Orlando City had a long two week rest before coming into Sunday night’s matchup against the defending MLS champion, Portland Timbers, and it was two weeks well spent as the Lions came out striking in dominating fashion as they saw their captain Kaka return to the field.

Orlando City scored within the first 15 minutes of the match on a header by Seb Hines off a free kick shot by Kaka, showing his immediate impact after being out the first three games of the season.

“I just thought his combination play in and around the final third of the pitch was exceptional at times and difficult to mark. He finds great little pockets of space, which defenders don’t want to get into and midfielder’s don’t want to drop that deep into. We shouldn’t be surprised we’re talking about one of the great players of the modern era.”

Kaka was not done there, he would add on another assist with a one touch pass to Brek Shea that ended up behind the opposition’s net and would then put behind the net a goal of his own to open the second half in the 48th minute, giving Orlando City a 3-0 lead at that point in the match.

“It was amazing, I am so happy with this game, with my personal game. I am so proud of our team, we played a very good game” said Kaka about his and his team’s performance in Sunday’s match.

The Brazilian midfielder played 80 minutes in his regular season debut and finished the game with three shots, four chances created, while completing 84.6 percent of his passes.

Orlando City head coach, Adrian Heath, was satisfied with Kakas performance, and realizes what his team gains with having him back in the starting lineup stating, “The captain was back and he played like he did. He led from the front, and we could see what we missed on the couple games prior to that.”

Kaka led the way as the Lions went on to defeat the Timbers 4-1 to gain back-to-back 3 points from their last two matches. Orlando City now stands atop the table in the Eastern Conference with eight points, and although it is only four games into the season, it is a sign of good things to come for the Lions with their captain back and club coming together.

“It’s amazing we’re on top of the league and conference today and it gives us a lot of confidence. It gives us confidence for the next game and three more points.” said Kaka following the win.

Orlando City’s next match will be this Friday at the Philadelphia Union as they hope to extend their winning streak to three in a row.