Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Los Angeles FC: Final Score 1-1 as the Lions Go Through on Penalties
Nani saw a penalty in regulation saved but his spot kick in the shootout sent Orlando into the semifinals.
Nani left a second-half penalty too close to the goalkeeper and squandered a great chance to put Orlando City ahead. But the captain redeemed himself in a penalty shootout after Joao Moutinho’s 90th-minute goal sent the match to spot kicks. Orlando out-lasted LAFC 5-4 in the shootout to advance to the semifinals after a 1-1 draw in the MLS is Back Tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
Shortly after Nani’s miss in regulation, Bradley Wright-Phillips put LAFC on top. As time wound down, it looked like the Lions would bow out of the tournament after a strong showing against perhaps the league’s best team, despite outplaying LAFC for much of the night. But Orlando City went five for five from the spot and shocked the visitors from Los Angeles.
Orlando officially gets a draw against LAFC, but the end result is LAFC is going home and the Lions are moving on to the semifinals.
“We are very proud of the group of players who have done an excellent job today and stayed in the game that needed a lot of heart and desire and determination,” Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “I think they accomplished that in those 90-plus minutes, and the game rewarded them, because they were the best team on the field. They were patient in the difficult moments. I want to highlight that as the heart of the team and the club.”
Pareja started the same lineup that beat Montreal last Saturday night, with goalkeeper Pedro Gallese behind a back line of Moutinho, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, and Ruan. Uri Rosell and Sebas Mendez handled the central midfield behind an attacking line of Nani, Mauricio Pereyra, and Chris Mueller, with Tesho Akindele up top.
Orlando City played a cautious game to start, keeping LAFC from getting into a rhythm and looking for opportunities to get in behind. The Lions did well to break LAFC’s press and hold the ball for prolonged spells, but things generally broke down in the final third, as has been the case the last few games.
Nani went for goal on a free kick from long range nine minutes in but drilled his shot right at LAFC goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer. The captain had a much more advantageous position in the 15th minute just at the left corner of the box but he squirted his shot off to the side and it sailed wide to the left.
Diego Palacios sent a dangerous ball skipping through Gallese’s six-yard box in the 20th minute but nobody from LAFC was anywhere near the back post and the ball skipped out for a goal kick.
Carlos got his head to a Pereyra corner kick cross in the 27th minute but didn’t get much power on it due to knocking it off an opponent’s head, and Vermeer was able to tip it over the bar. That began a good spell of Orlando pressure but both Ruan and Nani overcooked crosses at the top of the six and the Lions couldn’t get anyone to them.
Wright-Phillips appeared to open the scoring for LAFC in the 32nd minute as a ball from Brian Rodriguez deflected off Ruan and fell perfectly for BWP to tap in. However, Rodriguez was half a step offside in the buildup, and Joseph Dickerson went over to take a look, waving off the goal after getting a look at the replay.
Nani blazed a shot from the left in the 38th minute but Vermeer was well positioned to make the save.
LAFC ended the half with its first truly prolonged possession of the half, earning a couple of corners and free kicks, but last year’s Shield winners didn’t manage to get a shot off, as the Lions defended well. The teams went to the break at 0-0. It was the first time in the tournament that LAFC went to the break without a goal on the board. Orlando City led in shots (7-0), shots on target (3-0), possession (52.1%) and passing accuracy (77%-73%).
Mueller, who had been grimacing and clutching his shoulder since suffering an early foul, was subbed off at halftime and replaced by Benji Michel. It appeared that the training staff put Mueller in some kind of sling just before the second half started. Pareja said after the match that he thinks Mueller and Jansson — who left later in the match — will be OK but he can’t be sure until they’re more thoroughly examined by the team’s physicians.
Orlando picked up more or less where it left off in the first half, staying organized and keeping the ball moving to avoid giving LAFC transition opportunities. The Lions generated a good chance in the 53rd minute when Rosell blasted a rocket just over the bar from the left corner of the penalty area after a short corner kick was played to Pereyra.
Two minutes later, Ruan came down the right side and got in behind Palacios, who tried a desperation tackle but tripped up the Brazilian fullback in the area. Dickerson pointed to the spot and it appeared Orlando would finally get its breakthrough. Nani stepped up to take the penalty and hit it hard but left it too close to Vermeer, who guessed the right way and had a comfortable save to keep the game at 0-0 in the 57th minute.
“When I had the chance to score the first penalty, I think it was a fantastic moment for the goalkeeper and he had a great save,” Nani said.
