It took a while for Orlando City’s offense to get going on the heels of three consecutive scoreless draws, but the Lions found their scoring boots in a 3-0 win over rival Atlanta United in front of an announced crowd of 20,184 at Inter&Co Stadium. Orlando (4-2-4, 16 points) ran its unbeaten streak to seven games (3-0-4) while snapping a three-game winless skid (0-0-3) while beating one of its most bitter rivals in Atlanta (2-5-3, 9 points).

Luis Muriel, Alex Freeman, and Marco Pasalic scored the goals for the Lions, who beat Atlanta at home for just the third time in club history (3-6-3) in the regular season. The club set a new club record early in the game for most conseutive shutout minutes, and by the end of the match, the Lions had not conceded in 436 minutes, dating back to the LA Galaxy game and Christian Ramirez’s 14th-minute strike.

“It’s so nice to see that we kept our balance defensively and we improved something that has been costing us in our last three (games) on not scoring,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match, dedicating the three points to Cesar Araujo, who welcomed his daughter Isabella into the world today. “And getting back today to that mode just made us feel very good. A game well played. In the first half we had some difficulties to find our spaces, but we were patient until we scored the first one. We knew that they were coming in the second (half) and we would have those spaces naturally, organically open for us, and we saw that. And the boys understod the game. They were very responsible with their duties defensively, but offensively we looked like we can harm teams, and that made us feel good.”

Pareja’s lineup included Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel (who returned from suspension), and Freeman. With Joran Gerbet picking up a knock this week and Araujo on daddy duty, Kyle Smith started in central midfield alongside a returning Eduard Atuesta behind an attacking line of Ivan Angulo, Muriel, and Pasalic, with Duncan McGuire up top. Martin Ojeda started on the bench.

The first half mostly saw both sides try to be meticulous defensively and take few chances in the attack. This made for a bit of a dull affair for spectators as the teams played a tense game of chess with the ball. Orlando seemed the likelier team to put it all together, but the Lions wasted several chances, with three attacks going through Angulo in the first 12 minutes resulting in turnovers instead of shots.

Pasalic sent McGuire down the right side of the box in the eighth minute, but the striker had no help with him. Rather than hold play up and waiting for help, McGuire tried a tough-angle shot and did not get his effort on target.

A good buildup in the 15th minute ended up with an Orlando chance in front but that chance fell for Smith, who missed the net entirely from about eight yards away.

Jamal Thiare headed over the bar on a cross from the right in the 26th minute.

Atuesta sent Angulo in behind on the left in the 31st minute. Brad Guzan came off his line aggressively to cut down the angle and the left winger’s shot was blocked behind for a corner.

Aleksey Miranchuk fired wide from outside the box for Atlanta in the 34th minute. The game changed moments later.

A good pass sent Muriel into the box in the 37th minute and he was taken down by Bartosz Slisz. Referee Marcos de Oliveira determined the challenge was legal and Pasalic followed with a shot that was blocked. Atlanta broke the other way and Gallese stopped a weak shot from distance, but then de Oliveira went to the monitor. After review, he saw that Slisz had made contact with Muriel’s foot prior to getting the ball and a penalty was awarded to Orlando.

Muriel sent Guzan the wrong way and calmly slotted home in the 42nd minute to open the scoring. It was Orlando City’s first goal in 312 minutes of game time and Muriel’s fourth of the season.

Neither side fashioned a clear-cut chance in the final moments or five minutes of stoppage time. Thiare sent a late header well off target on the final shot attempt of the opening period.

Orlando City finished the half with the advantage in possession (63.3%-36.7%), shots (5-3), shots on target (2-0), and passing accuracy (89.8%-87.7%), while Atlanta won more corners (2-1). The difference at the break was the penalty.

“I think the first half I can say congrats to Atlanta. They played really good defensively and also offense,” Pasalic said. “And they made the game really tough, especially for me, because I had (many) opponents around me, and maybe this was the tactic, to close the pockets, because that’s a style we played in the last games.”

The Lions tried to strike quickly for a second after the restart. Pasalic fired wide of the right post from distance just seconds into the second half. A minute later, Muriel made a great pass to slip the ball to McGuire in the box but the ball was knocked away to Angulo. The winger could have shot with his first touch but instead took the ball wide and recycled for Muriel, who fired wide from a bad angle on the left.

