It was a chippy match, but Orlando City managed tobeat Inter Miami CF 2-1 in true rivalry fashion.
Mauricio Praeyra had a hand in both Orlando goals, thought Miami’s Andres Reyes helped out with an own goal off of a Mauricio free kick in the 34th minute.
The win give Orlando a 2-1 win over the new Miami squad in their contests this year.
Former Orlando City player Breck Shea has proven to be the perfect villain in this rivalry. In the 64th minute, Shea headed in a perfectly places cross from Rodolfo Pizarro into the net for the equalizer,. Shea then went straight in front of the Orlando wall and celebrated the score.
It was a chippy match, a “derby” as the say in soccer speak, showing that both teams care about showing Florida’s best.
The game had 6 cards issued, Benji Michel pushed Pizarro off of a ball in the second half, and Pizarro was struck in the head and fell to the deck as another Miami player was racing down the sideline.
Pizarro complained to the ref, and was issued a yellow card.
“Well that’s the nature of a rivalry match.” Said Orlando Forward Chris Mueller. “There’s always a little bit of an extra edge to the game. You could see it as we’re coming together with the referees, there’s a lot of things after the plays. That’s just the way it is in derby games, especially one like this where it’s starting to build and you can see the heat in the game. I think it’s good though, it’s fun, it makes for a good match and a lot of intensity, a lot of energy between the two teams. I think it’s great for everybody.”
Mueller had a hand in Mauricio’s second gaol. Orlando was in the chase in the 69th minute. Nani passed forward to Mueller, who gently crossed it over to Pareyra who was wide open. Marucio put in a clear shot past the goalkeeper on the left side of the goal for the game wining score.
“From my perspective it was the weight in Nani’s pass because I know when he has the ball, something different can come.” Said Pereyra . “I don’t remember who got the ball from him, but I tried to run in behind. He tried to pass it to me one-touch and somebody got this ball and as I said before, Chris Mueller had the smartest decision to play me one-touch because maybe if he made another touch, the other defender can get the ball through me so it was a great assist and I just needed to finish.”
There was controversy in the match just minutes after Pareyra’s goal. Rodrigo Schlegal was issued a Red card for a foul inside the Orlando goalie box that would have given Miami a penalty kick and a great chance to equalize yet again.
After a lot of confusion, and a video replay, Referee Ismail Elfath issued a red card to Schlegel and Pizarro grabbed the ball, ready to go to the spot and take the penalty kick.
AS there was total confusion on the field, the foul was overturned when the Video Assistantships Referee Christina Unkel called that Miami was offsides on the play.
No foul, no red card, no penalty kick.
| Orlando moves on to play the Chicago Fire on September 19th at Exploria Stadium. Miami’s next match is against Atlanta United in Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta on the same day. |
