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Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Final Score 3-2 as Lions Roar Back from Two Deficits to Win

The Lions showed resiliency to bounce back from a pair of one-goal deficits and Mason Stajduhar earned his first win in his MLS debut.

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4 years ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

Orlando City fell behind twice but showed resiliency to bounce back and claim a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Atlanta United at Exploria Stadium. Nani’s 87th-minute winner completed the comeback after Kyle Smith and Silvester van der Water had brought the Lions (8-4-4, 28 points) back from two one-goal deficits against the rival Five Stripes (2-6-8, 14 points).

With the win, Orlando City has now gone six consecutive matches without a loss to their northern rivals (3-0-3) and climbed back to second in the Eastern Conference race, at least for the moment.

“Obviously excited. Happy to see the players celebrate with our fans in a difficult victory but in the end a victory that means a lot for us,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the game. “It’s been a difficult week for us. It’s well known that the performance we had last week, we needed to just erase and then learn from it and bounce back. Many things needed to happen. The players were incredible today.”

Pareja gave Homegrown goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar his first MLS start in goal behind a back line of Smith, a masked Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, and Ruan. Uri Rosell and Andres Perea started in central midfield, with Chris Mueller and Mauricio Pereyra facilitating the attack and Nani and Benji Michel up top. Junior Urso made the game day squad on the bench. Tesho Akindele, who played last night for Canada in Austin, TX, also was on the bench for Orlando.

Orlando got forward in the opening seconds and Ruan was dangerous from the get-go but when a cross didn’t find its intended target, Atlanta scored going the other way. A quick cross from Brooks Lennon on the left found Martinez near the top of the box and he sent a rocket off the right post that caromed in. The visitors led before the first minute of the match had expired.

“Just trying to get through some hurdles there,” Pareja said of his team falling behind twice. “The first goal that they scored in the first 30-45 seconds and then we needed to overcome that. And then also the second goal was a difficult moment. But I think we showed what the team is made of. The players need all the recognition, and seriously today they won a very important match — not just the three points, but just the way they brought things back. It’s a credit for them.”

The Lions should have pulled that goal right back in the third minute. Ruan got down the right and had Michel breaking in alone at the back post but the Brazilian hit his cross too hard and it skipped through the box before Michel could get onto it, wasting a tap-in opportunity.

Ruan had a go himself in the 15th minute, firing Orlando’s first shot on goal but hitting it right at goalkeeper Alec Kann. A minute later, Stajduhar came up big to stop a shot from Erik Lopez at the other end as the game went back and forth.

Michel thought he’d tied the match in the 21st minute but Kann did well to make a sprawling, one-armed save. Atlanta immediately earned a corner at the other end and the Lions inexplicably left Martinez uncovered, but the Atlanta striker headed well over the bar. Carlos headed just wide on an Orlando corner in the 27th as the two teams continued battling end to end.

Michel struggled with his touch and his finishing throughout the first half. Nani tried to send him in alone in the 29th minute but he couldn’t control it. He was getting into dangerous positions but just couldn’t find the handle at the critical moment. In the 39th minute Ruan set him up right in front but Michel hit his shot right at Kann, and when the rebound came back to him, he couldn’t dig it out of his feet and the goalkeeper was able to regather it.

Ruan again got down the right in the 42nd minute and without a good option in front he sent a hard, low shot on target from a tight angle. Kann made the save, but the Lions scored on the ensuing corner kick. Nani sent his service across the box and Smith went low to get his head to it, knocking it past Kann to tie the match at 1-1 in the 43rd minute. It was Smith’s first goal with Orlando City.

“I was making a late run in the box and then I was just trying to keep moving to create space for myself if a ball did come in that I could hit,” Smith said. “That’s what happened and the ball comes in and two people I think jumped in front of me, and so neither one of them headed it, so I didn’t even really have to jump, and after that I just tried to get as much power on it as I could, and keep it low so that I knew the goalie would have trouble with it, and it worked.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve scored a goal. I haven’t scored a goal for this club yet, going on about three years now, so I was very happy and glad I could tie things up for us in an important part of the game before half.”

The Lions kept coming at the end of the half and Mueller nearly gave Orlando the lead in stoppage time but Kann robbed him blind with a huge save on the goal line.

The teams went to the break all knotted up.

Orlando generated more shots (9-4) and shots on target (7-2) and passed more accurately (90.9%-86.7%). Atlanta held slightly more possession (51.8%-48.2%) and had more corners (3-2).

