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Orlando City vs. Inter Miami CF: Final Score 3-1 as Lions Maul Herons in Fort Lauderdale

The Lions win the first 2023 installment of the Tropic Thunder rivalry convincingly on the road.

Published

2 years ago

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Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Ercan Kara scored another goal and assisted on the winner as Orlando City got back in the win column with a 3-1 victory over Inter Miami at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. The Lions (5-4-4, 19 points) conceded a second-half equalizer to Leonardo Campana, but Martin Ojeda and Rafael Santos added goals to lead Orlando past its intrastate rival, Miami (5-8-0, 15 points).

The win turned a four-match winless skid (0-2-2) in all competitions into a modest three-game unbeaten run (1-0-2). The Lions improved to 5-3-2 in the all-time, regular-season series, 5-3-3 in all competitions against Miami, and 2-3-0 at DRV PNK Stadium.

“We’re very happy to just have such a performance here on this field against a main rival, so we’re very proud,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “Also I want to congratulate the players with the way they played tonight. I think it was until minute 60 until there was a first shot against. So, we had a very solid structure and the character for them, the initiative to play the game and be protagonists in an away game, it was super.”

Pareja’s lineup offered a few surprises. Without Michael Halliday (international duty), the prevailing thought was that the Lions would return to a back line with three center backs, as has been used primarily in road games this year. Instead, Pedro Gallese started in goal behind a four-man back line of Santos, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, and Kyle Smith — starting just one yellow card short of suspension for accumulation. Cesar Araujo and Wilder Cartagena continued to log miles in central midfield during a busy May schedule behind an attacking line of Gaston Gonzalez, Facundo Torres, and Ivan Angulo, with Kara up top.

Orlando City dominated the first half in terms of chances and creating threatening situations. That started just five minutes in when Gonzalez got down the left channel on a nice pass from Torres, but the Argentine’s cross was too close to goalkeeper Drake Callender, who caught it. Two minutes later, it was Torres spoiling a nice buildup with a heavy touch in traffic. He caught back up to the ball but then sent too heavy a through ball forward for Gonzalez, and it went out of play.

At the 10-minute mark, Kara rattled the goal frame when Angulo’s cross found him in transition, and the big Austrian escaped from the marking of former Lion Kamal Miller and headed off the left post. Kara was sent in behind in the 12th minute but the flag came up and Callender made a fantastic reaction save against him anyway.

In the 13th minute, it was Angulo getting to the end line and having his cross deflect high. It may have gone in, but Callender leaped up and tipped it to himself to keep it out.

Orlando finally cashed in at minute 19. The Lions won a throw-in on their right side and Araujo went over to take it. The Uruguayan’s long throw found Kara at the near post. The striker was able to fend off a great deal of grabbing and tugging and nodded the ball behind himself. Callender couldn’t react in time and the ball went in to make it 1-0. It was Kara’s third consecutive game with a goal and his fourth in five league games.

Referee Ramy Touchan then started to give out some weird cards. Antonio Carlos was booked for his first foul, which was a rather mundane-looking one against Campana. Angulo got one later for kicking the ball back to the spot of an innocuous-looking foul on Kara.

But the bigger issue for Orlando was a lack of killing off the half. Torres and Angulo fired wide of goal in the 28th and 30th minutes, respectively, despite having plenty of space at the top of the area. A minute after Angulo’s miss, Gonzalez did well to get around his defender inside the left side of the box, but then he sent his cross into the middle of several Miami players instead of anywhere near a teammate.

Inter Miami made a sub at minute 33, sacrificing Sergii Kryvstov for Nicolas Stefanelli, and changed to a four-man back line look. That helped the hosts win more possession — Orlando had most of the ball to that point — but they didn’t create much with it, although they started keeping the ball for much longer spells and snuffing out Orlando counters more successfully.

Angulo got caught between two minds at the top of the area in the 45th minute and fired a shot about 15 or 20 yards wide right of goal.

The Lions saw out an unexpected six minutes of stoppage time and took their 1-0 lead into the break.

The Herons had more possession in the opening half (58.9%-41.1%), due in large part to holding most of the ball after their shape change, and they passed more accurately (83.7%-75.9%). The Lions fired more shots (5-0) and more shots on target (1-0), and won the lone corner of the opening period. However, a lack of precision continued to plague the team and kept the lead from growing.

Holding the hosts without a shot showed how the first half went, despite the teams only being separated by one goal at the break.

