Orlando City
Orlando City vs. New York City FC: Final Score 2-1 as Tesho Akindele Scores Another Late Winner
Tesho Akindele scored deep in stoppage time on a corner kick to snap a 1-1 tie and lift Orlando City to a 2-1 win over New York City FC at Exploria Stadium. The Lions (11-10-6, 39 points) deserved all three points with a lopsided advantage in attacking stats but were seconds away from an unsatisfying draw with NYCFC (13-8-6, 45 points) after Junior Urso and Maxi Moralez scored early in the first and second half, respectively.
Orlando notched its third consecutive win — each by one goal — and finally managed to put together a good performance at home that claimed maximum points.
“I thought it was a great victory — one that was deserved by the players,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “I think the effort that they did during the whole game today showed this character that they’ve brought in the last three games.”
Pareja started Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of Joao Moutinho, Rodrigo Schlegel, Antonio Carlos, and Ruan. Wilder Cartagena got his first MLS start in central midfield with Urso, behind an attacking line of Jake Mulraney, Facundo Torres, and Benji Michel, with Ercan Kara up top.
Orlando came out swinging at its 2015 MLS expansion rivals. Cartagena took the game’s first shot just two minutes in but missed the net from outside the area. But five minutes later, the Lions grabbed the lead.
Torres saw space and played an aerial ball for a well-timed run by Urso, who took it down nicely with his first touch and blasted it past Sean Johnson. The flag came up immediately but the play looked good with a defender keeping him on. Referee Chris Penso went to the monitor to look at it again and ruled the goal good, giving Orlando a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute.
Another look at Júnior Urso's goal pic.twitter.com/2ChdWjJrN3
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 29, 2022
“I was really free. And Facu, he’s so intelligent, so he gave me a nice ball,” Urso said. “The ball jumped a little bit and that was perfect (height) to shoot so, for me, it was incredible.”
Urso said the delay during the video review was nerve-wracking.
“I almost died on the field,” Urso said with a laugh. “I was like praying to God, please, I’m not off. So, it was OK.”
NYCFC got a long-distance free kick in the 12th minute but Gabriel Pereira sent the set piece kick right at Gallese for the easy catch.
A few minutes later, the skies opened up over Exploria Stadium, with rains so heavy and so prolonged that puddles began forming on the normally quick-draining pitch and creating issues. Passes stopped dead if they hit a watery patch and the game got sloppy for both sides. The Lions seemed to handle it better but couldn’t string together passes in the slop.
“In the first half it was a lot of courage (by the players) with this rain,” Pareja said. “Congratulations to the fans that suffered that rain too. It was difficult to play but I think we showed a lot of personality too and we came out winning the half.”
Urso sent a shot from outside the box wide in the 28th minute off a recycled corner kick. A minute later, the Bear came close to adding a second goal. Urso smashed a shot on target but Johnson made a spectacular diving save to keep his team’s deficit at one goal.
@SeanJohnGK comes up huge! pic.twitter.com/kL3nxRQuhH
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 29, 2022
Cartagena fired another shot wide off the ensuing corner kick after the visitors cleared it out of the area.
The rain diminished late in the first half and the drainage was able to do a better job of keeping up with the extra moisture.
Late in the half, Torres put in a good cross for Kara but Maxime Chanot did well in defense to make the chance difficult and Kara could only hit his shot wide.
Talles Magno fired wide from distance late in first-half stoppage time and the Lions took their 1-0 lead into the break.
NYCFC held the advantage in possession (57%-43%) and passed more accurately (81.8%-74.6%), while Orlando fired more shots (7-1) and shots on target (3-1), and earned more corners (5-0).
Two minutes after the restart, it appeared the game was about to swing in the visitors’ favor. Carlos won a tackle just outside his area and dribbled up the field. As he was dribbling past New York City FC’s Nicolas Acevedo, the defender stepped on his opponent’s foot and Penso went straight to the red card. Again the referee went to the monitor but he quickly changed his mind upon seeing the replay and changed the card to yellow, much to the relief of Orlando City players and fans.
