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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Inter Miami CF: Final Score 2-1 as Lions Concede on Late Corner Kick

The Herons end the Lions’ streak after Orlando City squandered an easy opportunity to grab a late lead.

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4 years ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

The streak is over. Orlando City’s 12-match unbeaten streak came to an end as the law of averages caught up with the Lions in multiple ways in a 2-1 loss at Inter Miami. The Lions (8-3-8, 32 points) conceded on a late corner kick — Miami’s 12th of the match — to fall behind after squandering a golden opportunity to take the lead at the other end.

Leandro Gonzalez Pirez’s header in the 89th minute was the difference after a Daryl Dike goal and an own goal off Robin Jansson had the teams knotted up after the opening half. Orlando City and Miami (6-11-3, 21 points) split this season’s four Tropic Thunder meetings, with each winning twice — Inter twice at home and the Lions once at home and in the MLS is Back Tournament bubble. It was Orlando’s first loss in 2020 when scoring first.

Orlando’s 12-game unbeaten streak now turns into a four-match winless skid (0-1-3) as the Lions failed to find a second goal in the match for the fourth consecutive game and the fifth in six outings.

“At the end, you know, it’s very dramatic for us because it happens on a moment when we had a great opportunity to unbalance the game,” Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match.

Pareja had Pedro Gallese back in goal to start this match, behind a back line of Kyle Smith, Jansson, Antonio Carlos, and Ruan. Sebas Mendez returned to the midfield, along with Junior Urso, Andres Perea, and Chris Mueller, with Nani and Dike leading the attack.

Orlando started the game brightly and that paid off with an early goal after a corner, a couple of half chances, and a Nani free kick just over the bar. Carlos played a fantastic long ball for Dike and the rookie just out-muscled Nicolas Figal and broke in on John McCarthy’s goal all alone, slotting home the opening goal — his fifth of the season — in the 12th minute.

Miami ramped up its pressure after falling behind but the Lions dealt reasonably well with it, continuing to get into dangerous areas, but the crosses on this day weren’t clinical enough. Nani crossed a set piece delivery right at McCarthy in the 15th minute and Ruan fizzed a cross from open play behind everyone in the 28th.

A minute later, the Lions almost conceded an own goal after a poor Mendez touch in the box fell in front of goal. Carlos went to clear it but it hit a teammate and ricocheted toward his own net, but it sailed wide for a corner.

The rain started to make things a bit precarious around the half-hour mark. There were several odd deflections and controlling the ball became difficult. Miami started trying shots from just outside the top of the area, including a shot that required a sprawling Gallese save in the 33rd minute, just seconds after the hydration break.

Six minutes later, it was Ben Sweat sneaking inside, taking a pass and firing, but El Pulpo was again up to the task.

A few minutes later, Mueller came to the rescue with an overhead goal-line clearance on a Miami set piece, as the Herons racked up corners late in the first half. Then Gallese made a comfortable save on a Lewis Morgan free kick in the 43rd minute.

The Miami breakthrough came late in the half, just after a seemingly obvious foul on Dike went unpunished. The big rookie was sent sprawling by the Miami defense, which allowed the hosts to counter. At the other end, the ball pinballed around the area with neither team able to hit or collect it cleanly and it ended up with Blaise Matuidi, who sent in a harmless-looking shot that Jansson seemed to have lined up but the ball squirted backward off his foot and past Gallese in the 43rd minute to tie the game.

“It’s tough, you know, because you know he feels down on himself, because he scored an own goal, but you know it’s not his fault,” Smith said. “It happens in soccer. It happens to everyone.”

It was an unlucky break, but with the volume of chances Miami was getting and the weather conditions, it wasn’t too surprising when it happened. After Nani left another free kick delivery too close to goal, and a late free kick for Miami, the teams went to the break all even at 1-1.

Miami led in shots (13-4), shots on goal (3-1), corners (9-1), and passing accuracy (86%-83%), with Orlando keeping more of the possession (51.4%-48.6%). The Herons got a lucky bounce, but did enough to earn being level at the break, handling the wet, windy conditions much better than the Lions.

Figal nearly put Miami ahead just after the break on a set piece, pulling Mueller down without a call and then sending his free header wide in the 47th minute.

Ruan got up the right side just a minute later but again his cross was poor and McCarthy caught it.

Miami came close again in the 53rd when Julian Carranza got onto a good cross from Morgan and slammed it off the crossbar.

