Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Minnesota United: Player Grades and Man of the Match
So close, and yet so far. If not for a wonky deflection from a long throw-in and an unfortunate (but correct) offside call, Orlando very well could have snuck out of Minnesota with three points in the bag.
Instead a point will have to do, and while I certainly would have taken a draw before the game if it had been offered to me (Minnesota has only lost once at home all year), the fact that Toronto, Montreal and New England all could only manage draws definitely made it feel like a missed opportunity. Anyway, on to my grades.
Starters
GK, Brian Rowe, 7.5 (MotM) — When it came to shot stopping, Rowe had about the best night he could have had. He saved five of the six shots he faced, and probably had no right to make two of them, parrying a close-range Darwin Quintero shot out of the danger area and getting a strong right glove to another close shot in the second half from Robin Lod. He was absolutely helpless on the goal, and while his distribution wasn’t the best on the night, without the two excellent saves he made Orlando wouldn’t have even sniffed the point it eventually brought home from Minnesota.
D, Kamal Miller, 6 — It was a solid if unspectacular night from Miller at left back. He grew into the game as the first half went on, even after getting nutmegged by Ethan Finlay. He played a particularly smart pass in the 34th minute to release Benji Michel down the wing, but lost his man at the back post just before halftime and was lucky that the Lions didn’t concede because of it. He’s done well deputizing out wide, but the team has missed the width that Joao Moutinho is usually capable of providing.
D, Robin Jansson, 7 — Jansson was his usual composed and steady self in the center of defense. In the opening minutes of the match he did exceptionally well to pull back and hold the defensive line, catching his man offside in the process. He also made a number of clearances on balls played into the box and was very unlucky to have the goal come as a result of a deflection off his body.
D, Lamine Sané, 7 — Sané too provided exactly what we’ve come to expect from him this year — a solid and steady presence at the center back position. He passed the ball particularly well with an 88% connection rate on his passes, won two aerial duels, and, like his partner Jansson, he cleared the ball on a number of occasions. He even had a successful dribble to top off his well-rounded night.
D, Kyle Smith, 5.5 — Perhaps I’m nitpicking but for me Smith didn’t have the best night. The thing is, he played pretty well defensively, making a pair of tackles and blocking several would-be balls into the box. The problem for me came on the offensive side of the ball. He generally did a good job of getting forward but there were a couple occasions where his final ball into the box was lacking and sloppy passes led to the dissolution of at least two Orlando City attacks/spells of possession in the offensive half. I thought he improved after halftime and maybe his grade being low is simply because of how dangerous Ruan typically is on the right side of defense.
MF, Will Johnson, 6.5 — It was a fairly quiet night for Johnson. He made several good tackles on the edge of the box and passed at a great 89% rate, while doing a good job of clogging things up in the middle of the field. He began to tire in the second half though, which is rather understandable considering he spent his time on the field running as hard as he always does. His influence waned with his legs though, and James O’Connor was probably smart not to keep him on the field for the full 90.
MF, Nani, 6.5 — To be honest, this is a grade that I struggled with. For a lot of the first half Nani was marked quite tightly and it showed. He only had a 73% passing rate and was dispossessed on three occasions, and while he won a duel in the air he didn’t look as sharp as many of us are accustomed to seeing. With that being said he was much better in the second half after moving to his more comfortable wing position. He was also clever to get his body in front of Ike Opara to win the penalty kick and was equally calm when it came to slotting it away in the bottom corner. Hopefully the introduction of Mauricio Pereyra will mean the burden of creative duties is lessened.
MF, Sebas Mendez, 7 — Mendez was his typical self in defensive midfield. He did an excellent job of breaking up Minnesota attacks, recording four tackles in the process. He also had a passing accuracy of 93% and even managed to win an aerial duel — no mean feat when you’re listed at 5-foot-7. In general it was a good night for him, despite some loose passes in his own end, and, while he didn’t necessarily do anything spectacular, when you play the position he does, the less your name is called the better.