Freeman doubled the lead in the 51st minute. Pasalic chested down an aerial ball and made a good pass to send it to Freeman breaking down the right into the box. The fullback was at a tight angle but sized up Guzan’s positioning and blasted a shot through the defender’s legs and just off the inside of the left post and in to make it 2-0.

“When Marco got the ball, he controlled it, and I was eager to run in behind. And when Marco passed me that beautiful pass, it was more like to see what the defender was going to do — if he was going to really step or if he was just going to delay, delay,” Freeman said. “And I didn’t see anyone in the box, and I saw the defender’s legs open. I wanted to put it bottom left corner, and with his legs open, I just put it right through, and then I scored and I got to celebrate with Duncan.”

Freeman and McGuire did a celebration they’d worked on with Gerbet, but it was just the two of them out there for the choreographed celly with Gerbet unable to play.

After Freeman’s goal, Atlanta saw a lot more of the ball. The entire next five minutes were spent in Orlando’s half.

The Lions subbed on Martin Ojeda for McGuire and got back in the attack quickly, winning a pair of corners. The service on the first sailed over everyone and was picked up by Muriel outside the box. Muriel’s blast was tipped just wide by Guzan’s diving save, setting up a second corner. Ojeda’s second entry ball found Smith, but his header in the 64th minute was meekly right at Guzan for an easy save.

Atlanta then made a couple of critical turnovers in its own end and paid for the second. The first turnover ended up on Angulo’s foot out on the left with Guzan well out of his goal. Angulo’s curling shot not only missed, but would have gone out for a throw-in on the other side had Atlanta’s defense not picked it up. However, seconds later, Atlanta turned it over again, with Pasalic picking up the ball in the attacking half, dribbling toward goal, and blasting his fifth goal of the season just inside the right post to make it 3-0 in the 67th minute.

“To be honest I feel that we did good pressure, and when the ball came to me, I feel that the ball is going to come to me because the goalkeeper had no other chance to shoot the ball anywhere, and it came right to my feet,” Pasalic said. “I stopped the ball not so good, and then I turned around and see that nobody’s there, and take the ball and I see no pressure. Then I was not so far away from the goal and then I shoot.”

Pasalic should have notched his second assist of the game just a few minutes after his goal, when he slipped Atuesta into the area in the 71st minute. The midfielder fired for the left post but his shot fizzed just inches wide.

Orlando pushed some younger legs out onto the field over the final minutes of the game, subbing on Nico Rodriguez, Gustavo Caraballo, and Colin Guske. Atlanta created some half chances from range but could do little with a few late corners. Edwin Mosquera and Miguel Almiron sent some shots well over the bar down the stretch.

Rodriguez missed well off the mark in the fourth minute of stoppage time in the game’s final opportunity for either side and the final whistle brought the Lions’ fourth consecutive shutout to an end.

Orlando finished the match with the advantage in possession (54.9%-45.1%), shots (16-12), shots on target (6-0), and passing accuracy (89.2%-87.7%). Atlanta won more corners (5-3).

“The second half we looked more us,” Pareja said. “We spoke during the week with our players about this drought moment of not scoring. (The coaching staff) tried not to tense the team or not to stress them too much. Instead we wanted them to get back to their natural mode of play, creating options. The goals are coming. And we felt today that that was happening. I think they bounced back and they found the timing.”

“I’m happy that we won this game today,” Pasalic said. “After those draw games and difficult creation of chances and scoring goals, I think today was really important. I think it was the training this week. We worked more on the creation of the chances and more on the shooting practice, because this is what gives you the most confidence in front of the goal. We worked like a team. We kept the heads together. Now we are really solid and played the defense really good, and maybe thi sis a process and needs time. So, we had this game to prove that we are defensively really good and today we showed both.”

Orlando City is back on the road next Saturday as the Lions visit the Chicago Fire.

Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (3-2-4, 13 points) and Atlanta United (2-4-3, 9 points) at Inter&Co Stadium (7:15 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, FOX, FOX Deportes). It’s the first of two scheduled meetings between the Eastern Conference rivals this season, with the Lions’ return trip to Atlanta scheduled for May 28.

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

History

The Lions are 4-10-7 in the all-time series against Atlanta in league play and 2-6-3 at home. Those numbers are 5-11-7 and 3-7-3 in all competitions.