“In the first half, I thought we all had a great game,” Araujo said. “And being able to maintain that zero (shots against) in the first half was very important to set up ourselves in the second half. I think we hit all together in a great moment, and we were able to take home three points.”

“I think we played one of our best 35 minutes in the first half,” Pareja said. “We dominated the game. We had personality to dominate the possession and create chances. And then Miami changed their model. They took one of the center backs off the field and they brought one of their midfielders who started getting in behind our two midfielders. That made us drop 10-15 yards that we didn’t want (to do). The problem was that we lost possession of the ball because we started giving the ball away again.”

Not much changed to start the second half. Miami kept the ball more and worked it around, but after halftime the Herons were able to start finding enough space to attempt shots.

Chances at the other end were few to start the second period, but Kara did get to a corner cross that was a bit behind him and headed it over the bar in the 50th minute. Two minutes later, the Lions stole the ball in the attacking third and broke in transition, but Angulo took too many touches at the top of the box trying to figure out what to do with it and ultimately lost control of it.

The Herons made Orlando pay for not extending the lead — and for a bad turnover — in the 57th minute. A poor — and very much telegraphed — outlet pass from Santos to Torres was easily won by DeAndre Yedlin in the attacking third, and the ball was quickly given to Josef Martinez. Araujo came to close him down and then ran with the former Atlanta striker when he dropped it off for Campana. The Miami Designated Player made a move to cut back against an aggressive close-out by Cartagena, and then had time and space to blast a shot high past Gallese to tie the match. Cartagena nearly recovered to block it but couldn’t make contact and the game was level.

Gallese kept things from getting worse in the 63rd minute when Dixon Arroyo had time outside the area and drove a hard shot on frame. El Pulpo got down to make the save on a difficult ball that bounced right in front of him.

Seconds later, Gonzalez pulled up and went down in apparent pain. He was subbed off along with Smith. Rodrigo Schlegel and Ojeda came on and Orlando went to a three-center-back system. That helped the team regain some control of the match, as the Lions were again able to get into transition opportunities and find outlets that they couldn’t in the middle third of the game.

Pareja said he wanted to see if his team could re-establish itself to start the second half, but that not only didn’t happen but the hosts also equalized.

“The goal came and made me decide to change the model,” he said. “We knew Miami was going to give us spaces in behind and at some point we were going to bring fresh players and we thought of exploiting those spaces. And that happened. That was a very good job from the players who made us look much better.”

It only took a few minutes for the changes to pay off. Schlegel sent a long ball forward in the 68th minute that Kara deftly flicked on, sending Ojeda in behind the defense. The Argentine calmly slotted his shot past Callender to restore Orlando City’s lead.

Five minutes later, the Lions had an opportunity to put the game away as Torres was sent into the left side of the box. Before the Young Designated Player could square himself to shoot or pass, he slipped and the ball trickled out of play for a goal kick.

Pareja sent Duncan McGuire and Mauricio Pereyra on moments later, providing fresh legs for the attack, and again it paid off.

Just seconds after entering, Pereyra got the ball and threaded it between two defenders to McGuire in the box. The rookie tried to turn and shoot but the ball was deflected away. In the 79th minute, Santos ran onto a ball that was knocked out of the Miami area and hit a shot just wide of the right post. That served as a warning shot for later and Inter Miami did not heed the warning.

Orlando got forward more often and Miami’s buildups started to look less threatening as the extra OCSC defenders had the desired effect. On one foray up the field, Araujo had a go from distance. He struck the shot well but put it right in Callender’s breadbasket in the 84th minute.

Two minutes later, the Lions put the game to bed. Araujo and late substitute Dagur Dan Thorhallsson played the ball back and forth in the Orlando end, before Araujo came forward and picked out Pereyra with a pass. The captain’s first touch sent Ojeda down the right flank. Ojeda crossed the ball in for McGuire’s run, and when the defense arrived to shut down the rookie, he laid it off for Santos. This time, the left back didn’t miss, sending a shot through a defender’s legs and inside the right post for the insurance goal in the 86th minute.

It was Santos’ first MLS goal and it provided Orlando a third goal in a match for the first time all season. The Lions hadn’t scored more than two goals in a match since last season, when they beat Toronto FC, 4-0, on Sept. 17.

Miami’s frustrations spilled over a bit after that and there were some ugly fouls and some jawing between the teams, but not much came of it. McGuire bore the brunt of those fouls. Orlando saw out the rest of the game with only one major scare, but Jansson did well to make a vital slide tackle to not only prevent Martinez from getting a scoring chance, but also winning a goal kick in the process.

