Orlando City
Orlando City vs. New York City FC: Final Score 5-3 as Cyle Larin’s Hat Trick Not Enough In Lions’ Third Straight Loss
Rookie striker Cyle Larin scored a hat trick, but it was not enough for Orlando City to overcome its poor defending, as the Lions lost in their first trip to Yankee Stadium, 5-3, on Sunday afternoon.

BRONX, NY — The Pirlo party was on, but it was David Villa that brought Yankee Stadium to life. A brace from the Spanish forward helped push New York City FC to a 5-3 win over expansion rivals Orlando City on Sunday afternoon in front of a packed Yankee Stadium crowd of 32,041.
The two-goal performance from Villa, however, may have been overshadowed by the Major League Soccer debut of Andrea Pirlo, who entered the game as a sub in the 56th minute, and drew massive roars from the crowd each time he touched the ball.
With Rafael Ramos reportedly picking up a knock in training to his thigh, Orlando came out in an unconventional 3-4-3 formation with center backs Sean St. Ledger, Aurelien Collin and Seb Hines all playing, and Corey Ashe and Eric Avila playing wingback positions. Orlando City Assistant Coach Mark Watson piloted the club with Adrian Heath suspended.
The small width of the pitch put both teams off to a slow start, as Orlando City (6-9-6, 24 points) was forced to adjust to the field metrics and sight lines after playing most of their games this season on the larger Citrus Bowl turf.
Orlando City’s biggest chance of the first half happened to also be the team’s first and only, when Cyle Larin battled for a loose ball at the top of the NYFC penalty area, appearing to win the ball cleanly before putting a shot past Josh Saunders. Larin was instead, however, called for a foul, and the goal was waved off.
Trying to get something going, Villa did his best Carli Lloyd impression, trying to chip a pulled-out Tally Hall from midfield, but had no success recreating the moment.
Villa did, however, work enough magic to put New York City FC (6-9-6, 24 points) on the board in the 45th minute, just before the half. Bringing down a pass over his head with a perfect touch, he made St. Ledger spin around, then placed a perfect shot to Hall’s right inside the near post.
A game that went into halftime 1-0, only got much wilder from there.
After the Lions failed to put either of their two shots on target in the first half, Larin put Orlando City on the board for the first time in MLS play since Kaká’s opening goal against Real Salt Lake on July 4, finishing off a nicely placed shot inside the penalty area after the captain’s over-the-head flick from the midfield set up him in a 1-on-1 with an NYCFC defender.
Larin won the battle, but the war wasn’t over for the home side.
New York answered back just three minutes later with a wide-open, far-post goal from Javier Calle, putting his team back in control, 2-1. Calle slipped behind City’s back line and Thomas McNamara found him for a tap-in.
With Yankee Stadium still surging from Pirlo’s entrance into the game, Larin again silenced the large Bronx crowd with another game-tying goal. This time, Carlos Rivas got on the end of a great pass from midfielder Darwin Ceren and sent a ball from the end line across the box that found an open Larin for the score in the 62nd minute.
Rivas nearly put Orlando City in front seconds later, sending a good chance wide of the target.
Villa scored his second goal of the match in the 67th, then McNamara doubled the lead with an easy score directly in front of goal. Defensive breakdowns all around the field cost Orlando City, most notably here, with McNamara completely unmarked on the left side of the field.
The Lions nearly pulled one back on Servando Carrasco’s drive that goalkeeper Saunders tapped just wide. Carrasco, making his first start with Orlando City, didn’t get a lot of power behind the shot but the placement was on frame and only a diving save prevented the tying goal.
Orlando City was able to fight back one last time when Larin completed his first career hat trick with his ninth goal of the season in the 85th minute, setting a new Lions MLS record for goals in a match.
With a late free kick just outside of the penalty area, Kaká came within inches of leveling the score yet again. His curling free kick bounced off of the right post and was headed out of the box, starting a 3-on-1 NYCFC break. Mix Diskerud officially put the knife in the coffin on the quick counter with a tap-in goal in stoppage time that made it a 5-3 game.
