Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Philadelphia Union: Final Score 2-2 as Sutter Scores Late to Rescue Draw
Lions fell behind late but responded to earn a point.
It looked like it was going to be the same story as most of the season. Orlando City (7-16-3, 24 points) was playing well, but couldn’t capitalize on its chances, and allowed a late goal to lose the match. This was almost the situation tonight, as the Philadelphia Union (12-12-3, 40 points) scored the go-ahead goal in the 88th minute. The Lions kept their heads up and Scott Sutter scored his second goal in as many games just three minutes later to rescue a draw in front of 22,912 fans in Orlando City Stadium.
“Obviously, the finish was, well, pleasing that we ended up getting a point so late on,” Orlando City Head Coach James O’Connor said. “The one aspect that disappointed me was our movement. I think Chris Mueller, [Stéfano] Pinho, and the subs when they came on gave us a good bit of energy and burst, but when you concede a goal in the 88th minute and then get a goal to get back into it, it’s fantastic. So great credit to the players for fighting back and getting a point there at the end.”
O’Connor, celebrating his 39th birthday, made a few surprises with his starting XI. Carlos Ascues moved from the midfield into the back line. To make room for this, Jonathan Spector started as the left back, with Shane O’Neill and Sutter filling in the rest of the back line. Mueller began the game on the bench, and Cristian Higuita started at right wing. Sacha Kljestan and Yoshimar Yotún returned to the lineup after both missed the previous two games.
This lineup led to there essentially being no left midfielder for Orlando. Yotún continuously moved to the middle of the field. When this happens, the left back should typically push up the field and make an overlapping run, but due to Spector’s lack of pace, there was nobody to make that run tonight. To compensate for this, Sutter often got high up the field on the other side and it looked like Orlando was playing a three-back system while on the attack, at times.
It was all Philly to start the match and the Union got off two shots in the first five minutes, with a few more chances. Then, in the eighth minute, Sutter and Will Johnson played down the right wing with each other and won a free kick. Yotún took the service and Dwyer did the rest to put the Lions up, 1-0.
The goal gave Orlando momentum but it only lasted for about two minutes or so, and the game stared to level out until the Union won a corner in the 23rd minute. It was a good routine, straight from the training ground. Alejandro Bedoya, after losing Johnson, was left wide open at the back post. Fortunately for Orlando, Bedoya somehow missed the frame completely.
The Lions immediately went on the counter and should have gone up 2-0. Spector played a good long ball that just missed the outstretched leg of Dwyer. The ball fell to Higuita, who had the goal wide open because Andre Blake was on the ground trying to defend Dwyer, but the Colombian hit the post and it somehow fell right into the hands of Blake.
Philly made the most of the lucky moment and tied the game in the 32nd minute. Borek Dockal had time and space and put in a cross to the back post. Cory Burke outmuscled O’Neill and headed the ball into the back of the net. Immediately after the goal Orlando almost went down 2-1 when Fabrice-Jean Picault hit the crossbar.
There were not many more chances in the remainder of the first half. Orlando City held a good amount of possession but it was all in its own half and not threatening. The Lions looked to try to build out of the back and not force anything, which led to many backward passes.
The game went into halftime tied 1-1 with Orlando holding 55% possession. Philly out-shot the Lions (9-4) and Orlando’s sole shot on goal ended up in the back of the net. Almost every attack in the first 45 minutes came through Yoshi and he finished as the only Lion to create a chance — he had four — and 89% passing accuracy on 27 passes.
The second half started out pretty slowly, as both teams started to feel each other out again. The Union had more chances though, and Orlando struggled to get into the other half of the field. The few times that the Lions did break across the center line, poor decisions led to turnovers. Philadelphia had a couple of chances but could not direct the ball on frame.
“I think the energy levels need to be better, need to be higher,” O’Connor said. “In the second half there needs to be way more movement. Our expectation is for the guy with the ball to come up with something and he should have four, five options and that’s something we need to do a way better job at. I think decision making, and when to keep the ball, at times, particularly in the second half, we give it up way too cheaply.”
A few of the Union’s chances came from bad plays by Higuita, almost gifting the visitors a goal, and he was replaced in the 57th minute by Josué Colmán. Higuita had an excellent first half, so this drop in performance was surprising. The team as a whole was poor coming out in the second half, and O’Connor stressed that the energy needed to be higher.
“I think there was a drop in energy all across the field [to start the second half],” said Dwyer. “It’s hot, it’s tough conditions — but I don’t think that’s an excuse for it. We were working through the game and there were moments when we slowed down a little bit and we showed a lot of fight and character to come back in the end.”