F, Benji Michel, 7 —I quite like what I’ve seen out of Michel for most of his time on the field this year and tonight was no different. He was lively and eager to run at defenders every chance he got, with three successful dribbles to show for it. On one of those dribbles he probably should have passed the ball wide to Robinho rather than having a shot at goal, but that sort of decision making should come as he matures. It was by no means a perfect game but he looked the most dangerous of the starting front three.
F, Dom Dwyer, 6 — It wasn’t the best night for Dom. While he won four aerial duels, much of what he was asked to do involved going up against center backs with a height advantage to try and win balls lofted out from the back. Still, he found himself in good positions on several occasions but was unable to get off a shot on the night. His passing accuracy of 60% also left quite a bit to be desired, and while he fought hard, it wasn’t a surprise to see his name come up on the substitutes board when it did.
F, Robinho, 6.5 — Perhaps y’all will disagree but I thought Robinho played rather well for the half that he was on the field. He completed two dribbles, made two tackles, passed at an 84% clip, and did exceptionally well to intercept a ball in the 37th minute, run at the defense and play a dangerous ball into the area. However, the Lions were in need of a formation change after halftime and him coming off for Mauricio Pereyra meant that Nani was able to play out wide where he’s more comfortable. It hurt my heart to see him being consoled on the sideline and he clearly still wanted to be out on the field trying to bring home three points.
Substitutes
MF, Mauricio Pereyra (46’), 6.5 — Pereyra came on for his Orlando City debut after halftime, replacing Robinho and slotting into the midfield. While he didn’t do anything especially spectacular, he did vital work pressing the ball and marking well through the center of the field. In addition he made a great tackle on the edge of the Loons’ box to keep the ball with Orlando, and completed a nifty little dribble out wide in the 88th minute to keep possession near midfield. He worked a nice give-and-go with Tesho Akindele deep in stoppage time that initially won a penalty until video review showed the Canadian was just offside.
F, Tesho Akindele (63’), 6.5 — Tesho had a much easier time of it when it came to hold-up play simply because he’s a bigger guy than Dwyer is, and he provided a better outlet that was sorely needed as the game wore on. He also showed absolutely fantastic awareness to play a first-time ball for Nani at midfield that sent him in behind the Minnesota defense and eventually resulted in him winning the penalty. He was disgustingly unlucky to be offside in the 94th minute, which negated a handball in the Loons’ box. He had a positive impact on the game overall though, and looks more and more like an extremely astute purchase.
MF, Carlos Ascues (78’), 6 — Ascues came on for Will Johnson to provide fresh legs in the middle of the field and help shut up shop for the remainder of the game. For the most part he did just that, clearing the ball several times and hassling Minnesota as the Loons tried to start attacks through the middle of the field. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get up high enough to prevent Ike Opara from flicking on the long throw on which Orlando conceded. Still, it was a solid cameo from the Peruvian.
That’s how I saw things from the match. Please let us know your vote for the Man of the Match in the poll below.
Polling Closed
| Player | Votes |
| Nani | 3 |
| Brian Rowe | 90 |
| Lamine Sane | 2 |
| Robin Jansson | 6 |
| Sebas Mendez | 1 |
| Someone else | 1 |
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC: Final Score 4-0 as Lions End Road Trip with Blowout Loss
The Lions’ playoff hopes are in trouble after another poor road performance.
Orlando City was wasteful in front of goal and terrible in the defensive end once again in a costly 4-0 loss to Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium this afternoon. The Lions (12-14-7, 43 points) will rue the missed opportunities that could have helped them stay in the game, but two unnecessarily conceded set pieces, an early second-half goal, and another late strike gave Charlotte (15-10-8, 53 points) a comfortable home win.
It was a result reminiscent of the 0-3-0 start to the season that saw Oscar Pareja depart as head coach.
Henry Kessler, Allan Saint-Maximin, Abdoulaye Doucouré, and Rodolfo Aloko did the damage on the scoreboard for the hosts, who finished a man down after a late red card for a brainless obscene gesture toward Wilder Cartagena. Charlotte FC got its first-ever home win against the Lions in the regular season in emphatic fashion.
