Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Toronto FC: Final Score 2-1 as the Lions End the Streak
James O’Connor’s homecoming leads to a win, his first, and a happy house.

Head Coach James O’Connor’s homecoming could not have ended any better, maybe with the exception of a shutout. Chris Schuler scored his first goal as a Lion and Dom Dwyer doubled the lead as Orlando City (7-11-1, 22 points) snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over Toronto FC (4-11-4, 16 points) — just the club’s second win against the Reds.
“Obviously delighted that we were able to win. It’s really important that we got a win,” O’Connor said after the match. “First and foremost I’m really pleased for the players, the supporters and for the ownership group to be able to get that win. There were some lovely passages of play, but there’s lots of things that I think we can be sharper on, we want to be sharper on. But it’s going to take a little bit of time. ”
Staring down a schedule of five games in 15 days, including Wednesday’s USOC match against the Philadelphia Union, O’Connor came out with a few surprises in the Starting XI.
Earl Edwards Jr. got his first MLS start of the year and second overall, with Tony Rocha starting at left midfield. Notable to most was Justin Meram missing from the 18. Shane O’Neill suited up for the first time as a substitute. Of interest from the visitors, Jozy Altidore made the trip and started the match as an available sub.
Having Yoshi Yotún back in purple was huge from the very start of the match. He seemed to be playing with a bit of extra intensity, almost as thought his stint in Russia triggered a little something extra. Schuler also played with a different look, starting with a beautiful cutting run to intercept Sebastian Giovinco before he could make a break alone on goal.
Things got a little shaky in the sixth minute, as Schuler went shoulder to shoulder with Justin Morrow approaching the box, with Morrow going down and drawing the foul. Schuler was booked, but thankfully nothing came of the free kick, and the ball was cleared. The next few minutes were a bit uneasy, as the Lions continued to try to find their feet, but things changed rather quickly.
In the ninth minute, Rocha hit a solid shot towards goal, but it was blocked by a Toronto defender. That created a bit of chaos in the box, but the Lions could not capitalize. For the next several minutes, one thing that continued to stand out was the hustle of Chris Mueller and Yoshi. The Lions were plagued by misplaced passes. Mueller and Yotún crossed the pitch endlessly in recovery mode, working to win the ball back, fill passing lanes, and generally disrupt the Toronto midfield. The effort was obviously getting to some Toronto players, as Giovinco received a stern lecture from the referee after a late tackle, one of those frustration tackles, in the 15th minute on Yotún.
The Lions continued to look dangerous. Yotún tried to catch Alex Bono off guard when he sent a shot from just inside the Toronto half on goal that Bono flubbed, earning the Lions a corner. Unfortunately, the chance was a bit wasted as no one was on the far post when the corner was taken.
Edwards looked comfortable, coming off his line in the 24th minute to pounce on a cross into the box that could have been dangerous. Edwards also continued something that we saw from him during his play with OCB — those long throws to streaking players to start counters. He had a great leading ball to Sacha Kljestan, who found a streaking Mueller, who unfortunately took one touch to many and couldn’t get the ball out from under himself to get a solid shot on goal.
In the 25th, Morrow put a classic spin move on Schuler — possibly Schuler’s one big mistake of the night — to free himself to make a run into the box and find a wide open Giovinco. Thankfully, the Italian’s shot was not well taken and the threat was over. This was not the last time we heard from Giovinco, though. The next big chunk of minutes saw Toronto sustain some good possession, and take a bit of control of the game, including another shot from the Italian. The Lions were giving up possession way too easily at this point in the match, and Toronto was closing down the passing lanes with ease.
Dwyer finally got to go one on one with a center back in the 31st, beat him on the left side of the box, and got a shot off, but it was saved by Bono. Mueller almost got to the rebound, but it was cleared by the defense. A few more chances were generated by the Lions, but it appeared as though the nerves of needing a win might be present. Rocha had a great chance to bring the ball down and regain control with City in a good offensive position, but rushed to head the ball back into play, leading to Toronto gaining possession.