Nani won a corner early in the second half as the Lions continued to get forward in the attack. Pereyra sent a ball well wide of goal while falling after a rare mistake by Kann trying to play a cross. The Uruguayan lost his balance trying to change directions to get on the ball just outside the area and couldn’t get the effort on target. Ruan won another corner in the 53rd minute as he continued to give Atlanta problems down the wing.

Atlanta regained the lead against the run of play in the 66th minute. Pereyra made an ill-advised play to allow a pass across the midfield to go through him, but Nani couldn’t get onto it in time and Atlanta caught the Lions with Ruan and Mueller too far up field. Marcelino Moreno got the ball with time and space on the left corner of the area, cut to his right and smashed a ball just inside the upper right corner where Stajduhar couldn’t reach it, putting Atlanta up 2-1.

The Lions continued to earn set pieces and get half chances, but the game changed in the 74th minute when Pareja sent on van der Water and Akindele for Rosell and Mueller. Van der Water nearly made an impact four minutes later when he got into space but Pereyra’s pass was a rocket that he couldn’t settle. However, he changed the match a minute later. Pereyra sent a beautiful ball over the top to Michel on the left. Benji headed the ball across the box and van der Water was there to head it past Kann to tie the match at 2-2 in the 79th minute.

Smith turned over the ball in his own end moments later and gave Atlanta a chance to regain the lead again from a corner kick. The cross was low and deflected to Anton Walkes, who hit his shot just wide of the goal in the 82nd minute, although it appeared Stajduhar may have had it covered.

Orlando finally took the lead in the 87th minute. Van der Water got the ball on the right, cut back to the corner of the box and sent in a dangerous cross. Nani timed his run perfectly, got his head on the cross, and knocked it past Kann to make it 3-2 with his eighth goal of the season.

“It’s important to let you all know, and the fans, that Silvester has done a great effort trying to adjust to many things,” Pareja said of the evening’s star substitute. “I think he’s doing a good job in learning but it takes some time. Last week he presented some tightness. He needed to come out from the game. During the week he had that tightness and he was brave to be part of the game today despite that difficulty that he had, and I think the game rewarded him tonight. He’s an important player. We brought him to do those things. Silvester today he came in and showed us all the potential that he has and I’m very happy for him.”

The Lions saw out five minutes of stoppage time with the help of Urso and Joey DeZart, who came on for Nani and Pereyra, and prevented the Five Stripes from mounting any kind of danger down the stretch.

Orlando out-shot Atlanta 15-6 (9-3 on target), earned more corners (6-4), and passed more accurately (88.5%-85.1%). The Five Stripes managed a bit more possession (50.8%-49.2%).

“We needed to win, especially after the last match in New York City,” Smith said. “It was a big, big, win for us, so I’m very excited for all of us (and) excited to score my first goal in my career in the MLS.”

Stajduhar had only one save but it was a big one and he couldn’t do anything about either of the goals as he earned his first MLS win. As a cancer survivor, it was an emotional moment for the Homegrown Player to get his first start and first victory in front of friends and family.

“It was a great feeling just to get the win — obviously that, most importantly — and then it feels like a big weight off my shoulders,” Stajduhar said. “It’s almost been six years to make my debut, so I’m very happy. It felt just so natural and right in front of The Wall. Unfortunately they banged in a goal first 45 seconds. That’s how it rolls sometimes but we got the win and that’s what matters.”

Orlando City will host its second straight rival on Wednesday when Inter Miami visits for the season’s second Tropic Thunder match.

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Orlando City

Orlando City’s Designated Players Delightfully Productive to Start the Season

A performance evaluation of Orlando City’s Designated Players through three games and how they compare to the rest of the league.

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17 hours ago

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March 13, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

There will come a point someday in the future when Major League Soccer will stop using all its silly roster rules and allow teams to build their rosters however they would like to à la the rest of the world, but until then we must continue to live in the alphabet soup of acronyms like BAM, GAM, HAM, and TAM (two of those are actual MLS roster-building methods, one is a food often eaten with green eggs — back when eggs were affordable — and the other is onomatopoeia; I am confident you can identify the two acronyms that are MLS allocation money).

The other commonly used term, as it relates to roster-building methods in MLS, is DP, or Designated Player — a player who can be paid any amount as their salary while having a fixed amount that counts against the salary cap. The amount depends on the age of the DP. Players above the age of 24 count as $743,750 against the team’s salary budget; ages 21-23 count as $200,000; and players aged 20 or younger count as $150,000. You can read all you ever wanted to know about this subject and more by checking out the 2025 MLS Roster Rules and Regulations. Bring snacks. And a pillow.

