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Orlando City vs. Toronto FC: Final Score 4-0 as Lions Rough Up Reds

For the second straight year, the Lions dominated Toronto FC at home, winning 4-0.

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3 years ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City scored twice in each half and ran Toronto FC out of Exploria Stadium with a 4-0 win on Independence Day in front of an announced crowd of 17,604. Cesar Araujo, Duncan McGuire, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, and Ercan Kara did the damage on the scoreboard for Orlando (9-5-7, 34 points), and the Reds (3-9-10, 19 points) finished with 10 men after Federico Bernardeschi was shown his second yellow card just past the hour mark.

The win extended the Lions’ home unbeaten streak to seven games (4-0-3) and was Orlando City’s first on Independence Day in four tries (1-2-1). City improved to 7-8-3 in the all-time series against Toronto and the Lions are unbeaten in their last seven meetings with the Reds (5-0-2).

“I think it was one of our most responsible performances and the respect of the game that they showed today was very good. I’m very pleased with it,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “And even when the game turns into a game that it was much dominated, they were very, very respectful, and that’s why they scored goals.”

It was Pareja’s 150th MLS win as a head coach, making him the sixth to reach that mark.

Pareja’s lineup featured Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, and Kyle Smith. Araujo returned from suspension to partner with Wilder Cartagena in the central midfield behind an attacking line of Ivan Angulo, Mauricio Pereyra, and Facundo Torres, with McGuire up top.

Orlando City controlled play throughout the first half and should have taken the lead just seven minutes in. A nice passing attack ended up with a cross that Toronto goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh got a hand on and knocked it out in front. Pereyra ran onto it and — for the second time in just a couple of games — the captain skied his shot over a gaping, empty net.

Two minutes later, Pereyra again missed the net, but this time from a more difficult position out near the left side of the box. He sent his shot toward the far post well wide.

Orlando opened the scoring in the 16th minute. Angulo had the ball on the left side and drew defenders toward him before sending Santos down the left channel. Santos curled in a perfect cross at the back post for Araujo to head home to make it 1-0. It was the Uruguayan midfielder’s first goal in MLS play.

“That first goal gave us a lot of confidence,” Pareja said.

Six minutes later, the Lions doubled the lead. Santos found himself on the left again and tried to send in another cross. This time, the pass attempt was deflected by the defense toward goal. As Ranjitsingh waited for the ball to come to him, McGuire flashed in front of him and flicked it inside the near post to make it 2-0 in the 22nd minute.

The Lions kept coming. Torres curled a back-post shot wide of the left upright just two minutes after McGuire’s goal. McGuire then took a fantastic through ball and smashed a shot off the left post in the 27th minute that bounced straight to Ranjitsingh.

The Lions switched off a bit after that miss. Just a minute after McGuire rattled the woodwork, Bernardeschi was given far too much space outside the area and he fired a shot off of the left post at the other end.

“It was quite hard to maintain the whole rhythm today,” said Pareja. “In that moment I noticed that we were getting caught a little bit in the energy, but we responded well, and the boys came back into the game.”

The hydration break seemed to wake the Lions back up. Pereyra unlocked the defense with a beautiful through ball in the 36th minute for Angulo’s diagonal run. Unfortunately, the speedy winger couldn’t handle the pass and it was knocked away.

That was it for the good looks, although Orlando had a few late set pieces. Santos got his head to a corner kick cross but a defender blocked it out for another corner.

Orlando City had the statistical advantage as well as the two-goal lead at the break, finishing the half with more possession (55.8%-44.2%), shots (6-2), shots on goal (2-0), corners (4-2), and passing accuracy (89.5%-85%).

Toronto interim manager Terry Dunfield made three changes at halftime to bring on fresher and younger legs, but it didn’t help. It took a few minutes after the restart for Orlando to settle in, but once the Lions got going, the game always seemed to have only one possible outcome.

Bernardeschi picked up an early yellow in the second half for a late challenge on Smith.

Angulo won a corner in the 53rd minute that Toronto cleared but Araujo fired on target on the recycle. It was on target but a comfortable save for Ranjitsingh. Two minutes later, Torres cut into the middle and sent a rocket on frame, but he left it too close to the middle and Ranjitsingh made a good reaction save.

With the heat and the quick turnaround, Pareja sent some fresh troops on in the 57th minute, sacrificing McGuire and Pereyra for Ramiro Enrique and Martin Ojeda.

