Martin Ojeda scored his third and fourth goals of the season early in the second half to help Orlando City to a 4-1 victory over visiting Charlotte FC on Wednesday night.
Luis Otavio added his first career MLS goal early and Ignacio Gomez added his first late for Orlando (2-6-1, 7 points), which had scored only six times before Wednesday’s victory.
The 20-year-old Gomez was making only his second MLS appearance, playing on a short-term loan from Orlando’s MLS NEXT Pro reserve team.
The Lions also continued their recent defensive improvement, allowing only one goal in each of their last three matches after conceding 23 in their first six.
Morrison Agyemang’s header pulled Charlotte (4-3-2, 14 points) level late in the first half in their second of three consecutive away matches.
Charlotte conceded three or more goals for only a second time this season, the first coming in a 3-0 loss at the LA Galaxy in their second match of the campaign.
Ojeda’s multi-goal performance was his first since a brace in last season’s 3-2 win over Nashville on Sept. 20, the final two tallies of a 16-goal campaign.
Wednesday’s tallies came 12 minutes apart, with the first arriving in the 49th minute.
As Orlando worked the ball down the left flank, Ojeda drifted into space in front of Charlotte’s back line, which appeared to lose sight of him.
Eventually, the ball came to Justin Ellis, who drew multiple defenders on the left side of the penalty area, then dropped a pass to Ojeda near the penalty arc.
Ojeda hit it with his left foot, guiding his finish beyond Kristijan Kahlina’s dive and inside the right post.
His second came from a free kick earned when Zakaria Taifi absorbed Harry Tofolo’s foul above the right side of the penalty area.
Charlotte set up a three-man defensive wall. But Ojeda was able to curl a low, left-footed shot around it and into the bottom right corner.
This time, the lunging Kahlina reached it, but without enough power to push it clear of danger.
–Field Level Media