Orlando City has three Designated Players on the 2025 roster: Luis Muriel, Martín Ojeda, and Marco Pašalić. Among the 30 teams in MLS, 11 teams, including Orlando City, have three Designated Players, 17 have two, and two teams only have one, for a total of 69 DPs on rosters as of Week 4 of the 2025 MLS season.

Only 61 of those 69 Designated Players have played thus far this season, however, as five are currently injured (CF Montréal’s Giacomo Vrioni, LA Galaxy’s Joseph Paintsil and Riqui Puig, New England’s Tomás Chancalay, and Portland’s Jonathan Rodríguez). In addition, one is on loan until June (NYCFC’s Talles Magno), one still does not have his paperwork in order to play in MLS (LAFC’s Cengiz Ünder), and one has been a healthy scratch in each game this season, as his team was actively looking to transfer him to another club (Toronto’s Lorenzo Insigne).

Most clubs use their Designated Player spots for attacking players, which makes sense considering attacking players tend to command the highest salaries, and with a DP only counting a set amount against the salary cap, teams can afford to pay high salaries to bring in attacking talent without the risk of jamming up their salary cap utilization. Only three of the 69 DPs in MLS this season are primarily defenders — Inter Miami’s Jordi Alba, Nashville SC’s Walker Zimmerman, and NYCFC’s Thiago Martins — and frankly, I am surprised it is even that many.

Orlando City has deployed 16 Designated Players since entering MLS, with all of those players in attacking roles while wearing purple. During some years, the performance by the club’s Designated Players was, shall we say, underwhelming, but through three games in 2025 (I know, I know, it is only three games), Orlando City can make a case that the performance of its DPs has been nearly the best in the league.

Let’s make that case. Right here. Right now. Bonus points if you remember this outstanding adidas commercial using Fatboy Slim’s “Right Here, Right Now.”

Ultimately, soccer matches come down to two measures: goals scored and goals allowed. Being that nearly every Designated Player plays in an attacking position, we can focus more on the goals scored as a measure of comparison. In order to score a goal, you need to create a shot, so I used Opta’s tracking on fbref.com to aggregate every Designated Player’s performance thus far in 2025 and normalize it to a per-90-minute basis.

Every blue circle in the table below is the average performance by a team’s Designated Players per 90 minutes for shot-creating actions and goals scored (example: the Houston Dynamo are the lonely circle closest to the bottom left corner; the Dynamo’s two Designated Players create, average, exactly one shot per 90 minutes and zero goals per 90 minutes, which is not ideal). The purple bullseye is Orlando City, which has DPs averaging 4.73 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes and scoring 0.57 goals per 90 minutes. The orange circle is the MLS average.

The ideal location on a chart like this would be for your team’s circle to be as far to the upper right as possible, with DPs creating lots of shots for their teammates and scoring lots of goals as well. If you had to choose one axis, you would of course prefer to be higher on the y-axis than the x-axis (your seventh grade Algebra teacher promised you that you would use the cartesian plane in real life someday), since goals scored are more important than shots created.

The Mane Land’s Ben Miller wrote a piece in our Monday newsletter, exclusively available to those who subscribe (which you can do by clicking on this hyperlink) about the goal-scoring performances of Orlando City’s three Designated Players thus far this season. Expanding on what Ben wrote, here are the per-90-minute stats for Orlando City’s three DPs thus far:

PlayerMins PlayedSCAGoalsAssistsGoal Contributions
Luis Muriel1513.580.600.601.20
Martín Ojeda2436.670.370.370.74
Marco Pašalić2343.460.770.381.15

The combined averages of these players’ performances are the aforementioned 4.73 shot-creating actions and 0.57 goals scored per 90 minutes. Orlando City’s DPs rank third in the league for shot-creating actions and fifth in goals scored. Seattle’s DPs (Jordan Morris and Albert Rusnák) are the reverse — fifth in shot-creating actions and third in goals scored — tying them with Orlando City at an average of fourth. Both teams trail expansion team San Diego FC, which is off to a strong start with two wins and a draw in its first three matches, and which has DPs (Anders Dreyer and Hirving “Chucky” Lozano) who rank fourth in shot-creating actions and second in goals scored, leading all clubs with an average of third across the two measures.

Looking at this a little differently, we can use standard deviations to compare just how much better or worse each club’s Designated Players compare to the league average. The axes look flipped from the last chart, but they are not. Shot-creating actions are still on the x-axis and goals on the y-axis. In this case, on the x-axis we are comparing a team’s average per 90 minutes in shot-creating actions to the league average, and we can see that Orlando City, again located in the purple bullseye, is 1.33 standard deviations better than league average.