In the 34th, Yotún was fouled from behind by Michael Bradley. The free kick was taken somewhat quickly to Dwyer, who immediately sent a hard shot at goal. Bono punched the shot, and Schuler leaped to head the ball into the net, notching his first goal of the season and his first with Orlando City.
“I knew [Bono] wouldn’t be able to hold on to it so I just made a run through it expecting the rebound and it kind of worked out,” said Schuler.
RJ Allen went down on the pitch in the 37th minute, and it did not look good. Thankfully, after working with the trainers for a minute, he was able to return to play. It almost looked as though he was cramping already. It was good he was able to return as he had a distinct impact a few minutes later in the 44th when he was part of a great chance for City.
Rocha put a great ball in to Dwyer, who found Mueller streaking down the right side. The rookie once again had trouble getting the ball out from his feet, and his shot was blocked, falling to Allen. The right back put his laces through the ball, but the shot went just wide of the near post and into the side netting.
The Lions came out in the second half just as they had ended the first, looking solid and confident. In the 48th, Mueller found Dwyer with a perfect ball to the middle. Dom stood the defender up, got the ball onto his left foot, and smashed the ball low and away from Bono into the back of the net for another back flip and a 2-0 lead.
Toronto had some solid chances, but the Orlando back line and Edwards were up to the challenge. There were a few scary moments in the 58th when Toronto’s Jay Chapman picked up a stray ball at the top of the box. The defense was caught a little flat, but Edwards was able to make the save. In the 59th, Giovinco got in alone for the first time all night on a gorgeous long ball from Bradley but Earl made a point-blank stop to protect the two-goal advantage.
For the next 12 minutes, the Lions looked a bit shaky again, as tired legs looked to be taking hold. It wasn’t until the 70th minute when the tide swung back towards the Lions’ favor. Will Johnson stole the ball, drove into the box, and earned a corner. The corner was taken short, like so many during the match, ending up at the feet of Dillon Powers, who had subbed in for Rocha in the 56th. Powers put a beautiful cross into the box, but the linesman flagged Dwyer as offside. Many players from both sides looked tired as the evening heat was taking an obvious effect.
The next best chance happened in the 85th, when Mueller picked up a missed ball from behind the Toronto center backs, charged the box, and sent a strong cross over to a streaking Mohamed El-Munir, but the cross was too strong and just out of his reach. Mueller found himself with another golden opportunity in the 90th after a great pass from Kljestan that he should have buried, but again could not get the ball out from under his feet and sent a low shot straight at Bono.
The 92nd minute saw the last real attacking chance for the Lions, when Yotún had a beautiful turn, only to be fouled to stop the attack at the top of the box. Sacha stepped up for the free kick, and didn’t miss the top corner over the wall by much. Unfortunately, two minutes later Toronto pulled one back. After what appeared to be a fairly innocent collision at the top corner of the box involving Amro Tarek, the ensuing free kick by Giovinco led to Nick Haggland getting inside of El-Munir and getting a foot on it to send it inside the far corner.
That was just about the last kick of the game. The whistle blew seconds later and the Lions had mercifully ended their nine-game losing streak.
Orlando out-shot Toronto, 18-16 (7-4 on target) and the Reds held the possession advantage, 54%-46%. Toronto completed 90% of its passes compared to 85% for the Lions. Much of Toronto’s possession came in the middle part of the second half while Orlando nursed its 2-0 lead.
“It’s been a while,” Dwyer said of the win. “Obviously we put in a good performance tonight. We’re trying not to live in the past so much and move forward, it was a big result for us tonight. I wouldn’t say we are at our best but we are improving. I think we are back on track, which is important for us and we’ll keep moving forward.”
Orlando City will be back in action Wednesday in Philadelphia, facing the Union in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals.
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!
Lion Links
Lion Links: 6/23/25
Pride fall to Racing Louisville, Seb Hines and Giles Barnes share insight on path to success in Orlando, USMNT defeats Haiti, and more.

Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been busy working and catching up with friends over the past week. Before we get started, let’s wish a belated happy birthday to Orlando Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter, who turned 41 on Saturday. The Pride was the lone team in action over the weekend, while the Lions and OCB were off. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.
