1. Wild. Wacky. Insane. Say what you will about tonight's win, but at the end of it all, Orlando City SC came away with all three points against the Philadelphia Union with a final score of 4-3.
2. Unlike the last time the Lions won by this scoreline against Inter Miami CF, Orlando took the front foot early on. After a number of long balls over the backline found Martín Ojeda, a chipped ball by Justin Ellis scooted through to Tincho in space in the 17th minute. After taking a touch past goalkeeper Andrew Rick, the Lions' DP was taken down in the box, and the referee pointed to the spot. After a slow run up, Tincho sent Rick the wrong way and put the Lions ahead early.
3. It got better in the 27th minute, thanks to Griffin Dorsey. After some good skill by Tiago to recover a loose ball in the Lions' attacking third, a quick give-and-go with Tincho got Tiago into the box. After trying to dribble through the defense, Dorsey picked up the loose ball and smashed it into the back of the net to double the lead.
4. That lead held into halftime, but not before Philadelphia got a few close calls, gaining confidence on the offensive end. Unfortunately for the Lions, that would carry over into the second half.
5. Philly got one back just nine minutes into the half through Milan Iloski. It was a quick counter and cutback into the middle that caught the Lions out of step and got the Union back in the game.
6. Orlando got that two-goal cushion back thanks to Tyrese Spicer and Duncan McGuire in the 72nd minute. On a loose ball in the midfield, Spicer managed to get past three different defenders as he drove into space. With Tincho to his left and McGuire making a run to his right, Spicer managed to cut the ball back to McGuire, who went one-v-one with the keeper and put it through his legs to score his first goal since March against CF Montréal.
7. Just minutes later, however, Philly got that goal back. The young Cavan Sullivan managed to get into space after a ball from Ben Bender skirted through the defense and found the 16-year-old in space to finish and pull the Union back within one.
8. It went from bad to worse as the Union equalized four minutes after that. Another counter led to a Stas Korzeniowski ball that found Bender with space and time to shoot. His shot went through the legs of Dorsey and found the back post, tying the game. After the match, Dorsey took accountability for the defensive lapses, saying, "We need to find a way, starting with myself, to be more professional, to end these types of games in a way where we take the opponent completely out of the game. Because I think this is a game we definitely could have done that, and we gave them opportunities to get back in the game when we shouldn't have."
9. Thankfully for Orlando's sake, the Lions managed to dig into their "Cardiac Cats" mentality and snag a late winner as the clock ticked into the 90th minute. Adrián Marín managed to get some time and space out wide to deliver a perfect near-post cross that Ojeda was able to get a head on and flick to the far post, beating Rick and sealing all three points for the Lions.
10. The Lions now prepare for a double helping of Atlanta United as they host them in league play on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET, then turn around and play them in the U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals next Tuesday.
