The Bear
Júnior Urso was the hero for the Lions on Saturday night in Cincinnati, his 13th minute finish serving as the eventual game-winner for the side. The goal served as The Bear’s third to decide a match this season, tied with Nani for the team lead, having scored the decider against Toronto FC in what served as a road contest at Exploria Stadium on June 19 for the Lions before netting the game-winner against the Columbus Crew on Sept. 4. Urso’s performance on Saturday earned him MLS Team of the Week honors, the first time he was named to the league’s first XI this season.
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What’s at Stake*
Wednesday's match against CF Montréal will serve as the first of a two-game home stint for the Lions, with the midweek matchup holding the opportunity for a six-point swing in the Eastern Conference. City enters the fixture sitting at fourth in the standings at 45 points, four clear of its opposition in seventh with 41. The two sides will face off one more time in the 2021 regular season campaign following Wednesday’s match, with the Lions set to travel to Montréal on Decision Day on Nov. 6.
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An Offensive Impact*
Ruan notched his second assist of the season on Saturday off of Júnior Urso’s eventual game-winner, laying off the pass to his fellow Brazilian international. The helper served as his second of the season, tied with Kyle Smith for the most by a defender in the 2021 MLS campaign. Ruan has now contributed to four goals for the Lions this season, with a pair of finishes to add to his two assists on the year.
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Keep it Clean*
City tallied its eighth clean sheet of the season this past weekend, setting a new Club record for shutouts in a single campaign. The record bests the previous mark of seven that has been set three separate times throughout franchise history, reaching that total in each of the 2015, 2017 and 2019 MLS regular seasons.
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El Pulpo*
Goalkeeper Pedro Gallese capped off a busy week in Cincinnati this past Saturday night, playing a full 90 for the Lions after doing the same for the Peruvian National Team against Argentina in a 1-0 defeat in CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying last Thursday. Gallese tallied three saves against the Orange and Blue en route to his sixth clean sheet of the calendar year, now one shy of tying Brian Rowe (2019) and Joe Bendik (2017) for the single-season Club record.
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Milestone Tracker*
- Mauricio Pereyra’s next assist will be his 11th for the year, setting a new club record for assists in a single season.
- Nani is one goal away from 10 for the 2021 season, which would make him the second player in club history after Cyle Larin to record multiple double-digit goal seasons for the club in the MLS era.
- Tesho Akindele is two goals away from 20 in his Orlando City career.
