The cut wasn’t deep, though it was alarmingly close to Martín Ojeda ’s eye, sustained in an angry scrum with Atlas players during the final minutes of a pulsating, ill-tempered Leagues Cup match marked by 16 fouls called on each team, two yellow cards and a late red to Matías Cóccaro.

Most importantly for Orlando City ’s playmaker, his game-winning goal made the flesh wound a souvenir to an important result, a 3-1 victory that helped the Lions qualify for the tournament’s knockout stages later in the week.

And for OCSC’s social media team, the ‘Star Wars’ parallels provided irresistible posting material.

“We laughed a lot with my family when we saw it,” Ojeda said in Spanish of the Anakin comparison during a one-on-one conversation with MLSsoccer.com on Friday afternoon, grinnin

See Full Page