The game changed moments later anyway. Mulraney turned the ball over near midfield and New York City FC broke the other way in transition. The ball ended up with Thiago Andrade on the left and he did well to slip in a perfect pass for Moralez, who split the defense with his run and slotted a shot past Gallese to make it 1-1 in the 53rd minute.
Maxi Moralez evens the scoreline for #nycfc. pic.twitter.com/sPSFObRIWF
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 29, 2022
The goal was NYCFC’s only shot on target in the match. Moralez got into a decent position to give his team the lead in the 56th minute but fired his shot into the outside netting from the right side.
Pareja chased the game by bringing on Ivan Angulo and Andres Perea for Cartagena, who put in a solid shift for Araujo, and Mulraney. Araujo came on in the second half but the plan was to rest him in this match after the young midfielder experienced tightness after playing on the turf last week at Charlotte.
Angulo, Araujo, and Perea were joined a little later by fellow second-half subs Akindele and Kyle Smith, and those players were crucial in changing the energy of the game over the final half hour. Schlegel and Torres both fired over the crossbar as the game entered its final 20 minutes, as the Lions continued to get into scoring positions.
The Lions nearly went ahead in the 80th minute when Angulo sent in a good cross to the back post for Smith, but the fullback couldn’t keep his volley shot under the crossbar with Johnson out of position to make a save.
Torres tried to send Akindele through on goal in the 88th but the two were on different pages on where the ball placement should be and the pass skipped harmlessly out for a goal kick.
But the Lions kept coming, winning set pieces. In the 91st minute, a corner kick cross was headed across the box but NYCFC cleared. A minute later, Angulo unleashed a hard shot on goal that Johnson fought off.
Angulo won the Lions a late corner when his cross was deflected out by Anton Tinnerholm and Orlando had one more chance as time wound down. Angulo took the set piece himself and sent in a good cross that found Akindele at the near post. The forward flicked his header toward the far post and it found its way through traffic and nestled in the back of the net.
Fought until the end and it paid off.
Orlando with the win on a corner! pic.twitter.com/u1kD7YJNfB
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 29, 2022
It was the second late winner in consecutive games for Akindele, who scored the winner at Charlotte in the 89th minute a week ago.
“The call (on the set piece) was just get in the box,” Akindele said. “I was just thinking that I had seen (Angulo) hit some near post. I was like, ‘I’m just going to guess near post.’ That’s what you do a lot of times. You just guess. Our set piece coach won’t want to hear me saying that, but that’s what I do sometimes — just guess. So I just thought, ‘Maybe Ivan’s going to hit it near post,’ and he did, luckily. And then I hit it and then I didn’t even know if it went in but then I heard everybody screaming and I said, ‘Oh dang, it went in.’”
“The situation with Tesho is a good example for all,” Pareja said. “Generosity on our team is non-negotiable. We may lack of things sometimes but when you see a team that is giving what they have, then you can sleep — happy, sad, but you can sleep — thinking you’ve done your best.”
Orlando cut into NYCFC’s possession lead in the second half, but the visitors finished with a slight edge in that category (50.8%-49.2%). The Pigeons also passed more accurately on the night (83.6%-79.3%) but had a slimmer advantage at full time than at the break. Orlando City had far more shots (17-5), shots on target (5-1), and corners (7-0).
“The second half, New York came up with some other ideas that complicated us and I thought they took the middle of the field,” Pareja said. “And then, after their goal, our reaction — especially with the players that came in — it was phenomenal. I think they lifted us, they took the team on their shoulders and gave us that energy that we needed. More than the energy, just the ideas, and we ended up being the best team.”
“Honestly, I think our team played a great game. And I think we deserved the win,” Akindele said. “So it was good for us to get it. I’m glad I was the one to be able to provide it for us.”
