Orlando City went on the road on a Galaxy quest, and will fly back across the country with three points after a snatch-and-grab second-half performance earned the Lions a 2-1 victory. The Lions joined the Pride in defeating California opponents via that scoreline on Saturday, and in an even greater coincidence, both teams scored a goal on a penalty kick in the 76th minute. To quote another California icon, Ice Cube, it was a good day. Here are my five takeaways from the match.

Early Sluggishness Led to an Early Deficit

Orlando City certainly looked the part of an East Coast team playing at 10:30 p.m. with the players on their normal body clock to start the game, as LA dominated possession during the opening minutes and took advantage by scoring the game’s opening goal. To be fair, LA is a team that likes to have the ball (70%, 53% and 56% possession in the three preceding games, according to Opta’s tracking) and the official stats that Apple showed on the broadcast around 20 minutes into the first half indicated that the Galaxy had 60% of the possession during the opening portion of the game. The goal the Galaxy scored felt inevitable with how they, and Orlando, were playing, and it seemed that the goal jolted the Lions into waking up and getting into the game.

VAR taketh away, but then VAR giveth

There are no fan bases in the world, save perhaps fans of Duke men’s basketball, who think that referees are generally fair when it comes to making calls during their team’s games. That said, the fact that there was not even a trip to the monitor to review Christian Ramirez’s goal was hard to fathom. We do not get to see all the angles that the officials reviewing the play do, but with the angles that we were shown, it looked pretty clear that Ramirez was in an offside position. Referee Jon Freemon surprisingly did not go to the monitor, and the goal stood. As the game went on, it seemed like once again Orlando City was going to suffer from “PRO gonna PRO,” but then Eduard Atuesta (the Man of the Match in my eyes) was fouled in the box and the Lions received a penalty kick. It seemed certain that the call would be overturned, as the contact did not look significant and Orlando City historically has not benefitted — ever — from PRO reviews, but once again Freemon did not even go to the monitor and the penalty kick stood. Ojeda converted, and the Lions had new life.

The Left Side Was Not Right…Until it Was

Oscar Pareja made a double change in the 66th minute, removing both Iván Angulo and Rafael Santos, and he probably should have made that change even earlier. Aside from hustle, which both players showed in abundance, neither left-sided starter brought much else to the table and both were responsible for Ramirez’s goal via a complete lack of awareness of the run by Miki Yamane into the box. There were scary moments in the back throughout the time when Angulo and Santos were on the field, and while the Galaxy’s Gabriel Pec is an elite talent, he did not have to work especially hard to create some of his opportunities down the right side. The tracking at whoscored.com showed 40% of the Galaxy’s attacks were down the right side of the field, and it seemed like 100% during the minutes when Angulo and Santos were on the field. David Brekalo entered the game for Santos and took over as left back, and he played quite well in an unfamiliar role, helping to shore up the left side of the defense and give Pareja another lineup configuration to consider for future weeks.

Orlando May Soon Run on Duncan Again

Duncan McGuire played his longest shift of the season in this match, and while he did not get on the scoresheet, he looked almost back to the terrifying freight train of a striker that we have seen in purple for the last two seasons. His speed and power were there, and though his touch let him down, he still was getting himself into great positions and pulling the back line apart, and the touch will surely return soon as well. His entrance into the game allowed Muriel to drop into a central attacking role and pushed Ojeda out wide to the left, and the game really changed once that lineup was on the field together. The Lions took 10 of the game’s next 12 shots and scored two goals to take the lead.

Sometimes It Is Better To Be Lucky Than Good

I will admit that I did not think it was a good idea for Luis Muriel to shoot when taking the free kick that turned into the second goal, as I thought it would have been a much better idea to play a ball into the box and try to get a header or a shot off a pinball situation inside the box. Muriel went ahead and took a shot anyway, and there is no other way to say it than Orlando City received a gift, as Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy made a mess of the shot and let it drop into his net. Muriel struck the ball with pace, but it looked like while McCarthy’s positioning let him down a little bit, his hands let him down a lot. Perhaps the karmic gods were evening out Rodrigo Schlegel’s unfortunate touch from the season opener that gifted Philadelphia a goal, or perhaps Orlando City was just due for some luck, but either way, it was an unlikely goal. They all count the same though, and this one gave the Lions two on the scoreboard and then three in the points column.

