ORLANDO, FL – Orlando City SC battled with in-state rival Inter Miami CF in the round of 16 in the 2022 Lamar Hunt US cup at Exploria Stadium on Wednesday night in from of over 11,500 fans.
Both teams finished regulation time scoreless, with Orlando struggling to make the most of many chances in the area.
Miami opened the scoring with a goal by Jean Rota in the 94th minute, in the first extra time period.
Orlando equalized against Miami in the 97th minute on a goal by Fecund Torres in the first extra time period.
Orland’s Mason Stajduhar saved the day for Orlando, not only wit his 3 blocked shots against the Herons, but by blocking two of Miami’s penalty shots in the shootout.
“A fantastic performance.” Said Orlando Head Coach Oscar Pareja “Besides the victory, it was an incredible effort from the players. They just played three days ago, so to have that courage and that willingness to do everything they did was great. I thought we managed the game the whole time and had the best of the game.”
Orlando dominated th possession time for the match, controlling the ball for 68% of the first half, and 56% in the second half. The Lions won 68 of the duels against the Herons, and had 773 total passes vs 432 for Miami.
Orlando managed 28 total shots on goal, often spending a good chunk of that possession time with short passes in the box with no result.
Miami in the other hand only managed 5 shots in the first half, with 12 total for the game. only 3 were on target.
There were many errant passes in the area for Orlando, stunting scoring possibilities as Miami moved their front line back to tighten up the spacing.
In the end, the match ended in a 1-1 tie, forcing penalty kicks.
Orlando’s Ersan Kara, Robin Janssen, and Andres Perea, and Mauricio Pereyra scored for Orlando. Miami’s Leonardo Campara and Ariel Lassiter scored for Miami, while DeAndre Yedlin and Bryce Duke did not score.
Orlando will move on to play Nashville FC, date and time TBD.