The miss was costly. Mendez did what Orlando had avoided most of the night and turned the ball over in his defensive third, getting muscled off the ball by Diego Rossi. The LAFC star took the ball down the right side and fizzed a cross past Jansson to Wright-Phillips, who managed to beat Carlos to the ball. Wright-Phillips made no mistake from point-blank range and L.A. scored on its first shot of the match.
Orlando opened up a bit after the goal and it nearly cost the Lions immediately. Gallese was forced to make a huge kick save in the 62nd minute to keep Rossi from doubling the lead.
The Lions nearly pulled one back two minutes later, when Nani’s cross deflected off of Eddie Segura and headed toward the net. Vermeer got down to keep the ball out again.
Orlando kept coming but gave up some chances as a result of having to chase a goal. Nani came tantalizingly close to equalizing in the 73rd minute, cutting left to right and curling a shot that skipped just inches wide of the right post.
Ruan fell asleep on a throw-in and it nearly cost Orlando. Rossi quickly sped past Carlos and shot from a tight angle. Gallese made the stop, but the rebound came right back to Rossi. Gallese made a second save to keep the Lions in it, living up to his nickname, “The Octopus.”
As the game wound down, LAFC seemed more likely to put the game away than Orlando did to tie things up. Substitute Jordan Harvey forced a good save from Gallese in the 88th minute and El Pulpo again kept his team alive.
The Cardiac Cats showed up in the 90th minute. Ruan came down the right and slid a pass in for substitute Santiago Patino in front of goal but Tristan Blackmon made a sliding block to deny a goal, giving Orlando a corner kick. The Lions made the most of the opportunity.
Nani whipped in the corner from the right and Moutinho beat Harvey to the back post ball, heading it home to score against his former club. It was his first goal for Orlando City and the game was tied 1-1 with five minutes of stoppage time remaining.
“I was in charge of going to the back post on our attacking set pieces — corners and free kicks,” Moutinho said. “So, I knew I had some space there. We had already took, I think, two or three corners, and I saw that I had the chance to to get the ball, and I got just a bit short. So yeah, I was expecting the ball to go there and I kept my eye on it, and I knew that the space was there. Yeah, it was a great ball, a great cross. And I was fast enough to get in front of the defender and just head it in.”
“I think we deserved at the end when we scored the goal, because of everything we put on the field,” said Nani, who picked up the assist.
Neither team got a quality chance in the added time but Michel did send a shot from the left corner of the box that just wouldn’t curl, sailing high and wide of the target. The final seconds ticked off and the match went straight to penalties.
Orlando had more shots (17-8), with each team getting five on target. The Lions held 52.2% of the possession and maintained their passing accuracy advantage (77%-72%). It was only fair after that performance for Orlando to have a chance to go through to the semifinals.
LAFC got to shoot first and Francisco Ginella narrowly beat Gallese, who got his fingertips to the shot but couldn’t keep it out. Pereyra stepped up and equalized for Orlando. Harvey shot second for L.A. but powered a rocket shot off the crossbar, giving the Lions the advantage.
Substitute Kyle Smith scored beautifully into the side netting to push Orlando out front, but Rossi leveled the shootout at 2-2 on LAFC’s third shot. Moutinho hurt his old team again by scoring on the next Orlando penalty and Brian Rodriguez kept the pressure on the Lions by equalizing on the fourth L.A. kick. Carlos didn’t seem an obvious choice as Orlando City’s fourth shooter. Vermeer guessed correctly and got his hands to the shot but it had just enough power on it to slip through the goalkeeper’s grasp, making it 4-3. Latif Blessing tied the shootout again and it was down to Nani to make up for his earlier penalty.
The captain stepped up, took a stutter step, and coolly won the shootout, sending Vermeer the wrong way.
That was it. Orlando had slain the MLS dragon and advanced to the MLS is Back semifinals. The lads were excited, to say the least.
“Pay attention (to) our team with good eyes, and give the respect of the football,” Nani said, when asked about Orlando City’s underdog status. “Because we’ve been working hard, and we want to continue to work hard just to play our football and try to improve. We know we are a team who are improving our football. But the respect on football is very important.
“We put more concentration, we put more determination, and the best team won the game.”
Orlando City will await the winner of the San Jose Earthquakes vs. Minnesota United. That quarterfinal matchup will take place tomorrow night at 8 p.m., with the winner facing the Lions next Thursday at 8 p.m.
Lion Links
Lion Links: 2/11/26
New Orlando City kit drops, Orlando City and Orlando Pride preseasons, MLS club valuations, and more.
Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a bit anxious about the upcoming season. I think it’s because we don’t know much of what is going on. We’re only a few weeks away from the first match for goodness sake. Hopefully, we’ll see some more signings for both clubs, but until then let’s get to the links.
Orlando City’s New Kit
Orlando City dropped the new Sunken Treasure secondary kit yesterday, and it is a stunner. This is the first time the club has used gold as the primary color on a jersey. It looks great with the purple shorts, and the purple stripes. There are some great details like the coin on the collar and sublimated lion head on the chest. This is truly one of the better kits that Orlando City has introduced. The club produced a great reveal video. Check it out.
Orlando Preseasons
There’s not a ton of information to convey regarding Orlando City’s and the Orlando Pride’s preseasons. That seems to be purposeful on the part of the club, but a little news did slip out via social media. New center back Iago is fully participating in practice.
We also learned that goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau is back in training after missing last week. Of course, the Pride got in the action as well with various players trying to run drills. I’ll let you judge how well they did.
MLS Club Valuations
MLS clubs are increasing in value, including Orlando City. Sportico released the list of all MLS club valuations (paywall). Unsurprisingly, the top five were all big market teams with Inter Miami leading the way. When the Wilf family purchased Orlando City, they paid between $400 and $450 million. Now it is estimated to be worth approximately $565 million. That’s pretty good growth.
Chris Mueller’s Lost Year
We missed this last November, but former Orlando City attacker Chris Mueller had a tough time of things in 2025. The player was diagnosed with pericarditis. It meant that he couldn’t sleep laying down, let alone play or practice. He is now on the other side of it and has a new contract. It was a year of lessons for Mueller, and in typical fashion he has bounced back stronger.
Free Kicks
- The Lions weren’t the only team to announce new jerseys. There were 16 other clubs that did the same, though none are as nice as Orlando City’s new kit.
- The USMNT U-17 squad has secured a spot in the U-17 World Cup. The berth came after a 1-1 draw against the Dominican Republic.
- Former England, Chelsea, and Juventus forward Eni Aluko has reignited her debate over female pundits in soccer.
- Defender Noahkai Banks will not be switching from the USMNT to Germany despite contact from the German federation.
- Haley Carter was up for a job with Chelsea. However it seems no one told her.
That will do it for today, me hearties. I hope you have a wonderful day. Vamos Orlando!
Orlando City
Orlando City Unveils 2026 ‘Sunken Treasure’ Kit
Orlando City unveils the first primarily gold kit in club history.
The 2026 Lions will be golden. Orlando City unveiled the club’s new ‘Sunken Treasure’ kit ahead of the 2026 Major League Soccer season — to be worn through the 2027-2028 season.
Soccer season. For the first time, Orlando City has used its secondary color as the primary color of a jersey, going primarily gold.
According to the club, the new kit pays homage to the state’s famed Treasure Coast:
The Sunken Treasure Kit draws inspiration from the legend, mystery and enduring allure of Florida’s Treasure Coast, a region known for stories of lost gold and shipwrecked riches. Stretching along Florida’s east coast, the area takes its name from the legendary 1715 Treasure Fleet, a convoy carrying New World wealth back to Spain before a hurricane sank 11 of its 12
ships. Millions of dollars in gold, silver and jewels have been recovered from the wrecks since the 1960s, and coins still occasionally wash ashore today. That sense of history, discovery and lingering mystery anchors the Sunken Treasure Kit’s identity.
“We’re incredibly excited to unveil the first kit in club history to be predominantly Florida Gold, an iconic color inspired by a truly unique and authentic Florida story that reflects the rich history of our home state,” Orlando City Chief Marketing Officer Pedro Araujo said in a club press release. “This kit is a tribute to our fans and supporters, who are the true treasure of this club. It represents the memories we create together each season — moments that endure across time, much like the legends of Florida’s Treasure Coast. For us, real treasure isn’t found beneath the waves; it lives in the stands, in our community, and in the shared moments our players and fans bring to life every time we take the field.”
The gold kit’s accents are in the club’s traditional deep purple primary hue as well as white. Whereas the jersey is gold with the iconic three Adidas stripes in purple on the shoulders, the shorts are purple with gold Adidas stripes. While you need to be up close and personal with the kit to see it, a lion motif stretches across the kit, a touch inspired by old-time ship figureheads.
A coin on the back of the neck symbolizes Spanish doubloons, bearing the words “The treasure is the memories we make.” Another saying adorns the front hem jock tag around the outline of an ornate nautical compass bearing the year 2026: “Our anchors we will weigh, our sails we will set, 90 minutes with our City family we shall never forget.”
