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Orlando City vs. Houston Dynamo: Final Score 2-1 as Ercan Kara Brace Lifts Lions

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3 years ago

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A brace by striker Ercan Kara saw Orlando City (7-5-4, 25 points) defeat the Houston Dynamo (5-7-3, 18 points) 2-1 at Exploria Stadium. The Dynamo got one back right after the Lions’ second goal through Sebastian Ferreira and thought they’d equalized just before full time. But the hosts were able to hold on for the win.

The Lions were missing a key player for this game as center back Rodrigo Schlegel was suspended for yellow card accumulation. Ruan returned to the lineup after being an unused sub in New England on Wednesday night and Kyle Smith, who started on the right for Ruan earlier this week, moved over to center back to replace Schlegel.

As a result, the back four in front of starting goalkeeper Pedro Gallese consisted of Joao Moutinho, Robin Jansson, Kyle Smith, and Ruan. Cesar Araujo and Junior Urso played behind Facundo Torres, Mauricio Pereyra, and Jake Mulraney, just as they did Wednesday night. Additionally, Kara re-entered the lineup in place of Alexandre Pato, who started on the bench.

The Lions got off to a good start in this game. In the second minute, the hosts got their first chance when Moutinho sent in a cross looking for Mulraney. The Irishman attempted an acrobatic attempt on goal, but it was blocked and cleared. A minute leader, Kara had his first chance when he got his head to a Pereyra cross. However, the ball was right at Clark, who made the easy save.

The first chance for Houston came in the seventh minute when Ferreira received a low cross at the top of the box. With his back to goal, the striker immediately dropped the ball back to Corey Baird, who was approaching the box. Baird sent a hard shot on target but it was right at Gallese.

The Lions lost a key player for their next game after Jansson was booked for disagreeing with a foul called on Pereyra. Rosendo Mendoza was quick to issue Jansson the yellow, which results in the center back being suspended for the team’s game Friday night in Cincinnati. It will be the second consecutive game that the Lions will be without one of either Schlegel or Jansson.

Orlando City controlled most of the first half, holding more possession and chances. It finally broke through in the 25th minute. Mulraney collected the ball on the left and played it back for Moutinho. The Portuguese defender played it across for Pereyra whose first touch was a flick over the defense for Torres making a run. Torres quickly played it across for Kara in front of goal for the Austrian to tap it in.

“It’s great,” Kara said about playing with Pereyra and Torres. “We all train together and we are connecting together. They are really good players. And I see also in the training we are getting connected and I’m very happy that the guys play with me, behind me, and they help you to score.”

With a one-goal lead, Orlando City continued its attack and had another good chance in the 36th minute. It started when Mulraney set up Torres on the left, but the shot was blocked by Tim Parker. The Lions kept the ball in the opposing half, allowing Pereyra to find Mulraney for a shot. However, Parker was there again to block it away.

In the 44th minute, Moutinho saw Pereyra making a long run down the middle of the field. Nearing the Houston penalty area, the defender sent the ball to Pereyra, placing him behind the defense. The Orlando City captain got a shot off before the defense could catch him, but it was right at Clark.

A minute later, the Lions came very close to doubling their lead. Receiving the ball outside the box, Moutinho attempted to send it back in. The ball bounced off the arm of Beto Avila, clearly not in a natural position. Mendoza pointed to the spot, awarding the Lions a penalty.

However, replays showed that Avila was clearly outside the box when the ball hit his arm. As a result, VAR requested a replay and the call was changed to a free kick just outside the box.

The change almost didn’t matter as Kara stepped up to take the set piece. He sent a low, bending ball around the wall that looked to be heading just inside the far post. But Clark made an excellent diving save, tipping it around the post and keeping the game at 1-0.

After drawing with most of the first team against the Revolution on Wednesday night, it was questionable how the team would come out in this game. But Orlando was without question the better team in the first 45 minutes. It ended the half with more possession (52.9%-47.1%), shots (9-3), shots on goal (4-1), and duels won (28-22).

The Lions tried to start the second half the way they ended the first, on the attack. They got their first second-half opportunity in the 48th minute when a counter attack saw Torres find Urso on his left. The midfielder found enough space to get a shot off, but it was right at Clark.

The early moments of the second half were subdued as both teams looked to gain control of the game. But the 57th minute started a flurry of action that changed the game multiple times.

It started when Houston did well to work the ball across the field. A combination of passes allowed Matias Vera to find Memo Rodriguez open on the left side of the box. The midfielder took a shot at the far post but it was just wide.