A scary moment came just after the hour mark. Ascues played the ball back to Bendik after a goal kick. Burke was right there and nearly put Bendik’s clearance in the back of the net. Philly was able get the ball back but the shot was poor and Bendik caught it. Orlando quickly got down the field and had a chance but Kljestan’s pass to Dwyer was too long.
After the Union played a midweek game it would be expected that they would be the team that was tired. However, that was not the case, and for the last 30 minutes Orlando was on its back heels. Yoshi particularly looked gassed, with good reason. He was the best player on the field tonight for the Lions and hasn’t played a game since Aug. 4. O’Connor opted to keep the Peruvian in the game, however, and subbed out Kljestan and Johnson for Mueller and Pinho in the 76th minute.
“The role of the substitute is really important,” said O’Connor. “You need a sub to come in and impact the game. Sometimes you’re winning it and you expect a sub to come in and help out defensively. I thought Chris [Mueller] did an exceptional job going forward and defending. Josué [Colmán] showed glimpses of movement. Pinho at times was a threat. It’s pleasing to see players coming on and impacting the game.”
The game started to pick up after this and there were a good chances for both teams. First, the Union had a free kick from about 25 yards out but hit the wall. Orlando got down to the other end, but Pinho couldn’t get on the end of Yoshi’s cross. Yotún had a shot around the 80th minute that was hit one hundred miles an hour but missed wide of the net.
In the 85th minute, there were cries around the stadium for a penalty kick. Dwyer got a shot away and missed and Auston Trusty was right on him. Dwyer went down but it looked like a nominal amount of contact happened after the shot and it was a good no-call from Chris Penso.
As the game was inching closer and closer to a draw, Picault created something out of nothing and put the visitors up 2-1 in the 88th minute. Picault got by Yotún and Uri Rosell and shot. The ball deflected off of O’Neill, and caught Bendik on the wrong foot ending in the back of the net.
Three minutes after the goal, a long ball fell to Colmán. He tried some nifty footwork before playing it off to an overlapping Sutter. The right back hit it first time and the ball beat Andre Blake and ended up in the back of the net to tie the game at 2-2.
“At the end of it we are happy that we got a draw,” Sutter said. “it’s definitely not the result that we wanted, not the result that we expected. I think we invest a lot in the moment and get a little back in return and I think we controlled the game for large patches of the game and one or two half chances gives them goals and in the end we managed to get a goal and we are lucky to get a point.”
It looked like the Lions might get another goal and earn their first win since July but it would not be so. Dywer was called offside, and after a few turnovers Penso blew the full-time whistle and the players looked gutted not to win this match.
Orlando finished the game with 53% possession. The Lions had 11 shots but only three were on target. Yoshi led the team with seven chances created, 88 touches, and 58 passes in his return.
“[One point] is not enough,” Sutter said. “Football is only fun if you win and you’re playing. If you don’t play, you’re not happy and if you don’t win you’re not happy. We’re not winning. I haven’t gone to The Wall and raised my hands like we won, like we did at the beginning of the season, and that hurts. that’s what we’re here for, that’s what we train for everyday, and at the moment it’s just disappointing.”
The Lions have won just one time in the last 17 games (1-14-2) and will try to get back in the win column next Saturday night at Sporting Kansas City. They’ll have to do it without Yotún, Mohamed El-Munir, and Amro Tarek, who will all be away on international duty.
Opinion
Likes and Dislikes from the Second Week of Orlando City Preseason
Lets go through some positives and negatives from Orlando’s second week of preparations.
Another week of preseason preparations for Orlando City are in the books, so I’m back once again to bring you things what I liked, and what I didn’t from the week that was.
Likes
The Rumored Pursuit of Iago
Tom Bogert started the week off on a good note for OCSC fans with the news that Orlando City is reportedly well along in talks to sign a center back.
On the face of it, there’s plenty to like about this rumored signing. Iago is a young player with lots of upside, but who’s already captained a Brazilian youth side at an international tournament. He would also fill a position of need for the Lions, as center back depth is practically non-existent at the moment following Orlando’s off-season moves. If he does get signed, then more work would still need to be done to address the position, perhaps by signing a proven MLS-level player, but it’s a good rumor to hear right now.
Sarajian Signs
Technically, this happened last Friday, but it was after my column published. It’s still good to see Orlando sign Harvey Sarajian, its first selection in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft. The young midfielder was the first of four first-round selections for OCSC this year and the first of the picks to be signed. While he likely represents a more longterm project rather than an immediate contributor, he’s still pretty young and should get plenty of time with Orlando City B and potentially some reserve minutes with the first team as well. The Lions have a solid history with draft picks under Oscar Pareja, and whether Sarajian follows in that mold or not, it’s still nice to see that he showed enough to land himself a place in the Orlando City setup for the foreseeable future.