As usual, Orlando Health is the jersey sponsor, continuing a partnership dating back to 2011, the club’s first year in the USL.
The Sunken Treasure Kit is available at the Major League Soccer online store (MLSStore.com) and at OCMobileShop.com, with in‐person pickup at The Den at Inter&Co Stadium beginning Wednesday. Fans will have their first opportunity to purchase the kit at the club’s official jersey launch at The Final Whistle at Thornton Park Pub tonight, with the festivities starting at 6 p.m. There will also be live music, giveaways, player appearances, and a visit from club mascot Kingston. Attendees who purchase the jersey at tonight’s event will receive an exclusive CITYiD patch (while supplies last), along with a limited-edition coin (also while supplies last). The coin is inspired by the new kit. It will be a big year for coin collectors, as today’s is one of five exclusive coins the club is giving away as part of a campaign throughout 2026.
You can check out the kit in all its glory in the gallery of images below:
Lion Links
Lion Links: 2/10/26
Harvey Sarajian interview, checking in on former Lions, Americans in midweek action, and more.
Good morning, everyone. It’s hard to believe that we’re under two weeks away from the start of the Major League Soccer season, but time shows absolutely no sign of slowing down anytime soon. We’ve got a whole lot of things to discuss this morning, so let’s get right into the links.
Getting to Know Harvey Sarajian
Harvey Sarajian was born in Naples, and the first professional soccer game that he ever went to was when Orlando City took on the Chicago Fire all the way back in 2015. After becoming Orlando’s first pick in this year’s MLS SuperDraft, he’s now earned a contract with the team he watched 11 years ago, and he did so just four days after starting to train with the Lions. He spent a lot of time as a left winger in college, and spoke about his desire to beat defenders out wide and either get service into the box or cut onto his right foot and try to score. He also highlighted Duncan McGuire and Tyrese Spicer as two individuals who have helped him as he settles into his new surroundings.
Monitoring Former Lions Abroad
It’s been a busy few days for some of Orlando City’s former players who have taken their talents overseas. Cyle Larin got his debut for Southampton started with a bang on Saturday, as he entered the game as a substitute in the 67th minute and promptly scored the game’s only goal just three minutes later to lift the team to victory over Watford. The more recently departed Alex Freeman made his debut for Villareal on Monday, when he entered the game in the 73rd minute of a 4-1 win over Espanyol in La Liga action. Finally, Benji Michel has seemingly concluded his time with Finnish side HJK Helsinki, as he posted a farewell to the club on his Instagram page.
Americans in Midweek Action
As is usually the case, there are a number of American players taking part in games during the working week. Things will get started today when Brenden Aaronson and Leeds face Chelsea in the Premier League. Action in England rolls on Wednesday when Antonee Robinson and Fulham face Manchester United, while Chris Richards and Crystal Palace take on Burnley. The Wednesday action concludes when Alejandro Zendejas and Club America attempt to maintain their 2-1 first leg advantage over CD Olimpia, and advance to the next round of the Concacaf Champions Cup. Things then finish up on Friday when Folarin Balogun and Monaco host Nantes in Ligue 1 action.
MLS Transfer Roundup
Monday brought a fresh wave of movement in the transfer market for Major League Soccer, so let’s catch up on what happened. CF Montreal has signed forward Noah Streit from FC Basel on a deal that runs through the 2028-2029 season, with an option for 2029-2030. Moving to the Western Conference, Real Salt Lake signed defender Juan Jose Arias on loan from Atletico Nacional as an MLS U22 Initiative signing. The center back’s loan runs until July 13 and contains a purchase option. San Diego FC has signed free agent midfielder Bryce Duke on a contract that runs through June of 2027 and contains options for the 2027-2028 and 2028-2029 seasons. Finally, Nashville SC has signed center back Jeisson Palacios to a contract extension through the 2027-2028 season, with an option for the 2028-2029 campaign.
Free Kicks
- Take a look at the Orlando Pride’s continuing preseason preparations.
- We got another teaser from OCSC ahead of today’s jersey release.
- The Young Lions have been getting in some preseason preparations of their own.
- Orlando City youth player Lennox Alvarado got a callup to the U-16 National Team training camp.
- Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly ended his boycott of Al Nassr matches.
- Jack Grealish has confirmed that he has undergone a foot surgery that will end his season.
That’s all I’ve got for you today. Vamos Orlando!
PawedCast Episode 516: Orlando City’s Good and Bad Preseason News
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