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Mueller Scores Eighth of the Year in Lions' 1-1 Draw to NYCFC

October 14, 2020 - Major League Soccer (MLS) - Orlando City SC News Release


ORLANDO, Fla. - Orlando City SC (8-2-7, 31 points) continued its unbeaten run with a 1-1 draw against New York City FC (8-7-3, 27 points) on Wednesday night at Exploria Stadium, serving as the Club's record 11th-consecutive positive result.

Chris Mueller scored the lone goal for the Lions in the match, his eighth of the year to extend his team-lead. Ruan recorded the assist on the finish in his return to the starting XI for the first time since Sept. 27 against FC Dallas. Two Homegrown products came off the bench for the Lions in the match in midfielders David Loera and Jordan Bender, serving as their second and first MLS appearances, respectively.

Goalkeeper Brian Rowe registered a season-high seven saves for the Lions in the match, besting teammate Pedro Gallese's previous mark of six stops against the Pigeons on July 14 at the MLS is Back Tournament. The start served as Rowe's 100th of his MLS regular-season career and his 34th since joining the Lions ahead of the 2019 season.

Head Coach Oscar Pareja:

"Well, 30 very good minutes for us in the first half. After that, New York started just getting the ball. We couldn't get the ball back as we used to do and then they started creating some actions there, including the goal. It was a goal that we probably had overconfidence in, but I'm not going to blame the players because what I have preached in this team is to try to play the game. Not just kick and run, we try to play it and sometimes those things happen. We absorb the pain that we get in that goal, when New York scored. The second half was, it was probably a hope that we had during those 45 minutes of creating something and trying to hurt New York, but without consistency and without too many clean sequences, New York did some other actions there that could finish in a win for them. At the end, with the players, we'll take the point. We know how hard it is in the league and how hard that rival is and today, we used to win at home but we'll take that point and think about the next one."

Scoring Recap:

18' Chris Mueller (Ruan) - ORL 1, NYC 0

The Lions took the lead with Ruan cutting past and going by his defender before taking the ball to the endline and teeing up a cross that found the head of Chris Mueller, who hit it home for his eighth finish of the year.

43' Keaton Parks - ORL 1, NYC 1

The Pigeons tied things up just before the halftime break after Valentín Castellanos combined with Keaton Parks in the box, whose first shot attempt deflected off of Brian Rowe, but a running Parks was able to follow his effort and slot it into the back of the net to level the match.

Match Notes:

The Lions extended their Club-record unbeaten run to 11 matches on the night.

Chris Mueller extended his team-lead in goals scored this season with his eighth of the calendar year and his third against NYCFC.

Ruan recorded his third assist of the year on Mueller's 18th minute finish.

Goalkeeper Brian Rowe made his 100th MLS regular-season start in the match, his second of the year and 34th as a Lion since joining the Club ahead of the 2019 campaign.

Jordan Bender made his MLS debut in the contest, entering the game in second-half stoppage time for Daryl Dike.

David Loera made his second MLS appearance in the match, entering the game in the 76th minute for Joey DeZart.

Joey DeZart recorded his second professional start on the night, appearing in Pareja's starting lineup the last two matches.

Defenders Antonio Carlos and Ruan both made their return to Pareja's starting XI on Wednesday, with the former last starting for the Lions on Sept. 19 against Chicago and the latter on Sept. 27 at FC Dallas.

Next Match: The Lions will head back out on the road to face the New York Red Bulls on Sunday, Sept. 18 with kickoff set for 7 p.m. ET.

Teams 1 2 F

Orlando City SC 1 0 1

New York City FC 1 0 1

Scoring Summary:

ORL - Chris Mueller (Ruan) 18'

NYC - Keaton Parks 43'

Misconduct Summary:

ORL - Antonio Carlos (Yellow Card) 3'

NYC - Alexander Ring (Yellow Card) 5'

ORL - Robin Jansson (Yellow Card) 37'

NYC - Anton Tinnerholm (Yellow Card) 45+5'

ORL - Kamal Miller (Yellow Card) 53'

NYC - Keaton Parks (Yellow Card) 82'

Lineups/Substitutions:

Orlando City SC - GK Brian Rowe; D Kamal Miller, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, Ruan (Alex De John 90+3'); M Chris Mueller (Robinho 84'), Joey DeZart (David Loera 76'), Júnior Urso, Andrés Perea; F Nani ©, Daryl Dike (Jordan Bender 90+3')

Substitutes Not Used: GK Mason Stajduhar; D Michael Halliday, Rodrigo Schlegel

New York City FC - GK Sean Johnson; D Gudmundur Thórainsson, Alexander Callens (Sebastien Ibeagha 90+2'), Maxime Chanot, Anton Tinnerholm; M Keaton Parks (Nicolás Acevedo 90+2'), Ronald Matarrita, Gary Mackay-Steven (Ismael Tajouri-Shradi 73'), Alexander Ring ©, Jesús Medina (Tony Rocha 90+3'); F Valentín Castellanos

Substitutes Not Used: GK Luis Barraza, Brad Stuver; D Joe Scally; M Juan Torres

Details of the Game:

Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

Weather: Clear

Date: October 14, 2020

Attendance: 2,745

Stats:

Possession:

ORL - 44.7%

NYC - 55.3%

Shots:

ORL - 9

NYC - 18

Saves:

ORL - 7

NYC - 1

Fouls:

ORL - 8

NYC - 21

Corners:

ORL - 1

NYC - 8

Heineken Star of the Match: Chris Mueller

Check out the Orlando City SC Statistics

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