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Orlando City started with [GK] JoeBendik ;, [D] José Aja , Jonathan Spector, Donny Toia; Will Johnson ;[M] Matías Pérez García, Servando Carrasco, Antonio Nocerino, Kaká; [F] Carolos Rivas, Cyle Larin.
Whereas, the New York City started off with [GK] Sean Johnson; [D] Maxime Chanot, Alex Callens, RJ Allen, Ronald Mattarita; [M] Alex Ring, Maxi Morález, Andrea Pirlo; [F] Jack Harrison, Rodney Wallace, David Villa .
Kaká was subbed at the 11-minute due to a hamstring injury that would probably keep him out of the fields for a few weeks. However, left midfielder Giles Barnes replaced him and, with a spectacular performance, erased the disappointment from Kaká’s injury.
Cyle Larin scored a header at the 14-minute giving the Lions the lead in the first half. Barnes assisted the goal with a cross to the second post. Larin’s goal is the first official goal at the Orlando City Stadium.
“Kaká was my hero growing up. So it is great to step up on the pitch for him, train with him… [Kaká] is a great player, professional, and human being”, said the newly arrived Barnes.
Just after three minutes of entering the field, Barnes crossed a ball that Larin finished with a header on the second post of Sean Johnson goal. Barnes’ assists gave the Lions their first three points of the season.
The back-line for the Lions, which was a major concern last season, gave a solid performance and aspect to the team since the first minute. Midfielder Will Johnson looked solid and confident starting as a right-back replacing Rafael Ramos and Kevin Alston who are out for injuries.
Goalkeeper Joe Bendik was one of the best on the field. Bendik’s recurrent saves prevented the New York City side of taking the lead. Bendik, alongside the Lions’ defense, gave the team the solid base that they needed last season.
“The goalkeeper [Bendik] was for me the man of the match,” said Patrick Vieira head coach of the New York City FC in the post-game press conference. “We need to keep working. We are happy with the play we played the game, but we need to improve our finishes… we need to be more ruthless.”, he further stated.
However, the Lions still need to do some housework. Although the win and having a good performance, the team registered only 32% of the overall possession of the ball.
Coach Jason Kreis was asked if he was worried about their low possession of the ball and he said: “Yes, it doesn’t make me happy. We did some things well tonight, and we didn’t do some things well tonight when we had the ball… we need to care the ball a lot more.”, he concluded as the team starts to look forward to their next match.
New York City FC will face D.C. United at their home location, the Yankee Stadium on Sunday, March 12th. The D.C. side tied 0-0 on their first game of the 2017 season against Sporting Kansas City.
Orlando City will play away against New England Revolution on Saturday, March 11th at the Gillette Stadium. New England Revolution lost their first game against Colorado Rapids 1-0.