Tesho Akindele scored 15 minutes after halftime, and Orlando City continued a strong showing in the MLS is Back Tournament by defeating the Montreal Impact 1-0 on Saturday night in the Round of 16 near Orlando.
Jhegson Mendez applied pressure on the sequence leading to the goal, which also owed partly to a miscommunication between Montreal defender Rod Fanni and goalkeeper Clement Diop.
After going unbeaten in three group games -- which also counted toward the 2020 regular season -- Orlando City kept its first shutout in any competition since their regular season opener back on Feb. 29. Pedro Gallese was forced into only one save at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
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Orlando will play against the winner of Monday's match between the Seattle Sounders' and LAFC in the quarterfinals next Friday.
The Impact lost for the third time in four matches after sneaking into the round of 16 as a third-place finisher from Group C.
Orlando had the better chances of the opening hour and eventually were rewarded on a sequence that Mendez began when he played a ball from the left touchline to Mauricio Pereyra, who then fed the ball forward to Nani.
With Mendez making a run at Montreal's back line, Nani tried to backheel the ball to him. Fanni retreated and got to the ball before Mendez. He attempted to poke the ball back to Diop in goal, but Diop was in an unexpected position. The ball trickled past, and Akindele was first to it to slot it into an open net.
Montreal had some better moments after going behind, but rarely seriously threatened Gallese's net. Romell Quioto came closest to tying it, heading Jorge Corrales' cross just wide of the right post in the 80th minute.
Playing just miles from their home at Exploria Stadium in downtown Orlando, the Lions had the better moments of the first half, with Mendez normally in the middle of them.
He forced Diop's only save in the 38th minute, then shot just high after receiving Chris Mueller's cross in the 41st minute.
In the 45th minute, Mendez appeared to have put Orlando ahead after a slick combination with Akindele, but Akindele was ruled offside on the play.
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Orlando City SC vs. Montreal Impact - Football Match Report - July 25, 2020 - ESPN
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