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Orlando City vs. Montreal Impact: Final Score 2-1 as Lions Keep Postseason Hopes Alive with Fourth Straight Win

Orlando City could not afford a loss against Montreal on Saturday night, and the Lions came through in a big way to keep their playoff charge going and pull to within one point of the Impact in the standings.

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Nick Leyva, The Mane Land

Orlando City had its back against the wall. With Toronto’s 3-1 win over Philadelphia earlier in the evening, the Lions could not afford a loss against the Montreal Impact on Saturday night if they wanted to keep their postseason hopes alive for yet another week.

And not only did they stave off elimination, but the Lions took all three points from their Eastern Conference rivals with a 2-1 win on the strength of goals from Cyle Larin and defender Seb Hines.

“Huge win,” Orlando City manager Adrian Heath remarked following the game. “It’s never easy winning football games that you have to win — it comes with extra pressure.”

Even through the press box glass, the tension that the 35,421 in attendance were experiencing because of that pressure was palpable throughout the evening.

The match got off to an ominous start to the Lions when right back Rafael Ramos and center back Tommy Redding collided head-to-head as both elevated to try to play an aerial ball. Both players remained on the pitch for several minutes before being taken off on stretchers, with Ramos visibly bleeding from his forehead. The team said both players were being monitored, and that Ramos had been transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center, presumably to receive stitches for what looked to be a rather large gash.

After the medical staff had left the field, left back Luke Boden came on for Ramos and Brek Shea, who had started at LB, moved over to the right side to fill the spot vacated by the Portuguese. Hines came on to relieve Redding in the center of defense.

After the teams kicked it around for a while between the boxes, Orlando received a break in minute 33, when Montreal midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker misplayed a back pass directly into the path of a charging Larin. The rookie striker, continuing his scintillating form from last week’s win at the New York Red Bulls, took advantage of the gift and slotted home with a left-footed strike from just outside the box that Evan Bush got a hand on but could not keep out of the net.

After chants of Larin’s name rang out across the Citrus Bowl and 11 more minutes of play had elapsed, Montreal got a break of its own in the form of Dominic Oduro’s controversial equalizer.

A low cross was played into the 6-yard box by one of Montreal’s wide players, which OCSC goalkeeper Tally Hall went to the ground to handle. With one hand on top of the ball securing it to the ground, the Ghanaian slyly tapped the ball out of Hall’s grasp and finished past a sliding Aurélien Collin for a goal that should have been disallowed but was not, and the game went to halftime in a 1-1 deadlock.

The second half didn’t begin at a burning pace, with the best chance of the early stages coming in the form of a 35-yard, left-footed curler by Shea that banged off the crossbar — a reminder of the Texan’s stellar potential as an attacking winger.

Things got real in minute 59 when Didier Drogba came on for Montreal in favor of the goal-scorer Oduro. Montreal enjoyed a nice spell of possession after the Ivorian’s introduction, but no truly dangerous chances came out of it for the Impact. Drogba played a nice through ball after a step-over move, but a charging Hall kept it from reaching its intended target, Andrés Romero.

The match changed in the 80th minute, when Hines scored his first league goal for OCSC, connecting on a volley, following a mishit clearance of a cross by Boden. The center half got a good enough connection with the ball with his right shin to send it across the face of goal and past Bush for what turned out to be the match clincher.

Heath commended both of his first-half substitutes for their play off the bench, and was particularly happy to see Hines net the winner after handling the disappointment of not getting much action recently.

“Sometimes you get rewards in life for being a good professional,” Inchy said in relation to Hines.

Although Drogba had been a terror since his arrival in MLS, the Lions handled his second-half substitution very well overall. Boden had a particularly good defensive play in minute 72, when he made a sliding interception on a pass that would have found Drogba inside the box, denying the legend a potential shot at goal.

Orlando did not allow Drogba to alter the complexion of the game drastically and Collin, in particular, seemed to relish the opportunity to go up against the strong, physical striker and made it a point to battle toe-to-toe with the big Ivorian throughout his half-hour spell.

With the win, the Lions (11-13-8, 41 points) pull to within one point of Montreal (12-12-6, 42 points) in the standings, although the Impact still have one game remaining in hand. Orlando’s next ultra-important match will be at the Citrus Bowl on Oct. 16 against New York City FC. The Lions will have to play without Kaká and Shea, who both picked up bookings on the night and will be on yellow card suspension.

Opinion

Likes and Dislikes from this Week of Orlando City’s Preseason

Let’s talk through some of the good and bad from this week of the Lions’ preseason preparations.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Just like that, another week of Orlando City’s preseason is in the books. We’ll be staring down the barrel of the season opener before we know it, but let’s make sure we take the time to stop and reflect on some good and some not-so-good things that took place this week.