The Lions have a quick turnaround as the Seattle Sounders visit Exploria Stadium on Wednesday night.
Lion Links
Lion Links: 1/3/25
Philadelphia Union hire Bradley Carnell, Americans abroad this weekend, New England Revolution transfer Esmir Bajraktarevic, and more.
Happy first Friday of 2025! I don’t have too many plans for the weekend beyond brunch with friends, so it should be a relaxing couple of days. Before we dive into today’s links, we here at The Mane Land want to give a special shout out to Michael Garvey for signing up for a Homegrown Player-level membership on our Buy Me a Coffee page. By signing up at one of our three levels of support, our readers and podcast listeners can enjoy added benefits in addition to keeping our bills paid so we can continue doing what we do. Let’s get to today’s soccer news!
Philadelphia Union Hire Bradley Carnell
The Philadelphia Union have hired Bradley Carnell as their fourth head coach in franchise history. He has tough shoes to fill in Philadelphia, as Jim Curtin led the Union to plenty of success since joining in 2014 and was named MLS Coach of the Year twice in that span. Carnell coached St. Louis City through a stellar inaugural season in 2023 that included finishing atop the Western Conference standings, but he was fired by the club last summer. We’ll see if Carnell can get the Union back to the postseason after they missed out on the playoffs for the first time since 2017 last season.
Americans in Action This Weekend
While we endure the off-season here in the U.S., there are thankfully plenty of Americans playing abroad for us to root for this weekend. Ligue 1 soccer is back, and defender Mark McKenzie could continue building his case to make the Concacaf Nations League roster when Toulouse plays Lens on Sunday. Johnny Cardoso, who has been excelling amid transfer interest from clubs across Europe, will have a chance to impress when Real Betis takes on Huesca on Saturday in the Copa del Rey. Christian Pulisic may return from injury today when AC Milan faces off against Juventus in an Italian Super Cup semifinal that could also feature Yunus Musah, Weston McKennie, and Tim Weah.
Injuries have dampened what was set to be a fun EFL Championship season for American fans, but Leeds United’s Brenden Aaronson and Burnley’s Luca Koleosho are helping their teams lead the promotion race. We may get to see Antonee Robinson, Tyler Adams, and Chris Richards in the English Premier League as well.
Esmir Bajraktarevic Transferred to Europe
The New England Revolution transferred 19-year-old Esmir Bajraktarević to PSV Eindhoven for a reported fee of up to $6 million. It’s a hefty sum for the Homegrown Player and the Revolution retain a sell-on fee as part of the deal as well. Bajraktarevic has spent the past three seasons with New England’s first team and was 10th on the 2024 MLS 22 Under 22 rankings. He joins a PSV side that sits atop the Eredivisie and has experience developing players coming from America. As for the Revolution, they helped fill the void left by Bajraktarevic’s exit by signing winger Luis Diaz, who previously played for Caleb Porter in Columbus for a few years.
Denver Reportedly Lands NWSL Team
For a reported expansion fee of $110 million, the NWSL has reportedly chosen Denver as the home of its 16th franchise. That fee is more than double the $53 million expansion fee both BOS Nation FC and Bay FC paid to join the league, and it would also be the highest expansion fee in U.S. women’s sports history. The group behind Denver’s bid, which is led by IMA Financial Group CEO Robert Cohen, reportedly submitted its first payment to the league earlier this week. It’s all tough news for Ohio, as both Cleveland and Cincinnati were finalists to become the 16th team in the league.
Free Kicks
- McCall Zerboni is departing NJ/NY Gotham FC after five years with the club to pursue other opportunities.
- The Chicago Fire transferred defender Tobias Salquist to FC Nordsjaelland in Denmark. Salquist only spent one year in Chicago, but the move makes sense considering center back Jack Elliott’s arrival this off-season.
- Inter Milan claimed a spot in the Italian Super Cup final following a 2-0 win over Atalanta, with Denzel Dumfries scoring a brace in the second half.
