Connect with us

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew: Final Score 2-1 as 10-Man Lions Win to Clinch Home Playoff Match

Nani was sent off on an absurd call but the Lions refused to quit and beat the Crew at home.

Published

4 years ago

on

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Things looked bad for Orlando City when Nani was sent off in the second half and the Columbus Crew tied the game moments later. But the Lions showed resilience and Benji Michel scored a late winner in a 2-1 victory at Exploria Stadium. Orlando (11-3-8, 41 points) clinched a home playoff game with the win and can finish no worse than fourth in the Eastern Conference. It was the Lions’ fourth consecutive win over the Crew (11-6-5, 38 points), who still haven’t won a road match in 2020.

Chris Mueller opened the scoring, but Harrison Afful equalized just after Nani was sent off when referee Ramy Touchan inexplicably ruled that he had erred in giving the captain only a yellow card for a challenge that didn’t even look like much of a foul. Nevertheless, the Lions were able to find a second goal after that and prevent the Crew from getting good looks at goal down the stretch.

It was the first time Orlando City had gone down a man and then went on to score a goal to win a game.

“Tonight it’s an honor for me to coach these guys and I give the credit to them,” Head Coach Oscar Pareja after the match. “It was their heart, and the three points against a very good rival. And we secured a spot for the playoffs and a home game, which is another objective accomplished.”

Pareja’s lineup included Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, and Ruan. Andres Perea and Junior Urso played central midfield with Mauricio Pereyra dropping into available pockets. Nani and Mueller bracketed Tesho Akindele in the attack. Daryl Dike had the night off due to a non-COVID-related illness.

Orlando City had a dominant first half against the visitors but repeatedly missed the target, made the wrong final decision, or saw a shot saved by Eloy Room. The Lions kept the ball in the Crew half for much of the first 45 minutes and fashioned several good scoring chances but could only cash in on one of them.

Jonathan Mensah’s poor pass led to a golden opportunity for Orlando in the 10th minute. His pass was picked off by Mueller, who spotted Akindele breaking in down the left. But he gave Tesho too soft a pass, which allowed the defense to come in from behind and deflect it away.

Moments later, there were shouts for handball on Pedro Santos and it did appear that the ball hit the Columbus winger on the arm, but nothing was called and there appeared to be no video review at the next stoppage of play.

The Lions should have gone in front in the 14th minute when Urso was left wide open at the penalty spot. He took the pass, turned to goal and fired just wide under no pressure at all.

Orlando continued to fire shots off defenders, high, or wide of the net from good spots over the next several minutes. But the Lions finally broke through in the 26th minute. Pereyra got in the way of a Harrison Afful pass and fed to Mueller, who fired home his 10th goal to open the scoring. Pereyra took sole possession of the team’s assist lead with his seventh.

Smith nearly scored on consecutive shots in the 30th but was robbed blind by Room, who made a pair of outstanding saves to keep the game at 1-0.

Lucas Zelarayan headed a shot at Gallese in the 40th minute after the Crew’s first spell of sustained pressure. That was the last decent look for either side in the opening period and the Lions held their slim advantage at the break.

Orlando led in shots (10-5), shots on target (3-2), corners (6-0), passing accuracy (87%-80%), and possession (57%-43%). At one point before Mueller’s goal, the Lions had held more than 60% of the ball, before Columbus had a late spell of possession.

Shortly after the restart, the game changed dramatically. Nani went to ground while seemingly winning the ball, but he caught a Crew player on the follow through. Touchan gave him a yellow card and awarded a free kick to Columbus in a dangerous area. It was a bit surprising to even see him go to the monitor, but he did, and it was even more surprising when he showed Nani a straight red. Orlando went down to 10 men in the 52nd minute.

“We reviewed it. Nothing happened,” Pareja said of the play. “We all make mistakes and we assume this is a part of the game. The game gives us the possibility to be fair, and we have to be fair. It was not a red card.”

Columbus equalized four minutes after Nani left the pitch. The ball deflected off of Smith and got headed into the area. It fell for Pedro Santos, who laid off for Afful to smash into the net past Gallese, tying the game at 1-1 in the 56th minute. The momentum had changed and it seemed like the Crew might go on to take all three points.