Likes

Marco Pasalic Arrives

Orlando City is back up to three Designated Players after the club completed the signing of Croatian winger Marco Pasalic. It’s a piece of business that has been rumored for awhile now but took some time to get done and across the line. Between Pasalic and the previous signing of Nicolas Rodriguez, the Lions have got bodies to fill the right wing position. While neither is likely to be able to immediately replace the production of Facundo Torres on their own, they’re both young and will have the chance to grow their games and show what they can do.

Season Ticket Member Match

OCSC will take on CF Montreal Saturday in a preseason scrimmage which is an event exclusive to season ticket holders. This is the sort of thing that I, along with my fellow season ticket members on staff, love to see. An event that rewards you for that membership and does so by giving you an extra peek at the team before everyone else. It might not be some wildly extravagant event, but it doesn’t need to be. The club has formed a habit of designating one of the preseason scrimmages a season-ticket-members-only event, and for my money, it’s been a good call.

Dislikes

Closed Door Scrimmage Radio Silence

This feels a little nitpicky, as closed-door scrimmages are by their very nature, closed door. The whole point of them is to not have a ton of access and insight about what’s going on, and teams will often agree beforehand about what level of information, if any, will make its way out to the public afterwards. We know that Orlando took on Atlanta United in a preseason scrimmage Wednesday, and we know that Alex Freeman put in a goal from a header, thanks to a post from the club on the website formerly known as Twitter, but that’s about it. It feels greedy to ask for information from something we weren’t guaranteed to get any from in the first place, but the brief taste has me wanting more, damnit.

Depth Still a Worry at Several Positions

As stated above, getting Pasalic in the door means that the Lions now have the winger slots fairly well stocked, but there are still other areas on the field that could use some reinforcement. The most crucial of those remains defensive midfielder, and although the rumored arrival of Eduard Atuesta would help considerably, I’m not counting him as a Lion until pen has been put to paper. If he does get signed, that still leaves striker and fullback perilously thin when it comes to guys who are proven MLS-caliber players, and the first game of the season is just shy of two weeks from now. There’s still time to do business, but the clock continues to tick.


What jumped out at you from this week of OCSC’s preseason? Be sure to have your say down in the comments. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 2/7/25

Angelina called up by Brazil, MLS transfer news, dual-sport performance center announced for Portland women’s teams, and more.

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Happy Friday! The groundhog may have seen his shadow earlier this week, but winter feels pretty much over and done with here in Florida. Hopefully this nice weather lasts a while before we reach the part of the year where it becomes unbearable to exist outside due to the heat. Let’s jump right into today’s links from around the soccer world!

Angelina Called Up By Brazil

You’ll need a translation tool for the full details, but Orlando Pride midfielder Angelina was one of 30 players called up by Brazil for a training camp in Rio de Janeiro. The 25-year-old was a key part of Orlando’s historic season last year, bringing stability to the midfield and giving Orlando’s attack an edge as well.

Brazil’s camp will last from Feb. 17-26 as the team begins preparations for this summer’s Copa America. Adriana, who was recently transferred from the Pride to Al Qadsiah FC in Saudi Arabia, was also called up by Head Coach Arthur Elias.

MLS Transfer News Roundup

The New York Red Bulls bolstered their back line by adding a pair of defenders. They signed left back Marcelo Morales from Universidad de Chile, inking the 21-year-old to a three-year deal. Center back Tim Parker officially returned to the Red Bulls as well, signing a one-year contract. In other news involving Orlando City’s Eastern Conference foes, the Philadelphia Union signed Jovan Lukic from FK Spartak Subotica in Serbia’s top flight, FC Cincinnati loaned defender Alvaro Barreal to Santos FC, and CF Montreal signed 21-year-old defender Dante Sealy to a two-year deal.

Joint Facility Announced For Portland Thorns and WNBA Team

Plans for a dual-sport performance center to serve both the Portland Thorns and the city’s future WNBA team were announced by RAJ Sports, the ownership group behind both teams. The initial phase of the facility will reportedly cost around $75 million, with a goal for the soccer and shared side of things to be completed before the Thorns’ 2026 season and the basketball portions done before the WNBA team’s inaugural season begins that summer. It will feature two full-sized basketball courts, two soccer pitches, dressing rooms for each team, and a shared dining room with a chef and nutritionist. It’s pretty great to see this kind of investment put towards women’s sports and I hope this sparks similar projects across the country.