The Lions immediately went the other way. Moutinho received the ball on the left and sent a cross into the box. It was aiming for Kara, but went to Mulraney, who flicked it on with his head. The flick went right to Teenage Hodebe, who tried to clear it away only for it to land in front of Pereyra.

The Uruguayan fired a shot and the ball ended up in the back of the net, giving the Lions a 2-0 lead. It initially appeared as though the goal was scored by Pereyra, but Kara got the slightest deflection on it, resulting in his second goal of the game.

“For me, it was more Mauricio’s than mine,” Kara said. “But he say in the celebration, he say, it’s your goal and I say alright. And also these goals is great because it’s important that the team win. I’m happy that the goal is mine because it’s always good for a striker to have goals.”

It didn’t take long for Houston to respond and it got one back just a minute later. Zeca sent a dangerous ball into the box where Ferreira was able to beat Smith to it. The striker’s header was perfect, landing just inside the far post and out of the reach of Gallese’s outstretched arm. Just like that, it was a 2-1 game.

“I feel like we got that second goal and maybe we were slacked a little bit because we felt like the game was over and we’re gonna win anyway,” Moutinho said about the immediate response by Houston. “And maybe we got a little bit out of focus in the back and then they ended up scoring because the teams in this league, if you’re not focused, they’re gonna punish you and that’s what they did.”

The disappointing let up could’ve resulted in disaster for the Lions, but instead they nearly got that goal right back. In the 60th minute, Mulraney sent a cross into the box for Kara. Hodebe attempted to clear it but mishit the ball and it went right to Kara at the top of the six-yard box. The striker immediately turned it on goal but it went just wide.

The Lions probably got a little lucky in the 64th minute. With the Dynamo on the break, Gallese came out of his box in an attempt to clear the ball away. However, Ferreira got to it first and Gallese completely missed it. Instead, he got Ferreira’s leg and the striker went down. Fortunately for Orlando City, the referee only issued Gallese a yellow, determining that there was a defender close enough for it not to be a denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity.

The ensuing free kick nearly saw the visitors tie the game. The set piece seemed to be from an innocuous position, but it was very well taken and beat a diving Gallese. However, it didn’t beat the post, bouncing off and allowing Orlando City to clear.

While Orlando dominated most of the game, Houston controlled the final 20 minutes as it searched for an equalizer. Closing out games has been a problem for this team and it was desperate to come away with three points.

In the 72nd minute, second-half substitute Tyler Pasher found Rodriguez in the box. The midfielder’s shot was blocked by Jansson, but it went right back to him. Rather than shooting again, he played it back for Pasher. The substitute’s shot was toward the far post, forcing Gallese to make a diving save.

Four minutes later, it was Pasher again causing trouble in the Orlando third. He took a shot from the corner of the box that didn’t seem too dangerous. However, it had some bend to it and appeared to be headed inside the far post. Gallese was up to the challenge again as the Peruvian international made another game-saving stop.

The visitors were desperate to find an equalizer and were willing to do anything to find it. In the 87th minute, Thorleifur Ulfarsson dribbled into the box, defended by Smith. Ulfarsson went down, claiming a foul on Smith. But replays showed Smith didn’t touch him and Mendoza was fully aware. The referee immediately went to his pocket, issuing Ulfarsson a yellow card for simulation.

A minute into injury time, Pasher had another opportunity from outside the box. The ball got through Smith and Sebas Mendez, but Gallese saw it the whole way and made the stop.

Three minutes later, Orlando should’ve put the game away. Pato made an excellent run on a counter attack and found Benji Michel in the box. He played a perfect ball in front of Michel that the forward should’ve put away. But Daniel Steres slid in for a last-ditch attempt and made it tough for Michel. As a result, the shot sailed over the crossbar from right in front of the goal.

In the final minute of injury time, the Dynamo thought they’d equalized it. Tesho Akindele blocked a cross from Adam Lundkvist but the ball rolled back to former Lion Darwin Ceren. The El Salvadorian international sent a ball for Darwin Quintero, who had made a run between Smith and Jansson. The ball was a little behind Quintero so he attempted a bicycle kick. The ball glanced off his shin and past Gallese.

However, Quintero was just behind the back line and the assistant raised the flag to indicate he was offside. It took a few seconds before the Houston bench stopped celebrating, realizing it hadn’t equalized. That was the last chance for the Dynamo as Orlando City took the game 2-1.

While Orlando dominated the first half, Houston was arguably the better team in the second. It had more possession (60.4%-39.6%), shots (10-9), shots on target (4-2), and better passing accuracy (87.4%-79.4%).