- Russia won’t take part in the 2026 FIFA World Cup due to the ongoing sanctions from FIFA and UEFA.
That’s all I have for you this time around. Thanks again to Michael for the support! I hope you all have a fantastic Friday.
Orlando City
Lions, Pride Show Orlando is a Leading U.S. Soccer City
A ranking of cities in the United States by the performances of their men’s and women’s pro soccer teams during the 2020s.
The 2025 calendar year is upon us, and after an exhaustive recounting of the 2024 season through our Top 10 Moments and our Season in Review articles on every Orlando City and Orlando Pride player, it is time to expand our thoughts to look back not just on the 2024 season, but on the full decade of the 2020s, which is somehow now halfway over. American soccer teams do not operate in the same manner as clubs do in Europe, where a club like Arsenal has both a men’s and women’s soccer team under the same moniker and ownership, but we do have cities, like Orlando, that have men’s and/or women’s teams. What if we looked at American cities to see which cities have produced the best professional soccer results thus far this decade, and looked to see how Orlando compares? What if, indeed. Let’s go.
When I started pulling together all the data for this, I thought it was going to be pretty simple, and I would just use the MLS and NWSL standings and playoff results and then start writing. Easy, like Sunday morning. But then I thought about the U.S. Open Cup, which, in case you forgot (let’s be honest, there is no way you forgot), Orlando City won in 2022. And then I thought that if I was including the U.S. Open Cup, I should also include the Leagues Cup, since every MLS team participated in that competition. And that reminded me of the NWSL x Liga MX Feminil Summer Cup, which then reminded me of other international competitions like the Concacaf Champions Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup, and last but not least, the Concacaf W Champions Cup.
Funny story about that Concacaf W Champions Cup though, it is a brand new competition and it is actually a 2024-2025 tournament, so it will not conclude until later this year. Teams qualified in 2023 to play in a tournament in 2024 that finishes in 2025. Ah FIFA, how I enjoy thee. The Pride will play in the second edition of this cup later this year, by virtue of WINNING ALL THE 2024 NWSL THINGS, but for now I was not able to include the results of the first edition since it still ongoing. My apologies to the two NWSL clubs (Gotham and Portland) still alive in this cup.
Back to all the competitions, here is the official list of competitions that I included (M = men’s competitions and W = women’s competitions)
- M: MLS regular season (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
- M: MLS playoffs (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
- M: Concacaf Champions Cup (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
- M: U.S. Open Cup (2022, 2023, 2024) [2020 and 2021 were not played due to COVID-19]
- M: Leagues Cup (2023, 2024)
- M: FIFA Club World Cup (played every year, Seattle qualified in 2022)
- W: NWSL regular season (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) [2020 was not played due to COVID-19]
- W: NWSL playoffs (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
- W: NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup (2024)
- W: NWSL Challenge Cup (2020)
- W: NWSL Fall Series (2020)
I used a pretty simple scoring rubric to allocate points to those teams who did well in each competition — six points to the winner, four for second place, three for third place, two for fourth place, and one for fifth place. Teams could share points, and often did, since in many knockout competitions there would not be a third-place game, so I would assign both teams that lost in a semifinal as the third-place winners and recipients of three points.
For the regular seasons in MLS and in the NWSL I used the league table, and so while for playoff seeding the leagues would use tiebreakers to differentiate among teams, I did not, meaning that the 2023 Pride, for example, tied for fifth place in the NWSL regular season and earned one point for the city of Orlando, even though they ended up seventh overall and out of the playoffs once the league tiebreakers were evaluated. MLS and NWSL use different setups, so I thought that was a fair way to do it. Feel free to disagree with me in the comments. Or, and I like this idea a little better, laud me and write thousands dozens of words of praise for my innovative and creative (read: not really that innovative or creative) method of assigning points.
