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Orlando City vs. New York City FC: Final Score 3-0 as Lions Drop First Match at Home

David Villa’s brace helped New York City FC avoid a season sweep by Orlando City, as the Lions dropped their first home match in their new stadium.

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Nick Leyva, The Mane Land

Orlando City will not be looking back on May as a month to be proud of, falling to 0-3-2 since the calendar turned from April after a 3-0 home loss to New York City FC. NYCFC avoided a three-game season series sweep to cap off a road trip of three games in eight days, thanks to a pair of goals from the reigning league MVP, David Villa.

The Lions continue to search for their first win since defeating the Colorado Rapids to close out the month of April and have two more games this month with a trip to Minnesota and a home meeting with D.C. United.

The game was a tale of two penalties for Orlando City (6-4-2, 20 points), which conceded one to Villa early in the match, before Cyle Larin missed one in the second half.

“Obviously grave, grave disappointment to lose our first game in front of our home fans,” Jason Kreis said of the result after the match. “I thought that the fans were excellent tonight. The atmosphere was terrific, the energy level and everything was good, and at the beginning of the game I thought things were going to go in a really positive direction for us, and then the penalty decision was made, and I think that took some air out of us.”

The Sunday night crowd — another sellout of 25,527 — was loud and raucous as always to begin the game, but quieted down early. That point came 14 minutes in, to be exact, when Villa converted a penalty kick for his seventh goal of the season, putting the visiting side up, 1-0. Kaká had been called for a handball in the box about a minute earlier when a cross attempt near the sideline ran directly into the arm of the incoming Brazilian. An unintentional handball, you can argue, but a blatant handball nonetheless.

Kaká didn’t bother to challenge the call, and regardless, Villa went low and to his right to beat Joe Bendik, who guessed correctly but couldn’t stop the well-placed shot.

Orlando City struggled to find any answers to NYCFC throughout the night, and didn’t present a lot of dangerous attack for New York’s defense.

In the sixth minute, Jonathan Spector found the speedy Carlos Rivas on a long ball over the defense that Rivas used to win a corner, but nothing came out of that. Rivas, who was active on the wings throughout the first half, whipped a cross to Larin, who was able to get his head on the ball but sent it nowhere near frame, out of play. The Lions weren’t able to produce anything from four corners in the first half.

Things went from bad to worse in the 35th minute when Rodney Wallace connected to find the back of the net, doubling the deficit. Jack Harrison took on Donny Toia down the Lions’ left side just long enough for Ethan White to make an overlapping run. Harrison laid the ball off to White, who sent a low pass across the goal that found Wallace, who buried it from a couple yards out.

Orlando had an opportunity to get back in the game in the 63rd minute when Scott Sutter was taken down in the penalty box off of a nice little give-and-go with Rivas. Larin stepped up to take the penalty — the Lions’ first of the season — and shanked it into the crossbar. It was an unlucky break for Orlando, which couldn’t find any breaks on the evening.

The Lions did, though, look a little better in the second half, in the sense that they actually put some decent chances up. Luis Gil, seconds after coming into the game, put a shot on frame from the edge of the penalty area. It challenged Sean Johnson, who saved the first effort, then collected the rebound attempt that bounced off of Matias Perez Garcia and just out of his reach as he couldn’t beat Johnson to the ball. About three minutes later, Sutter found Rivas with a nice cross from the wing. Rivas, in the middle of the box, put forward a rare header that sailed wide of goal.

NYCFC officially put the game out of reach in the 83rd when Villa added his second of the night. Villa ran forward with the ball before playing it off to Maxi Moralez on his left. Moralez quickly hit Villa forward with a ball over the defense, which went for the offside trap, leaving Villa all alone in front of Bendik, who couldn’t do much to stop what ended up as an open-net goal.

“Overall, it was not our night. I’m not going to sit here and say anything crass or disrespectful as if we were the better team, because we weren’t. New York City was very good tonight, and deserved the win,” Kreis said, referring to Patrick Vieira’s mid-week comments about NYCFC being the better team in the first two meetings this season.


The Lions will get a much-needed week of rest following this loss, but not that much time before they have to jump on a flight and head to Minneapolis, where they’ll meet former Orlando City boss Adrian Heath (should MLS decide to not suspend Heath for entering the field of play against LA on Sunday) and Minnesota United FC for the first time on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Lion Links

Lion Links: 4/23/25

The Orlando Pride drop, OCSC Academy awards, USMNT characters, and more.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City B / Mark Thor

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. This weekend we have the most convenient schedule, with the Orlando Pride playing Friday night, Orlando City on Saturday night, and Orlando City B on Sunday night. It’s nice knowing what I’ll be doing each night. Now, I just need all three teams to get back on the winning side of things. Until then, let’s get to the links.