In the end, Houston had more possession (53.8%-46.2%) but the Lions had more shots (18-13), shots on target (6-5), and won more duels (52-45).

“An important victory,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the game. “Great first half. We saw a lot of things that are natural in this team, but today I thought we improved our sequences on the quality. And we kept saying that we have to be more polished and finish the game. Second half I have to recognize that Houston pushed and made us defend much lower than we wanted. And then we end up with the emergencies and urgencies in a game that could’ve been defined earlier. So that taste of not having a complete game is probably what we have right now.”

“Obviously tonight we got the win and it’s always good to get the three points ,” Moutinho added. “But I feel like we should have put the game away earlier, given the chances that we had.

“We’ve definitely been creating the chances necessary to put the games away,” he continued. “But something has been missing. The finishing is not quite there yet. And I think we really do need to improve on that because if you don’t put the games away, then the teams are gonna come back and they’re gonna score on you and then you’re gonna suffer until the end, like we did tonight.”

The Lions now have four points from their first two games coming out of the international break. The win pushes the team up to fourth in the Eastern Conference with 25 points on the season.

Orlando City will have a short week as it heads back on the road, taking on FC Cincinnati in Ohio on Friday.

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/23/25

Pride fall to Racing Louisville, Seb Hines and Giles Barnes share insight on path to success in Orlando, USMNT defeats Haiti, and more.

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9 hours ago

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June 23, 2025

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Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been busy working and catching up with friends over the past week. Before we get started, let’s wish a belated happy birthday to Orlando Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter, who turned 41 on Saturday. The Pride was the lone team in action over the weekend, while the Lions and OCB were off. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.

Pride Fall at Racing Louisville

The Orlando Pride fell to Racing Louisville 2-0 Friday at Lynn Family Stadium. Arin Wright scored the opening goal in the first half, and former Pride midfielder Taylor Flint converted a penalty kick for Racing Louisville. The Pride struggled offensively and failed to capitalize on their scoring chances. Orlando’s struggles in Louisville continue, as the club is winless in five matches at Lynn Family Stadium. The Pride will be on a long break, and their next match will be Aug. 3, taking on the Utah Royals at Inter&Co Stadium.

Seb Hines, Giles Barnes Share Insight on Path to Success in Orlando

Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines and Assistant Coach Giles Barnes were featured in an interview in The Guardian. Both Hines and Barnes shared insight into their longtime friendship, which began with playing in English youth international camps, their different paths to playing in Major League Soccer, and how they became involved in coaching. Hines discussed his time as interim manager of the Pride in 2022 and how he brought in Barnes to help change the club’s culture. Hines and Barnes helped change the perception of the club and led the Pride to winning both the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship last season.

USMNT Defeats Haiti to Win Group D in Gold Cup

The U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Haiti 2-1 Sunday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, in their final match in the group stage of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup. The USMNT finished atop its group with three wins and nine points. Orlando City defender Alex Freeman made his third consecutive start and played 90 minutes.

Malik Tillman scored the opening goal 10 minutes into the match to give the USMNT the early lead. Haiti tied the match not long after Tillman’s goal. In the second half, Patrick Agyemang pulled the USMNT back in front. The USMNT advances to the quarterfinals as the group winner and will play its next match Sunday against the Group A runner-up which was the late game Sunday night and had yet to conclude as of this writing.

Club World Cup Weekend Recap

Another weekend of matches from the FIFA Club World Cup is in the books. On Friday, Benfica crushed Auckland City FC 6-0, while Flamengo beat Chelsea 3-1. LAFC was eliminated from advancing to the knockout round after a 1-0 defeat to ES Tunis. Bayern Munich edged Boca Juniors 2-1. On Saturday, Borussia Dortmund defeated Mamelodi Sundowns 4-3. Inter Milan needed a late stoppage-time winning goal from Valentin Carboni to edge Urawa Red Diamonds 2-1. Fluminense beat Ulsan HD 4-2, and River Plate and Monterrey ended in a scoreless draw. On Sunday, Juventus cruised to a 4-1 win over Wydad Casablanca. Xabi Alonso secured his first win as manager of Real Madrid with a 3-1 victory against Pachuca. Red Bull Salzburg and Al-Hilal played to a scoreless draw, with Manchester City playing Al-Ain in the late match Sunday. Today’s matches feature Atletico Madrid facing Botafogo, the Seattle Sounders hosting Paris Saint-Germain, FC Porto vs. Al Ahly, and Inter Miami taking on Palmeiras.