Pride Fall at Racing Louisville
The Orlando Pride fell to Racing Louisville 2-0 Friday at Lynn Family Stadium. Arin Wright scored the opening goal in the first half, and former Pride midfielder Taylor Flint converted a penalty kick for Racing Louisville. The Pride struggled offensively and failed to capitalize on their scoring chances. Orlando’s struggles in Louisville continue, as the club is winless in five matches at Lynn Family Stadium. The Pride will be on a long break, and their next match will be Aug. 3, taking on the Utah Royals at Inter&Co Stadium.
Seb Hines, Giles Barnes Share Insight on Path to Success in Orlando
Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines and Assistant Coach Giles Barnes were featured in an interview in The Guardian. Both Hines and Barnes shared insight into their longtime friendship, which began with playing in English youth international camps, their different paths to playing in Major League Soccer, and how they became involved in coaching. Hines discussed his time as interim manager of the Pride in 2022 and how he brought in Barnes to help change the club’s culture. Hines and Barnes helped change the perception of the club and led the Pride to winning both the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship last season.
USMNT Defeats Haiti to Win Group D in Gold Cup
The U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Haiti 2-1 Sunday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, in their final match in the group stage of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup. The USMNT finished atop its group with three wins and nine points. Orlando City defender Alex Freeman made his third consecutive start and played 90 minutes.
Malik Tillman scored the opening goal 10 minutes into the match to give the USMNT the early lead. Haiti tied the match not long after Tillman’s goal. In the second half, Patrick Agyemang pulled the USMNT back in front. The USMNT advances to the quarterfinals as the group winner and will play its next match Sunday against the Group A runner-up which was the late game Sunday night and had yet to conclude as of this writing.
Club World Cup Weekend Recap
Another weekend of matches from the FIFA Club World Cup is in the books. On Friday, Benfica crushed Auckland City FC 6-0, while Flamengo beat Chelsea 3-1. LAFC was eliminated from advancing to the knockout round after a 1-0 defeat to ES Tunis. Bayern Munich edged Boca Juniors 2-1. On Saturday, Borussia Dortmund defeated Mamelodi Sundowns 4-3. Inter Milan needed a late stoppage-time winning goal from Valentin Carboni to edge Urawa Red Diamonds 2-1. Fluminense beat Ulsan HD 4-2, and River Plate and Monterrey ended in a scoreless draw. On Sunday, Juventus cruised to a 4-1 win over Wydad Casablanca. Xabi Alonso secured his first win as manager of Real Madrid with a 3-1 victory against Pachuca. Red Bull Salzburg and Al-Hilal played to a scoreless draw, with Manchester City playing Al-Ain in the late match Sunday. Today’s matches feature Atletico Madrid facing Botafogo, the Seattle Sounders hosting Paris Saint-Germain, FC Porto vs. Al Ahly, and Inter Miami taking on Palmeiras.
Free Kicks
- Orlando Pride midfielder Ally Lemos and forward Simone Jackson have been called-up to the U-23 U.S. Women’s National Team. The U-23 camp will be led by Orlando Pride Assistant Coach Yolanda Thomas.
USL Championship side San Antonio FC has signed former Orlando City defender Abdi Salim to a 25-day contract.
San Diego Wave winger Maria Sanchez has reportedly reach an agreement to return to her former club, Tigres of Liga MX Femenil, on a four-year contract.
Paul Pogba is reportedly set to return to playing soccer and has signed a two-year contract with Ligue 1 side AS Monaco.
That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday, and I’ll see you next time.
Opinion
Orlando City Has Been Better than Expected Halfway Through the Season
While there was plenty to worry about at the start of the season, Orlando has had a good first half of 2025.

With 18 matches in the books, we’ve moved just past the halfway point of the 2025 Major League Soccer season, and based off my feelings before Orlando City played its opening game of the season, the Lions have performed above expectations so far. There were plenty of valid reasons to be concerned heading into the year. Orlando had sold its all-time leading goal scorer, and there were questions about whether he’d been adequately replaced. There were worries about depth at multiple positions, and the defense was coming off an uncharacteristically poor year. Here we are though, with the Lions sitting fifth in the Eastern Conference, just three points out of second place and seven points out of first. So how did we get to this point?
