2 – Teams to come back on LAFC
Orlando City accomplished an enormously rare feat on Saturday night, becoming just the second team all season to take points off LAFC after the Black & Gold had taken the lead. The Lions responded immediately to Adrien Perez’s 12th-minute opener, with Nani scoring off the ensuing kickoff in what ended up a 2-2 draw at Exploria Stadium. The only other team to come back against LAFC this year were their crosstown rivals LA Galaxy, who turned around an early Carlos Vela penalty with a Zlatan Ibrahimovic hat trick to win the El Trafico derby 3-2 on July 19.
5-1 – National team successes
Orlando City’s five international call-ups saw their teams win five games and drop only one during the course of the FIFA break. Kamal Miller got the start at left back in Canada’s 6-0 win over Cuba on Saturday, while Will Johnson featured in their 1-0 victory over the same side on Tuesday night. Sebas Mendez started both of Ecuador’s wins, over Peru and Bolivia, while Carlos Ascues’ Peru rebounded from the Ecuador loss to knock off South American heavyweights Brazil in Los Angeles.
15 – Next Man Up
Orlando City have received contributions from the entire squad in 2019. Every single outfield player has made at least one MLS start this season, and a whopping 15 have made at least 10 starts, including eight players new to the squad this season (Robin Jansson, Nani, Tesho Akindele, Ruan, Sebas Mendez, Joao Moutinho, Kyle Smith, and Kamal Miller). This doesn’t include recent starters like Homegrown rookie Benji Michel, who sits at eight starts, and Cristian Higuita, who has five after missing significant time with injury.
6 – Unbeaten at home vs. NE
Orlando City have never lost to New England Revolution in Florida, going 3-0-3 across six games in all competitions. This includes this year’s U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 classic, when Benji Michel and Tesho Akindele both struck in extra time to secure a 2-1 victory for the home side. Orlando posted their highest goal total in club history against New England in 2017, after an early Revs red card opened the floodgates for a 6-1 Lions victory.
19 – Gilstavo goal contributions
Argentine forward Gustavo Bou has had an instant impact for New England since arriving from Liga MX in July. Bou has 6 G/1 A in nine games, but he’s also been massive for his fellow DP Carles Gil, who has 4 G/6 A in the nine games the two have played together. Gil had 5 G/6 A in his first 20 games this season before Bou’s arrival. Both players scored in the Revs’ 4-1 win over Orlando City on July 27, while Gil also notched an assist.
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