Dislikes
No U22 for Alex
The downside of the rumored Iago signing is that if he does join the team as an MLS U22 Initiative player, then it almost certainly scuppers the possibility of putting Alex Freeman on a U-22 deal. In turn, that makes the young USMNT fullback signing a new contract with the team unlikely. Make no mistake, if Freeman continues his level of play from 2025 or improves on it, then he won’t be in Orlando much longer — and rightfully so. That being said, if he’s on a longer-term deal, then it increases the amount of money that the Lions would get in a potential sale. The nightmare scenario would be losing such a talented player for free, although I think the most likely case is that he gets a move in the summer, especially if he makes the World Cup roster and shows well on a global stage. Either way, his contract status and how it affects an eventual sale is something to watch, and not having him on a new or extended deal is a blow.
Torres Goes to Texas
While nothing is official yet, it looks like Facundo Torres will be coming back to Major League Soccer…to join Austin FC.
Now, it’s not that I necessarily wanted Torres to return to Orlando City. Marco Pasalic had a solid first year as his replacement, and given how one-footed they both are, there isn’t much chance of one of them moving to the left wing. It’s still going to be odd seeing him playing for Austin though —sort of like seeing your ex with a new significant other for the first time. Just because you don’t want them back doesn’t mean you don’t get a weird feeling about it. Plus, the $9.5 million fee is significantly less than the $25-30 million that was getting tossed around last week when he was linked with a move to Benfica. The Lions still stand to net around $1.4 million due to the sell-on fee that was negotiated when he was sold to Palmeiras, but if 15% of 30 million was on the table…well, you do the math. This is just a strange one all around, and I’m glad Orlando and Austin aren’t set to play each other this year.
There you have it, folks. I’ll see you back here next week, and hopefully we’ll have a lot of good things to talk over. Vamos Orlando!
Lion Links
Lion Links: 1/23/26
Inter&Co Stadium announces premium seating improvements, MLS transfer window changes, USWNT prepares for Paraguay, and more.
Happy Friday! This Florida winter has some whiplash in store for us, as temperatures are expected to rise this weekend before plunging again next week. I’ll be spending the weekend baking in preparation for a competition in a couple of weeks, but am hoping to enjoy the warm weather outdoors here and there as well. Let’s get to the links!
Inter&Co Stadium Upgrading Premium Seating
Changes are coming to Inter&Co Stadium’s premium seating options ahead of Orlando City’s and the Orlando Pride’s seasons. The West Club will have renovations, including an increase in its seating capacity and upgrades to its interior. The dining will also be revamped to focus on live cooking stations and all-inclusive selections. There will also be two open-air seating areas called Concourse Boxes added to the east side of the stadium. Sideline Social, a 245‑seat area with swivel seats and armrests, is also a new addition for 2026. While I don’t think I’ll be enjoying a game in this kind of comfort anytime soon, it’s nice to know what my options would be if I won the lottery.
MLS Announces Transfer Window Changes
MLS announced the transfer window dates and amendments to the league’s roster rules and regulations for the 2026 season. The secondary transfer window in the summer will now notably last through Sept. 2, which lines up with some of the world’s top leagues to help give MLS clubs a better opportunity to bring in players in the summer. The primary transfer window will run from Jan. 26 to March 26, with the roster compliance deadline date set for Feb. 20. Changes to the rules include removal of the limitations on how many times clubs can make cash for player trades and intraleague loans each season.
USWNT Gets Ready to Face Paraguay
The United States Women’s National Team will take on Paraguay on Saturday night in California in the first of two friendlies this month. This will be the third meeting between the two nations, with the U.S. beating Paraguay twice in September of 2021. While there are some notable names missing from Paraguay’s roster, it does include 18-year-old attacker Claudia Martinez. She scored six goals at last year’s Copa America Femenina and is reportedly joining the Washington Spirit for a $950,000 transfer fee. Following Saturday’s friendly, the USWNT will play Chile on Tuesday to close out its January camp.
Trinity Rodman Re-Signs With the Washington Spirit
The Washington Spirit signed American forward Trinity Rodman to a new contract that will last through 2028, ending one of the biggest sagas of the off-season regarding whether or not she would stay in the league. The deal will reportedly make Rodman the highest-paid women’s soccer player in the world. Selected by the Spirit with the second overall pick in the 2021 NWSL College Draft, Rodman was named Rookie of the Year and helped Washington win the NWSL Championship that year. Washington Spirit President of Soccer Operations Haley Carter, who left the Pride this off-season to join the Spirit, confirmed that the league’s new High Impact Player played a factor in the contract as well.
