Orlando City SC extended their team unbeaten streak to nine as they beat the New York Red Bulls Saturday afternoon in Florida. Daryl Dike, Jûnior Urso and Antônio Carlos all netted goals for Orlando. Florian Valot pounced on an Orlando mistake as he scored his second goal of the season.
Daryl Dike started the scoring off in the 24th minute after receiving a perfect cross. Defender Aaron Long left Dike unmarked and allowed the Orlando forward a free head from 3 yards out.
Smoke from celebratory flares was still visible when Orlando City had a chance to double their lead. Chris Mueller found New York’s backline sleeping when he received a throughball that left him 1 on 1 with Bulls keeper David Jensen. Jensen made his body big and made a huge kick save to stop Mueller’s attempt.
Mueller made amends for his blocked shot in the 50th minute with a brilliant throughball himself, this time to Jûnior Urso. Urso accepted his pass, squared up to Jensen and lifted the ball effectively over New York’s keeper to make it 2-0.
Four minutes later, the Red Bulls pulled one back after Florian Valot took advantage of a rare Orlando City mistake. After a poor clearance from deep in their own half, Valot intercepted Kamal Miller and executed a perfect give-and-go with Daniel Royer. The exchange put the New York midfielder 1v1 with Orlando goalkeeper Pedro Gallese. Valot flicked it behind Gallese to bring the Red Bulls to within 1.
New York could not find the equalizer however and Orlando City added an Antônio Carlo insurance goal in stoppage time to seal the victory. The Red Bulls have a short timetable for their next fixture as they host Inter Miami Wednesday night in Harrison, New Jersey.
Edited by Nick Sbordone