Connect with us

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. D.C. United: Five Takeaways

Published

3 years ago

on

Orlando City finally scored more than two goals in a game this season but that provided no comfort as the Lions were bombed for five goals in a 5-3 home loss to D.C. United on Independence Day at Exploria Stadium. Some fans had barely settled into their seats before the home team was behind by two goals and things got worse before they got better…and then got worse again…and then got better…and then finally sunk to the worst. It was the most goals conceded by Orlando at home under the current regime, and it came at the hands of a team that had scored only 18 total goals in 15 previous matches.

Here’s what I took away from Monday night’s match.

Best XI > Not-Best XI

There is a notable depth issue with this year’s Orlando City squad and even if the players and Head Coach Oscar Pareja like to (understandably) talk publicly about how much belief they have in the entire roster, that is not a belief that bench players have given reason for anyone to share. The coaching staff tried to steal a little rest for starters Cesar Araujo and Facundo Torres Monday night, starting Sebas Mendez and Alexandre Pato in their spots. Additionally, Antonio Carlos continues to work back slowly from his thigh injury and Joao Moutinho — upgraded to ‘questionable’ on this week’s availability report — was not in uniform. Some of the team’s biggest issues against D.C. United came from those spots. We’ll get into some of those specifics below, but with eight matches this month, Orlando City had to have three points from a home game against a team riding a six-match winless skid dating back to early May. With the most days off between games the team will see until August happening between last Wednesday’s match vs. Nashville and Monday night, and Monday night to this Saturday against Miami, those are the two matches in which it’s perhaps wisest to play the best available lineup, resting guys where possible when the fixtures get more crowded.

But hey, I’m not in training every day, so if guys were looking a bit leggy or nursing minor knocks, then Pareja did the right thing in rotating.

A Night to Forget Defensively

Giving up five goals is often a team effort, and so it was Monday night. Most of what D.C. did offensively began in Orlando’s attacking third. Poor decisions or badly executed passes led to turnovers that started the D.C. transition and the Lions simply didn’t handle those situations well at all.

Rodrigo Schlegel’s 1-v-1 defending in transition has been spotty in the last week (albeit against admittedly high-quality players like Hany Mukhtar and Taxi Fountas) and Monday night it was an issue, in addition to the Argentine conceding the free kick that handed Fountas his third goal. But some of that defending wouldn’t have been necessary had Kyle Smith not had a howler of a night at left back, subbing for the injured Moutinho. For all the versatility and admirable willingness to do whatever he can to help the team Smith possesses, Monday night was an incredibly harsh reminder that he is not the starter at the position. Smith was absolutely smoked by…well, whoever D.C. threw at him — Michael Estrada, Drew Skundrich, or anyone who fancied a go down United’s right attacking channel.

Finally, there’s Mendez to wrap up this (lengthy) takeaway. The Ecuadorian has shown himself to be a capable player and many have felt he needed to get some minutes. On Monday night, Mendez got the start and the cynical part of me wonders if it was a showcase for a potential trade. If so, things didn’t go as planned. Mendez showed some rust and, as a No. 6 who normally needs to be forcibly dragged into the attacking half, he was often missing from the team’s efforts to track back in transition.

Pato Not in a Good Place Right Now

With Pato starting in place of Torres, the hope was that scoring a vital penalty in the shootout after Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup draw with Nashville SC might give the Brazilian veteran some confidence to get back to the form he displayed at the start of the season, when he was arguably the team’s best player on the field. That was not the case.

Pato’s touch, crossing, and passing have been an issue for several games now. Monday night he had a team-high five unstable touches and opponents are getting wise to his hesitation move and they’re waiting on it. He’s also been easy to knock off the ball. As a result of his play, the Lions gave away the ball while in vulnerable positions on Monday. And his shooting was no better — excellent penalty-kick goal aside. In open play he found himself in space twice just outside the box in the middle of the field and he hit both shots wildly off target.

The Lions need more from a player of Pato’s caliber.