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Those are my takeaways from a game that seemed headed for disappointment but then turned on its head with two late goals. Orlando City’s Designated Players added two more goals to their tally, as the M&Ms (Marco, Martín and Muriel) now have 11 between them. The team still leads the league in goals scored, and the Lions will have a chance to avenge their season-opening loss when they visit Philadelphia in their next match on April 5.

Let us know your thoughts about the match in the comments below.

Orlando City trailed 1-0 with a quarter of an hour to play on an LA Galaxy goal by Christian Ramirez that looked offside, but the Lions scored on a penalty in the 76th minute and got a fortunate bounce of the goalkeeper’s hands on a long-range free kick in the 90th to complete a 2-1 comeback win at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, CA. For Orlando City (3-2-1, 10 points), it was the first road win of the season (1-1-1) and it kept the Galaxy (0-4-2, 2 points) winless on the season.

Martin Ojeda scored a penalty kick drawn by Eduard Atuesta to level the game, and Luis Muriel’s hard, high free kick gave John McCarthy trouble in a Cardiac Cats finish, as Orlando’s Designated Players continue to score goals.

“I want to congratulate our players (on) the way they believed in the game,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match — his 200th with the club in all competitions. “We had a difficult assignment but their willingness to change the game, to dominate the game, and also to continue until the end, that was something that made us feel very optimistic. It was a great performance against a great team, and I really think that we played well. We used very well our spaces tonight, and I saw a lot of personality (from) the majority of our players.”

Pareja’s lineup saw the return of Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Alex Freeman. Cesar Araujo and Atuesta started in central midfield behind an attacking line of Ivan Angulo, Ojeda, and Marco Pasalic, with Muriel up top.

As expected, the team with the most completed passes in MLS saw most of the possession in the early going, making some probes into the area but not able to create much early.

However, it was Orlando that created the first dangerous moment with a clever run by Atuesta in the second minute. The Colombian sent in a dangerous cross intended for Muriel, but Zanka came sliding in to prevent a tap-in goal by Orlando.

After the Galaxy won a few corner kicks but did nothing with him, Freeman got an opportunity in the seventh minute. A good cross in from the left found the young fullback in front, but his header was right at McCarthy for the team’s only shot on target of the opening period. Considering the Galaxy came into the match with the Western Conference’s leakiest defense, it was a disappointing half by chance-creating standards for Orlando.

Atuesta was called for a foul a minute later, giving LA a free kick in a dangerous spot to the left just outside the box. A wicked bend on Diego Fagundez’s service nearly picked out the top right corner, forcing Gallese to tip it over the crossbar.

The Galaxy scored in the 14th minute on another play Pareja’s defense will want back. Gabriel Pec slipped in down the right behind Angulo and Santos, who were both caught flat-footed. A good ball just inches over Santos’ head found the LA winger, who sent a pass in front to Ramirez, who redirected it back against the grain and inside the right post, giving Gallese no chance to make the save. Ramirez appeared to be offside when Pec played the ball, and the video assistant referee looked at it but did not send referee Jon Freemon to the monitor and the goal stood.

The service, the finish! Christian Ramírez gives the @LAGalaxy the early lead.

📺 #MLSSeasonPass: https://t.co/aLwmjasxtI pic.twitter.com/xMc7WRnn70

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 30, 2025

Orlando started keeping the ball better after the goal, but couldn’t threaten the net much. Ojeda scuffed a shot attempt from the top of the area in the 19th minute. Moments later, Pasalic sent Muriel into the box, but the Colombian’s backheel pass did not fall into the path of a teammate, allowing LA to clear. Ojeda fired just off target from the top of the box on the left in the 21st minute, as the lack of final precision continued for Orlando.

Pasalic and Santos sent in crosses too close to the keeper in the 35th and 37th minutes, respectively, though the Croatian’s was deflected by Fagundez.

The Galaxy nearly scored a second in the 38th minute when Santos was bodied off the ball hard, giving space for Pec to smash a shot that Gallese fought off for a save. Fagundez jumped on the rebound at the top of the box and fired off the left post.

That was the last decent look of the half for either side in a half that saw the Lions with no lethality in the attack and several individual defensive lapses and turnovers in the defensive half.

Orlando City finished the first half with more possession (51.9%-48.1%), owing to a prolonged spell after the Galaxy scored. However, the hosts finished with the advantage in shots (5-4), shots on target (2-1), corners (4-0), and passing accuracy (85.8%-85.3%).

