Philadelphia Union Vs Orlando City: 3 things we learned – Orlando might be for real

1. Orlando are here to compete

You could make an argument that Orlando City had not really proven themselves to be a member of the MLS elite prior to Monday night. Yes, they had two wins from two, but they included a 90th-minute victory over an Inter Miami team that have since become the first-ever expansion side to lose their first five games and a win against New York City FC, who only picked up their first points of the season against that very Miami team earlier on Monday.

In reality, while Oscar Pareja’s team looked substantially more organised defensively and showed great fluency and positional rotation in possession, could they control matches and create chances against a more formidable opponent? Well, against the Philadelphia Union, they proved they can.

Andre Blake was named the Man of the Match thanks to his six saves. Tesho Akindele, Jhegson Mendez, Chris Mueller, and Antonio Carlos all forced superb stops from the Philadelphia goalkeeper. Mauricio Pereyra was a menace in central attacking midfield, while the backline marshalled the Union well for the most part, though a hampered Brenden Aaronson due to a back injury clearly had an impact on Philadelphia’s overall offensive threat.

Of course, this was not the perfect performance from Orlando City. But it proved that they can compete with the very best in MLS. And now that they are in the knockout stages as group winners, they might just have thoughts of what else in store.