ORLANDO, FL. (FNN) — Orlando City continued their winning ways on America’s Independence Day with a triumphant drubbing of Toronto FC. The downtrodden Canadians were light on players, losing eight total between international duty and injuries. The Lions could sniff out their weakened opponents and smelled blood early in Tuesday’s encounter. Cesar Araujo found the net with a thunderous header that crossed TFC’s keeper. His ‘palomita’ header was the first official MLS goal of his career after only having scored in U.S. Open Cup games prior.

Making Toronto’s defense quake, Rafael Santos led the charge as his two crosses were fundamental. He racked up an assist and a deflected shot which led to goal off the defender to add to Orlando City’s early tally. Besides that, the fullback remains essential to the buildup play of Orlando as he has grown into the LB position.

With 15 minutes left to play in the first half Orlando sat firmly in the driver’s seat. Facundo Torres and Ivan Angulo toyed with Toronto’s defense as they penetrated their backline at will. Torres was coming off an especially hot week after his last man of the match performance at Exploria Stadium. Duncan McGuire also added to his tally after a last-ditch tap in front of goal.

The former Creighton man has made a staggering seven goals on 17 shots attempted so far. He boasts the highest conversion rate of any first-team Orlando player, and with three starts in his last three games, it’s evident Orlando City head coach Oscar Pareja is confident in the young scorer.

Momentum keeps building at home

After a streaky run of home games, Orlando City are finally developing some consistency. Visa issues and injuries plagued their backline in the early season, but seeing Antonio Carlos and Robin Jansson at the back together has given fans some pause.

The second half continued with dominance for Orlando as substitutions kept the team fresh. The Argentinian duo of Martin Ojeda and Ramiro Enrique came on to replace McGuire & Angulo. Ojeda had a venomous shot on target that would’ve rippled the back of the net if not for a strong save from Toronto’s keeper.

Toronto FC’s luck continues to go from bad to worse after Federico Bernardeschi was sent off. He accumulated a second yellow card after trying to regain possession in Orlando’s defensive half. The flabbergasted Italian walked off to jeers and sarcastic boos as Orlando’s chances of victory grew exponentially higher. The final dagger of the night came from Dagur Dan Thorhallsson. The Iceland native latched onto a lofted ball from Cesar Araujo and beat Toronto’s goalkeeper in the one-on-one duel outside the box for an easy finish.