“In the first part of the game, probably 15-20 minutes, we had trouble with managing the spaces,” Pareja said. “They were using that double pivot with (Edwin) Cerillo and (Isaiah Parente). They were doing a great job on using that space. And we had to make a couple modifications to the way we want it. And then we just controlled much more our half and started getting our sequences cleaner, and our team grow in that part.”

As happened in the first half, the Galaxy came out with more energy to start the second period. The Lions looked to be in trouble in the 49th minute in transition when Schlegel got caught trying to catch the Galaxy offside. Instead, Pec chased the ball down the right side with an open teammate to his left. Santos got to the ball at the same time, and Pec shoved him down, with both players going to ground. Orlando was fortunate to concede only a corner because Pec couldn’t get the ball to make the final pass.

On the ensuing corner, Ramirez shook free of Freeman but got under his header, putting it high over the bar. Moments later, LA couldn’t pay off a dangerous free kick conceded by Araujo just outside the left corner of the box.

Pasalic got his foot to an aerial ball that was headed on by Santos in the 58th minute off a set piece but the Croatian couldn’t steer it on frame. Moments later, Angulo played Atuesta in behind but the flag came up quickly and McCarthy came out and snuffed out the play anyway.

Pareja made two substitutions that changed the game in the 66th minute, sending Duncan McGuire and David Brekalo on for Angulo and Santos. The two replacement lifted the team’s energy, with Brekalo handling Pec’s forays down LA’s attacking right and McGuire stretching the Galaxy back line. That allowed players like Atuesta to get forward to join the attack and it changed the team’s fortunes in just a few minutes.

“Those two substitutions were a game changer,” Pareja said. “What I see was the energy that they brought to us in a moment that we needed it the most. David (was) in a position that is not usual for him. I thought he came from behind and supported us, and at the same time, he just gave us stability defensively. Duncan, he can stretch those defenders.”

Moments after Miki Yamane fired over the bar from outside the area, Pasalic got loose for a shot near the right corner of the box at the other end. This time, the Croatian put his shot on frame, but the near post try was a comfortable save for McCarthy.

Ramirez fired wide off the recycle of an LA corner in the 70th minute, but the Lions started looking more dangerous in transition.

Atuesta got into the top of the box in the 73rd minute and it changed the match. While doing a stepover to tryto beat Yamane, the defender caught Atuesta’s foot. The midfielder went down and Freemon pointed to the spot, awarding a penalty. The foul was reviewed by video assistant referee Michael Radchuk, who upheld the call on the field.

“I was in the area. I think he wanted to be too aggressive on the ball and he stepped on my feet,” Atuesta said. “So, I feel the contact, and it was a penalty. David (Brekalo) came in so good, winning duels, and he helped a lot. And I felt good at that moment with a little bit more freedom to attack.”

Ojeda stepped to the spot, slowed his approach just before reaching the ball on a long run-up, waited for McCarthy to commit to his left, and passed the ball into the back of the net to tie the game in the 76th minute. With his fourth goal of the season, the Argentine has already equaled his 2024 regular-season goal total.

Martín Ojeda equalizes from the spot! pic.twitter.com/DNxhyJEkrq

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 30, 2025

The Lions’ mood visibly changed after Ojeda drew the team level. Just three minutes after tying the game, Orlando came within inches of the lead. Atuesta blasted a shot from outside the area that struck the right post. The ball caromed to McGuire who sent a diving header that he couldn’t keep down. The ball sailed harmlessly over the goal. Moments later, Ojeda was sent down the left by Muriel and the Lions’ No. 10 sent a beautiful ball to send McGuire down the right. McGuire scuffed his shot and it skipped wide of the left post in the 82nd minute.

Pareja used the stoppage to send Dagur Dan Thorhallsson on for Pasalic. The Lions kept on coming after the restart. Atuesta smashed a shot in the 83rd minute that was blocked out front by the defense. A minute later, Freeman scuffed a shot attempt from the right side, with the Galaxy defense scrambling to knock it behind for a corner.

On the ensuing set piece, the ball was sent from the left corner to the right top corner of the box, where it found Muriel. The Colombian fizzed a shot that got through all the traffic out front but skipped just wide of the left post.

In the 87th minute, Thorhallsson sent in a good cross to McGuire. Under pressure from his defender, the big striker couldn’t direct his header on frame. Two minutes later, the Icelandic midfielder/fullback changed the game.