Shortly after the subsitutions, Bernardeschi saw red. After a turnover, Cartagena had some words for the Italian and he knocked Wilder down. There was definitely some embellishment by the Peruvian to ensure the referee saw it. It worked. Bernardeschi was given his second yellow and sent off. Gallese was also booked in the aftermath.

Kara and Thorhallsson entered the fray moments later, replacing Angulo and Smith.

Ojeda had a good chance to add the third goal in the 69th minute, sending a hard shot on goal that Ranjitsingh was able to save. Two minutes later, Ojeda switched the play beautifully from right to left for Enrique, who cut inside to about the spot he scored from on Saturday, only this time he sent the shot inches wide. Thorhallsson then tried his luck from a tight angle in the 72nd minute but missed the target.

The third goal came in the 77th minute. Araujo looked up and saw Thorhallsson making a run. The delivery over the top by the Uruguayan was perfect. Ranjitsingh tried to get to the ball first but couldn’t. Thorhallsson rounded the goalkeeper outside the box and fired into an empty net to open his Orlando City account and ice the match.

“It was an amazing feeling,” Thorhallsson said about scoring his first MLS goal. “It’s a sequence that we do a lot and we train a lot, so it’s nice to get a goal from that. I saw Cesar get the ball. I just pointed, I think. And the ball came and I saw the keeper a little bit. I thought, ‘ Well, I’ll just go, if he hits me, he hits me.’ But then I went past him and I scored. Finally.”

Toronto got a rare shot attempt in the 82nd minute when Brandon Servania tried to chip Gallese from long range but his effort landed on the roof of the net.

Two minutes later, things got worse for Toronto. Araujo sent a hard pass to Ojeda at the top of the box. The Argentine had trouble finding the handle on it, so he back-heeled it past two defenders for Kara to run onto. The Austrian fired immediately, blasting it past Ranjitsingh to make it 4-0 in the 84th minute. It was Kara’s fifth goal of the season.

Ojeda came within inches of making it five in the 86th minute. He took a pass from Araujo and smashed a shot toward the bottom right corner. Ranjitsingh got a slight touch on it to knock it off the outside of the post. Ojeda also had the final chance in the 91st minute. He sent a free kick on frame from about 30 yards out but it was a comfortable save for Ranjitsingh.

Moments later, the match was over.

The domination was not only on the scoreboard but also on the stat sheet. Orlando City finished with the advantage in possession (59.6%-40.4%), shots (18-6), shots on target (9-0), corners (8-2), and passing accuracy (91%-84.8%).

The final score was, ironically, identical to this same fixture last year. Orlando City beat Toronto 4-0 at home last September.

“Scoring goals — that changed the whole picture,” Pareja said of the team’s turnaround in its home form. “It makes us all look better. It’s a consequence of the boys doing the right things and resisting or enduring the difficult moments that we had with games here at home, where they tied us in the last minute. The boys kept going. We’re doing the right things. We’re scoring goals. That makes a huge difference.”

“The work today is a reflection of all of the hard work that we’ve been doing,” Santos said through a club translator. “We’ve been working on all of this in training. It’s reflective of the work that Oscar is putting in.”

Orlando City heads out on the road for its next two matches, with the road trip starting at Real Salt Lake on Saturday. Game time is 9:30 p.m.

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Diego FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Lions welcome San Diego FC to Orlando for the first meeting ever between the two clubs.

Published

33 minutes ago

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September 5, 2026

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Image of Joran Gerbet playing against Minnesota United.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match preview and live thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (7-11-4, 25 points) and San Diego FC (8-8-6, 30 points) at Inter.co Stadium in Orlando (7:30 p.m., Apple TV). It’s the first-ever meeting between these two teams from different conferences

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.

History

As mentioned above, tonight’s meeting between the Lions and San Diego is the first in the series history, so there is no history. The Lions are 2-2-1 against Western Conference teams this season, which means little to nothing in this particular match, and San Diego is going to be Orlando City’s final opponent from the opposite conference in MLS regular-season play this season.