The Lions are also 0.99 standard deviations better than league average in goals per 90 minutes, making them one of only six clubs who have Designated Players performing better than league average in both metrics (positive values are better than league average, negative values are worse than league average), and in a smaller group of three clubs that can claim to have had the best performance in terms of both creating shots and scoring goals.

The two circles located in the vicinity of Orlando City are again Seattle and San Diego, performing better in goals per 90 minutes but not as well in shot-creating actions. The outlier on the y-axis is D.C. United, as that club’s DPs are averaging 1.04 goals per 90 minutes, nearly three standard deviations (read: a lot) more than league average. The outlier on the x-axis is Nashville, which is surprising given that Zimmerman, a central defender, is one of the team’s DPs. Nashville is averaging nearly six shot-creating actions per DP per 90 minutes — almost 2.5 standard deviations more than league average.

If you recall your statistics classes, the general rule is that 95% of data points fall within two standard deviations above or below the average, so when any person or any team is more than two standard deviations better than the average either a) they are doing incredibly well, or b) the sample may not yet be big enough to feel confident in the standard deviations. In this case, it is probably both, as the teams have only played three games.

Even though the samples are small, it is still completely OK to feel great about the initial performances of Orlando City’s three Designated Players. The group has combined for four goals and three assists, and Muriel, Ojeda, and Pašalić have been a driving force behind a strong start to the season on the offensive end of the field.

Here’s to hoping that Orlando’s Designated Players will continue their torrid pace when the club returns back to the New York City metro area to play the Red Bulls on Saturday and their performance evokes a phrase from another Fatboy Slim song, and come Saturday, we find ourselves praising them like we should.

Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City at New York Red Bulls: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to bounce back on the road and secure a victory against the New York Red Bulls?

Published

19 hours ago

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March 13, 2025

By

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Orlando City heads north for the second week in a row, but this time to Red Bull…er…Sports Illustrated Stadium to take on the New York Red Bulls. The Lions are coming off a disappointing loss to New York City FC. A win gets Orlando City back to .500 before returning to Inter&Co Stadium next week.

On paper this looks like a low-scoring match, so it will probably be a barn burner. What does Orlando City need to do to earn all three points on the road against the New York Red Bulls?

Oh Captain, My Captain!

Robin Jansson is back, but the defense still gave up two goals against New York City FC. That’s eight goals shipped in three games for those who are counting. It’s not particularly surprising that Orlando City is 1-2-0 given the leaky defense. It doesn’t get any easier this Saturday with yet another road trip to play a New York team, albeit this time in New Jersey. I’m not sure if that’s better or worse, but we do know they will at least be playing on a normal-sized soccer pitch this week.

The Red Bulls aren’t exactly prolific scorers so far this season with only two goals so far — one from Emil Forsberg and one from Mohammed Sofo — but that doesn’t mean they can’t score this weekend. Now that the captain is back, the defense needs to get things sorted out. I’m hoping that the normal spacing of SI Stadium will allow the defense to refocus with Jansson back in charge.

Break on Through

New York may not score a ton of goals, but it gives up even fewer. The Red Bulls have only allowed one goal this season. It came in the match against FC Cincinnati off a long pass and off the head of Kevin Denkey. Even then, there were two defenders on him and it was a race between Denkey and keeper Carlos Coronel to see who would reach the ball first. I’m saying it’s not easy to score against them.

On the flip side, Orlando City has been able to score seven goals in its first three matches. Those goals have come from six different players. I think that there will be two players I’ll be watching in particular in the buildup. Jansson is fairly accurate at delivering long passes like the one on which Cincinnati scored. We also know that one of Eduard Atuesta’s strengths is connecting the defense to the offense. If the two can break the lines of the opposition, then the Lions have enough options up top to spread out the chances.

Use the Space

If Orlando City never plays in Yankee Stadium again it will be too soon. Luckily, the passing lanes and spacing will be back to normal standards this weekend. That should mean better passing from Orlando City, and the ability to run the offense how Oscar Pareja prefers.

As such, I want the Lions to take their time, be methodical, and strike when the time is right. That doesn’t mean they have to build out of the back all night. If the Red Bulls are creeping up, go route one. Use whatever space New York gives, but don’t let up. You can’t win if you don’t score, and one goal may determine this match.