“Very disappointed in the result in this moment,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said after the game. “We do the best that we can. Sometimes it is not enough. It’s not good enough. Like today, we are the first ones aware of that.”
Perelman rotated little from the squad that blew a 2-0 lead and drew 2-2 at Chicago in the midweek, despite most of that starting XI playing either all 90 minutes or the vast majority of those minutes. Maxime Crepeau started in goal behind a back line of Vinicius Nogueira, Cartagena — deputizing for the suspended David Brekalo — Iago, and Zakaria Taifi. Braian Ojeda and Luis Otavio played in central midfield between wingers Ivan Angulo and Marco Pasalic, with Martin Ojeda and Antoine Griezmann up top.
Each team got an early spell of possession in the opening minutes, with the best opportunity being a blast from Pasalic on the right that forced a good diving save from Kristijan Kahlina.
But then the Lions handed Charlotte an easy opening goal. Braian Ojeda committed a foul he had no reason to commit against Saint-Maximin near the left corner of the box. Ashley Westwood sent in a good cross to a completely unmarked Kessler, who simply nodded his free header down and past Crepeau for a simple goal and a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute.
“I think today they were ready on 90 minutes, and we lacked focus those moments of execution and mental focus on the set piece,” Crepeau said. “Free header, where we knew that they were going to play those sorts of balls between me and the defenders. It’s a free header when nobody is around. It’s unacceptable, because it’s just mental focus at that point.”
“It’s a mistake that we shouldn’t commit when you play this type of game at this stage on the road. Against these opponents, it’s hard.”
That was the 75th goal conceded by Orlando City in 2026, which set a new club single-season record — not a mark the Lions wanted to set, but nothing has changed in the way the team has defended all year. They went on to concede goals nos. 76, 77, and 78 before the final whistle.
Charlotte got a chance to make it 2-0 just moments later when Liel Abada got his shot blocked in the 10th minute. Djibril Diani collected the rebound and sent a soft shot skipping wide. Charlotte kept the ball for a spell and created a good opportunity in the 20th minute when a cross in from Orlando’s defensive left found Idan Toklomati in front alone, but he couldn’t get any power on the header, giving Crepeau some catching practice.
Martin Ojeda took a cutback pass from Angulo in the 22nd minute in good position on the left, but with Kessler closing fast, the Argentine had only enough time to toe poke it toward goal with his weaker right foot and Kahlina made a comfortable stop.
Saint-Maximin was permitted to run straight down the right channel with the ball in the 24th minute but Iago was able to block his shot.
Through the middle of the first half, the Lions looked discombobulated, not creating anything and often turning the ball over after crossing midfield. During that spell, Charlotte didn’t create a lot either, but that didn’t stop Iago from committing a clumsy challenge and then demonstrably disagree with the call to earn a yellow card in the 25th minute, suspending him for the season finale against New England with the Lions already short of bodies on the back line. Both the foul and the reaction were unnecessary and emblematic of the Brazilian’s lack of discipline during his first season in Orlando.
Toklomati was poorly marked on a corner in the 27th minute but couldn’t get his header down, sending it high over the bar.
With so few looks at goal to that point in the game, Braian Ojeda tried a hopeful shot from a long way out in the 34th minute but sent it wide of the right post. A minute later, Martin Ojeda took a pass in the center at the top of the box but Westwood blocked his shot and it hit the Argentine’s arm on the rebound, ending the threat.
A Saint-Maximin cross cleared Iago in the 37th minute but about a foot too far in front of Abada at a wide-open back post.
The Lions closed the half looking a bit better and with more urgency. Angulo won a set piece from distance in the closing minutes and Griezmann sent a good curling cross in front of goal. Otavio couldn’t make good contact with it in the air, knocking it off Iago’s chest and down in front of goal, where it hit the right post. The rebound came back to Iago, but he sent it wide of the same post.