“It’s obviously disappointing,” Watson said after the match. “We had a chance to make it 4-4 in the 93rd minute. So to come off losing the game 5-3 is disappointing. Defensively, we weren’t quite good enough, conceding five goals, but I think the fight back on a couple of occasions was good from our guys, and that’s what we’ll take out of the game.”
For Orlando City, it was the most goals conceded in an MLS game, making it arguably their worst defensive performance of this expansion season. The seven combined goals in the second 45 minutes were the most scored in a half in MLS play this season.
Following Wednesday’s MLS All-Star Game, the Lions will return home this weekend, having dropped four straight matches across all competitions and on a 0-3-1 MLS run. City will look to rebound against a very tough Columbus Crew side at the Citrus Bowl on Saturday.
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. St. Louis City: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions make their first trip to St. Louis looking to build on their win at Colorado.

Welcome to your match thread and preview for a Wednesday night matchup between Orlando City (8-4-6, 30 points) and St. Louis City SC (3-9-6, 15 points) at Energizer Park in St. Louis, MO (8:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). This is the second meeting ever between the two sides, the first in St. Louis, and the only one on the 2025 regular-season schedule.
Here’s what you need to know about the match.
History
These teams have met just once before. Orlando City won that match 2-1 on Aug. 26 at Exploria Stadium on Facundo Torres’ penalty in the first minute of stoppage time. Torres completed his brace after a handball in the box by Anthony Markanich stopped a shot by Rafael Santos. Torres opened the scoring in the second half, but Rasmus Alm equalized, with his goal being awarded after video review revealed the referee’s assistant should not have raised their flag for the ball going out of play prior to the critical pass that led to the goal. Jake Nerwinsky was sent off late in that game for a foul denying Ramiro Enrique a goal-scoring opportunity.
Overview
The Lions are 3-2-4 on the road this season after coming off a tightly contested 1-0 road win at Colorado on June 14, snapping a two-match losing streak that ended a busy May schedule. Orlando has been off since beating the Rapids but will try to continue building momentum as the month of June comes to a close. The Lions have six matches against Eastern Conference competition after visiting tonight’s Western Conference opponents in the leadup to the 2025 Leagues Cup at the end of July.
Orlando City center back Rodrigo Schlegel will serve his one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation tonight, and with Alex Freeman away with the USMNT, the Lions will be missing half of their starters on the back line for this match as the entire right half will be out. Look for David Brekalo to move to right center back. Dagur Dan Thorhallsson is the most likely candidate to take the right back spot, with either Kyle Smith or Santos slotting in at left back.
St. Louis City is 2-3-4 at home this season and is coming off a wild 3-3 home draw against the LA Galaxy on June 14. Joao Klauss scored a hat trick in the match, putting his third goal of the game in the net in the fifth minute of stoppage time to steal a point against the defending champions. Tonight’s hosts are 0-1-1 in their last two matches, but they’ve been playing better lately, with five consecutive games either decided by a single goal or finishing in a draw.
Klauss may have gotten three of his five goals this season in the last game, but he can be one of the league’s most lethal finishers. It’s not the best night for Orlando to be missing half of its back line with the Brazilian rounding into form. On the other end, Roman Burki is one of the best goalkeepers in the league, so Orlando City will need to be clinical to finish chances — something that the team has struggled with at times.
“St. Louis is a team we don’t regularly play, but we’ve followed them over the last three or four games,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “They’ve changed coaches, even though it’s someone who has been within the system. We try to capture what their current modes are — how they’re structured, how they’re playing — and then merge that into our game plan. We don’t have as much context of a rivalry as we usually do, since it’s a team we don’t know very well. But we keep preparing in our way and keep insisting that imposing our style on the game is what we’re looking for.”
In addition to Schlegel (suspension) and Freeman (international duty) the Lions will be without Duncan McGuire (shoulder), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee), while Joran Gerbet (thigh) is listed as questionable. St. Louis City will be without Alm (hip), Chris Durkin (knee), Henry Kessler (hamstring), Eduard Löwen (hamstring), Joakim Nilsson (knee), and Tomáš Ostrák (lower body).
