. We know about their verticality and their volume going forward but being as (we were) leading the score and having consecutive goals — that for sure just gave us confidence during the game. That was very important for us.”
Saturday marked the first time this season that the Lions scored in the first half, a promising change of pace compared to the past few games where all the goals to this point had come in the second half of games.
It’s all a part of the ups and downs of an MLS season, especially early on, but the slow progression and improvement of the Lions in the attack has been in the works.
It’s something that MLS veteran Felipe, now entering his 11th season in the league, has seen time and time again with multiple clubs and coaches.
“I think, especially in MLS, the start of each half and the end of each half is where most of the games are decided and I think as always, we need to start on the front foot,” Felipe said.
“We need to impose our game, we need to defend well and set the tone and I think that's what we did in a difficult place. It's been a long time since Philadelphia has lost at home, but again it just was a great job.”
Orlando will hope to take this victory as a lesson to continue to be protagonists in matches and continue to start as they mean to go on.
Worth a click
- PHILLY SPECIAL: Hot start leads Orlando City to bounce-back win over Philadelphia Union
- PHOTO GALLERY: The best shots from Orlando City's first victory at Philadelphia since 2018
- THEY SAID IT: Coach Oscar Pareja, midfielder Felipe Martins react to Orlando City's win
- WATCH: All the highlights from Orlando City at Philadelphia Union
- VIEW SEATS: Secure your tickets to Orlando City vs. Nashville SC at Exploria Stadium on Saturday, April 1
