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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC: Final Score 2-1 as Lions Snatch Late Road Win on Tesho Akindele’s Goal

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3 years ago

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CHARLOTTE, NC — Ercan Kara opened the scoring and his replacement, Tesho Akindele, scored late as Orlando City defeated Charlotte FC in its first trip to Bank of America Stadium. Akindele’s goal in the 89th minute lifted the Lions (10-10-6, 36 points) back to the .500 mark in the standings in a much-needed win over Charlotte (10-15-2, 32 points).

McKinze Gaines scored for the hosts but Orlando City was able to sweep the season series over the new MLS side. With the other results around the league on Sunday night, Orlando climbed back into fifth in the Eastern Conference.

“An excellent game to show the character of the players,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “Excellent game to prove that these guys are working hard and the game will reward them.”

Pareja’s lineup included Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of Kyle Smith, Rodrigo Schlegel, Antonio Carlos, and Ruan. Robin Jansson picked up a foot injury late this week in training and was held out to allow time for evaluation. Cesar Araujo and Mauricio Pereyra played in central midfield behind an attacking midfield line of Jake Mulraney, Junior Urso, and Facundo Torres, with Kara returning to the lineup at striker.

The hosts had a half-chance in the third minute on a long-range free kick. The ball somehow cleared everyone and caught Gallese by surprise but he managed to fight it off at the last moment and Ruan cleared.

A minute later, the Lions got a free kick in a good spot to the right of the box. Pereyra found Carlos but he couldn’t get much weight behind his header. The ball fell to Kara’s feet but his shot attempt was blocked.

Kerwin Vargas sent a curling shot wide in the seventh minute after Mulraney lost an aerial duel — due in large part because he didn’t jump — and ignited Charlotte’s break. Mulraney was booked for a foul behind the play after the ball sailed wide.

The game settled into a cagey affair for the next segment, with each team probing for a way through. Orlando sent a couple of passes out right to try to unlock Ruan but weighted them poorly.

Torres finally tested Kristijan Kahlina in the 27th minute with a shot from outside the area but he left the effort too close to the middle of goal and the goalkeeper was able to make the save.

Three minutes later, Vargas tried his luck from outside the left corner of the box, smashing a near-post effort that Gallese parried away.

Urso got his head to a Mulraney cross in the 34th minute but his shot deflected off a defender for a corner.

The Lions were called for a foul on the ensuing corner when there was contact with Kahlina on a 50/50 cross, wasting the opportunity. Three minutes later, Urso badly scuffed a shot attempt from distance and it rolled weakly in for Kahlina to collect.

The Lions couldn’t make a couple of late corner kicks pay off, Smith smashed a screamer off target in stoppage time, and the teams went to the break tied at 0-0.

Orlando City finished the half with more possession (57%-43%), shots (7-3), shots on target (2-1), corners (4-0), and passing accuracy (86.5%-83.3%).

“The football that the team played in the first half was very good,” Pareja said. “We dominated the tempo. We created chances. We avoided (them) to create chances. We made superiority in the spaces that we needed. I saw a lot of discipline tactically, especially with the ball with this group of players.”

Charlotte came out of the locker room with more intensity to start the second half and the hosts’ press created some half-chances. But the half started with a good cross by Mulraney which he sent in way too early before teammates could arrive, and a weak dribbler on goal by Pereyra.

Carlos was booked in the 39th minute after conceding a dangerous free kick just outside the area. Karol Swiderski took the set piece and sent his shot into the outside netting to Gallese’s right.

Quinn McNeill fired at Gallese after a turnover in the 56th minute as Charlotte continued to attack.

But Orlando got back on the front foot and took the lead in the 62nd minute. Urso picked out Torres in the middle and the Young Designated Player sent a perfect through ball to pick out Kara, who finished calmly past Kahlina to make it 1-0. For Kara, it was his team-leading eighth goal of the MLS regular season.

“It was an amazing pass from Facundo Torres,” Kara said. “I saw the space and he gave me a real good ball. I saw the long side and that’s it.”

The home crowd wanted an offside call and the referee did appear to have a conversation with the video assistant referee but the goal stood. Kara said he wasn’t worried about it being pulled back.

“I saw the last man. I think it was (Christian) Fuchs,” Kara said. “In my mind, I was sure that it was clear that there was no offside.”

The lead didn’t last long, however. A cross in from Kamil Józwiak on the attacking left found Gaines, who split Schlegel and Smith and headed in from point-blank range to tie the match at 1-1 in the 66th minute.

“Second half, we understand that just being away that sometimes you want to hold the game higher,” Pareja said. “That it’s normal that the reaction of the other team is aggressive and cost us that tied goal. But I noticed that our reaction after that goal was very professional and calm and that just made us score the second one, which is something that hasn’t happened much in this season, so we’re very proud.”

Kahlina made his best save in the 70th minute after Kara was knocked down from behind by Derrick Jones, who was booked, and the Lions got a free kick straight out from goal. Pereyra took the set piece and sent a good, accurate shot on target but couldn’t get enough oomph on it to sneak it past the diving goalkeeper.

Down the stretch, Orlando struggled to possess the ball. Pareja made some changes to try to solidify things and take off tired players or guys on a yellow card, but Charlotte dictated play, winning set pieces and throw-ins in the Lions’ end.

Akindele put the Lions ahead out of nowhere on the counter. He raced down the right to reach a pass from Urso and sent a shot on goal that Kahlina saved. The ball caromed back to the Canadian and this time he sent his shot into the net to make it 2-1 in the 89th minute. It was Akindele’s first goal of the season.

“Honestly, I don’t even remember starting to play, but the first thing I remember is Urso having the ball,” Akindele said. “And I just saw a gap and I was just like, ‘I gotta go.’ So, I just took off as fast as I could and Urso gave me the perfect pass. And you know, my first shot I should have done a little bit better, to be honest. But you’ve got to (have) short-term memory as a forward, like they say. That was the ultimate example of that. Ball came right back to me and I tried to stay calm and just place it in the corner.”

The Lions couldn’t have been too happy when the fourth official showed seven minutes of added time. There were two second-half injury stoppages but seven still seemed excessive. Orlando City was able to control the game for most of the first three or four minutes of injury time and saw out a second consecutive road win. First, the Lions had to survive a scare in the dying seconds as Brandt Bronico fired a shot just over the bar on nearly the last kick of the match.

Charlotte turned around the possession in the second half, finishing with a slight advantage (50.7%-49.3%) and even edged out Orlando in passing accuracy (82.9%-82.4%), but the Lions led in shots (13-9), shots on goal (7-3), and corners (5-2).

“We need to get better. We need to control those tempos,” Pareja said. “But suddenly, after they scored, we did that. We sustained the game and just tried to look for the second goal in transition, which is something that the boys brought — the substitutions — and we found a way to get these three points in a very difficult match, especially the second half.” 

“Super important for us because, just like every other team, our goal is to win the MLS Cup, and you can’t win if you’re not in the playoffs,” Akindele said. “That’s definitely step one. The bare minimum we need to do is get into the playoffs to give ourselves the chance to win MLS Cup. And so it feels good to stay in there, give ourselves a little bit of a cushion, but it’s still tight. If you kind of fall asleep for a week or two, all of a sudden you’re out of it again and we know that and we’re going to keep our foot on the gas.”

The Lions return home next Sunday for a home meeting with New York City FC.

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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.

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6 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.

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10 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?

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1 day 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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