Overview

The Lions are coming off a wild 3-3 road draw at Minnesota United a week ago, in which Daryl Dike and Antoine Griezmann scored on either side of halftime on Orlando’s first two shot attempts to put their team up 2-0 in the 64th minute. Minnesota stormed back with three goals off defensive errors in a four-minute span to take a late 3-2 lead. Just when the Loons appeared to be headed for all three points, Tyrese Spicer scored in stoppage time, forcing Minnesota to split the points. Orlando has a modest 1-0-1 unbeaten streak entering tonight, and the Lions are 5-4-2 at home in 2026.

San Diego is coming off a 3-1 home win over the LA Galaxy despite having Jeppe Tverskov sent off. Tonight’s visitors have won two straight games, but both were at home. They lost their last home game 3-1 at Portland on Aug. 19 and are 2-5-3 away from home this season.

The key for Orlando City tonight will be to mark Anders Dreyer, which is far easier said than done, as he has emerged as one of the league’s best playmakers. His eight goals and 11 assists give him 19 total goal contributions to lead his team. Marcus Ingvartsen is Dreyer’s favorite teammate to combine with, as the Danish forward has converted 11 times, leading San Diego in goals, and has added five assists. However, Ingvartsen is listed as out with a lower body injury. Midfielder Onni Valakari has chipped in four goals and seven assists.

“We respect San Diego, but as well we prepare our game,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said ahead of the match. “We know how strong we are, especially at home, so now we go.”

Orlando City will be without Braian Ojeda (foot) and Adrian Marin (thigh), while Bernardo Rhein (thigh), has been upgraded to questionable. San Diego will be without the aforementioned Ingvartsen (lower body) and Tverskov (suspension).

Match Content

Projected Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Zakaria Taifi, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Joran Gerbet, Eduard Atuesta, Antoine Griezmann.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Daryl Dike.

San Diego FC (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: C.J. dos Santos.

Defenders: Kieran Sargeant, Ian Murphy, Manu Duah, Oscar Verhoeven.

Midfielders: Gabriel Pirani, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Anibal Godoy.

Forwards: Elias Achouri, Onni Valakari, Anders Dreyer.

Referees:

REF: Joe Dickerson.
AR1: Corey Parker.
AR2: Justin Howard.
4TH: Rodrigo Albuquerque.
VAR: Daniel Radford.
AVAR: Jeff Muschik.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Inter.co Stadium — Orlando.

TV/Streaming: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Diego FC: Three Keys to Victory

Here’s what Orlando needs to do in order to return to winning ways against San Diego.

Published

1 day ago

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September 4, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

After the disappointment of two dropped points against Minnesota on Saturday, Orlando City is back home with an opportunity to get things back on track. The Lions need to keep picking up points if they want to keep pace in an increasingly crowded Eastern Conference, and Saturday’s game is a good chance to start September off on the right note. San Diego FC stands in the way of that good start, and what follows are three things that I believe Orlando needs to do in order to emerge victorious from this game.

Stay Strong on the Left

The left side of the defense has been a question mark for the Lions for much of the year. Adrian Marin, Bernardo Rhein, and Zakaria Taifi have all spent time at left back lately and have done so with varying degrees of success. Regardless of who suits up there on Saturday, that area of the field will be under scrutiny once again, since they’ll be tasked with stopping San Diego right winger Anders Dreyer. He has eight goals and 11 assists in 21 appearances this year, has played 60 key passes during that time, and is generally the lynchpin through which the San Diego offense operates. He hasn’t quite been on the same pace that saw him bag 19 goals and 19 assists in the regular season last year, but with four goal contributions in his last three MLS appearances, he’s extremely capable of wreaking havoc from the wing. A lot of the goals OCSC has conceded lately have come down the left side of the defense, and if that area of the field can’t be taken care of better, the Lions will likely be in for a difficult night.

Do Damage in Transition

Orlando’s current style of positionless, fluid, attacking soccer is at its best when it comes up against teams that want to come out and play. It struggles mightily against defensive bunkers but shines when the Lions can get out and run, target open spaces, and combine with teammates in unexpected areas. Fortunately for OCSC (in theory), San Diego is a team that likes to have the ball, as it has the highest average possession in the league. That means the Lions will have opportunities to force turnovers and break the other way at pace. In order to make that happen though, OCSC will need to be both disciplined and effective when it comes to applying its press. Then, if/when the Lions win the ball, correct decision-making and clinical execution in the final third will be key to avoid letting any chances slip through their fingers (paws?).