Orlando City played with great determination after conceding and prevented the Crew from getting good looks at goal, even though they were on the ball a lot more. The Lions looked for opportunities to hit on the counter through Michel after came on in the 70th for Akindele, who had worked tirelessly all night on the press and also with his hold-up play and timely runs.

Michel won a free kick with his first touch of the match and the Lions again thought the Crew handled the ball in the box, as the ball appeared to ping off the arm of Aboubacar Keita. Touchan reviewed the play this time but ruled that there was no foul for handball in the area.

Pereyra lofted a long ball for Michel in the 84th goal to start the winning sequence. With his back to goal, Michel headed the ball up and behind himself, then turned inside of Keita and got to the ball first, chesting it down and slotting home his fifth goal of the season between Room’s legs, restoring Orlando City’s lead.

“It just means a lot, being able to reach this accomplishment in front of my friends, my family, the city I grew up in,” Michel said, when asked what it meant to him as a Homegrown Player to give his team its first ever home playoff game with the goal. “It’s just a feeling that you just cannot describe it’s just so many emotions going into it.”

Pereyra notched his eighth assist of the season on the play. He said after the game that he knew he was going to be subbed off soon, and he was tired, but he wanted to try one more time to spring Michel.

“I say, ‘okay this maybe will be my last ball,’ so that’s why I tried to shoot over the defender,” Pereyra said. “And then Benji made the rest, of course. He controlled, he’s fast, he made the difference, and then he scored. It’s great for him and for us.”

City did well from that point on to keep the Crew on the fringes of the area, and Columbus settled for lumping balls into the box, where the Lions had five defenders waiting every time. After an interminable eight minutes of stoppage time, Touchan blew the final whistle and Orlando had its third win in a row.

For the game, the Lions out-shot the Crew (13-11), with both teams getting four on target. With the extra man for most of the second half, Columbus was able to take the possession advantage (50.7%-49.3%), but Orlando was the more accurate passing team (85%-83%).

“I think they have done a great job on overcoming many obstacles,” Pareja said of his team’s play in 2020. “Since we got here, what I have seen is just this side of the players. They know the challenges will come and they know that we were not at the beginning of the season the team where everybody was expecting big things. And I think they they understood that and they embraced that barrier and, and they overcome [it] together, as a group.”

Orlando City’s four straight wins against the Crew marks the first time in club history that the Lions have beaten an opponent four times in a row.

“Today was a heavy day for us. It was difficult, and I think we showed again that we can keep thinking about big things for Orlando City,” Pareja said.

Orlando City will close the regular season Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. when the Lions host Nashville SC. Nani will miss that match unless the red card is rescinded, and Pereyra will miss the match due to yellow card accumulation.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Lion Links

Lion Links: 4/23/25

The Orlando Pride drop, OCSC Academy awards, USMNT characters, and more.

Published

19 hours ago

on

April 23, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City B / Mark Thor

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. This weekend we have the most convenient schedule, with the Orlando Pride playing Friday night, Orlando City on Saturday night, and Orlando City B on Sunday night. It’s nice knowing what I’ll be doing each night. Now, I just need all three teams to get back on the winning side of things. Until then, let’s get to the links.

Bad Pride, Good Pride

It might have been the dumbest way to lose a match against the Washington Spirit, but — actually nevermind, there is no “but” about it. We can, however, decide to move forward rather than dwell on it after today. Unsurprisingly, the Pride dropped in the all-knowing power rankings. All for XI only dropped the Pride one spot to No. 2 since everyone has a bad day now and again. The CBS power ranking dropped the team to No. 3. That was the “bad.” The “good” is that we can revisit the puppies that showed up at Inter&Co Stadium. The loss still hurts, but it’s hard to stay mad after looking at the puppies.

The (OCSC) Academy Awards

Assuming you read Lion Links on Monday morning (or listened to The Mane Land PawedCast this week) you know that the Orlando City SC Academy U-18 team won the Generation Adidas Cup. Now we know that three of the very young Lions — Gustavo Caraballo, Jackson Platts, and Justin Ellis — were named to the U18 Best XI. Additionally, Caraballo and Ellis earned MVP and Top Scorer awards, respectively. It was truly the bright spot of an otherwise forgettable weekend.