Free Kicks

  • Orlando Pride midfielder Ally Lemos and forward Simone Jackson have been called-up to the U-23 U.S. Women’s National Team. The U-23 camp will be led by Orlando Pride Assistant Coach Yolanda Thomas.

USL Championship side San Antonio FC has signed former Orlando City defender Abdi Salim to a 25-day contract.

San Diego Wave winger Maria Sanchez has reportedly reach an agreement to return to her former club, Tigres of Liga MX Femenil, on a four-year contract.

Paul Pogba is reportedly set to return to playing soccer and has signed a two-year contract with Ligue 1 side AS Monaco.

That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday, and I’ll see you next time.

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Opinion

Orlando City Has Been Better than Expected Halfway Through the Season

While there was plenty to worry about at the start of the season, Orlando has had a good first half of 2025.

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3 days ago

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June 20, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

With 18 matches in the books, we’ve moved just past the halfway point of the 2025 Major League Soccer season, and based off my feelings before Orlando City played its opening game of the season, the Lions have performed above expectations so far. There were plenty of valid reasons to be concerned heading into the year. Orlando had sold its all-time leading goal scorer, and there were questions about whether he’d been adequately replaced. There were worries about depth at multiple positions, and the defense was coming off an uncharacteristically poor year. Here we are though, with the Lions sitting fifth in the Eastern Conference, just three points out of second place and seven points out of first. So how did we get to this point?

For one thing, Marco Pasalic has been much better than I (and I think a lot of other people) expected him to be. The Croatian has six goals and four assists across 18 matches, and is second on the team in both categories. He scored 10 goals in 49 appearances in the Croatian first division before coming to Orlando and was extremely one-footed, which was enough evidence to sow real doubt about whether he could adequately replace the impact of Facundo Torres.

So far, it’s mostly been so good. His direct style of play is a good complement to the styles of Martin Ojeda and Luis Muriel, and he’s largely hit the ground running in a league that can be difficult to adapt to. It hasn’t been perfect, as he’s still very one-footed, and can sometimes disappear if he’s stringently man marked, but on the whole there’s been much more good than bad.

Speaking of Ojeda and Muriel, they’ve also had strong years. Ojeda in particular has continued his great second half of the 2024 season and has nine goals and five assists in 18 games to show for it. He looks fast, confident, and decisive and is a far cry from the player who struggled frequently during his first year as a Lion. Muriel has cooled off a little after a scorching start to 2025, but he still has six goals and three assists in 18 matches. He looks vastly improved from last year, when he looked a little off the pace of play and quickly lost the starting striker role. He still has a tendency to not be as selfish as he needs to be in front of goal, but he’s been much better than 2024.

I mentioned depth being a big concern, and not just at one position. At the beginning of the season Orlando City was, and arguably still is, thin at striker, center back, defensive midfield, and fullback. Duncan McGuire was injured to start the year and is now injured again, leaving Orlando with two true strikers in Muriel and Ramiro Enrique. There was no true backup left back, only one reliable backup center back, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson starting at right back meant that defensive midfield depth consisted of rookie Joran Gerbet and the Swiss army knife that is Kyle Smith.

Things have mostly worked out though. David Brekalo has supplanted Rafael Santos, meaning the Brazilian is now a proven backup option at the position, and Smith has filled in there as well. That means that in games in which Rodrigo Schlegel or Robin Jansson are unavailable, Brekalo fills in at center back, Santos starts at left back, and Smith is the backup for both positions, so it isn’t a flawless system. Gerbet has been playing better and better and got some valuable minutes when Eduard Atuesta and Cesar Araujo were unavailable. His emergence has been a crucial piece of the puzzle this year. So too has the rise of Alex Freeman, as his locking down the right back role has allowed Thorhallsson to fill in at defensive midfield, attacking midfield, and right back. The situation isn’t perfect, as a couple untimely injuries to the wrong guys would leave the Lions looking pretty threadbare, but so far it’s just about worked.

Another big concern was the defense. The Lions conceded 50 goals in the regular season last year, which was tied for the second-most of any Eastern Conference playoff team and fourth-most of any playoff team. With no defensive signings and the aforementioned depth concerns, there were plenty of reasons to worry about Orlando’s ability to keep the ball out of the back of the net.