The last good look of the half for either side fell to Orlando in the 44th minute. A ball across the box deflected through everyone in front and fell to Pasalic on the right. The Croatian had a defender closing, so he fired a hard shot with his weaker right foot and sent it just wide and into the outside netting.
At the break, the Lions held the edge in possession (51.5%-48.5%), shots (10-7), shots on target (3-2), and passing accuracy (89.9%-88.7%), with Charlotte winning more corners (3-2). The difference was that Orlando was punished for shoddy set piece defending on a free kick that shouldn’t have been conceded while lacking clinical finishing on two excellent chances.
Perelman sent Eduard Atuesta and Adrian Marin on for Otavio and Nogueira at the break.
The changes didn’t help, and Orlando allowed Charlotte an easy second goal right just moments after the restart. Saint-Maximim came right down the center. Orlando’s back line dropped back to stay with the passing options while Pasalic jogged behind. With no pressure on him, the forward blasted a shot just inside the left post to make it 2-0 in the 49th minute.
“We tried to adjust for the second half, and then the second half again it’s opened by I think a sequence very difficult, and then the game is is hard, and we couldn’t perform as we should,” Perelman said.
“He’s dribbling at our defense. He has a fake shot and we (commit) a bit fast, and then he has an open shot, I think right above the box, and he smashes it,” Crepeau said. “And those moments are difficult. When it’s right around a restart, it’s difficult for us to absorb that, and it hurt us.”
Orlando could have pulled that second goal right back two minutes later. A ball played centrally in front from the left was cleared only as far as Braian Ojeda in the box. The midfielder had time and space but sent a soft shot at the goalkeeper.
Martin Ojeda tried a volley effort in the 55th minute on the left side but he didn’t hit the shot well and it sliced wide of the left post. Five minutes later, it was Pasalic making a mess of a shot, sending a left-footed effort wide from the top of the box in the middle.
Perelman sent attacking subs on down the stretch to try to claw back into the game, but without having to go forward, Charlotte was content to stay organized and look for counterattacking opportunities. That made it difficult to find space for chance creation and made for some nervy defensive moments. Iago was caught cheating forward to maintain possession, allowing an odd-man break in the 66th minute but a heavy touch and an offside flag prevented further damage at that time. A minute later, Pep Biel cut in from the left and blasted a shot from distance that crashed off the crossbar behind Crepeau.
Kahlina made a brilliant save in the 70th minute that won’t count, after Griezmann’s free kick found Adrian Marin for a flicked header. Kahlina made the diving save but Marin was offside anyway.
Crepeau kept things from getting worse (for the moment) in the 74th minute, getting down to deflect a cross that would have given Charlotte an easy tap-in goal at the back post.
Martin Ojeda’s header went straight at Kahlina a minute later, and seconds after that, the Argentine, looking like he felt every one of the 256 minutes he played during the last eight days, fizzed a shot over the crossbar.
Griezmann fired an acrobatic volley shot in the 77th minute as Orlando kept trying to cut into the lead. Kahlina, who might become the latest Orlando City opponent to win Player of the Matchday honors in a season filled with such occurrences, made yet another diving stop. Griezmann sent a low shot a minute later off a cross into the box that bounced in front, but Kahlina squeezed his knees together and made the block. The ball popped high into the air, with Daryl Dike soaring over the defense to get to it, however, the big striker jumped too early and Charlotte survived the rebound.
Charlotte put the game to bed a few minutes later on a play that started with an Orlando corner kick. Griezmann sent a ball in that found its way to the top of the area. There were no Lions in a spot where you’d normally expect at least one attacker, but Eduard Atuesta had run from the middle to the left inviting a short corner to be played. Perhaps someone missed an assignment on the set play, but Charlotte broke with numbers the other way.
Angulo caught up with Aloko as the two men entered the box, but a heavy touch was taking the Charlotte forward wide on the right. Angulo applied pressure from behind and unnecessarily made contact from behind that referee Victor Rivas felt was too heavy (it was), awarding Charlotte a penalty. Saint-Maximin took the spot kick, sending it toward the left post. Crepeau made the save, but he couldn’t control the rebound.