Match Content
- The most recent epsiode of the PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match.
Projected Lineups
Orlando City (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.
Defenders: Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.
Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Cesar Araujo, Eduard Atuesta, Marco Pasalic.
Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Luis Muriel.
St. Louis City SC (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: Roman Burki.
Defenders: Jayden Reid, Timo Baumgartl, Kyle Hiebert, Tomas Totland.
Midfielders: Alfredo Morales Simon Becher, Akil Watts.
Forwards: Celio Pompeu, Joao Klauss, Marcel Hartel.
Referees
REF: Guido Gonzales, Jr.
AR1: Ryan Graves.
AR2: Walt Heatherly.
4TH: Matt Thompson.
VAR: Kevin Terry, Jr.
AVAR: TBA.
How to Watch
Match Time: 8:30 p.m.
Venue: Energizer Park — St. Louis, MO.
TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).
Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.
Enjoy the game. Go City!
Lion Links
Lion Links: 6/25/25
Orlando City and OCB play tonight, the Club World Cup continues, and more.

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. It is a busy week here at The Mane Land. Orlando City and Orlando City B play tonight, there are FIFA Club World Cup matches, Concacaf Gold Cup, and USWNT friendlies. It’s a lot, but it also means there’s a ton of soccer to watch, which is a good thing. Let’s get to the links.
Go West, Orlando City
Orlando City heads to Missouri to take on St. Louis City FC tonight. The Lions will be without Alex Freeman (international duty) and Rodrigo Schlegel (yellow card accumulation). Orlando City will need to deal with St. Louis City striker Joao Klauss while finding goals on the road. This is a must-watch midweek match. We will have a preview later today, and you should also listen to The Mane Land PawedCast to prepare.
Orlando City B Returns Home vs. Toronto FC II
Orlando City B hosts Toronto FC II at Osceola County Stadium tonight. Like the first team, we will have coverage for you. The Young Lions are coming off a two-week break after a loss to Carolina Core FC. It will be interesting to see which OCB shows up for the match. You can watch the match on mlsnextpro.com.
Club World Cup, Orlando-Style
There might not be as many people in the seats at the Club World Cup as FIFA would like, but Orlando is still a big part of it. The group stage finishes this week as the competition heads into the Round of 16. There’s a ton of prize money up for all the competitors no matter where they are currently in the standings. Our Michael Citro was at Camping World Stadium last night to cover LAFC vs. Flamengo in Group D.
USMNT News
The USMNT will face Costa Rica Sunday in a Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinal match in Minneapolis. Malik Tillman has been a bright spot on the roster, though Orlando City fans will be watching Freeman. The perpetual search for a consistent striker continues for the USMNT, though Patrick Agyemang may be the answer — at least for now.
Free Kicks
- The Pride managed to maintain the Number 2 spot in SI.com’s Power Rankings despite the loss to Racing Louisville.
- So, the 2025 MLS All-Star jersey has arrived. Thoughts?
- There’s nothing quite like having your number retired after playing for a team for two whole years after playing for another club for six years. It is especially special when the new club has been in existence for a whole four years. Congratulations to former Orlando Pride forward Alex Morgan.
- Lyon has been relegated to Ligue 2 due to the club’s financial problems.
- Paul Mullin is headed to Wigan on a season long loan from the recently promoted Wrexham AFC. That’s probably a spoiler for a future episode of Welcome to Wrexham.
- Concacaf has cleared Jesse Marsh of allegations that he disregarded the competition’s rules regarding suspended match officials.
- After the Gold Cup, Agyemang may be making the move from Charlotte FC to Derby County.
- You may have seen that the USWNT is celebrating Pride month with rainbow numbers on the team jerseys. I am a supporter and ally, but it means even more to the players.
That will do it for today. Make sure you check back later for our match coverage. You can also follow our live coverage on Bluesky. Vamos Orlando!
Lion Links
Lion Links: 6/24/25
Orlando City’s upward aspirations, Tim Weah reportedly set for transfer, Club World Cup roundup, and more.