Enough preamble, it is time to see which cities racked up the points in the 2020s based on the performances by the men’s and women’s teams who play there. Without any further ado:
City | Men’s Points | Women’s Points | Clubs | Total Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
Los Angeles | 51 | 4 | 3 | 55 |
New York City | 25 | 24 | 3 | 49 |
Seattle | 23 | 23 | 2 | 46 |
Portland | 7 | 36 | 2 | 43 |
Philadelphia | 33 | 0 | 1 | 33 |
Columbus | 33 | 0 | 1 | 33 |
Orlando | 18 | 13 | 2 | 31 |
Kansas City | 13 | 17 | 2 | 30 |
Houston | 9 | 14 | 2 | 23 |
Washington, D.C. | 0 | 21 | 2 | 21 |
Now, I can already hear the grumbling, “…but Los Angeles and New York City each have three teams, so of course they have the most points.” I mean, yes, but also no. While New York City has had three teams (New York Red Bulls, New York City FC, and Gotham FC/Sky Blue) for all five years of this decade, Los Angeles only added Angel City during the 2022 season. Additionally, of the 27 cities that had at least one team in MLS or NWSL, eight scored five or fewer points during the first five years of this decade, so while it certainly does help to have three teams, having more teams is not guaranteed to generate success.
The city of Chicago is a great example, the Chicago Fire and Chicago Red Stars both played all five seasons in the 2020s but their combined points (13) rank 14th overall, and behind four cities that only had one club each (Philadelphia, Columbus, Miami and Cincinnati).
I would also like to spend a moment to point out that in recent years there has been great debate about who the current “soccer city of the south” is. MLS and FIFA would love you to believe it is Miami, with how far back they bend to help out that club, but the results on the field do not make that case (Miami ranked 11th by my scoring), though certainly Miami has done much better in the last two years. Atlanta won an MLS Cup in 2018, but during this decade they have done very little, earning only four points. Nashville scored seven points, and Charlotte, which entered MLS in 2022, has only earned one point in three seasons. Houston is probably the city that has the best argument, as the Dash and Dynamo have both had some success, but not to the degree of, you were waiting for it, the City Beautiful.
While Orlando City has now had several years of sustained success under Head Coach Óscar Pareja, including the U.S. Open Cup title in 2022, top-five finishes in the league table in 2020 and 2023, and making the Eastern Conference final in 2024, the Pride’s successes were only really in this past season, but they were massive, as the team claimed both of The Mane Land’s No. 2 and No. 1 moments of 2024 by winning the NWSL Shield and NWSL Cup, respectively. Those two titles account for 12 points by my scoring rubric, two-thirds of the total number of points that Orlando City scored over five seasons. A monster season will do that for you, and in this case it is not a competition between the two teams but a symbiotic relationship, with those points going towards Orlando’s overall totals. That total placed them seventh overall and fifth among cities that have both a men’s and women’s team.
In future years, I expect that there will be more competitions for the women’s teams in the United States to enter, as the entertainment world and FIFA are slowly waking up to the idea that there is an audience for elite soccer played by both men and women, and I hope that it is sooner rather than later that we see a similar number of domestic and international club competitions for both Orlando City and the Orlando Pride to qualify for and compete in.
In 2025, we should see Orlando City in MLS, hopefully the MLS playoffs, Leagues Cup, and possibly the U.S. Open Cup. The Lions did not qualify for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup or the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup (I would like to point out that Inter Miami did not really qualify for this tournament either, but is in because it has Lionel Messi on the roster). We should see the Pride in the NWSL, hopefully the NWSL playoffs, Concacaf W Champions Cup, and possibly another tournament still to be determined.
There will be ample opportunities for both clubs to add points to my theoretical city rankings for the decade of the 2020s, and possibly even vault up to top-five-city status. I look forward to watching and writing about it whether they do or not, but it will be whole lot more fun if they add some more banners and hardware to the trophy collection.
Vamos Orlando!
Orlando City
New Year’s Resolutions for Orlando Players and Staff
What resolutions are we looking for from some of Orlando’s finest?