Lions Lack Balance

Orlando isn’t getting enough production from the wings, which helps teams that play defensively compact games and keep their lines well organized. Outside of Torres, wing play has been spotty (at best) all season. Pareja has tried several things to fix that. Benji Michel, Junior Urso, and Pato have taken turns and the club brought in Jake Mulraney from Atlanta. Not only has nothing worked with any kind of consistency, but the fullbacks have provided little on the overlap. Moutinho’s absence doesn’t help with that and I don’t even have to get into Ruan’s crossing because…well, Ruan. The diminutive Brazilian speedster is an agent of chaos, which sometimes produces exactly what is needed but often wastes promising attacking opportunities. By providing no threat opposite Torres in either the scoring or the crossing departments, the Lions become much easier to defend. D.C.’s five-man back line was hardly challenged from wide areas and felt comfortable enough to not stretch itself sideline to sideline.

Bereft of Bench Firepower

While Torres did come off the bench and provide a goal and an assist, he’s a starting player, so that’s not unexpected production. The problem lies elsewhere on the bench. This is partly under the umbrella of the team balance mentioned above. In addition to the team lacking balance on either side of the field, it lacks any balance in scoring from the starting XI to the bench.

Michel is on pace for the worst statistical season of his career and the Homegrown winger hasn’t scored since the season opener. Although he was fortunate to win a penalty against D.C., it wasn’t a terribly threatening night for him. Tesho Akindele had a glorious late chance in transition against United but predictably fired with his strong foot, which Rafael Romo did well to read and easily smother, whereas a quick movement onto his left might have produced a more difficult opportunity, yet with a much higher probability of success. For all of Michel’s struggles, Akindele has yet to score an MLS goal in 2022. However, it’s important to keep in mind he hasn’t played more than 20 minutes in any league match since March 27 at Portland, which makes it difficult to find any kind of form.

Oh, and Jack Lynn made a late appearance but wasn’t on the field long enough to work up a sweat, let alone make an impact. There is no super sub on this year’s roster. There are barely even guys who can change the game’s energy. That was apparent against D.C.

Bonus Takeaway: Adding Injury to Insult

As bad as Monday’s match was, it could have a longer lasting impact. Captain Mauricio Pereyra, the team’s only viable No. 10 and chief breaker of lines, pulled up in the waning moments of the game with a non-contact injury while retrieving a ball out of play for a throw-in. The extent of the injury wasn’t known after the match and he’ll be evaluated today. An injury to Pereyra is precisely the worst possible player to lose, given the lack of anyone’s ability to replace what he does in the lineup and it underscores the club’s biggest off-season failure — finding a suitable backup. If the technical staff thought Andres Perea would grow into that kind of player, it hasn’t happened. In fact, Perea has regressed a bit in 2022. Torres seems more comfortable in wide spots and is still young and developing. Pato might be the closest thing the team has to a backup No. 10, but his form is dreadful at the moment and his passing rate and tendency to take on multiple defenders himself can be a liability in that position. If Pereyra’s injury from late Monday is serious — and he was limping after the match — it could mean more than one battle lost for Orlando.

Those are the talking points I had from Monday night’s loss. What stuck out to you? Let’s chat about it in the comments section below.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. CF Montreal: Final Score 0-0 as 10-Man Lions Toothless Yet Again

It was Rafael Santos’ turn to get sent off this week as the Lions played to their third consecutive scoreless draw.

Published

11 hours ago

on

April 19, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

For the third consecutive match, Orlando City had enough chances to score to win a game, but failed to be clinical enough to do so. The Lions (3-2-4, 13 points) also saw a defender sent off in the second half with a second yellow card for a second consecutive game as they drew CF Montreal (0-6-3, 3 points) 0-0 at Stade Saputo tonight. While it ran Orlando City’s unbeaten run to six games (2-0-4), it was also the team’s third straight without a win.

Orlando continued to either miss the net or fire at the goalkeeper for the third consecutive game, while Rafael Santos was the man who put his team in a bad spot during a game in which Rodrigo Schlegel was suspended for doing the same a week ago.

