By Kyle Foley
Orlando Sentinel Correspondent
On a night for honoring former Orlando City icon Kaká by making him the first inductee into the team’s Legends’ Terrace hall of fame, the Lions put on an impressive display for their second win in a row.
“On behalf of the players and all the staff on our team, we want to congratulate Kaká on what happened today. It was very significant to the club and what he represents,” Lions coach Oscar Pareja said. “It was an honor to be a part of that.”
Five different goal scorers earned Orlando City (7-9-6, 27 points) a commanding 5-0 MLS win over D.C. United (4-11-8, 20 points) on Saturday.
“We’re really happy with the result. I feel like we’re playing how we ended the season last year, really attacking,” said Orlando City forward Duncan McGuire. “Even before they got a red card and went down to 10 men, I thought we were creating good phases of attack.”
The Lions’ first goal came in the 15th minute after some impressive control from Dagur Dan Thorhallsson. He managed to keep the ball despite an onrushing defense and squared it off for Martin Ojeda to put in the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
The Lions doubled their edge shortly after with a 23rd-minute goal from captain Robin Jansson. Wilder Cartegena’s cross was inch-perfect and the Swedish center back headed it past keeper Tyler Miller into the top left corner.
Ojeda added an assist in the 42nd minute to extend the lead. He made a great run on goal but passed it off to Ivan Angulo after goading Miller out of position for a wide-open chance. Angulo buried the shot for a 3-0 advantage at halftime.
“I thought it was an outstanding first half, probably the best that we have played during the year,” Pareja said. “I’ve seen that our players are getting more confident and we’re getting closer to what we were. We’re happy and encouraged to keep going.”
D.C. defender Lucas Bartlett was shown a red card for a foul on Angulo in the second minute of first-half stoppage time.
Facundo Torres added to the rout with a 74th-minute goal. McGuire laid it off across the box and Torres scored with his weaker right foot to increase the lead to 4-0.
Orlando’s final goal came in the 85th minute when substitute Ramiro Enrique headed in an assist from defender Alex Freeman for his first MLS assist.
Up next …
Orlando City at New England
When: Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
TV: Apple TV