Both teams started to substitute after that, with much of the play between the penalty areas. A major talking point happened around the 80th minute when a cross from second-half sub Tesho Akindele appeared to come off Matuidi’s arm. After video review, the no-call stood. Akindele said he saw the play clearly but perhaps the play occurred just outside the area, hence no penalty being given.

“It was definitely a handball,” Akindele said. “I don’t know if he was inside the box or not. I think he was outside of the box, and that’s why it didn’t come back, but to me it was definitely a handball. They didn’t call it in the moment so they can’t go back (and award a free kick).”

Orlando started getting more opportunities just before Miami’s game-winner, as time wound down. Nani had a shot blocked in the 85th minute. Benji Michel was first to the ball but his cross was blocked behind for a corner. Akindele had a shot blocked moments later for another corner. That should have led to a go-ahead goal by Orlando.

A bouncing ball in the area fell for Jansson on the set piece but he couldn’t direct it on goal. Instead, it cut back across the face of goal and deflected out to Michel. Although McCarthy was on the ground, Orlando’s Homegrown fired his shot straight into the prone goalkeeper with almost the entirety of the net open to him in the 88th minute. Try not to cringe at the miss or the pronunciation of Michel’s name in this clip.

“The ball was bouncing around their box and we were unlucky (not) to get that goal,” Smith said. “When we get those opportunities to score, it’s important for us to be clinical.”

A minute later, the Lions conceded late for the second straight match. Perea cleared a ball out over the end line to give up the corner kick. There was a miscommunication about assignments as Morgan took the set piece, with Urso passing off Gonzalez Pirez to Carlos, who already had a man. Urso ended up near the top of the area with no one to mark as Gonzalez Pirez sent his free header past Gallese for the winner.

“You know, I take the responsibility on the matchups and the way we have to defend it,” Pareja said. “I need to review it because it just happened. But obviously it creates concern from us conceding another goal at the end.”

The Lions were unable to get a clean look at goal in the five minutes of stoppage time, despite Matheus Aias making his Orlando City debut late in the match, coming on for Perea on a set piece opportunity. The final whistle went, and that was that.

The hosts finished with more shots (20-9), shots on target (4-2), corners (12-5), and passing accuracy (85%-83%), while Orlando had slightly more of the ball (51%-49%).

“There are things that happen in the season that alert you, wake you up, send you sort of messages that you have to absorb and pay attention to,” Pareja said. “But one thing that we’re not going to do is just get desperate right now.”

“I think the loss will give us a good reset and refocus us,” Akindele said. “Of course tonight this is going to definitely hurt but tomorrow morning we’re going to be up, we’re going to be at practice, and we’re going to be focused on beating Atlanta.”

Orlando City is back home on Wednesday night to take on Atlanta United for the fourth time this season. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

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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

19 hours ago

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April 18, 2025

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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.

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 4/18/25

Orlando City set to play the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Lions reach Generation Adidas Cup semifinals, Angel City hires Alexander Straus, and more.

Published

22 hours ago

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April 18, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Happy Friday! I hope today finds you well as we gear up for another Saturday filled with soccer to enjoy. I don’t have many plans this Easter weekend beyond working, catching soccer when I can, and playing Baldur’s Gate 3 for the first time if I find some spare hours. Let’s dive right into today’s links from around the soccer world!

Orlando City Learns U.S. Open Cup Opponents

Orlando City’s 2025 U.S. Open Cup campaign will begin on the road against the Tampa Bay Rowdies on May 7 at 7:30 p.m. in what will be the latest edition of the I-4 Derby. It will be Orlando’s first game of this year’s tournament, while the Rowdies joined in the previous round and got past FC Naples in penalties. The Rowdies have lost four of their five games so far this season in the USL Championship and fired Robbie Neilson as head coach earlier this month. The Lions also notably would have hosting priority if they reach the round of 16, where they will play either Nashville SC or the Chattanooga Red Wolves.

Here’s the full schedule for the round of 32, which includes some interesting matchups across the country. The Tacoma Defiance are the only MLS NEXT Pro side left and will face the Portland Timbers, while the New York Red Bulls will have a long road trip to take on the Colorado Springs Switchbacks.

Lions Advance to Generation Adidas Cup Semifinals

Orlando City’s U-18 team beat Real Salt Lake 1-0 in the Generation Adidas Cup to secure a spot in the semifinals. The Young Lions have won four of their five games of the tournament and will take on Santos Laguna in the semifinal on Saturday. The winner of that match will face whichever team becomes victorious in the other semifinal between Atlanta United and the Colorado Rapids.