Bad Pride, Good Pride

It might have been the dumbest way to lose a match against the Washington Spirit, but — actually nevermind, there is no “but” about it. We can, however, decide to move forward rather than dwell on it after today. Unsurprisingly, the Pride dropped in the all-knowing power rankings. All for XI only dropped the Pride one spot to No. 2 since everyone has a bad day now and again. The CBS power ranking dropped the team to No. 3. That was the “bad.” The “good” is that we can revisit the puppies that showed up at Inter&Co Stadium. The loss still hurts, but it’s hard to stay mad after looking at the puppies.

The (OCSC) Academy Awards

Assuming you read Lion Links on Monday morning (or listened to The Mane Land PawedCast this week) you know that the Orlando City SC Academy U-18 team won the Generation Adidas Cup. Now we know that three of the very young Lions — Gustavo Caraballo, Jackson Platts, and Justin Ellis — were named to the U18 Best XI. Additionally, Caraballo and Ellis earned MVP and Top Scorer awards, respectively. It was truly the bright spot of an otherwise forgettable weekend.

Pochettino Prepares

The USMNT did not do well in the Concacaf Nations League, falling to Panama and then Canada in the third place match. Now, U.S. Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino has to prepare the team for the Gold Cup. Pochettino said that he needs the “right characters” on the squad, whether they are the most talented or not. He also spoke of the need for the players to fight for the badge and the flag. Former USMNT coach Bruce Arena said Pochettino may not be the right man for the job because he’s not an American. The USMNT’s next matches are friendlies against Turkiye and Switzerland on June 7 and June 10, respectively.

MLS Transfer News

The Columbus Crew are making moves. The club received $250,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) from the Houston Dynamo in exchange for a 2025 international roster slot. The club then sent DeJuan Jones to the San Jose Earthquakes for $425,000 in GAM and a 2025 international roster slot. Elsewhere, Sporting Kansas City acquired forward Santiago Muñoz on loan from Liga MX side Santos Laguna.

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That will do it for today. Check back as we get you ready for the full slate of matches coming up.

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 4/22/25

Pedro Gallese earns recognition, Americans in midweek action, English promotion update, and more.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Well it wasn’t the worst weekend that Orlando soccer has ever had, but it certainly wasn’t the best either. Fortunately, all three of Orlando’s teams will be back in action soon, so there’s no need to dwell on the past too much. Let’s take a moment to wish a happy birthday to the Orlando Pride’s Brianna Martinez, as well as to Kaká! Now, it’s time to turn our attention to today’s links.

Pedro Gallese Earns Weekly Recognition

Pedro Gallese kept a third clean sheet in a row and Orlando City’s third clean sheet of the year in the team’s scoreless draw on the road against CF Montreal. In recognition of his efforts during the match, Gallese was named to the bench of the latest edition of the MLS Team of the Matchday. El Pulpo made six saves to blank a Montreal team that intently searched for a breakthrough, and made a couple of truly excellent second half stops that kept the score level. Congrats to Pedro and keep up the good work!

Americans in Midweek Action

A number of Americans will be playing games during the working week, and there are some big matches to keep an eye on. The main event is on Wednesday, when Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, and AC Milan face Inter Milan in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinal, which is tied 1-1 after the first leg. Also on Wednesday, Chris Richards, Matt Turner, and Crystal Palace will play Arsenal in the Premier League. Thursday then has Malik Tillman, Richy Ledezma, and PSV Eindhoven playing FC Twente in the Eredivisie, while Johnny Cardoso and Real Betis play Valladolid in La Liga action.

English Promotion Update

Following results in the EFL Championship on Monday, Leeds United and Burnley have both secured promotion to the Premier League for next season. Both teams won their respective games and are each on 94 points, and with just two matches left, third-placed Sheffield United has no way to catch them. The other promoted side will be determined after the promotion playoffs, which would feature Sheffield United, Sunderland, Bristol City, and Coventry City if the season ended today. Meanwhile in League One, Wrexham’s 2-1 victory over Blackpool meant the Dragons retook second place and the automatic promotion spot that comes with it. If they beat Charlton on Sunday and Wycombe Wanderers drop points against Leyton Orient, then Wrexham would secure promotion to the Championship.

Transfer Rumor Roundup

Transfer rumors continue to fly thick and fast as we approach the business end of most European seasons, so let’s take a look at a few items worth catching up on. Manchester United is said to be keen on signing 17-year-old Argentine Franco Mastantuono from River Plate. Liverpool is reportedly interested in signing winger Ademola Lookman from Atalanta, although the Reds would likely face competition from several other Premier League teams. Finally, Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro has revealed that he and Xabi Alonso have a gentleman’s agreement that if a team the Spaniard used to play for is interested in hiring him as its coach, then the club will not hinder the process. The statement has led to renewed speculation that Alonso will be named Real Madrid coach if Carlo Ancelotti leaves in the summer.