Pochettino Prepares

The USMNT did not do well in the Concacaf Nations League, falling to Panama and then Canada in the third place match. Now, U.S. Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino has to prepare the team for the Gold Cup. Pochettino said that he needs the “right characters” on the squad, whether they are the most talented or not. He also spoke of the need for the players to fight for the badge and the flag. Former USMNT coach Bruce Arena said Pochettino may not be the right man for the job because he’s not an American. The USMNT’s next matches are friendlies against Turkiye and Switzerland on June 7 and June 10, respectively.

MLS Transfer News

The Columbus Crew are making moves. The club received $250,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) from the Houston Dynamo in exchange for a 2025 international roster slot. The club then sent DeJuan Jones to the San Jose Earthquakes for $425,000 in GAM and a 2025 international roster slot. Elsewhere, Sporting Kansas City acquired forward Santiago Muñoz on loan from Liga MX side Santos Laguna.

Free Kicks

That will do it for today. Check back as we get you ready for the full slate of matches coming up.

Continue Reading

Lion Links

Lion Links: 4/22/25

Pedro Gallese earns recognition, Americans in midweek action, English promotion update, and more.

Published

2 days ago

on

April 22, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Well it wasn’t the worst weekend that Orlando soccer has ever had, but it certainly wasn’t the best either. Fortunately, all three of Orlando’s teams will be back in action soon, so there’s no need to dwell on the past too much. Let’s take a moment to wish a happy birthday to the Orlando Pride’s Brianna Martinez, as well as to Kaká! Now, it’s time to turn our attention to today’s links.

Pedro Gallese Earns Weekly Recognition

Pedro Gallese kept a third clean sheet in a row and Orlando City’s third clean sheet of the year in the team’s scoreless draw on the road against CF Montreal. In recognition of his efforts during the match, Gallese was named to the bench of the latest edition of the MLS Team of the Matchday. El Pulpo made six saves to blank a Montreal team that intently searched for a breakthrough, and made a couple of truly excellent second half stops that kept the score level. Congrats to Pedro and keep up the good work!

Americans in Midweek Action

A number of Americans will be playing games during the working week, and there are some big matches to keep an eye on. The main event is on Wednesday, when Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, and AC Milan face Inter Milan in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinal, which is tied 1-1 after the first leg. Also on Wednesday, Chris Richards, Matt Turner, and Crystal Palace will play Arsenal in the Premier League. Thursday then has Malik Tillman, Richy Ledezma, and PSV Eindhoven playing FC Twente in the Eredivisie, while Johnny Cardoso and Real Betis play Valladolid in La Liga action.

English Promotion Update

Following results in the EFL Championship on Monday, Leeds United and Burnley have both secured promotion to the Premier League for next season. Both teams won their respective games and are each on 94 points, and with just two matches left, third-placed Sheffield United has no way to catch them. The other promoted side will be determined after the promotion playoffs, which would feature Sheffield United, Sunderland, Bristol City, and Coventry City if the season ended today. Meanwhile in League One, Wrexham’s 2-1 victory over Blackpool meant the Dragons retook second place and the automatic promotion spot that comes with it. If they beat Charlton on Sunday and Wycombe Wanderers drop points against Leyton Orient, then Wrexham would secure promotion to the Championship.

Transfer Rumor Roundup

Transfer rumors continue to fly thick and fast as we approach the business end of most European seasons, so let’s take a look at a few items worth catching up on. Manchester United is said to be keen on signing 17-year-old Argentine Franco Mastantuono from River Plate. Liverpool is reportedly interested in signing winger Ademola Lookman from Atalanta, although the Reds would likely face competition from several other Premier League teams. Finally, Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro has revealed that he and Xabi Alonso have a gentleman’s agreement that if a team the Spaniard used to play for is interested in hiring him as its coach, then the club will not hinder the process. The statement has led to renewed speculation that Alonso will be named Real Madrid coach if Carlo Ancelotti leaves in the summer.

Free Kicks

That’s all I have for you this morning. Vamos Orlando!

Continue Reading

Orlando City

Orlando City’s Focus On Youth Development Showing In The First Team

Orlando City is seeing more and more players promoted from the academy, through OCB, and into the first team.