Things have looked much better in 2025, though. The 22 goals OCSC has conceded are the fifth-fewest in the league, and Pedro Gallese’s eight clean sheets are tied for most in the league. Aside from a few egregious defensive performances against the Philadelphia Union, Atlanta United, and the Chicago Fire, things have mostly been tidy at the back, and when they haven’t been, El Pulpo has been around to pick up the slack. Again, things haven’t been perfect, as there have been moments where individual and collective errors have hurt the team, but it’s been better.

I thought the Lions would struggle this year. Going into the start of the season, we were talking about a team that lost Torres, arguably didn’t do enough to strengthen the team across the board, was facing depth issues, and was dealing with a leaky defense — all while pretty much every other contender in the East got stronger on paper. Instead, OCSC tied a club-best unbeaten streak and is just three points out of second place.

That being said, the East is so tight that Orlando is only five points above the playoff line, and injuries to the wrong guys could easily topple the fragile ecosystem that is the depth chart, but so far things are going better than I thought they would be. There are still a lot of matches to play, but this isn’t a bad position to be in at the halfway mark.

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/20/25

Orlando Pride take on Racing Louisville FC tonight, Orlando Pride players called up by Zambia, USMNT beats Saudi Arabia, and more.

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3 days ago

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June 20, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Happy Friday! June continues to fly by as we enjoy the buffet of soccer here in the U.S. this month. I’ll be spending most of the weekend working, but I am hoping to get some reading done after being gifted some books for my birthday. But enough about me, let’s jump right into today’s links!

Orlando Pride Face Racing Louisville Tonight

The Orlando Pride are on the road tonight for a match against Racing Louisville FC at 8 p.m. in the final game before a league break until August. Going into the break with four straight wins would be nice for the Pride, but they’ve struggled at Lynn Family Stadium over the years. Louisville enters this match following a 4-2 loss to the league-leading Kansas City Current and has scored eight goals over the past three games. Orlando’s defense has been phenomenal this year, conceding just eight goals this season and only one during this win streak. Midfielder Cori Dyke spoke on how the team is finding its groove and shutting out opponents.

Zambia Calls Up Orlando Pride Trio

Barbra Banda, Grace Chanda, and Prisca Chilufya were all called up for Zambia’s CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations roster ahead of this summer’s tournament. Banda has eight goals this season with the Pride and had four goals at last year’s Olympics, including a hat trick against Australia. The Copper Queens claimed third place in the 2022 edition of this tournament, and they’ll need to be at their best to win this summer against tough opponents like South Africa and Nigeria. Zambia’s tournament campaign will kick off on July 5 against the host nation, Morocco.

USMNT Beats Saudi Arabia to Qualify for Quarterfinals

The United States Men’s National Team won 1-0 against Saudi Arabia to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals of this year’s Concacaf Gold Cup. After a scoreless first half, the Yanks broke through in the 63rd minute thanks to a free kick. Sebastian Berhalter served the ball on a silver platter to Chris Richards, who buried it for the crucial goal. The defense did well to secure its second shutout of the tournament, with Orlando City’s Alex Freeman starting at right back yet again. The USMNT will play Haiti on Sunday and should be able to win the group for a smoother path in the knockout stage.

FIFA Club World Cup Roundup

An MLS club finally won a game during this year’s FIFA Club World Cup, with Inter Miami beating Porto 2-1 in Atlanta. Lionel Messi scored the winner from a free kick to complete the comeback after conceding an early goal. The Seattle Sounders had a rougher day, falling 3-1 to Atletico Madrid, with Pablo Barrios scoring a brace. Former Lion Facundo Torres started for Palmeiras in the Brazilian club’s 2-0 win over Egypt’s Al Ahly.

Today’s action features more soccer at Inter&Co Stadium, with Benfica and Auckland City squaring off in the City Beautiful. Our Michael Citro will be on hand to report on it. Elsewhere in the U.S., Chelsea will take on Flamengo, LAFC will face ES Tunis, and Bayern Munich will play Boca Juniors.

Free Kicks

  • Canada Head Coach Jesse Marsch, who is already serving a suspension for misconduct during the Nations League, is under investigation by Concacaf for incidents during this Gold Cup. Reports detail that Marsch disregarded regulations and used offensive language toward match officials.
  • Kylian Mbappe was discharged from the hospital after suffering from a case of gastroenteritis. It’s unclear if or when he’ll play for Real Madrid during the Club World Cup.
  • Carlos Cuesta was hired as Parma’s next head coach after five years with Arsenal as an assistant coach. The 29-year-old becomes the second-youngest coach in Serie A history.
  • Manchester City was fined over $1 million by the English Premier League for repeated delays regarding kickoff times.

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

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