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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Lion Links: 3/13/25

Getting to know Robin Jansson, Orlando Pride announce 2025 season roster, Orlando City’s watch party schedule, and more.

Published

23 hours ago

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March 13, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

How’s it going, Mane Landers? Soccer in the City Beautiful is back and in full swing, with another stacked weekend ahead of us. I’ve been spending most of the week working and getting some reading done before the rest of the month really gets busier for me. For those who like contemporary romance and are looking for a recommendation, First-Time Caller has been a fantastic read so far. But enough about what you should be reading, let’s get to the links!

Getting to Know Robin Jansson

Enjoy taking a stroll with Orlando City center back Robin Jansson, who detailed his role on the team and experience in Orlando. The 33-year-old has become an MLS veteran over the years and talked about how his game has developed since moving from Sweden to the U.S., notably how he’s able to play with the ball at his feet a bit more. As the team’s captain, Jansson provides leadership both on and off the pitch and discussed how he’s fit into the verbal and intense South American culture within the club. He also spoke on how he gives back to the community by visiting kids in the hospital to help them on their journeys.

Orlando Pride Announce Roster for 2025 Season

With the NWSL season only a few days away, the Orlando Pride announced their start-of-season roster. There aren’t too many changes from the team that won both the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship last year, although Adriana’s transfer to Saudi Arabian club Al Qadsiah FC is notable. New additions acquired this off-season include Zambian forward Prisca Chilufya, World Cup winner Oihane Hernández, and rookie defender Zara Chavoshi. Luana, Simone Charley, and Amanda Allen are the players on the season-ending injury list heading into the 2025 season as well.

Orlando City Reveals 2025 Watch Party Schedule

The schedule for this year’s Orlando City watch parties was announced and fans will be able to watch seven away games at different local pubs. The first will be Saturday at Burton’s Thornton Park for Orlando’s road game against the New York Red Bulls. This should create a nice atmosphere for Orlando’s road rivalry games in May too, as the game against Inter Miami on May 18 will fittingly be watched at Rivals, while the watch party for the game against Atlanta United on May 28 will be at The Hideaway. Orlando’s Decision Day match with Toronto FC will be hosted at Kiwi’s Pub & Grill to close out the regular season. As part of the club’s partnership with the pubs, each one will have access to MLS Season Pass for all of the Lions’ games this year as well.

New NWSL Players to Watch in 2025

Pride fans are well aware that NWSL newcomers played a major role in the league last season, as Barbra Banda was a major reason behind the club’s historic year. This year’s new faces include many players who could impress in their first year in the NWSL, like aforementioned Pride defender Oihane Hernandez. The right back helped Spain win the 2023 Women’s World Cup and bronze at the 2024 Olympics and joined the Pride after two seasons with Real Madrid. She’s skilled on both sides of the ball and gives opponents another obstacle to overcome this season.

OCB Lands in MLS NEXT Pro’s Top 10

The first power rankings of the MLS NEXT Pro season are out and Orlando City B placed sixth. The Young Lions kicked off their season at home on Sunday with a 2-1 win over Columbus Crew 2. A late rally by Columbus nearly spoiled things, but OCB did well to hold onto its lead and secure all three points. Orlando’s next match will be Sunday at Osceola Heritage Park against Atlanta United 2, which lost 1-0 to New York Red Bulls II during the opening weekend.

Free Kicks

  • Chicago Stars forward Mallory Swanson won’t be with the team when it takes on the Pride this Friday due to personal reasons.
  • Although she’s focused on this NWSL season, Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman stated that it’s just a matter of when in regards to her making the move to Europe.
  • Seattle Sounders midfielder Paul Arriola was carted off due to a left knee injury during his team’s 4-1 loss to Cruz Azul. It’s tough news for Arriola, who tore his right ACL in 2020.
  • Charlotte FC bolstered its defense by adding left back Souleyman Doumbia on loan from Standard Liège for the 2025 season.
  • The Kansas City Current signed forward Flora Marta Lacho to a two-year contract, making her the first Angolan player in league history. She heads to the U.S. after helping TP Mazembe win the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League last year.
  • The UEFA Champions League quarterfinals are set and each matchup looks to be a good one. Arsenal will take on Real Madrid, Bayern Munich will face Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund will play Barcelona, and Aston Villa will square off against Paris Saint-Germain.
  • Bos Nation FC hired Amina Bulman as its chief revenue officer. Bulman led the Washington Commanders’ revamp as the NFL team’s chief brand and strategy officer, so a similar brand reset is hopefully on the horizon for the NWSL club.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!

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