“I seriously(saw) in the first half, 20 minutes, of the intention that we brought here to play against Montreal, where we sequenced it well and we created some chances,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “And the second half, it was the same until the red card came.”

Pareja’s lineup was again shorthanded, as Pedro Gallese started in goal behind a back line of Kyle Smith — entering the starting XI in place of the suspended Schlegel — Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, and Alex Freeman. Joran Gerbet and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson once again started in central midfield, with neither starter on the bench after both were available a week ago. The attacking line was made up of Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, and Marco Pasalic, with Luis Muriel up top.

Orlando played well for the first five minutes of the first half and the final 10 minutes of the opening period, but most of what came in between consisted of turnovers, poor passing, and a general lack of rhythm. Muriel got the game’s first shot away in the second minute as he found space just outside the area, but he was leaning back when he shot and his effort was always rising wastefully over the bar. Three minutes later, Freeman got on the ball in the box, shook off his defender, and smacked his shot into the outside netting.

Dante Sealy was a threat down the left for Montreal throughout the first half. That started early when he got down the left but slipped as he tried to send in a shot or a cross that ended up on top of Gallese’s net in the sixth minute. Two minutes later, Montreal tried to work a give-and-go in the Lions’ box but Gallese was able to pounce on the loose centering pass before a Montreal player could arrive.

Angulo cut in from the left in the 13th minute and tried his luck from the top of the area, but the Colombian sent his shot straight at goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.

Montreal nearly scored in the 19th minute when Sealy fired a shot from just outside the left corner of the box. Gallese got a fist to it to knock it wide for a corner.

Sealy scored on the recycle of the ensuing corner but the flag came up immediately. Samuel Piette was offside and stayed in Gallese’s line of vision, preventing the Peruvian from getting a look at Sealy’s shot. The play was reviewed and the no-goal call was upheld.

Nathan Saliba sent a shot well over the bar on a free kick in the 26th minute after Gerbet turned over the ball and Thorhallsson compounded the problem by fouling near the right corner of the box. Sealy and Prince Owusu each got half chances moments later but couldn’t get shots on frame out of them. Gallese then made an acrobatic catch on a corner kick cross in the 32nd that likely prevented a tap-in at the back post for Montreal.

The Lions started creating again at the end of the half after a spell of not giving the ball away cheaply. Muriel took a nice pass from Ojeda in the 43rd minute but missed the target from inside the left side of the box.

Pasalic then fired with his weaker right foot in the 44th minute but Sirois was able to fight it off.

Angulo fired wide from the top of the box in stoppage time, as the Lions continued to waste opportunities. After a poor corner kick cross was cut out by the back line, the fifth consecutive wasteful half by the OCSC attack was over.

The hosts held the halftime advantage in possession (53.8%-46.2%), passing accuracy (85%-83.4%), and corners (4-0, although Orlando literally ended the first half with a corner that was cleared by Montreal, so I’m not sure what the official scorer was doing late in the half). The Lions mustered more shots (6-2) and shots on target (2-0 — again, Gallese made a good save in the first half on Sealy, so it’s anyone’s guess what the statisticians were doing during the first period).

Santos replaced Smith to start the second, as the veteran was on a yellow card since the third minute. Nothing much changed, as Orlando continued to give the ball away cheaply and spend time absorbing pressure. The Lions conceded a long-range free kick just seconds after the restart but Gallese caught the long entry ball.

Owusu nodded down a ball for Caden Clark moments later but Orlando’s defense cleared. After a failed corner by Orlando, Montreal came back on the attack but George Campbell got frustrated and tried a shot from extreme range that Gallese caught on a hop in the 59th minute.

A minute after that attempt, the Lions had a legitimate call for a penalty. A wayward pass was picked off by Angulo, who knocked it toward Muriel. Campbell took Muriel completely out from behind but referee Fotis Bazakos made no call, and the hosts took the free kick quickly to get away with the foul in the box.

