City begins three-game road trip in Philadelphia on Sunday
ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando City SC (10-6-8, 38 points) dropped a 4-2 decision on Wednesday night to CF Montréal (9-8-7, 34 points) at Exploria Stadium. The match saw defender Robin Jansson score his first MLS goal, while teammate Ruan netted his first across all competitions as a Lion.
The Lions were reduced to nine men in the match, with Nani being shown a second yellow card in the 35th minute of play followed by a red card for Andrés Perea late in the match. The side returns to action in Philadelphia on Sunday, set to take on the Union at Subaru Park in what will serve as the first of three-consecutive road matches for the side.
Head Coach Oscar Pareja:
“First, I want to apologize for our performance to our fans. Not just because the game became messy with all the incidents and things, but because we are much more than that. At the end, you have a coach and a leader who takes the responsibilities on the way we lineup, the way we choose to play the game and our strategies and all those things and today it didn’t work, especially in the first half. After the red cards happened, I thought the boys brought their hearts and put such a spirit there to get back into the game and they did it. That’s something that I value a lot from them, but other than that we will put our heads down and review. We’re firm, we will keep going, we know what we’re representing and tonight was one of those nights that we don’t want to remember.”
Scoring Recap:
18’ Mathieu Choinière (Romell Quioto) – MTL 1, ORL 0
The visitors got on the board first with Samuel Piette finding Romell Quioto on the left edge of the area. Quioto lofted in a ball for Mathieu Choinière, who hit it on the volley for the first-time finish out of the air.
37’ Romell Quioto (Djordje Mihailovic) – MTL 2, ORL 0
CF Montréal doubled its advantage shortly after the Lions were reduced to 10 men with Djordje Mihailovic threading a ball in behind the City defense for Romell Quioto, who was able to slot his shot off the far post and into the back of the net.
40’ Robin Jansson – MTL 2, ORL 1
City halved the deficit quickly thereafter off a set piece play, with Mauricio Pereyra sending a dangerous free kick into the area, bouncing off a Montréal defender before falling to the feet of Robin Jansson. The Swede was able to body off his defender just enough to send his shot into the right side of the net with the outside of his foot.
63’ Ruan (Emmanuel Mas) – ORL 2, MTL 2
City leveled in the second half, with Mauricio Pereyra lofting a ball in behind the Montréal defense for a running Benji Michel. The Lions’ Homegrown was able to move off his defender before playing a ball to a running Emmanuel Mas into the area. Mas’ effort was blocked only to find the feet of Ruan, who played the ball straight into the back of the net.
73’ Lassi Lappalainen (Romell Quioto) – MTL 3, ORL 2
The visitors regained the lead off a cross from Romell Quioto from the right flank that found the foot of Lassi Lappalainen for the first-time finish.
80’ Sunusi Ibrahim (Djordje Mihailovic) – MTL 4, ORL 2
CF Montréal added another off a low driven corner from the left side with Djordje Mihailovic’s cross finding the foot of Sunusi Ibrahim to double the advantage for the visitors.
Match Notes:
Ruan scored his first goal across all competitions as a Lion with his finish in the 63rd minute.
Robin Jansson scored his first goal in MLS play in the match and his second across all competitions for the Lions, his first of which came in 2019 U.S. Open Cup play against Memphis 901 FC. The goal came in what served as his 80th appearance as a Lion.
Emmanuel Mas tallied his first goal contribution as a Lion with the assist on Ruan’s 63rd minute finish.
The Lions were reduced to 10 men for the first time this season when Nani was shown his second yellow card of the match in the 35th minute. They were later reduced to nine men with Andrés Perea being shown a red card in the 83rd.
Wednesday’s loss ended a three-game win streak for the Lions over Montréal dating back to the 2019 MLS campaign.
Head Coach Oscar Pareja made four changes to his starting lineup on Wednesday night, with Pedro Gallese, Emmanuel Mas, Silvester van der Water and Júnior Urso all reentering the fold. The start served as the first for Gallese since his return from international duty with the Peruvian National Team.
Daryl Dike reached his 30th appearance as a Lion in the match, while teammate Silvester van der Water tallied his 20th.
Next Match: The Lions embark on a three-game road trip, first set to travel to Philadelphia to take on the Union on Sunday, Sept. 19 at Subaru Park in a 4 p.m. ET kickoff.
Scoring Summary:
MTL – Mathieu Choinière (Romell Quioto) 18’
MTL – Romell Quioto (Djordje Mihailovic) 37’
ORL – Robin Jansson 40’
ORL – Ruan (Emmanuel Mas) 63’
MTL – Lassi Lappalainen (Romell Quioto) 73’
MTL – Sunusi Ibrahim (Djordje Mihailovic) 80’
Misconduct Summary:
ORL – Nani (Yellow Card) 28’
ORL – Nani (Second Yellow Card) 35’
ORL – Nani (Red Card) 35’
MTL – Victor Wanyama (Yellow Card) 39’
MTL – Joel Waterman (Yellow Card) 72’
ORL – Andrés Perea (Red Card) 83’
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC – GK Pedro Gallese; D Emmanuel Mas (Alexander Alvarado 79’), Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, Ruan; M Silvester van der Water (Chris Mueller 41’ (Benji Michel 46’)), Andrés Perea, Júnior Urso, Mauricio Pereyra; F Nani ©, Daryl Dike (Tesho Akindele 71’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Adam Grinwis; D Rodrigo Schlegel, Kyle Smith; M Raul Aguilera, Joey DeZart
CF Montréal – GK James Pantemis; D Kamal Miller, Joel Waterman, Rudy Camacho; M Mathieu Choinière (Emanuel Maciel 86’), Victor Wanyama (Ahmed Hamdi 69’), Samuel Piette ©, Zachary Brault-Guillard; F Djordje Mihailovic (Zorhan Bassong 86’), Romell Quioto (Sunusi Ibrahim 78’), Joaquin Torres (Lassi Lappalainen 69’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Sebastian Breza; D Mustafa Kizza; M Clément Bayiha; F Bjørn Johnsen
Details of the Game:
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Weather: Clear
Date: Sept. 15, 2021
Attendance: 14,133
Stats:
Possession:
ORL – 40.3%
MTL – 59.7%
Shots:
ORL – 7
MTL – 15
Saves:
ORL – 3
MTL – 1
Fouls:
ORL – 10
MTL – 9
Corners:
ORL – 0
MTL – 9
Heineken Man of the Match: Robin Jansson
