ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Luis Muriel and red-hot Martín Ojeda scored early goals and Orlando City stretched its unbeaten run to 11 matches with a 3-1 victory over Charlotte on Wednesday night.
Orlando (5-2-6, 21 points) has gone 68 days without a loss and is within one game of the club-record 12-match unbeaten streak that was established in 2020.
In the eighth minute, Muriel scored with a right-footed shot from the central position outside the box to the lower right central zone. César Araújo assisted, with a second assist by David Brekalo.
Ojeda scored with a left-footed shot from the left side of the box to the bottom right corner in the 24th minute. It was his fourth goal in two matches, following up on his hat trick in Orlando’s 3-3 draw with New England last Saturday. The outburst has Ojeda in the thick of the goal-scoring race, tied with four other players with eight goals, pending the outcome of Wednesday’s later games.
In the 34th minute, Wilfried Zaha got Charlotte on the board with a right-footed shot from the central position outside the box to the bottom left corner. Ashley Westwood assisted, with a second assist by Idan Toklomati. It was Charlotte’s only shot on goal in nine attempted shots.
Orlando extended the lead to 3-1 in the 82nd minute when Ramiro Enrique scored with a right-footed shot from the center of the box to the upper right central zone. David Brekalo assisted.
Charlotte (6-7-1, 19 points) has lost four in a row and has conceded nine goals over the past three matches.
Charlotte hosts Chicago on Saturday. Orlando City visits Inter Miami on Sunday.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
The Associated Press