“I’m so angry and I’m so frustrated,” Pareja said about the lack of a call or a review. “How, with our technology, and with the VAR…how is it not a PK? Please! I mean, it is so clear. And when I came back to the locker room and I saw the play, that increased our frustration. It was not right. It was a clear PK against Luis.”

In the 62nd minute, Gerbet was left in space outside the area. The rookie fired a shot that fizzed over the crossbar. Three minutes later, Pasalic missed the target again from the top of the box.

Gallese made a difficult save in the 69th minute on a Clark shot that bounced off of Gerbet and changed directions. The goalkeeper was able to maintain his balance just enough to stay on his feet and make the stop.

The game dramatically changed in Montreal’s favor in the 76th minute when an Orlando attack evaporated and Sealy looked to counter. There was some contact from behind by Santos and Bazakos gave the left back a second yellow, putting Orlando down a man for the second consecutive game. Santos was three-quarters of the field away from his goal and had no business making contact, but he made the selfish play trying to win back the ball. While Sealy did a good job of selling it, the Brazilian knew he was on a yellow card and had to be careful — and he wasn’t.

“Very frustrating, because that’s not what you plan during the week, playing with ten,” Pareja said. “And at some point, especially when you’re going away, they get an advantage that is not necessary.”

Shortly after the sending off, Orlando City had a golden opportunity on the counter. Angulo took the ball up the left and had second-half sub Duncan McGuire breaking toward goal on the other side. The Colombian tried to pick out McGuire, but could not get his final pass correct, and Montreal broke the other way. That led to a shot by Clark that was denied by a good save by Gallese.

“Very happy with the confidence that Pedro is acquiring again, is getting back to it,” Pareja said. “Not that we want to let the other team take too many shots, but when we need him the most, he appears, and that’s great for us.”

Orlando sacrificed attacking players for defensive ones, trying to preserve a road point. Thomas Williams entered the match for Muriel and Zakaria Taifi came on for Ojeda down the stretch.

The Lions gave up a couple of half chances and a few set pieces, but they did not break down in the end. The whistle finally blew on the club’s third consecutive scoreless draw — a frustrating one considering it came against a team with two points on the season.

Montreal finished with the advantage in possession (55.2%-44.8%), shots (13-9), shots on target (7-2), corners (8-2), and passing accuracy (83.7%-78.1%).

“I mean little bit frustrated, if I’m completely honest,” Thorhallsson said about his thoughts on the match overall. “It’s always good to have clean sheet. But we were scoring a lot and conceding a lot at the same time, but now we’re keeping the goal clean and not scoring a lot, so we need to find the balance. But a good point on the road since we got a red card. Of course, zero-zero’s fine on the road, but we have to start winning games.”

“I saw the team fighting a lot, and obviously we’re concerned about not scoring goals, but the other side is a good balance defensively, and we want to keep that,” Pareja said. “But in order to add three points, we have to score goals. We have to get back to that. But I like the attitude of the team. I thought we fought hard. I like the youngsters that are coming and helping us, also the guys that are occupied in the midfielder positions that help us a lot. So, a bunch of positive things. I know it seems like one point is not enough at this stage, but I know where we going, and we will keep pushing.”

The Lions return home a week from tonight to host Atlanta United in the first of two meetings against their northern neighbors this season.

Continue Reading

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. CF Montreal: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Lions head north looking to find their offense and continue their recent defensive form.

Published

23 hours ago

on

April 19, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City and CF Montreal at Stade Saputo (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). It’s the first of two scheduled meetings between the Eastern Conference rivals in 2025. The Canadian side is scheduled to make the return trip to Orlando on July 12.

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

History

The Lions are 8-9-5 against Montreal in the all-time regular-season series and 10-10-5 in all competitions since they joined MLS. OCSC is 4-5-2 in away games against Montreal, 3-5-2 in the city of Montreal, and 4-6-2 in away matches in all competitions, which includes an MLS playoff meeting in 2022. The teams drew both regular-season meetings a year ago, with Orlando going 1-0-2 in all competitions against CF Montreal in 2024.