Doucouré was easily the first to the ball, slotting home the hosts’ third goal in the 84th minute as three different Charlotte attackers were quick to get into the box while Orlando players were caught flat-footed.
“He has a lot of penalties under his belt throughout his career, so I knew I just needed to hold a bit longer to make him choose a side, basically,” Crepeau said. “And I was able to go to the right side, and we were not able to follow up on the rebound. And 3-0 was the goal that hurt us, because at 2-0 you still believe a little bit and the three, 10, maybe 15 minutes before the end hurts us a lot.”
With the outcome all but official at that point, things took a weird turn in the 89th minute, when Rivas went to the monitor to review something that happened off the ball. Saint-Maximin had been chirping with Cartagena and grabbed his crotch. Rivas sent the Charlotte attacker off for making an obscene gesture, though it was too late to impact the match. In fact, instead of Orlando spoiling Kahlina’s shutout, the Lions meekly failed to even threaten to get a shot away and the hosts added a goal in stoppage time. With three defenders tracking Biel’s run, no one bothered to even look at Aloko, who took a cross from Tyger Smalls and beat Crepeau while Marin bathed in all the space in which he was defending no one.
The final whistle was a mercy to an Orlando City side that has slipped into the play-in game positions.
At full time, Orlando held a deceptive statistical advantage. The Lions led in possession (51.1%-48.9%), shots (17-14), shots on target (7-6), and passing accuracy (87%-85.3%). Both teams finished with four corner kicks.
“We don’t like this result. We don’t like this way,” Perelman said. “This is not the way we want. But we will, for sure, like we did it in the past, we will recover ourselves, and we will prepare (for) the next one, because this team started the season in a really difficult situation, went through very difficult moments, and was very resilient. So, this is not going to be the exception for us, and we’re going to be ready for next one.”
“We know what’s happening at the moment,” Crepeau said. “We need a win against New England. That being said, today is not acceptable for every player that got rostered. It’s not good enough. A lot of people deserve better than what we have put out there today. That’s the reality of things.”
The Lions end the regular season with a terrible 3-10-4 road record, having not won away from home since Sept. 9, going 0-3-2 away and conceding 17 goals (3.4 goals against per match) in that span. If they squeak into the postseason, the road is where they’ll be, so that’s not a great sign. It was also the first time Orlando City has been shut out in a game since May and ended Griezmann’s five-game goal-scoring streak.
Orlando City dropped to ninth place and awaits results from the New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC on Sunday. If both teams lose, they would be unable to catch Orlando on points on Decision Day. The Red Bulls are at Nashville, which has already clinched the Supporters’ Shield, while Toronto visits lowly 14th-place Atlanta.
The Lions return home for their regular-season finale against the high-flying New England Revolution a week from today.
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions head to Charlotte looking for an elusive road win after blowing late leads in the last two away matches.
Welcome to your match preview and live thread for a Saturday matinee matchup between Orlando City (12-13-7, 43 points) and Charlotte FC (14-10-8, 50 points) at Inter.co Stadium (1 p.m., Apple TV). This is the second of the two games on the slate between the Eastern Conference rivals in 2026.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.
History
The Lions are 5-1-3 in the regular-season series and 7-3-3 in all competitions against Charlotte. Orlando City is 1-0-3 on the road in the regular season and 1-2-3 away across all competitions against the North Carolina-based side.
Orlando got its biggest win in the series in the most recent meeting, a 4-1 home win for the Lions on April 22. The Lions rode a big second half to the victory after Luis Otavio and Morrison Agyemang traded first-half goals. Martin Ojeda notched a brace after halftime and Ignacio Gomez scored his first MLS goal to add some late insurance.
The teams last met in Charlotte on July 5, 2025, playing to a 2-2 draw at Bank of America Stadium. The hosts took a 2-0 lead on goals by Pep Biel and Bill Tuiloma, but Ramiro Enrique and Marco Pasalic brought the Lions back to earn a point on the road.