Keeping Up With the Europa League
The league phase of this year’s Europa League is nearing its conclusion and we’re getting a better idea on how the field will shake out. Aston Villa secured its spot in the round of 16 after a 1-0 win over Fenerbahce, with Jadon Sancho scoring the game’s only goal. Lyon is the only other team already through to the round of 16, winning 1-0 against Young Boys. Elsewhere across Europe, Niccolo Pisilli scored a brace in Roma’s 2-0 win over VfB Stuttgart, PAOK beat Real Betis 2-0 in Greece, and RB Salzburg stayed in contention with a 3-1 win over Basel.
Rangers and Nice finally won their first games of the tournament but were eliminated regardless. Celtic scored twice, went down to 10 men, and then held on for dear life in a 2-2 draw against Bologna. Despite its rollercoaster of a campaign, the Scottish side will qualify for the knockout phase with a victory against winless Utrecht next week.
Free Kicks
- Inter&Co Stadium is hosting Orlando Storm games for their inaugural season in the United Football League, and their season will kick off at home on March 29 against the Columbus Aviators.
- The New York Red Bulls are reportedly close to signing American goalkeeper Ethan Horvath from Cardiff City.
- Inter Miami signed goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo to a permanent deal after he spent last season on loan from Lanus in Argentina’s top flight. The 23-year-old replaced Oscar Ustari down the stretch for the Herons and started in the MLS Cup final.
- The Houston Dash signed goalkeeper Caroline DeLisle, who played collegiately at the University of Central Florida. DeLisle’s 31 shutouts are the most in UCF program history.
- Manchester United announced that Brazilian midfielder Casemiro will leave the club following this season. Signed by United in 2022, Casemiro scored 21 goals in 146 appearances and helped United win the 2024 FA Cup and 2023 EFL Cup.
- Schalke signed forward Edin Dzeko from Fiorentina, giving the club a boost up top as it aims for promotion. The 39-year-old should get some more playing time in Germany to prepare for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s World Cup qualifier against Wales in March.
- We’ll end our links with some Jeopardy!, since the game show had a category devoted to MLS. Not only did each contestant get at least one question correct, but there were no wrong answers. Kudos to them and best of luck playing along.
That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!
Orlando City
A Look at Left Back for Orlando City and the Orlando Pride
How does the left side of Orlando City’s and the Orlando Pride’s defense stack up?
Left back seems to be an issue for many teams in many leagues. Right backs are a dime a dozen. I suppose left-footed players are harder to come by, making good ones all the more valuable. There have been challenges for both Orlando City and the Orlando Pride when it comes to filling the role. Let’s look at the current state of things for both teams.
Orlando City
Oscar Pareja prefers to have one or both of his fullbacks move forward into the offense. For two years, Orlando City tried to have Rafael Santos shore up the left side of the back line. He was quick enough, and effective enough on offense to play the position in Pareja’s system. However, the results were mixed. It took Santos quite a bit of time each season to round into form, making him a liability early in the year. He would then start to show signs of improvement, even having the occasional excellent performance. Sadly, it wouldn’t last. He was inconsistent and eventually lost the starting role in 2025 to center back David Brekalo. He lost the starting role to a player whose primary position was not left back.
Brekalo was a defensive improvement over Santos, which Orlando City needed, but he was not as effective moving forward. The added problem of having him at left back was that it diminished the depth at center back. It forced Rodrigo Schlegel into the starting role, meaning you never knew if you were getting good Rodri or bad Rodri, but you were always guaranteed a booking. With his departure, it looks like Brekalo will have a chance to earn a starting spot next to Robin Jansson at center back.
That paves the way for Adrian Marin to assume the starting role at left back. Marin was brought in last season for that reason, but joining a club mid-season often presents challenges. As such, Pareja stuck with Brekalo more often than not. It will be Marin’s spot to lose. That puts Homegrown Tahir Reid-Brown as a potential back up, but Pareja might still utilize Brekalo if necessary. There is still a need for more depth.
Orlando Pride
Things are a little more stable on the Orlando Pride side of the ledger. Kerry Abello has been, and continues to be, the starting left back. Abello is a solid if not spectacular defender. After that, there are a bunch of right backs and a center back who can play on the left. Kylie Nadaner has player there but is more likely to be at center back. More importantly, she won’t be available until summer after her baby is born.
Oihane is the starting right back. Cori Dyke has also spent time as a backup on the left, but her natural position is on the right. The list of defenders who could play on the left also includes Hailie Mace, Zara Chavoshi, and Hannah Anderson. Again, none of these players are natural left backs. I know that Seb Hines loves players who are versatile, but perhaps a natural left back to challenge or at least back up Abello would be better. We will have to see what Caitlin Carducci has up her sleeve with all that money from the Emily Sams deal.
I know that my being left-handed has nothing to do with the lack of depth on the left side of the defense, but it still feels like right-handed bias. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Reading (Into) the Minutes: How The Pride Might Allocate Playing Time This Season
Likes and Dislikes from the Second Week of Orlando City Preseason
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