Orlando City 2-1 Houston Dynamo: Ercan Kara at the Double as Lions Snap 3-Game Winless Run

ORLANDO, Fl. (FNN) — Orlando City got back to business as usual after a small international break. Players like Pedro Gallese worked double duty for their country. However, a majority of the squad remained rested for what will continue to be a hectic schedule. Orlando City’s Ercan Kara continued to do the job as his brace helped overcome a resilient Houston Dynamo. The double racks up his tally to six MLS goals so far this season. With this win, Orlando City now sits in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Man of the moment

On any given team, the number nine is expected to score goals. After the absence of Daryl Dike, Orlando City clamored for a new striker option in the offseason. So far, Ercan Kara has delivered at the most crucial moments. His consistency in matches, scoring six goals in just 13 shots on target this season — Has made him a threat from a variety of angles. Kara has moved from poacher to deadpan sniper when given the opportunity to do so.

His partners in crime also have much to do with Orlando’s success this season too. Both Mauricio Pereyra and Facundo Torres have found themselves with the lion’s share of assists this year. Pereyra has registered 8 assists total this season with an emphatic 33 total attacking assists. A number that doubles the second closest player to him in Torres, who has five assists and two goals to his name so far this season. The name of the game continues to be unselfishness between the midfield players of OCSC. Because of that, Ercan Kara has been able to reap the benefits and command this team to multiple successful finishes.

Capitalizing on success

Regardless of the good result, the MLS regular season is all about preparation for the next rival. As good as the break was for Orlando’s players, the grind continues for all teams, and fitness, as well as mental fortitude, must be at an all-time high. In their post-game presser, Joao Moutinho mentioned that drawing away from home wasn’t ideal. But gritting out tough games away from home, on turf no less, shows a will to win that is necessary to stay in the mix all year long.

There’s no doubting that Orlando City has gotten more cohesive as a team. Especially in the early minutes, Orlando City had chances to put the game out of reach before it really began with chances that Mulraney and Pereyra missed by small margins. Chance creation is a great asset in and of itself, but finishing clear chances is obviously the recipe for success in this league:

“We’ve definitely been creating the chances necessary to put the games away, but some things have been missing. The finishing isn’t quite there yet. I think we do really need to improve on that ’cause if we don’t put the games away, the teams will come back and they will score on you … which makes us suffer until the end. Like we did tonight.”

— Joao Moutinho

The next time Orlando City takes the field they will face FC Cincinnati away from home. Orlando lost their first encounter to Cincinnati at home this season. They will surely try to exact revenge with a full three points in this encounter. However, they will have to do so without the help of Robin Jansson (pictured) as he will sit out due to yellow card accumulation. Orlando will have Rodri Schlegel back in action as his suspension will be lifted in time for this game on June 24.

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Nicolas Vera is a sports reporter for Florida National News, part of the FNN News Network. | sports@floridanationalnews.com

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