Earlier in the 2025 campaign, the teams met on May 14 in Orlando, with Luis Muriel and Ojeda giving the Lions a 2-0 lead inside the game’s first 25 minutes. Wilfried Zaha pulled the visitors within a goal before the break, making for a tight second half, but Enrique’s late goal put the game to bed in Orlando City’s 3-1 home win.
Prior to 2025, the teams met in the first round of the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs. Orlando City claimed two of the three matches, winning the first outright, dropping the second on penalties after a late goal was called offside in the buildup, and advancing after a penalty shootout win following the third match of the best-of-three series.
On Nov. 9, 2024, Facundo Torres’ penalty late in stoppage time canceled out a Karol Swiderski goal and sent the deciding third match to penalties with a 1-1 score. Pedro Gallese made two saves and Orlando City won the shootout 4-1, advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The teams played eight days before that in Charlotte, without either side scoring in normal time, as Torres’ strike was disallowed for offside on Nico Lodeiro on Muriel’s through ball. Charlotte won the ensuing penalty shootout 3-1 after the scoreless draw to tie the series at 1-1. That followed Orlando City’s 2-0 home win the previous Sunday. Torres and Ojeda scored the goals on either side of halftime to lead the Lions to the Game 1 win. It was the first time Orlando scored more than one goal in an MLS playoff game.
The teams met a month and a half prior to their first playoff meeting on Sept. 18 in Orlando. The Lions got second-half goals from Torres and Duncan McGuire to win 2-0, claiming the first multiple-goal win in the series. The teams also met on June 19, 2024, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and played to a 2-2 draw. The hosts struck first with an early Kerwin Vargas goal and the Lions pulled one back through McGuire in the second half. But despite Charlotte going down a man on Scott Arfield’s red card, Brandt Bronico restored the hosts’ lead shortly after McGuire’s strike. Torres struck back moments later but the Lions could not find a winner on the road.
The previous match was also a draw at Bank of America Stadium, finishing 1-1 on Aug. 30, 2023. Enzo Copetti’s late penalty appeared to wrap things up for the hosts on a rainy night in Charlotte, but Ojeda’s seeing-eye set piece equalized just before stoppage time as the teams split the points.
Charlotte claimed a 1-0 “home” victory in U.S. Open Cup play on May 9 of that year. That game took place at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex in Matthews, NC, rather than at the club’s regular stadium. The first matchup of the 2023 season didn’t go any better for Orlando City, finishing as a 2-1 Charlotte win at Exploria Stadium on March 18. Copetti and Vargas put Charlotte up 2-0 by halftime. Ojeda pulled one back, but the Lions were wasteful in front of goal and couldn’t pull level.
In 2022, the teams met at Bank of America Stadium on Aug. 21. After a scoreless first half, Ercan Kara put the Lions ahead on the road, only to see McKinze Gaines equalize just four minutes later. Tesho Akindele’s late goal lifted Orlando to a 2-1 victory.
Orlando City won the first-ever meeting between the sides on April 30, 2022, at Exploria Stadium. Ruan scored the opening goal and set up Torres on the counter for the second as the Lions took a 2-0 lead into the locker room. Christian Fuchs scored from the spot after Rodrigo Schlegel was called for a foul in the box in the second half, but that was as close as Charlotte got in what was ultimately a 2-1 Orlando victory.
Overview
Orlando City enters the match in an odd way, because although the Lions have gone unbeaten in their last five games (2-0-3), they’ve also dropped three late leads in the last four, coughing up six points in a tight Eastern Conference playoff race. That includes Wednesday’s match at Chicago, which ended in a 2-2 draw, and the home game against New York City FC a week ago, another 2-2 draw. Orlando led in the 69th and deep in stoppage time of those games, respectively. Antoine Griezmann is almost singlehandedly willing Orlando to stay above the playoff line with a goal-scoring streak of five matches.
But the Lions enter tonight just 3-9-4 on the road in league play in 2026 and haven’t won away from Orlando since Sept. 9 at Atlanta and going 0-3-2 in five road matches in all competitions since then.