The teams met most recently in Orlando in the 2024 Leagues Cup competition on July 26 of last year, with the Lions running rampant in a 4-1 home victory. Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Facundo Torres, Ramiro Enrique, and Martin Ojeda staked Orlando to a 4-0 lead. Josef Martinez scored for Montreal, although his bid for a brace was denied when Pedro Gallese stopped his penalty kick attempt.

The two sides last met in Montreal on April 20, 2024 trading goals back and forth in a 2-2 draw at Stade Saputo. Mason Toye opened the scoring early but Torres equalized from the spot a few minutes later. Ariel Lassiter appeared to win it late in normal time for the hosts, but Ivan Angulo struck in stoppage time to earn Orlando City a road point. These teams opened the 2024 season against each other in Orlando and played to a 0-0 draw. The Lions dominated the stat sheet but had a goal waved off for offside and simply weren’t lethal enough.

The teams met twice in 2023, completing the season series on Sept. 30, 2023, with the Lions winning 3-0 in dominant fashion. Jonathan Sirois’ own goal opened the scoring, and Thorhallsson and Torres added strikes for Orlando City. That was a good measure of revenge for OCSC, after Montreal defeated Orlando City 2-0 and handed the Lions their first road loss of the 2023 MLS season on May 6 at Stade Saputo. A Robin Jansson own goal got Montreal started in the second half and Romell Quioto added a second goal four minutes later.

These two sides played their biggest game against each other in the 2022 MLS playoffs, with CF Montreal knocking Orlando City out of the postseason by a 2-0 scoreline on Oct. 16, with goals by Ismael Kone and Djordje Mihailovic — the latter coming deep in stoppage time from the penalty spot.

Each team won at home in the two-game, regular-season series in 2022, with Montreal thumping Orlando 4-1 on May 7. Joel Waterman, Mihailovic, Joaquin Torres, and Zachary Brault-Guillard did the damage on the scoreboard and Orlando City managed just two shot attempts, with Joao Moutinho’s goal on a set piece helping the Lions avoid a shutout. Orlando City did not have either starting center back for that match, and it showed. The teams also met on opening day of the 2022 season, when Orlando City captured a 2-0 home win behind second-half goals from Alexandre Pato and Benji Michel.

In 2021, the teams met in Montreal on Decision Day, with the Lions earning a 2-0 road victory at Stade Saputo to clinch a playoff spot. Sebas Mendez and Daryl Dike provided the goals. That season’s matchup in Orlando came on Oct. 20, 2021, with the visitors managing a 1-1 draw. Chris Mueller struck for the Lions just before halftime, but Rudy Camacho answered on a corner kick header shortly after the restart. The first meeting of 2021 took place Sept. 15 in Orlando with the Lions falling 4-2 and finishing the game with just nine men after both Nani and Andres Perea were sent off. Quioto led Montreal with a goal and two assists. Mathieu Choiniere and Quioto put Montreal up 2-0, but despite already being down one man, Jansson and Ruan tied things up. The visitors got two more from Lassi Lappalainen and Sunusi Ibrahim.

The teams met at Red Bull Arena in late 2020 as the team then known as the Montreal Impact played home games in New Jersey due to the pandemic. Orlando City got a Dike goal in the 39th minute to win 1-0 on Nov. 1, 2020. It was the second meeting of the 2020 season, with Orlando also beating Montreal 1-0 in the MLS is Back Tournament knockout rounds on July 25 to advance to the quarterfinals. Tesho Akindele scored the game’s only goal on a Montreal defensive mistake.

Orlando City snapped a six-game winless streak against Montreal (0-5-1) in MLS regular-season play dating back to 2016 when the Lions put the Impact to the sword in a 3-0 drubbing at Stade Saputo on June 1, 2019. Nani (penalty), Akindele, and Will Johnson supplied the offense that day. The Lions fell 3-1 at Exploria Stadium back on March 16, 2019, and Ignacio Piatti was a big reason why, scoring his ninth and 10th career goals against Orlando, adding to a strike by Orji Okwonkwo. Dom Dwyer added a cosmetic goal late for Orlando City to spoil the clean sheet.