The U-16 team’s run in the Premier bracket is also going strong after a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich, and Orlando will take on the New England Revolution in the semifinals on Saturday.

Angel City FC Hires Alexander Straus

Bayern Munich’s Alexander Straus was named Angel City FC’s next head coach and will officially join the club on June 1. The Norwegian coach has won back-to-back Bundesliga titles and has Bayern positioned well to make it three straight this season. He’ll join an Angel City team that’s unbeaten in its first four games of the season under interim head coach Sam Laity, who will stay on as an assistant coach once Straus joins.

Europa League Quarterfinals End In Dramatic Fashion

Old Trafford hosted one of the wildest games in Europa League history, with Manchester United and Lyon battling for a spot in the quarterfinals. United scored twice in the first half, then conceded twice in the second, sending the game to extra time. Lyon took the lead despite being a man down and then the teams traded penalty kicks as the madness continued. Casemiro orchestrated Manchester’s victory in the end, assisting on two late goals within a minute of each other to beat Lyon 5-4 and advance. This United fan pretty much sums up just how much of a rollercoaster this match was.

There was also drama in Italy, as Lazio came back in the second leg to force extra time against Bodo/Glimt. The match went to penalties and Bodo/Glimt goalkeeper Nikitka Haikin denied former New York City FC player Taty Castellanos from the spot to book his team’s place in the semifinals. Although Tottenham was without Son Heung-Min, it got the job done in a 1-0 road win against Eintracht Frankfurt, while Athletic Club beat Rangers 2-0 in Spain to advance as well. In the semifinals, Tottenham will face Bodo/Glimt and Manchester United will take on Athletic Club.

Free Kicks

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!

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Orlando City

Orlando City at CF Montreal: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to earn all three points on the road against Montreal?

Published

2 days ago

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April 17, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City heads to the Great White North to take on CF Montreal. The Canadian squad sits in last place in not just the Eastern Conference but also the entire MLS, with only two points from a pair of draws. To say it’s not been a good start to the season is an understatement. Of course, it’s exactly that type of situation that makes it feel like a trap. What does Orlando City need to do to take all three points against CF Montreal?

Designated Goal Scorers

What do you do if you haven’t scored a goal in the last two matches? You play a team that has given up 13 goals in eight matches with a -9 goal differential. Montreal doesn’t have the worst defense in the league — I’m looking at you, D.C. United — but it’s not far off. That presents an opportunity for Orlando City to get back on track when it comes to scoring goals.

Through the first six matches of the season, Orlando City was leading the league in scoring with 15 goals. Over the last two matches, the spigot has dried up. The Lions must seize on this opportunity to create and finish their chances. Much like earlier in the season, I want to see Luis Muriel, Martin Ojeda, and Marco Pasalic lead the way. If anyone can get the first goal, then I’m hopeful the dam will break and the scoring drought will be over.

Keep it Clean

There is some good news of late when it comes to the Orlando City defense. The club has two clean sheets over the last two matches, and that is without Cesar Araujo. There is also some bad news, given Rodrigo Schlegel will be serving his red card suspension this match. That means David Brekalo will move back to center back with Robin Jansson, and Oscar Pareja will have to employ either Rafael Santos or Kyle Smith at left back. Santos has been less than good so far this season.

Montreal has scored a paltry four goals so far in 2025, but two of them have come from striker Prince Owusu. The defense will also need to deal with Caden Clark facilitating in the midfield. I get that this isn’t a prolific attack. Montreal has not looked very good this season and is looking for both its first win and its first points of any sort at home. That means the hosts may be desperate for a result, and desperate is often dangerous. How well the defense does — in particular, how well Santos does if he plays — may determine if Montreal is able to break out of its slump. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.

Give the Midfield Time

Before the last match, I was a little worried about the midfield. Having both Araujo and Eduard Atuesta out at the same time seemed to be a concern. Now, after seeing how well Joran Gerbet and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson worked together against the New York Red Bulls, I’m way less worried. If Araujo and Atuesta need a little more time to get fully healthy, then let them. The Franco/Icelandic combo seems to be a potent one.

Of course, if the normal starters are ready, then by all means bring them back, but maybe not until the 60th minute. Perhaps Pareja could even mix and match. One never knows how yellow card suspensions or minor injuries will affect player availability. This is a good match for Gerbet and Thorhallsson to work their magic.

That is what I will be looking for Saturday night. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!

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