Inter Miami ended up with a lopsided advantage in possession (61.1%-38.9%), but failed to threaten much with it, although constantly working the ball left to right, backwards and then back the other way also enabled the Herons to finish with a higher passing accuracy (86.4%-77%) and more corners (3-2). The Lions had more shots (11-6) and more shots on target (4-2).

“It was a great game, and thankfully, we were able to take all three points, which is something that we try to do whether we’re playing at home or we’re playing on the road,” Araujo said. “I thought we played well today.”

“Just thrilled for our fans. Obviously it’s a derby. It was very emotional for us to see that corner dressed in purple,” Pareja said. “Many trusting the team, supporting us. They deserve this and I promise that we won’t stop working to see if we can get this better and better.”

The Lions will get an honest-to-goodness normal work week ahead of next Saturday’s match against Atlanta United at Exploria Stadium.

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Intelligence Report: Orlando City vs. New England Revolution

Get to know this year’s New England Revolution team courtesy of someone who knows them best.

Published

16 hours ago

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May 9, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City remembered how to score on Wednesday night, as the Lions put five goals past the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the U.S. Open Cup. OCSC will try to carry that sort of offensive performance over to league play Saturday, when the New England Revolution come to town.

A match against the Revs means I caught up with Jake Catanese, one of the writers over at The Blazing Musket. As always, he was extremely helpful in bringing us up to speed on what this year’s version of the Revolution looks like.

Talk me through the Revolution’s off-season transfer business. Who are some of the new names to know?

Jake Catanese: Okay, so some of the new faces are from the end of last year: winger Luca Langoni and midfielder Alhassan Yusuf were both acquired back in August. Yusuf is a Nigerian international and has cemented himself in the lineup as one of the holding midfielders, and Langoni had a great spell at the end of the last year but was dropped to make room for the Revs’ newfangled 5-3-2 wingback setup — more on that in a bit. Also, Tomas Chancalay isn’t a new face but is fresh off the season-ending injury list from an ACL injury last May and is working his way back up to full fitness, and both he and Langoni started the USOC win against Rhode Island (Wednesday) along with MLS veterans Maxi Urruti and Jackson Yueill, who were picked up this off-season.

The big off-season stuff happened up front, with the Revs making a record GAM trade with Miami for Leo Campana and making an interesting short-term loan for Ligue 1’s Ignatius Ganago out of Nantes. In the Revs’ 4-2-3-1 setup to start the year, it was Campana as a lone striker and Ganago in what I’ll call the “Gustavo Bou” winger/striker role, but both have moved up top with the formation change and it’s been fairly successful. Campana did miss a month with a hamstring injury, which did not help the Revs early on, but the strike partnership is starting to blossom with productivity.

The Revs have been the best defensive team in the entire league, with just seven goals conceded in 10 games. What’s been the secret sauce there?

JC: To finish the rest of the question above, the Revs absolutely hit a massive home run with two new center backs in the off-season. Malian international Mamadou Fofana (age 27) and Colombian Brayan Ceballos (age 23) entered the starting lineup together and basically have been there ever since, and they’ve been tremendous. Ceballos got a Team of the Week nod on debut in Week 1 against Nashville and has been a solid aerial presence, which is something the Revs have struggled with in recent years. Fofana is tremendous on the ball and he’s passing at a 90% clip with an over 50% clip on long balls, as well with several deeper, line-breaking passes that have opened up the defense.

League veteran Tanner Beason was added as the third center back to go with Homegrown Peyton Miller and Israeli youngster Ilay Feingold as the wingbacks/fullbacks, and the Revs have pulled off effectively changing over their entire back line in one off-season, which, given the success this group is having, is rather unheard of. Combine that with keeper Aljaz Ivacic having a top season and his back line blocking a lot of shots for him as well, the Revs have a foundation that looks set for many years to come unless some big transfer offers come in.

The opposite side of that coin is the fact that New England has scored the third-fewest goals in the league with nine in 10 games. The Revs have come on stronger in recent weeks though, with six tallies in their last five matches. What’s changed for the Revs that has allowed the goals to start going in a little easier?

JC: Let me explain…no, there is too much, let me sum up. The Revs in a 4-2-3-1 to start the year were horrific. Campana’s injury didn’t help, but they weren’t moving the ball effectively up field to the attacking group, and turnovers often caught the fullbacks too high as well — almost a carbon copy of 2024, when the Revs were second to last in the East and more or less were to start this year as well. The solution was to drop the struggling Langoni and add a third center back and put Ganago into a second striker role, which on paper I had a lot of doubts about. However, Carles Gil is still a magician and the Revs did solve a major problem with the formation switch.