Montreal did not allow a goal against the Lions in 2018, sweeping the two-game set from Orlando, and the Impact shut out Orlando City in three of the six meetings in that 5-0-1 run. The lone draw in that time frame was a 3-3 shootout in Orlando in 2017, in which the Impact led deep in stoppage time, only to see Jonathan Spector’s well-placed header steal the Lions a point.

Orlando won the first two meetings in 2016 by a combined score of 6-2. The teams split three meetings in 2015, with each going 1-1-1.

Match Overview

Orlando City enters this match on a five-game unbeaten run (2-0-3). The Lions are coming off two consecutive scoreless draws — at Philadelphia two weeks ago and home against the New York Red Bulls last weekend. The latter of those draws came despite Orlando City being down a man for most of the second half. While the league’s best offense entering play two weeks ago has falledn off a cliff, the most porous defens in MLS has strung together consecutive clean sheets. Orlando will look for a bit more balance tonight, although the back line will need to shuffle slightly with Rodrigo Schlegel’s suspension.

The Lions are 1-1-2 on the road this season, and are playing their fifth road match out of the last seven games.

Montreal sits last in Major League Soccer on just two points from eight matches after a 1-0 home defeat to Charlotte seven days ago. That was, however, the Canadian side’s first home match of the 2025 campaign, after starting the season 0-5-2 on an extended road trip. It is unclear how good or bad Montreal is, but despite being winless on the year, the club has lost one-goal games against contenders Charlotte and Columbus the last two weeks, following a 1-1 draw at Chicago. Only Nashville (3-0) and MLS-leading Vancouver (2-0) have managed to beat Montreal by more than a goal, despite the Canadians scoring only a league-worst four times all year.

With Montreal playing well defensively over the last three matches, Orlando will need to find its scoring boots against a solid unit in front of Sirois that includes center backs Waterman and George Campbell and central midfielder Samuel Piette. Former Lion Luca Petrasso is a starter on the Montreal back line as well, and he’ll no doubt want to show Orlando what it is missing without him. While Montreal has the ball, the Lions will need to track Prince Owusu, who leads his club with two goals. Caden Clark and Sunusi Ibrahim can also be a threat in the attack.

“It’s a tricky moment in the season, where teams are adjusting movements and players, and in this case, with Montréal even changing staff. But we are still serious about approaching the game with our intention to go and win it,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “It is an important match for us and it’s a match that can give us the possibility to add points in the standings. It’s much more important that we keep this road of ascending of the level of the group.”

Orlando City will be without Schlegel (suspension), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), Yutaro Tsukada (knee), Favian Loyola (thigh), while Cesar Araujo (lower leg), Eduard Atuesta (thigh), Ramiro Enrique (upper extremity), and Nico Rodriguez (thigh) are listed as questionable. Per Montreal’s game notes, every player is available.

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Alex Freeman.

Defensive Midfielders: Joran Gerbet, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

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

Forward: Luis Muriel.

Bench: Javier Otero, Tahir Reid-Brown, Rafael Santos, Zakaria Taifi, Thomas Williams, Riyon Tori, Nico Rodriguez, Shak Mohammed, Duncan McGuire.

CF Montreal (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Jonathan Sirois.

Defenders: Luca Petrasso, Joel Waterman, George Campbell, Dawid Bugaj.

Midfielders: Samuel Piette, Bryce Duke, Nathan Saliba.

Forwards: Dante Sealy, Prince Owusu, Hennadii Synchuk.

Bench: Sebastian Breza, Aleksandr Guboglo, Fernando Alvarez, Tom Pearce, Victor Loturi, Caden Clark, Fabian Herbers, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Sunusi Ibrahim.

Referees:

Ref: Fotis Bazakos.
AR1: Lyes Arfa.
AR2: Micheal Barwegen.
4th: Mathieu Souare.
VAR: Ramy Touchan.
AVAR: Claudiu Badea.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Stade Saputo — Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

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 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!

Continue Reading

Opinion

Orlando City’s Start to the Season a Pleasant Surprise So Far

The Lions have started the new season well enough, but we shouldn’t get too carried away just yet.

