Orlando City
Top 10 Moments of 2023: Orlando City Battles Tigres to Standstill in Champions League Debut
In our No. 4 moment, the Lions battled Liga MX giants Tigres to a 1-1 aggregate draw in their first-ever Champions League appearance.
As we count down to the new year of 2024 — which will be Orlando City’s 10th in MLS and the Orlando Pride’s ninth in the NWSL — and say goodbye to 2023, it’s time to look back at the club’s 10 best moments of the year as selected by The Mane Land staff via vote.
Orlando City could hardly have gotten a more difficult draw for its debut in Concacaf Champions League (now known as Concacaf Champions Cup). The Lions qualified for the competition by virtue of becoming the 2022 U.S. Open Cup champions, earning their spot in the continental competition. But when the draw handed the team a meeting with Liga MX giants Tigres UANL, the Lions’ path to advancement was about as tough as possible.
Liga MX teams have historically had an advantage in two-legged ties against MLS sides, because their seasons kick off earlier, allowing them to get into rhythm and better form before playing Major League Soccer clubs that have only just opened their own seasons. But Tigres is particularly difficult. The club had reached the final of the competition four previous times — all within the last eight years — winning it in 2020 and finishing as runners-up in 2016, 2017, and 2019. This year’s Tigres side entered the competition just a few points out of first place behind Monterrey in Liga MX and with lethal attacking players such as André-Pierre Gignac, Uruguayan international Fernando Gorriarán, promising Mexican attacker Sebastián Córdova, striker Nicolás Ibáñez, and Nahuel “Patón” Guzmán, one of the best goalkeepers in Liga MX.
Making the task more difficult, the Lions had to go on the road first in the two-legged tie, playing in the crazy atmosphere of Estadio Universitario (a.k.a. El Volcán) at 10 p.m. Eastern and on one fewer day of rest than their opponents. This match was supposed to set the tone for the series and Orlando needed to overcome all of that to get a result.
And that’s what happened.
The Mexican club was as good as advertised at both ends of the pitch, but Orlando City was able to grind out a 0-0 road draw. The Lions even had a few opportunities in the second half to take the lead, but they couldn’t find that final bit of quality — a common problem early in the season for this year’s squad and typical of an MLS team playing Liga MX competition early in the tournament. Orlando City got a weak effort by Ivan Angulo on frame and that was the team’s only shot on goal in the first half. Tigres attempted eight shots and put half of them on target, but Pedro Gallese was able to keep the hosts off the board.
Gallese came up huge early in the second half, denying Gignac on a half-volley shot through Rodrigo Schlegel’s legs and then deflecting a Gorriaran corner kick off the crossbar before fighting off a point-blank header from Samir.
Orlando had a decent spell around the hour mark, with Martin Ojeda forcing a Guzman save and the Lions sent in a long-distance attempt moments later that Guzman was able to save. Gaston Gonzalez had a chance to give Orlando the lead in the 62nd minute but opted to shoot rather than cross for Facundo Torres and his shot fizzed over the crossbar.
Gignac headed over the bar in the 68th minute and then Gallese made a good stop to deny Sebastián Córdova seconds later.
Ojeda failed to take advantage of a mistake by Guzman, who turned the ball over to the Orlando City Designated Player in the 87th minute. With the net empty, Ojeda tried to chip a shot back toward goal while his momentum was carrying him toward the touch line, but he couldn’t direct his effort on target. That nearly proved costly a minute later when Guido Pizarro’s header off a corner kick crashed off the right post. Samir then headed wide in the 90th minute.
That was it for the scoring chances and Orlando City held on for a road result in Mexico — a rarity for MLS sides in the competition’s history — despite the fact that Tigres dominated the stat sheet.
However, without a crucial road goal, the Lions needed to either win at home in the second leg or hold Tigres to another scoreless draw and win the ensuing penalty shootout. Although the Mexican giants failed to beat Orlando City, they advanced in the competition after fighting to a 1-1 draw at Exploria Stadium on March 15.
Despite not having Gignac available in the second leg, Tigres was dangerous again throughout the second matchup. Gallese was brilliant once again to keep his team in the game, but his attacking teammates struggled to proved much of anything at the other end with their final ball, wasting some good scoring chances.
Luis Quinones nearly opened the scoring in the ninth minute off a turnover on an attempted Orlando switch. Gallese made a diving effort to keep the game scoreless.