Making a good run through the LA defense and into the attacking third, Thorhallsson drew a foul from behind on Parente, who picked up a yellow card for the challenge. Muriel stood over the ball. With numbers forward in the box, Muriel opted to fire for goal from distance. His shot arced over the LA wall and was dipping below the crossbar. McCarthy leaped up to knock it over his crossbar or catch it, but misplayed the shot. The ball squirted through McCarthy’s fingers and behind him, bouncing into the goal to put Orlando ahead in the 90th minute.

It was Muriel’s third goal of the season, just two shy of the five he had all of last season. It was also his sixth goal contribution on the season, which is half as many as he had throughout 2024.

Luis Muriel puts @OrlandoCitySC ahead with moments remaining in the match! pic.twitter.com/4jaeKzXJYj

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 30, 2025

Orlando City saw out the five minutes of stoppage time, plus about one additional minute, with only a Parente shot over the bar from distance to deal with, claiming a wild comeback road victory.

At the end of the match, the Lions held the advantage in possession (51.3%-48.7%), shots (15-10), and shots on target (4-2). LA finished with more corners (6-2) and slightly better passing accuracy (87.2%-86.9%).

“We are very happy, because we worked very hard to get the result,” Atuesta said. “Here is not an easy place to come and win when you have to fly a across the country. We had to work the game, be intelligent. We knew some time in the game we’re going to manage the game to win, to get more chances. “

“Coming here to LA and getting these three points is giving us much more hope on keep adding points in very difficult places,” Pareja said. “So, a lot of confidence for us (from) these three points. The performance itself, I think, which makes us feel that we’re growing. Now we will be ready to prepare for the next one against another tough rival in our conference.”

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The Lions will conclude their road trip a week from tonight with a match against the Philadelphia union at Subaru Park in Chester, PA.

Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (2-2-1, 7 points) and the LA Galaxy (0-3-2, 2 points). This is the only scheduled meeting between the two clubs from opposite conferences this season.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.

History

The Lions are 4-3-0 against LA in MLS play, but have only met twice since 2019. Orlando is 1-2-0 on the road against the Galaxy, although the Lions won in their last trip to Carson, CA back in March of 2022 (more on that below).

The teams last met on April 29, 2023 at Exploria Stadium, with Orlando City winning 2-0 on goals by Ercan Kara and Facundo Torres. Current Orlando starting right back Alex Freeman made his MLS debut in that match.

Orlando City and LA last met at Dignity Health Sports Park on March 19, 2022 and the Lions won their first match ever in the state of California, 1-0. Torres scored his first career MLS goal on a header off a beautiful Kara cross for the game’s only goal. Pedro Gallese set a new club record with his 14th clean sheet across all competitions.

The Galaxy came to Exploria Stadium and got a smash-and-grab 1-0 win on May 24, 2019. Jonathan dos Santos provided the game’s only goal in the opening 20 minutes, with the Lions out-shooting the Galaxy 19-4 (7-1 on target).

Before 2019, the home team had won all four prior meetings. In Orlando’s visit to LA in 2018, the Lions fell 4-3 after blowing the lead three times. It was a case of too much Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who figured in every goal, notching his first MLS hat trick and adding an assist. Cristian Higuita and Dom Dwyer scored for Orlando and Sacha Kljestan forced an own goal by Michael Ciani with a pass intended for Yoshimar Yotún.

Back in 2017, the Lions prevailed 2-1 in Orlando. Will Johnson and Cyle Larin provided the offense to offset a goal by Romain Alessandrini.

The Galaxy captured the lone 2016 contest, 4-2. Giovani Dos Santos scored twice as LA put together four straight goals to erase a 1-0 deficit provided by Kevin Molino. Alan Gordon and Robbie Keane scored the other two Galaxy goals. Brek Shea tacked on a cosmetic goal late for Orlando.

The Lions won 4-0 at home in 2015 in the first meeting against the then-defending champions. It was Orlando City’s first-ever home win in MLS. Eric Avila, Larin, Kaká and Darwin Ceren found the net for the Lions and Tally Hall got a shutout in his first Orlando City appearance.

Overview

Orlando City continues to score goals, but the defense played arguably its best 90-minute stretch of the season a week ago in the Lions’ 4-1 destruction of D.C. United. All three Designated Players — Luis Muriel, Martin Ojeda, and Marco Pasalic (I’m just going to start calling them the M&Ms to save time) — scored in that game, marking the first such occasion that has happened in club history. Freeman provided the other goal that night. The Lions entered the weekend leading MLS in goals (13) and assists (15).