Published

2 days ago

on

April 18, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

While Orlando City didn’t have a ton of roster turnover to deal with during the off-season, it was really anybody’s guess as to what sort of start the Lions would make to the 2025 Major League Soccer season. There was obviously the loss of all-time leading goal scorer Facundo Torres to deal with, then Wilder Cartagena was lost for the year in preseason, although the club did a great job in landing Eduard Atuesta to replace him. There were also questions about depth at left back, center back, and central midfield. It was anyone’s guess on how Marco Pasalic would adjust to life in MLS, and there were serious questions about whether the Lions had enough firepower up front with Duncan McGuire unavailable to start the season while he recovered from shoulder surgery.

While the club returned the vast majority of the guys who played key roles in helping reach the Eastern Conference final, on paper, the roster didn’t improve and arguably got weaker, so was it truly realistic to expect the team to go a step farther and make the final this year?

Despite all of those concerns, and despite a confidence-shaking 4-2 opening game loss to the Philadelphia Union, Orlando has largely made a good start to the campaign. The Lions have compiled a respectable 3-2-3 record and have 12 points to show for it, currently sitting in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, six points behind the first-place Columbus Crew.

Even in the two losses, it’s hard to make the argument that OCSC played truly bad games on the whole. Rather, the Lions were undone by moments of bad defending and losses of concentration that led to silly mistakes, particularly against the Union. The shaky defending has certainly been one of the bigger concerns, especially on an Oscar Pareja-coached team, but things have begun to look better after keeping two straight clean sheets.

Ironically, even though the offense seemed to be most people’s biggest concern before the season started, it’s been the part of the team that has consistently functioned at the highest level. Before the two 0-0 draws, Orlando had scored the most goals in the league, and despite being held scoreless twice in a row, they still have the third-most goals scored. Out of OCSC’s six games played with a first choice XI, the Lions have scored more than one goal four times. Even in the games when they haven’t been as prolific, or have largely been on the back foot, the Lions have still managed to carve out a healthy number of chances. While their finishing has let them down at times, they’ve still managed to get several good looks at goal in every game, and that’s half the battle.

All in all, it’s been a perfectly respectable start to the season, and the team honestly has performed higher than my (probably slightly pessimistic) expectations. While the start hasn’t been white hot, it’s been nice to not see the sort of slow start that so often has seemed to plague this club during Pareja’s tenure at the helm.

That being said, I think it’s important to place the beginning of the year in the proper context. It’s worth noting that of the teams that Orlando has played to this point, Philadelphia is the only one currently above the playoff line (although the New York Red Bulls occupy the last play-in spot). The Lions have beaten an LA Galaxy team that is the worst in the West; Toronto FC, which is second from the bottom in the East; and D.C. United, which is third from the bottom in the East. They drew the fifth-place Union on the road, and lost to NYCFC at the baseball stadium. But it has to be said that Orlando has faced a noticeable lack of top shelf opponents so far.

Essentially, Orlando has played three bad teams, two decent ones, and one that started very well but has cooled off in recent weeks (twice). Of course, OCSC can’t do anything about that, but it’s worth asking if the solid start to the season is due to the Lions legitimately being a good team, or if it’s more of a paper tiger situation where they just haven’t had to play many tough opponents yet.

There isn’t really any way of knowing for sure, and there won’t be any hints for awhile. With the way the standings currently look, Orlando won’t face a team above the playoff line until they go up against Charlotte FC on the road on May 14. I don’t bring all of this up to try to dampen the mood, but I just don’t think we have a truly accurate idea of this team’s level yet. Which is fair and totally fine, after all we’re only eight games into the season.

That doesn’t mean that we can’t give OCSC its due for a solid start to the year. It hasn’t been perfect by any means, but the team has done more good than bad, and the Lions’ current place in the standings reflects that. We should still keep things in perspective and resist the urge to dole out too much praise just yet, but we can be happy with what we’ve seen so far.

Continue Reading

Trending