When the long diagonal pass found the foot of Orlando City winger Carlos Rivas in the 45th minute last Friday night, two New York City FC defenders converged to try to close the space.
The 21-year-old Colombian had terrorized NYCFC throughout the first half, and as Chris Wingert and Mehdi Ballouchy, two MLS veterans, tried to close him down, Rivas struck again. The winger poked the ball between the two defenders and sprinted by them as if they were plastic defenders used in training sessions, then delivered a cross that just missed the outstretched foot of a late-arriving Cyle Larin.