Having the wingbacks allows one of them to get forward without exposing the defense, so New England is able to switch the point of attack easier and not compromise their center back duo, because Beason is there to help put out any fires. Now the Revs get their width and deep support from the wingback spot and are able to use Miller and Feingold more effectively and confidently going forward, because they have enough strength in the back of the formation. It also helps that the two wingbacks have been really good with high passing numbers despite not registering any official assists yet. Feingold essentially had the assist on the Revs’ opener in Toronto last weekend, but his very dangerous initial cross into the box was half-cleared only to have Gil volley it top bins from the top of the box. Feingold isn’t the pure speedster Miller is, but as a duo they complement each other very well and bring back a 1-v-1 element the Revs really haven’t had since Tajon Buchanan.

Now, do I still think that Caleb Porter’s possession system is too slow and hampers the offense? Yes. Do I think the Revs should counterattack a lot more than they do currently? Also yes. Their two goals against Toronto were very direct — a turnover sent out wide to Feingold set up Gil and then a semi-broken play leading to a long through ball to Campana. I think this is when the Revs are at their most dangerous, because they generally have opponents on their back foot and not in an established and/or set back line. But they are improving and against Toronto were generating better chances and doing so more frequently. And despite their win streak, big chances have been a rarity so far this year. If New England is able to consistently counter and create chances inside the box, the defense is going to carry them very far and you will see this team protecting a lot of leads.

Will any players be unavailable due to injury, suspension, etc.? What is your projected starting XI and score prediction?

JC: No suspensions to talk about, and most of the longterm injuries are off the board as well with Chancalay and Campana back in action. Andrew Farrell and Wyatt Omsberg were listed as questionable last week, but Farrell started in the midweek Open Cup game and Omsberg was on the bench and subbed on for the final 15 minutes. Youngster Malcolm Fry is likely the only person that will still be listed as out come gameday.

5-3-2: Aljaz Ivacic; Peyton Miller, Mamadou Fofana, Brayan Ceballos, Tanner Beason, Ilay Feingold; Alhassan Yusuf, Matt Polster, Carles Gil; Ignatius Ganago, Leonardo Campana.

Same lineup as last week in Toronto — the midfield triangle sees Carles Gil work his magic as the roaming No. 10, so you might see the wingbacks listed with the holding mids in a 3-4-1-2 looking thing. The running joke with the PawedCast demands I predict a 2-2 draw, but given the defensive stinginess of these two teams in the last month or so, I find it highly unlikely this game will have four goals in it…which is exactly why it will happen. We’ll add another to Carles’ tally and I think Mr. Ganago is due for another one. He’s been robbed a few too many times this year.

Thank you to Jake for the excellent primer on this year’s Revolution team. Vamos Orlando!



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Lion Links: 5/9/25

Orlando City’s next U.S. Open Cup match date revealed, MLS matches to watch, top soccer club valuations, and more.

Published

20 hours ago

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May 9, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to Friday! I hope the week has treated you well as we get ready for a Mother’s Day weekend packed with soccer. Orlando City and the Orlando Pride are both in action at the same time on Saturday, so make sure to plan accordingly depending on how you want to enjoy the action. Let’s dive into today’s links!

Orlando City Will Face Nashville in USOC on May 21

Orlando City will officially host Nashville SC on May 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the U.S. Open Cup’s Round of 16. That match is sandwiched between a road game against Inter Miami on May 18 and a home game against the Portland Timbers May 24, so at least there won’t be much travel during that week during an already jam-packed month. The Lions reached this stage of the tournament after beating the Tampa Bay Rowdies 5-0 Wednesday, while Nashville won 1-0 against the Chattanooga Red Wolves on Tuesday.

What to Watch In MLS This Weekend

We’ll all be tuned in for Orlando City’s match on Saturday against the New England Revolution, but there’s plenty more MLS action to look forward to as well. Before Orlando’s match, Inter Miami will head to St. Paul to take on a Minnesota United team that leads the league with six clean sheets this season. Another notable match this weekend is a clash between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference standings when the Philadelphia Union host the Columbus Crew. That game has Daniel Gazdag written all over it. Sunday night’s match should be a doozy between two heavyweight Western Conference teams, as LAFC will hit the road to take on the league-leading Vancouver Whitecaps.