Clean Up the Self-Inflicted Errors

Orlando has dealt with more than its fair share of general defensive struggles this year, but avoidable errors have been a particular problem in recent weeks. Whether it’s been an ill-advised challenge, passing to the opposition in the defensive third, or leaving men unmarked in the box, unnecessary mistakes have cost OCSC points time and again. Against lesser opposition it hasn’t always mattered, as the Lions were able to rescue three points against Real Salt Lake, but if Orlando wants to make a playoff push, it needs to make a habit of playing cleaner games, plain and simple. San Diego is a good team with dangerous offensive players, and Saturday’s visitors will very likely take advantage of any opportunities that the Lions gift-wrap for them. Keeping things mistake-free will go a long way.

We’ve got ample proof this season that nothing is guaranteed, but if the Lions can lock down the left side of the defense, make hay in transition moments, and limit unforced errors, then they should be in a good position to take all three points from Saturday’s game. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 9/4/26

Martin Ojeda details his recovery from injury, Anna Moorhouse loaned to Manchester City, Orlando City’s U.S. Open Cup journey, and more.

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1 day ago

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September 4, 2026

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Image of Martin Ojeda celebrating a goal against New England.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Three straight days of Orlando soccer starts tonight with Orlando City B’s road match against Inter Miami II at 7 p.m. Hopefully, Orlando’s teams do well over the next few days as crunch time is upon us when it comes to making the playoffs, especially for MLS NEXT Pro. For now though, let’s jump right into today’s links from around the soccer world!

Orlando City Prepares for San Diego FC

Orlando City will take on San Diego FC on Saturday in the first-ever game between the two clubs, and one of the storylines to keep an eye on is how much Martin Ojeda plays as he works his way back from injury. The Designated Player came off the bench late in Orlando’s 3-3 draw against Minnesota United in his first appearance since May 23. Not often injured, Ojeda spoke on how being off the field for over a month has shifted his perspective while training to return.

“You learn to value the moment much more. You learn to value every training session because, when you’re training on your own and you’re not available to your teammates, you feel uncomfortable,” Ojeda said. “You value being healthy more. It’s like everything in life. When you feel good, you live life almost on autopilot, so to speak. You go to work, you go home, you come back, you sleep. However, when you or someone close to you goes through an illness or something like that, you value the moment much more and become more conscious of what you’re experiencing.”

Pride Loan Anna Moorhouse to Manchester City

The Orlando Pride loaned goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse to Manchester City through January of 2027. Moorhouse joined the Pride prior to the 2022 season and helped the club win both the NWSL Championship and Shield in 2024. However, she has struggled this year alongside the rest of the Pride’s defense. Moorhouse hasn’t played in the past two games for the Pride, with Cosette Morche starting in her place. Her current contract with the Pride lasts through the 2027 NWSL season, so we’ll have to wait and see what her future with the club is when the loan ends.

Orlando City’s U.S. Open Cup Journey

Between the World Cup, regular season, and Leagues Cup this summer, it can be easy to forget that Orlando City is still in contention to win this year’s U.S. Open Cup. The Lions are in the semifinals of the tournament after crushing Atlanta United 4-1 in the quarterfinals back on May 19. The Lions won much tighter affairs prior to that win, with Javier Otero coming up with seven saves in a 1-0 win over FC Naples and Zakaria Taifi scoring in stoppage time to beat the New England Revolution 4-3 in the following match. Orlando will be on the road for its semifinal match against the Columbus Crew on Sept. 16, but the offense has received a boost due to the arrivals of Antoine Griezmann and Daryl Dike this summer.

MLS Transfer News Roundup

MLS signings continue to pour in as teams look to improve their squads for the rest of this season and beyond. The Colorado Rapids signed Ghanaian winger Ibrahim Sadiq from AZ Alkmaar, where he recorded 18 goals and seven assists in 85 appearances across three seasons with the Dutch club. San Diego also added an attacker by signing forward Cedric Bakambu, who joins as a free agent after playing at Real Betis. As for other notable moves from across the league, Real Salt Lake signed winger Dusan Zagar as an MLS U22 Initiative player, forward Lyle Foster joined the Houston Dynamo on loan, and the Columbus Crew continued to improve on offense by signing Moroccan winger Anass Zaroury on loan from Panathinaikos.

Free Kicks

  • Former Orlando Pride player Christina Burkenroad is retiring from professional soccer and Monterrey will have Saturday’s game against Toluca be a send-off match for her.

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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