Orlando City II defeated Fort Lauderdale 4-1 at Inter Miami S.A.F. Stadium on Thursday night in the MLS Next Pro group stage. The visitors took control within the opening ten minutes and never looked back. By then the result was clear enough, though Fort Lauderdale kept pushing for something to change the complexion.
I. Haruna opened the scoring in the tenth minute, and N. Dearmin doubled the advantage two minutes later. H. Sarajian added a third before the break, with Pedro Leao extending the lead just before half-time. The hosts had a yellow card to J. Convers in the seventh minute, but it made little difference to the flow of the game.
and here's the thing — the prediction was for the visitors to win, and that is exactly what happened. Orlando City II have the deeper squad and they showed it in the second half, where Fort Lauderdale's energy began to fade. The penalty converted by I. Gomez in the eighty-second minute made it four, and the game was effectively over.
The statistics tell their own story. Fort Lauderdale had 65 per cent possession and more shots, but Orlando City II were sharper in front of goal. Eight shots on target from the hosts produced just one goal, while seven shots on target from the visitors yielded four. Chances went begging for the home side.
Fort Lauderdale remain eighth with twenty-five points from twenty-five matches, four wins and twenty-one defeats. Orlando City II sit sixth with thirty-eight points, thirteen victories and twelve losses. The gap between them is widening, and the visitors are the ones who look comfortable in this group.