Charlotte enters tonight fresh off a 4-0 home beatdown of CF Montreal in the midweek and although both clubs are on the same rest, Orlando has traveled to Chicago and Charlotte over the last few days and stayed on the road in between, while tonight’s hosts have been sleeping snugly in their beds since returning home from a 3-2 loss at Portland a week ago. Charlotte FC is 9-3-4 at Bank of America Stadium in MLS play this year and have won two straight on their own patch.
Orlando City will need to be patient to avoid giving up dangerous counterattacks, as the Lions have struggled to defend them all year, and the club will be without three-quarters of its starting back line, with Griffin Dorsey and Robin Jansson out with injuries and David Brekalo suspended for yellow card accumulation. The back line will be a makeshift one, which is less than ideal against players like Biel (13 goals, 16 assists), Idan Toklomati (15 goals, 6 assists), and Liel Abada (8 goals, 5 assists). Charlotte has the Eastern Conference’s sixth-best offense and the East’s fourth-best defense, led by goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina.
In addition to being without Brekalo (suspension), Jansson (foot), and Dorsey (back), Orlando also won’t have winger Tyrese Spicer (foot). Charlotte will be without Will Cleary (illness), Nimfasha Berchimas (lower body), Archie Goodwin (lower body), Aron John (upper body), and Tim Ream (lower body).
Match Content
- Our most recent epsiode of the PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for today’s match, as well as a preview of the game.
Official Lineups
Orlando City (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.
Defenders: Vinicius Nogueira,Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Zakaria Taifi.
Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Luis Otavio, Braian Ojeda, Marco Pasalic.
Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Antoine Griezmann.
Bench: Javier Otero, Adrian Marin, Nolan Miller, Joran Gerbet, Eduard Atuesta, Justin Ellis, Tiago, Harvey Sarajian, Daryl Dike.
Charlotte FC (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: Kristijan Kahlina.
Defenders: Harry Toffolo, Henry Kessler, Morrison Agyemang, Nathan Byrne.
Midfielders: Pep Biel, Ashley Westwood, Djibril Diani.
Forwards: Allan Saint-Maximin, Idan Toklomati, Liel Abada.
Bench: Tyler Miller, Andrew Privett, David Schnegg, Abdoulaye Doucouré, Luca de la Torre, Brandt Bronico, Nathan Richmond, Tyger Smalls, Rodolfo Aloko.
Referees
Ref: Victor Rivas.
AR1: Mike Nickerson.
AR2: Ben Pilgrim.
4th: Nabil Bensalah.
VAR: Kevin Terry Jr.
AVAR: Kathryn Nesbitt.
How to Watch
Match Time: 1 p.m.
Venue: Bank of America Stadium — Charlotte.
TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.
Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).
Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.
Enjoy the match. Go City!
Orlando City
Orlando City’s Spookiest Games
In the spirit of the season, let’s look at some of Orlando City’s most haunting results from recent years.
Saturday is Halloween, which means that we’re officially in the spookiest time of the year. Things are scary for Lions fans in more ways than one at the moment, as the team is clinging to a playoff spot and has two difficult games to close the season. With how frightening the current landscape is, this seems like a good time to look back on some of Orlando’s spookiest, scariest, most scream-inducing games from recent years. Some are included on this list because of ugly scorelines, while others are more about the circumstances surrounding the matches, so bear that in mind. Also, beware the Ides of March (and November), apparently.
New York City FC 5-0, Orlando City, March 7, 2026
Where better to start than the match that cost Oscar Pareja his job? It certainly hadn’t been an ideal start to the 2026 season for the Lions, as they suffered back-to-back home losses to the New York Red Bulls and Inter Miami. Still, there were the mitigating circumstances of Robin Jansson’s and Joran Gerbet’s unavailability, Griffin Dorsey attempting to adapt to new surroundings on the fly, and Pareja being forced to use a combination of Tahir Reid-Brown, Nolan Miller, and David Brekalo on the back line against the Herons. While things rarely go well on the road against NYCFC, there was some hope that the team could build on some of the good things it showed against Miami. We were quickly disabused of that notion in painful fashion, as Maxime Crepeau picked up an 18th-minute red card for handling the ball outside the box and thereby denying a goal-scoring opportunity. The Pigeons scored four minutes later, and the rout was on from there.
