PORTLAND, Ore. (March 27, 2022) - Orlando City SC (2-1-2, 8 points) drew the host Portland Timbers (1-1-3, 6 points) on Sunday afternoon at Providence Park, finishing with a 1-1 scoreline on the road. The Lions got on the board in the 52nd minute, with Alexandre Pato playing a one-touched ball over the Timbers backline to Júnior Urso who slotted in his second goal of the year.
Head Coach Oscar Pareja recorded his 300th career regular season match at the helm, while goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar remained undefeated in MLS play, dating back to last season. The match saw defender Robin Jansson become the Club’s all-time minutes leader, recording his 8,249th minute played in the eighth minute of the match, passing former goalkeeper Joe Bendik.
Head Coach Oscar Pareja:
“The boys are great. The plan that we worked on during the week, against a good team and a difficult place, they executed the way we imagined it so, congratulations to the players. They obviously feel they deserve much more, that they could take all three points if we didn’t concede that PK. But, collectively, it was a terrific effort. The discipline that we had and the understanding of how we can control Portland was very good. Could have been much more but, this Club is growing and the culture of going [on the road] and playing the way we did today, with intention to win the game, is phenomenal.”
Scoring Recap:
52’ - Júnior Urso (Alexandre Pato) - ORL 1, POR 0
The Lions opened the scoring on the day, breaking through early in the second half. Alexandre Pato saw Júnior Urso breaking the lines in the Timbers’ box and lobbed the ball over the defense. Urso controlled the ball in close to goalkeeper Aljaz Ivačič and calmly pushed the ball past the Portland netminder to give City the lead.
80’ - Cristhian Paredes (Penalty Kick) - POR 1, ORL 1
The home side was awarded the penalty kick after a Lions’ foul in the box, with Cristhian Paredes burying the attempt from the spot in the 80th minute.
Match Notes:
- Oscar Pareja coached his 300th career regular-season match on Sunday afternoon, a record that spans his time at both Orlando City, Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas. He is the third foreign manager to reach this mark after Frank Yallop and Steve Nicol.
- In the eighth minute of play, Robin Jansson became the Club’s all-time minutes leader across all competitions with his 8,249th minute played. Jansson passed former goalkeeper Joe Bendik (8,248).
- Pareja made four changes to his starting XI, with Mason Stajduhar, Benji Michel, Tesho Akindele and Alexandre Pato all getting the nod.
- Goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar recorded his first start of 2022, remaining undefeated across MLS play. Dating back to last season, the Lions’ Homegrown now holds a 3-0-3 record.
- With two-straight games on the West Coast, the Lions earned points in both matches. Last week, the Club defeated host LA Galaxy before venturing to the Pacific Northwest for Sunday’s draw. Orlando hosts another Western Conference opponent in the coming week, welcoming LAFC to Exploria Stadium on Saturday.
Next Match: The Lions return home to Exploria Stadium, next hosting LAFC this Saturday, April 2. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