For one thing, Marco Pasalic has been much better than I (and I think a lot of other people) expected him to be. The Croatian has six goals and four assists across 18 matches, and is second on the team in both categories. He scored 10 goals in 49 appearances in the Croatian first division before coming to Orlando and was extremely one-footed, which was enough evidence to sow real doubt about whether he could adequately replace the impact of Facundo Torres.
So far, it’s mostly been so good. His direct style of play is a good complement to the styles of Martin Ojeda and Luis Muriel, and he’s largely hit the ground running in a league that can be difficult to adapt to. It hasn’t been perfect, as he’s still very one-footed, and can sometimes disappear if he’s stringently man marked, but on the whole there’s been much more good than bad.
Speaking of Ojeda and Muriel, they’ve also had strong years. Ojeda in particular has continued his great second half of the 2024 season and has nine goals and five assists in 18 games to show for it. He looks fast, confident, and decisive and is a far cry from the player who struggled frequently during his first year as a Lion. Muriel has cooled off a little after a scorching start to 2025, but he still has six goals and three assists in 18 matches. He looks vastly improved from last year, when he looked a little off the pace of play and quickly lost the starting striker role. He still has a tendency to not be as selfish as he needs to be in front of goal, but he’s been much better than 2024.
I mentioned depth being a big concern, and not just at one position. At the beginning of the season Orlando City was, and arguably still is, thin at striker, center back, defensive midfield, and fullback. Duncan McGuire was injured to start the year and is now injured again, leaving Orlando with two true strikers in Muriel and Ramiro Enrique. There was no true backup left back, only one reliable backup center back, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson starting at right back meant that defensive midfield depth consisted of rookie Joran Gerbet and the Swiss army knife that is Kyle Smith.
Things have mostly worked out though. David Brekalo has supplanted Rafael Santos, meaning the Brazilian is now a proven backup option at the position, and Smith has filled in there as well. That means that in games in which Rodrigo Schlegel or Robin Jansson are unavailable, Brekalo fills in at center back, Santos starts at left back, and Smith is the backup for both positions, so it isn’t a flawless system. Gerbet has been playing better and better and got some valuable minutes when Eduard Atuesta and Cesar Araujo were unavailable. His emergence has been a crucial piece of the puzzle this year. So too has the rise of Alex Freeman, as his locking down the right back role has allowed Thorhallsson to fill in at defensive midfield, attacking midfield, and right back. The situation isn’t perfect, as a couple untimely injuries to the wrong guys would leave the Lions looking pretty threadbare, but so far it’s just about worked.
Another big concern was the defense. The Lions conceded 50 goals in the regular season last year, which was tied for the second-most of any Eastern Conference playoff team and fourth-most of any playoff team. With no defensive signings and the aforementioned depth concerns, there were plenty of reasons to worry about Orlando’s ability to keep the ball out of the back of the net.
Things have looked much better in 2025, though. The 22 goals OCSC has conceded are the fifth-fewest in the league, and Pedro Gallese’s eight clean sheets are tied for most in the league. Aside from a few egregious defensive performances against the Philadelphia Union, Atlanta United, and the Chicago Fire, things have mostly been tidy at the back, and when they haven’t been, El Pulpo has been around to pick up the slack. Again, things haven’t been perfect, as there have been moments where individual and collective errors have hurt the team, but it’s been better.
I thought the Lions would struggle this year. Going into the start of the season, we were talking about a team that lost Torres, arguably didn’t do enough to strengthen the team across the board, was facing depth issues, and was dealing with a leaky defense — all while pretty much every other contender in the East got stronger on paper. Instead, OCSC tied a club-best unbeaten streak and is just three points out of second place.
That being said, the East is so tight that Orlando is only five points above the playoff line, and injuries to the wrong guys could easily topple the fragile ecosystem that is the depth chart, but so far things are going better than I thought they would be. There are still a lot of matches to play, but this isn’t a bad position to be in at the halfway mark.
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