Gallese then bailed out his team in the 15th minute by denying Nicolas Ibanez’s header in front. Fernando Gorriaran fired just wide on the rebound off the save.
Luca Petrasso set up Orlando’s first clear-cut look in the 19th minute but Angulo sent his shot inches wide of the right post. That was an unfortunate miss, as the visitors broke through moments later.
Petrasso got caught ball watching, allowing Sebastian Cordova to drift away behind him. The Tigres attacker chested the ball down to himself and fired past Gallese from close range, giving the visitors a 1-0 advantage in the 21st minute. With a road goal in their pocket, it made the uphill climb for Orlando that much harder.
The goal unsettled the Lions for the next several minutes, leading to a couple of yellow cards and a poor pass from Michael Halliday that failed to beat the first defender on an attempted entry ball into the area with numbers forward in the attack. Ramiro Enrique had a chance to equalize late in the first half but sent his shot into Guzman’s chest from just a few yards out in front of goal.
Orlando started the second half more brightly and Enrique got the first chance after the break, only to see it blocked behind for a corner. As Orlando City pushed more numbers into the attack, the Lions became susceptible to dangerous counterattacks, forcing Gallese to do things like this:
El Pulpo made huge saves in the 67th, 73rd, and 83rd minutes to keep the Lions’ hopes alive.
Torres nearly equalized in the 80th minute, running onto a backheel from Ercan Kara and toe poking a shot toward the goal. Tigres defender Igor Lichnovsky got a touch to it, however, and deflected it up into Guzman’s belly for an easy save. Guzman then got a touch to a Dagur Dan Thorhallsson free kick in the 89th minute, tipping it over the bar for a corner.
Orlando City finally broke through on the ensuing set piece. Torres’ corner kick found Duncan McGuire at the near post and the rookie sent a header on goal. Tigres cleared the shot off the line but Kara tracked the ball in the air, turning and sending an overhead kick back toward goal and in, tying the match in the 90th minute with one of Orlando City’s best goals of 2023.
Tigres did well to see out the five minutes of stoppage time, keepin the ball and using the dark arts to waste time. Kara attempted a second bicycle kick in stoppage time and the Lions shouted for handball on the block but there was no call for a review of the play. Orlando City won a few set pieces late but couldn’t pick out a teammate with the delivery. Samir was sent off deep in stoppage time with a second yellow card, helping the Lions’ cause.
The final set piece nearly provided the moment of magic that Orlando City fans craved. Guzman came off his line to try to catch the cross into the area but could only get one hand on it in the traffic out front. McGuire got to the loose ball first and smashed a shot toward goal but his blast was always rising and missed the target with the goalkeeper well off his line. The whistle blew right after the play to end the game and Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja ran onto the pitch to argue that more stoppage time should have been given for time wasting after normal time. The coach got a red card for his troubles.
In the end, it wasn’t quite the result Orlando City and its fans wanted, but facing one of the tougest teams in Liga MX and not being bested by them across two matches in the Lions’ first trip to the competition was a moment of which to be proud. That was the message from the team afterwards as well.
“We are proud of the effort we showed during the game,” Pareja said after the match, discussing what he said to his players in the locker room. “They played against a good rival and we were there. So, we will move on, but we were upset as well.”
Tigres needed one lousy away goal to advance even though the Mexican side couldn’t notch a win across the two legs. Orlando City stood strong but simply couldn’t finish chances. Had the team found its best lineup by then, things could have been a bit different.
As it was, that two-legged affair against Tigres was an important step in Orlando City’s growth as a club and it was certainly worthy of a spot on our list of top moments of 2023.
Come back through New Year’s Eve as we count down the remainder of Orlando City’s top 10 moments of 2023.
Previous Top Moments of 2023
10. The Orlando Pride select breakout stars Emily Madril and Messiah Bright in the 2023 NWSL Draft.
9. OCB draws at Chicago and then wins a shootout, clinching its first playoff spot since 2016.
8. Orlando Pride dump Portland Thorns 3-1 in June, kick-starting the team’s push for the playoffs.
7. Orlando City gets a late goal to defeat Santos Laguna 3-2 in Leagues Cup play, earning its first win over Liga MX competition.
6. Orlando Pride sign Brazilian international Adriana.
5. OCB forward Jack Lynn named MLS NEXT Pro MVP.