Unfortunately, while the offense has been hot, the defense has decidedly been…not. The stoppage-time goal United tacked on to spoil the shutout a week ago was the 11th Orlando has conceded in 2025 through five matches, which is one shy of Toronto’s league-worst 12. The Lions will be looking for their first road win of the year after going 0-1-1 against the two New York teams in consecutive weeks prior to the D.C. match.

The defending champion Galaxy have struggled out of the gate, whether due to players missing, featuring in Concacaf Champions Cup, or both reasons. LA has conceded 10 goals in five matches and has scored just four times this season. So, only two teams have conceded more goals than the Galaxy, while just three clubs have scored fewer goals than LA. The Galaxy are yet to win or even draw at home (0-2-0) in 2025, however, the defending champs have scored three of their four goals in the last two matches, while earning their first two points of the season in those games, so that may be a sign of things starting to turn around for Greg Vanney’s side.

Striker Christian Ramirez has half of LA’s four goals and has found the net in each of the last two matches, so he’ll be a threat for tonight’s hosts. Orlando has struggled to contain Ramirez in the past. Gabriel Pec is another threat. Though he’s scored just once this season, Pec is averaging five shots per match, so he’s getting opportunities. He has tallied 13 shots in his last three games, along with his goal and an assist.

The Galaxy will get offensive chances. LA leads the league in passes completed, averaging more than 500 per game. Compared to Orlando’s 373 per match, that’s a lot. LA will have the ball, because the Galaxy are also second in MLS in passing accuracy (88.9%). Orlando will look to attack in transition. Although the Lions don’t string together nearly as many passes, they are second in the league in shot attempts (82) and third in shots on target (31), while leading MLS in key passes (68).

“The positive part of our last game is not just winning the game but scoring the goals. It gives us the opportunity now to raise our confidence and go to Los Angeles, a place that we don’t frequently go to, and play against a team who did a great job last year,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “Now we’re competing in a very good, demanding match, and we will be ready for it. We are trying to get the details on the game and try to get a good performance and a good result for us too.”

Orlando City will be without Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), Yutaro Tsukada (knee), Nico Rodriguez (thigh), and Favian Loyola (thigh). The Galaxy’s game notes indicate no LA players are suspended or on international duty, but the club does not list injuries there, and as of this writing, the MLS availability report for the weekend had not yet published. Galaxy players who missed the team’s last match include Mauricio Cuevas (hamstring), Joseph Paintsil (quad), Riqui Puig (knee), and Lucas Sanabria (collar bone). Marco Reus (knee) and John Nelson (thigh) were listed as questionable at Minnesota but neither dressed.

Match Content

• The latest episode of The Mane Land PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for the game.
• David Rohe provided his three keys to victory for Orlando City in this matchup.

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Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Alex Freeman.

Defensive Midfielders: Cesar Araujo, Eduard Atuesta.

Attacking Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, Marco Pasalic.

Forward: Luis Muriel.

Bench: Javier Otero, Kyle Smith, David Brekalo, Colin Guske, Joran Gerbet, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Gustavo Caraballo, Ramiro Enrique, Duncan McGuire.

LA Galaxy (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: John McCarthy.

Defenders: Julian Aude, Maya Yoshida, Zanka, Miki Yamane.

Midfielders: Edwin Cerrillo, Isaiah Parente, Tucker Lepley.

Forwards:  Diego Fagundez, Christian Ramirez, Gabriel Pec.

Bench: Novak Micovic, Eriq Zavaleta, Ruben Ramos Jr., Harbor Miller, Elijah Wynder, Emiro Garces, Joseph Paintsil, Miguel Berry, Matheus Nascimento.

Referees

REF: Jon Freemon.
AR1: Stefan Tanaka-Freundt.
AR2: Kevin Lock.
4TH: Gerald Flores.
VAR: Michael Radchuk.
AVAR: Fabio Tovar.

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How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30p.m.

Venue: Dignity Health Sports Park — Carson, CA.

TV/Live Stream: 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 along at our Bluesky Social account (@themaneland.bsky.social), as well as Orlando City’s official Twitter feed (@OrlandoCitySC).

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Enjoy the match! Go City!