Keeping Up With the Americans Abroad

There’s a new American playing in Europe to keep an eye out for, as FC Koln striker Damion Downs had a statement game against Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup quarterfinals. His team lost in extra time, but the 20-year-old had a goal and an assist. Downs has eight goals and four assists this season and could land on USMNT Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino’s radar.

As for how other Americans did this week, Yunus Musah started and Christian Pulisic came off the bench in AC Milan’s 3-1 win against AS Roma to reach the Coppa Italia semifinals. Defenders Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty both played every minute of Celtic’s 6-0 win over Dundee FC. It wasn’t all good news for Americans abroad though, as Jordan Pefok had to be stretchered off in his first game with Stade de Reims after just joining the French team this week.

Free Kicks

  • Enjoy this moment of captains Robin Jansson and Marta hanging out during the preseason.

That’s all I have for you on this fine Friday. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your week!

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Lion Links

Orlando City’s Potential Roster Flexibility

Will Oscar Pareja stick with his traditional formation or try something new in 2025?

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Image courtesy of Orlando City / Jeremy Reper

Orlando City may have just signed Marco Pasalic, but there are still holes in this squad and plenty of questions to go with them. We are still hoping that the club will sign some more players, but time is running short. Given what we currently know, how can Oscar Pareja deploy the players he currently has on hand?

3-5-2

A back line of Rodrigo Schlegel, Robin Jansson, and David Brekalo sounds quite appealing. While the three would be a good group to defend in front of Pedro Gallese, what happens when one of them gets hurt? What happens when they simply need to rest? Does Oscar then switch formations? Is Kyle Smith coming off the bench as a center back?

Moving up the pitch, Wilder Cartagena’s injury was the impetus for me to consider the 3-5-2 formation. This allows Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Michael Halliday, or Rafael Santos to push forward a bit to assist with the defense in front of the back three, depending on who is playing. That gives Cesar Araujo some cover in the center of the pitch. It also allows one or the other to push into the attack depending on the opponent.

The two attacking midfielders can be any combination of Martin Ojeda, Ivan Angulo, Nicolas Rodriguez, and the newly signed Pasalic. Along with Nico Lodeiro, this formation allows for a little bit of depth, even if it’s one of the few position groups that can make that claim.

Looking at the front of the formation, running a 3-5-2 allows Ramiro Enrique and Luis Muriel to play up top together. This won’t be much of a problem, since Muriel tends to drop a little deeper and Enrique isn’t afraid to make runs into the box. If they can develop some chemistry, it could be an effective attack. The issue comes when one is hurt or needs a break. Until Duncan McGuire is able to return, Pareja would need to change formation. Additionally, I’m not certain how well Muriel can play the traditional striker role.

4-3-3

If Pareja implemented a 4-3-3 formation, he’d be able to employ a back line that has everyone returning. Position battles between Brekalo and Schlegel, and Halliday fighting to return to the starting lineup over Thorhallsson are good problems to have. No real issues here.

Moving up top, I could see Angulo on the left, Enrique in the middle and either Muriel or Ojeda on the right until Pasalic is ready. In the midfield, either Muriel or Ojeda could be facilitating inside with Araujo in defense. The third piece is tougher to pin down. Most likely we’d see Rodriguez there but I still think this is the most problematic of the potential formations, and I don’t expect we’ll see it.

4-2-3-1

Traditionally, Pareja likes to utilize the 4-2-3-1 formation, so that’s what he’s most likely going to do. Of course, the linchpin of the whole thing is the defensive midfield pairing of Wilder Cartagena and Cesar Araujo. We don’t know if the Lions will bring in Eduard Atuesta to help in the midfield, so we will go with what we have for the moment.

No issue with the back line as mentioned above for Pareja. It’s the replacement for Cartagena that presents an issue. Sure, Lodeiro could play more defensively, with Araujo ranging side to side behind him. Or, Pareja can move Thorhallsson into the defensive midfield and put Halliday at right back. The difficulty, once again, comes down to depth. I suppose Kyle Smith could also be utilized if needed.

The attacking midfield has many more options. Between Angulo, Ojeda, Muriel, Rodriguez, and Pasalic, there are plenty of options depending on who is healthy. With the first three acclimated to MLS, Rodriguez and Pasalic have time to adjust to their new surroundings.

That leaves Enrique up top. He proved he can do the job, but I still think Orlando City would be better served to find a big striker to own the starting role. If the plan is to run Enrique until McGuire is ready to return, while Muriel fills in occasionally, I’m not sure that’s the best way to go.


Should Pareja stick to his modus operandi or branch out a little this season? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!

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