MLS Clubs Listed Among World’s Most Valuable

Sportico announced the valuations for the top 50 most valuable soccer clubs in the world, and a whopping 19 MLS teams made the list. The Lions aren’t included, but it’s still neat to see some clubs like Minnesota, Sporting Kansas City, and Charlotte FC listed. LAFC is the highest listed MLS side, coming in at 16th with a $1.28 billion valuation. Real Madrid tops the list at $6.53 billion, and six of the top 10 are from the English Premier League. While valuations aren’t exactly hard evidence of success or influence, I think this is a testament to the growth and parity of MLS through an international lens.

English Clubs Reach Europa League Final

This year’s Europa League final will feature a pair of EPL teams as Manchester United and Tottenham breezed through the semifinals. United overcame a shaky first half to beat Athletic Club 4-1 at Old Trafford, with Mason Mount scoring two of the team’s four goals in the second half. Tottenham avoided an upset in Norway by winning 2-0 against Bodo/Glimt. The final will take place on May 21 in Spain, and there’s both a trophy and Champions League qualification on the line. Both United and Tottenham struggled this season and are respectively 15th and 16th in the league standings, but winning the Europa League is all that matters now.

Free Kicks

  • American midfielder Johnny Cardoso played every minute of Real Betis’ 2-2 result against Fiorentina to advance to the Europa Conference League final, where the Spanish club will face Chelsea on May 28. Enjoy this goal from Antony to help his side prevail.
  • In honor of Mother’s Day, AC Milan players will wear their mothers’ last names on the back of their jerseys in today’s match against Bologna. I love this idea and hope more clubs follow suit moving forward.
  • An ownership group led by David Beckham and Gary Neville acquired Salford City of England’s League Two.
  • Former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra’s MMA debut will have to wait, as the 43-year-old’s fight set for May 23 in Paris was postponed.
  • We’ll end our links with what looks to be some unexpected Orlando Pride representation in Vatican City!

That’s all I have for you this time around. Have a fantastic Friday and enjoy the holiday weekend!

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Orlando City vs New England: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to score some goals and secure a victory against New England?

Published

2 days ago

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May 8, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City might have the scoring woes in MLS matches as of late, but the Lions broke out against the Tampa Bay Rowdies Wednesday night in the U.S. Open Cup match. Of course, the Rowdies are not a very good team this year and are not a top flight team, so take it all with a grain of salt. What does Orlando City need to do to earn all three points at home against the Revolution?

Stop Gil/Campana

New England has scored eight goals this season. Seven of those goals have come from Carles Gil (5) and Leonardo Campana (2). Gil has also contributed one of New England’s four assists on the season. The vast majority of the Revolution’s offense goes through these two players, meaning stopping the duo is priority number one.

I fully expect Oscar Pareja to field his first-team defense, including a back line of Alex Freeman, Rodrigo Schlegel, Robin Jansson, and David Brekalo. Orlando City will also need whoever is playing in the defensive midfield to be the first line of defense. Pedro Gallese cannot be expected to have eight saves every match. The defense needs to step up.

Streak vs. Streak

Orlando City is on an eight-match unbeaten streak. New England is on a four-match winning streak in league play and five in all competitions. One of these streaks will end Saturday night. The Revolution have scored six goals in the last four MLS matches with at least one goal in each match without conceding a goal during the streak. The Lions have only scored three goals in the last five MLS matches with all three coming in one match against Atlanta United. Orlando City has shut out five straight MLS opponents and six consecutive in all competitions.

Orlando City has given away too many points during the unbeaten run. The Lions have missed Eduard Atuesta’s ability to create opportunities for his teammates to score. I’m hoping he will be available, but if not, Pareja will need to figure a better adjustment than he has in previous matches.

No More Nil

Orlando City may be on an eight-match unbeaten streak, but the offense has been absent in four of those matches. In those 0-0 draws, Orlando City took 53 shots with only 12 on target (23% rate). Contrast that with the four matches in which they scored, when Orlando City took 68 shots with 25 on target (37% rate). The Lions will need as many chances as possible given New England has only allowed seven goals so far this season. This is a defensively solid team.

Marco Pasalic did not play in the Open Cup victory over the Tampa Bay Rowdies, meaning he will be well rested and ready to start scoring goals again. He seemed to be dialing in during the Chicago match but he was taken off before he could convert. I want him to pick up where he left off, so he and many others can score goals against the Revolution. Hopefully, the goals scored against the Rowdies will kickstart the offense.

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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