New Year’s resolutions are a common way for many to get back on track or to continue progress already made. While I don’t personally make such resolutions, I can see how committing to bettering one’s self can provide motivation heading into a new year. That got me thinking about what resolutions some Orlando City and Orlando Pride players and staff might make at the start of 2025.
Most of these are tongue in cheek, so take these resolutions with the mirth and amusement with which they are given.
Seb Hines
What could the 2024 NWSL Coach of the Year possibly improve upon in 2025? It can’t be to smile more. I think I’ve literally only seen him not smiling on the sidelines one time. That’s it. Even when he’s having words with the officials he’s got a grin on his face. I certainly don’t want him to change that positive attitude since it’s what helped build the culture of a winning Pride. Instead, I want Hines to take a little credit for himself, even if just in his own heart.
Oscar Pareja
Oscar Pareja has taken Orlando City to five straight playoff appearances, won the 2022 U.S. Open Cup, and proven the early season doubters wrong time and again. It would be easy to say he should resolve to win the whole flipping thing, but I’m certain that is already his goal. Instead, I want him to resolve to be a little more flexible in his starting lineups. Pareja has a tendency to stick with a lineup match after match if he thinks it’s working. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but depending on the opponent, a change at say, striker, might be a good idea. You can do it, Papi!
Rodrigo Schlegel
You may not have noticed, but Rodrigo Schlegel has grown mentally and emotionally over the last few seasons. He has always had a bit of hot headedness in his play. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if you can focus that passion so you don’t get as many fouls, that’s even better. He has done that the last two seasons. He’ll be fighting for a starting spot yet again this off-season, and I think he should continue to grow in his ability to employ the dark arts without losing that fire he has in his belly.
Julie Doyle
Julie Doyle brings a lot of things to the pitch. She can contribute goals and assists, she brings fire and attitude, and she has bought into the Pride culture. What I want from her in 2025 is to bring back the Doyle Buns. I have absolutely no stats to back this up, but I feel she plays better when her hair is in double Doyle Buns formation (see picture below). It doesn’t have to be every match, but it’s been a while since we’ve seen them.
It should be obvious that Doyle’s hairstyle has nothing to do with how she plays, but since that is the case, why not bring back the buns?
Cesar Araujo/Wilder Cartagena
Orlando City’s colors are purple and gold. I feel that Cesar Araujo and Wilder Cartagena might think they are purple and yellow with as many yellow cards they’ve earned. In 2024, the pair earned 18 yellow cards between them, which was two more than the 16 in 2023. While defensive midfielders are the most prone to be booked, given their role on the pitch, perhaps they could resolve to limit that number to avoid suspensions.
Haley McCutcheon
Haley McCutcheon was the “I didn’t see that coming” goal scorer for the Pride in the playoffs. She scored the first goal of the playoffs to give Orlando the lead in the 4-1 win over the Chicago Red Stars.
She then scored the Pride’s first goal in the 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Current to get the Orlando offense started.
If it’s not too much to ask, perhaps McCutcheon could resolve to start scoring goals earlier in the year? I don’t see the need for her to wait until the playoffs.
Luis Muriel
Luis Muriel is one of those players who needed more time to adapt to MLS. Based on his play down the stretch, it seems he’s finally comfortable with the league and his team, and he has settled in to his new home in Orlando. His resolution should be to break into the starting lineup for Orlando City. As a Designated Player, he garners a hefty paycheck, and I want the goal contributions to be commensurate with his contract.
Marta
Does anyone know where the Fountain of Youth is? I want nothing more for Marta than to stop time and keep her energy, pace, and health at 2024 levels. She was a critical component in the Pride’s historical season. As such, whatever she needs to do to bring it all again in 2025 is what she should resolve to do. Actually, I think everyone else should resolve to do whatever they can to help Marta. All of the coaches, trainers, teammates, and the front office should make her their resolution.
Obviously, I’ve only scratched the surface of the possibilities here. Now, I’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments below. Happy New Year!
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