Published

3 days ago

on

April 21, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

Orlando City began its academy in the USL Pro days with the goal of developing players for the first team. It took nearly a decade to begin seeing youth development bear fruit, but it’s becoming apparent early in the 2025 season.

Prior to 2019, Orlando City signed four players to Homegrown Player contracts. Tommy Redding, Tyler Turner, and Harrison Heath never played in the academy and the other, Mason Stajduhar, developed primarily at Chargers Soccer Club in Tampa.

Orlando City signed arguably its first true Homegrown Player when the club inked Benji Michel to a first-team contract. The following off-season, the Lions added David Loera and Jordan Bender. Mikey Halliday signed in July 2020. All of the players came through the academy before signing first-team deals. 

So what changed?

Part of it was the growth of the academy. It takes several years to begin producing players. Another major factor was the hiring of Luiz Muzzi on Dec. 18, 2019. Muzzi came from FC Dallas, a club known for promoting from its academy. He brought in Ricardo Moreira, who shares his vision of developing young talent for the first team.

And it’s not only Muzzi and Moreira. Former Orlando City head coach Adrian Heath rarely attended OCB games. James O’Connor only went to one, and that was to see his former teammate, Dennis Chin, who was playing with the opposing Richmond Kickers. The Orlando City boss left when Chin came off.

Oscar Pareja and other first-team coaches have been at several games, far more than their predecessors. That’s largely to do with the games’ location at the training facility, which is another factor in OCB’s development. The 2019 team trained over 40 miles away from the first team. The move to Kissimmee has the first team, OCB, and the development academy under one roof. It’s another display of the club’s more recent commitment to youth development.

Undoubtedly, the transformation of OCB under Muzzi and Moreira has also impacted Homegrown talent coming through. The team’s 2016 and 2017 rosters were primarily made up of first-team reserves and USL lifers. The 2019 team had many players from the Soccer Institute at Montverde Academy (SIMA), many of which were young but ineligible for Homegrown status.

Things began to change in 2020. The roster shifted to include more academy players and that’s only grown. This year, 15 OCB players came out of the academy, two were drafted, and eight are outside signings on MLS NEXT Pro deals. Other than Jhon Solis and first-team goalkeeper Carlos Mercado, everyone to appear for the team is 23 years old or younger.

The focus on giving OCB spots to academy graduates is now seen in the first team. Players like Thomas Williams, Javier Otero, Alex Freeman, Colin Guske, and Gustavo Caraballo have been regulars on the MLS team sheet. Injuries to first-team regulars has seen them receiving regular playing time.

The poster boy for this change is Freeman. The right back came out of the academy and spent a couple of years at OCB before signing his first-team contract. He won the starting role early in the 2025 regular season.

Many players joined the club later in their development, but we’re seeing some come through having been nearly fully developed at the Orlando City Academy. Guske and Caraballo joined at 13 years old, the youngest age group of the development academy. Both signed first-team deals for this year.

The midfield duo continue to play with OCB most games but are also on the first-team roster almost weekly. The only reason they weren’t in Montreal Saturday night is because they were helping the club’s U-18 team reach (and then win) the Generation Adidas Cup final.

With Muzzi and Moreira at the helm, more players continue to come through. U-18 captain and OCB starter Jackson Platts appears to be well on his way to a first-team contract. So does fellow U-18 and OCB starting forward Justin Ellis.

This past weekend saw another academy product make his first-team debut. Zakaria Taifi took over at right back for OCB when Freeman moved up to the first team this year. Signing a short-term deal Saturday, he came on as a late substitute to help the 10-man Lions see out the scoreless draw.

First-team absences have provided opportunities for many young players. If several weren’t at the Generation Adidas Cup, it could be more. Regardless, the last few years have shown a big step forward for the club.

The shift in recent years is more than the pride of seeing local kids representing the hometown team. They’ve been an essential part of the 2025 campaign. The club hasn’t had to use a short bench or dip into outside emergency signings. Instead, the Lions call up kids they know, making it easier to seamlessly place them into the team.

There will be times where several injuries will occur to experienced players. Orlando City is prepared for this more now than ever before, and it’s because of the players coming through the academy and playing with OCB. We’re already seeing it early in this 2025 season.

Continue Reading

Trending