Nashville SC 5-0 Orlando City, March 21, 2026
We next turn to another game from this season, picking things up in Martin Perelman’s second match in charge as interim head coach. His tenure got off to a decent enough start, as OCSC got its first win of the season at home against a CF Montreal side that was admittedly among the favorites to finish last in the East. Still, you can only beat who’s in front of you, and the Lions did so playing an open and chaotic but exciting style that helped build a little optimism which was then promptly shattered at Geodis Park. Nashville scored just five minutes into the game and while it was only 2-0 at halftime, the ‘Yotes scored three in the second half and Sam Surridge bagged a hat trick to bring Orlando and its fans back to Earth in resounding fashion. It was a game marked by bad goalkeeping, bad defending, bad finishing, and bad giveaways, and it was a harsh reality check after the high of getting a first win of the season.
Inter Miami 5-0 Orlando City, March 2, 2024
Orlando was having a decent enough start to its 2024 campaign, with away and home wins against Cavalry FC in the Concacaf Champions Cup sandwiching a draw on opening day. Then the Lions hit the road to play Inter Miami and looked like they never got off the plane. Luis Suarez scored twice in the first 15 minutes, the Herons were up 3-0 after 30 minutes, and a five-minute Lionel Messi brace in the second half made it 5-0. This wasn’t a game that featured some of the errors or bookings of our previous two entries. Instead, OCSC flat out got knocked into the dirt after failing to take the chances it managed to generate when the game was still close. Losing 5-0 is always bad, losing 5-0 to Miami is a particular type of horror.
New York Red Bulls 1-0 Orlando City, Nov. 30, 2024
We now fast forward from March two years ago to the game that ended the 2024 campaign. This makes the list not due to the margin of defeat, which was negligible, but because of the circumstances surrounding it. Not only were the Lions hosting an Eastern Conference final at home, but the bracket had opened up beautifully for Orlando to make a run to its first-ever MLS Cup final. Atlanta United knocked out no.1 seed Miami in the first round, the Red Bulls took out no.2 seed Columbus Crew early, and NYCFC eliminated no.3 seed FC Cincinnati to leave Orlando as the highest seed left in the East. The Lions took care of business first against Charlotte FC and then against Atlanta in a rivalry match, but couldn’t get over the hump against the Red Bulls. It was a close game with good chances at a premium, and it came down to New York taking its best opportunity through Andres Reyes, while Facundo Torres was stonewalled by Carlos Coronel on the break. It was simply an agonizing way to go out, especially considering how well things seemed to be lining up for the team to play for a trophy.
Columbus Crew 2-0 Orlando City, Nov. 25, 2023
We end with the playoff elimination from the previous year, which came in the Eastern Conference semifinals at home. This was horrifying to Orlando fans for a couple different reasons. Obviously, getting knocked out of the postseason is never fun, but it was also the team’s first loss at home since April 22 of that year and just the third loss in all competitions since the beginning of August. The Lions had powered through the back half of the season with 10 wins in their final 13 league games, including the playoffs, but simply couldn’t get much going offensively in game no. 14. Still, the match was tied as the clocked ticked past the 75th minute and I, for one, felt reasonably good about Orlando’s chances in extra time at home. Everything changed when Rodrigo Schlegel picked up a second yellow card in the 77th minute though, and OCSC was suddenly staring down the barrel of playing the last 40 minutes of the game with 10 men. The Crew broke the deadlock in the 93rd minute, bagged an insurance goal in the 118th, and stopped what had been an elite end to the season for the Lions dead in its tracks, and in their own barn no less.
Are there any Orlando City games from over the years that still haunt you to this day? Be sure to let us know down in the comments, and have a happy Halloween!
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