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That’s all I have for you this morning. Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City

Orlando City’s Focus On Youth Development Showing In The First Team

Orlando City is seeing more and more players promoted from the academy, through OCB, and into the first team.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

Orlando City began its academy in the USL Pro days with the goal of developing players for the first team. It took nearly a decade to begin seeing youth development bear fruit, but it’s becoming apparent early in the 2025 season.

Prior to 2019, Orlando City signed four players to Homegrown Player contracts. Tommy Redding, Tyler Turner, and Harrison Heath never played in the academy and the other, Mason Stajduhar, developed primarily at Chargers Soccer Club in Tampa.

Orlando City signed arguably its first true Homegrown Player when the club inked Benji Michel to a first-team contract. The following off-season, the Lions added David Loera and Jordan Bender. Mikey Halliday signed in July 2020. All of the players came through the academy before signing first-team deals. 

So what changed?

Part of it was the growth of the academy. It takes several years to begin producing players. Another major factor was the hiring of Luiz Muzzi on Dec. 18, 2019. Muzzi came from FC Dallas, a club known for promoting from its academy. He brought in Ricardo Moreira, who shares his vision of developing young talent for the first team.

And it’s not only Muzzi and Moreira. Former Orlando City head coach Adrian Heath rarely attended OCB games. James O’Connor only went to one, and that was to see his former teammate, Dennis Chin, who was playing with the opposing Richmond Kickers. The Orlando City boss left when Chin came off.

Oscar Pareja and other first-team coaches have been at several games, far more than their predecessors. That’s largely to do with the games’ location at the training facility, which is another factor in OCB’s development. The 2019 team trained over 40 miles away from the first team. The move to Kissimmee has the first team, OCB, and the development academy under one roof. It’s another display of the club’s more recent commitment to youth development.

Undoubtedly, the transformation of OCB under Muzzi and Moreira has also impacted Homegrown talent coming through. The team’s 2016 and 2017 rosters were primarily made up of first-team reserves and USL lifers. The 2019 team had many players from the Soccer Institute at Montverde Academy (SIMA), many of which were young but ineligible for Homegrown status.

Things began to change in 2020. The roster shifted to include more academy players and that’s only grown. This year, 15 OCB players came out of the academy, two were drafted, and eight are outside signings on MLS NEXT Pro deals. Other than Jhon Solis and first-team goalkeeper Carlos Mercado, everyone to appear for the team is 23 years old or younger.

The focus on giving OCB spots to academy graduates is now seen in the first team. Players like Thomas Williams, Javier Otero, Alex Freeman, Colin Guske, and Gustavo Caraballo have been regulars on the MLS team sheet. Injuries to first-team regulars has seen them receiving regular playing time.

The poster boy for this change is Freeman. The right back came out of the academy and spent a couple of years at OCB before signing his first-team contract. He won the starting role early in the 2025 regular season.

Many players joined the club later in their development, but we’re seeing some come through having been nearly fully developed at the Orlando City Academy. Guske and Caraballo joined at 13 years old, the youngest age group of the development academy. Both signed first-team deals for this year.

The midfield duo continue to play with OCB most games but are also on the first-team roster almost weekly. The only reason they weren’t in Montreal Saturday night is because they were helping the club’s U-18 team reach (and then win) the Generation Adidas Cup final.

With Muzzi and Moreira at the helm, more players continue to come through. U-18 captain and OCB starter Jackson Platts appears to be well on his way to a first-team contract. So does fellow U-18 and OCB starting forward Justin Ellis.

This past weekend saw another academy product make his first-team debut. Zakaria Taifi took over at right back for OCB when Freeman moved up to the first team this year. Signing a short-term deal Saturday, he came on as a late substitute to help the 10-man Lions see out the scoreless draw.

First-team absences have provided opportunities for many young players. If several weren’t at the Generation Adidas Cup, it could be more. Regardless, the last few years have shown a big step forward for the club.

The shift in recent years is more than the pride of seeing local kids representing the hometown team. They’ve been an essential part of the 2025 campaign. The club hasn’t had to use a short bench or dip into outside emergency signings. Instead, the Lions call up kids they know, making it easier to seamlessly place them into the team.

There will be times where several injuries will occur to experienced players. Orlando City is prepared for this more now than ever before, and it’s because of the players coming through the academy and playing with OCB. We’re already seeing it early in this 2025 season.

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