Orlando City scores late to drop Santos Laguna 3-2; Messi, Inter Miami up next

ORLANDO, Fla. – Wilder Cartagena scored in stoppage time to give Orlando City a 3-2 win over Santos Laguna in their Leagues Cup match at Exploria Stadium on Saturday night.

Cartagena scored in the 92nd minute to secure the win for the Lions.

“Very happy for the goal, as a kid you always dream of scoring goals like these, and I was very happy to be able to help the team,” Cartagena said after the game. “This one went in, I am once again happy for the entire team, it was a really tough game. Santos [Laguna] are a fast team, very difficult in transitions, but we were able to get the win and now we are moving on to the next round.”

Duncan McGuire continued his impressive rookie season securing a first half goal on a header and Orlando City captain Mauricio Pereyra scored an early second half goal.

After the game, Orlando head coach Oscar Pareja congratulated his team’s effort.

‘First, congratulations to our players for such a great victory against a great team. I am very grateful to our fans, who came to support us and show us the connection that they have with this group. I think we made a great step towards our objectives and to keep moving forward in the Leagues Cup tournament and also show many other things that are going to help us during the rest of this season,” Pareja said.

With the win, Orlando lives on in the Leagues Cup and is set to face Lionel Messi and Inter Miami on Wednesday, Aug. 2. The game time has not been released yet.

“We will be ready. It was not on our mind during our preparations last week other than Santos Laguna. We know that you can oversee things and then start thinking ahead, but it was not in our equations, we were focused on beating Santos [Laguna],” Pareja said while referencing their next game against Miami.

“But surely after the victory, we have to face a team [Inter Miami CF] who has been playing well. Obviously, we have to mention [Lionel] Messi. It is a wave that is bringing a lot of attention [to the league] and we’re pretty proud, but we know we know who we are. We know who we are, we going to go get that victory because our heart is prepared to do it.”

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