Happy Tuesday, everyone. We’ve got a busy week ahead of us with the Club World Cup approaching the end of the group stage, OCB at home on Wednesday, and Orlando City back in action with a pair of games. That means we have plenty to talk about, so let’s get straight into today’s links.
Orlando City’s Lofty Goals
Kyle Smith took some time after training on Monday to speak to the media and shed some light on where OCSC is at right now. The utility player was candid in saying he believes this year’s team is the best one he’s seen since he’s been with the club, and that’s saying something considering he’s the longest-tenured player on the team. Smith said the team is focused on climbing higher in the standings and that the two recent breaks will help the team do just that. He emphasized the importance of handling extra time off between games the right way by making sure the players are taking care of their bodies, getting in the gym, and recovering afterwards. That sort of professionalism paid off in the 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids, so hopefully the same is true of Wednesday’s game against St. Louis City.
Tim Weah Reportedly on the Move
Nottingham Forest has reportedly agreed a deal with Juventus to sign Tim Weah and fellow Juve player Samuel Mbangula for roughly €22 million. That being said, personal terms have not yet been agreed upon with Weah, and that will likely take some time, since he’s playing for them at the Club World Cup, and the Italian side is probably keen to minimize outside distractions. Weah broke out with Lille during a four-season spell with the French side, earning a move to Juventus in 2023 as a result.
Club World Cup Roundup
The Club World Cup continues to roll on, as the tournament entered its final round of group stage games on Monday. Atletico Madrid became the first big name to exit the competition, as it beat Botafogo 1-0 to finish level with the Brazilians on six points but will be going home due to having worse goal difference. Atletico needed to win by at least three in order to overtake Botafogo in the standings and might have managed it if not for some poor finishing. In Group B’s other game, Paris Saint-Germain took down the Seattle Sounders 2-0 to finish top of the group. Seattle was given a brutal draw and accounted itself as well as can be expected, but ultimately, the Sounders exit the competition without picking up a point.
Club World Cup Takeaways
Speaking of the Club World Cup, what are some of the impressions so far of the expanded tournament? There have been plenty of good things, as teams have been taking it seriously with strong lineups, and barring the outlier that is Auckland City, no one team has been consistently getting shelled. On the other hand, making the jump from six teams to 32 simply feels like too much too soon, and that’s probably contributed to fluctuating levels of interest from local fans. High ticket prices and games starting in the heat of the day haven’t helped much either, as weather conditions have been a recurring concern among both fans and players. The competition is still a net positive overall, but there are certainly some things to learn from and improve upon next time around.
Free Kicks
- Check out some of the scenes from the Lions’ training session on Monday.
- The Orlando Pride slid down to fifth in ESPN.com’s NWSL power rankings.
- Three people are dead while a further 81 have been injured following the collapse of a stand at an Algerian soccer match.
- Manchester United has reportedly submitted an improved offer for Bryan Mbuemo.
- Manchester City’s Rico Lewis has had his Club World Cup ban extended for two additional matches.
That’s all I have for you this morning. Vamos Orlando!
-
Local Soccer Events1 week ago
Ulsan HD FC vs. Mamelodi Sundowns FC: Final Score 1-0 as South African Side Wins First FIFA Club World Cup Match in Orlando
-
Orlando Pride2 weeks ago
Orlando Pride vs. Bay FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
-
Orlando Pride5 days ago
Orlando Pride vs. Racing Louisville FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
-
Orlando City2 weeks ago
Orlando City vs. Colorado Rapids: Final Score 1-0 as Ojeda’s Goal Snatches Road Win for Lions
-
Local Soccer Events5 days ago
SL Benfica vs. Auckland City FC: Final Score 6-0 as Benfica Wears Down New Zealanders
-
Orlando City2 weeks ago
Orlando City vs. Colorado Rapids: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
-
Orlando Pride2 weeks ago
Orlando Pride vs. Bay FC: Final Score 1-0 as the Pride Hold On After Banda’s Goal
-
Podcasts2 weeks ago
SkoPurp Soccer Episode 90: Houston Rewind, Pride Call-Ups, Bay FC Preview, and More