The teams last met in the 2024 Eastern Conference semifinals, with the Lions eking out a 1-0 home victory on Nov. 24, 2024. Ramiro Enrique provided the game’s only goal and the defense was dominant, allowing the visitors just seven total shot attempts — none on target. That win pushed the Lions into their first-ever conference final.

Prior to their postseason meeting, these two teams met on Decision Day 2024, with Atlanta scoring two early goals and holding on for a 2-1 win on Oct. 9. Saba Lobjanidze and Jamal Thiare gave the visitors an early lead. Martin Ojeda pulled one back and Duncan McGuire appeared to tie the game late, but the latter goal was overturned on video review for a handball. The teams also met last year at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on March 17, when Orlando City fell 2-0 on goals by Lobjanidze and Giorgos Giakoumakis.

The last meeting of 2023 took place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with Orlando City capturing a 2-1 away win. Atlanta took the lead through Caleb Wiley, but Antonio Carlos and McGuire scored to lead the Lions’ comeback.

The southeast rivals also met in Orlando on May 27, 2023, at then-Exploria Stadium and played to a 1-1 draw. It was a heartbreaking dropped two points for the Lions, who took the lead through Kyle Smith at the half-hour mark and held that advantage until four minutes from full time, when Tyler Wolff pounced on a fortunate rebound in the box and equalized.

Atlanta went 1-0-1 in the season series in 2022. On Sept. 14 at Exploria Stadium the Five Stripes won 1-0 on a Thiago Almada goal despite the Lions out-shooting Atlanta 20-10. The sides played to a 1-1 draw in their first meeting of that year on July 22 in Atlanta. Mauricio Pereyra staked the Lions to an early 1-0 lead on a beautiful free kick. Juan Jose Purata equalized in the second half, but Atlanta bombarded Orlando the majority of the game and completely controlled the midfield, outshooting the Lions 18-3 in the match.

Orlando had a six-match unbeaten streak in the series (3-0-3) snapped on Sept. 10, 2021, as the Five Stripes won 3-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. George Campbell and Ezequiel Barco scored for Atlanta, sandwiched around a Daryl Dike own goal to hand Gonzalo Pineda his first win as manager for United.

The second of three 2021 meetings took place July 30 at Exploria Stadium, with the Five Stripes taking the lead twice on goals by Josef Martinez and Marcelino Moreno, but the Lions not only fought back twice on strikes by Smith and Silvester van der Water, but Nani scored a late game winner by heading in VDW’s cross in Orlando City’s 3-2 win. The first meeting of that season between the two rivals came on opening day — April 17 — and they played to a 0-0 draw. It was an evenly matched game, with each team firing 11 shots and getting three on frame.

The final meeting of 2020 came on Oct. 28, when Orlando City ran away with a 4-1 win over Atlanta at Exploria Stadium. Dike, Chris Mueller, Tesho Akindele, and Matheus Aias — his first in MLS — scored the goals for the Lions, with Cubo Torres preventing a shutout with a late goal for the visitors. Prior to that, the teams met in Atlanta on Oct. 7, 2020 and played to a 0-0 draw. Robinho and Nani each hit the woodwork and Brad Guzan stood on his head to prevent Orlando from taking a deserved three points in that one, while Brian Rowe held down the fort at the other end to earn a shutout in Pedro Gallese’s absence.

Back on Sept. 5, 2020, a late, unforced turnover by Kamal Miller led to Adam Jahn’s 92nd-minute tying goal that offset a Benji Michel goal in a 1-1 draw at Exploria Stadium. Orlando City finally got on the board in the series against Atlanta United with a 3-1 win on the road on Aug. 29, 2020. Junior Urso, Mueller, and Nani supplied the offense to more than counter a Brooks Lennon headed goal. That three-goal explosion snapped a three-match scoreless streak against the Five Stripes for Orlando.

Orlando City created an incredible 17 scoring chances on Aug. 23, 2019, yet finished none of them in a 1-0 home loss. Martinez scored the game’s only goal in the second half. Only 17 days earlier at Exploria Stadium, Orlando also failed to score and lost 2-0 to Atlanta, getting bounced from the U.S. Open Cup semifinals. On Mother’s Day of 2019, Atlanta United claimed a 1-0 win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Pity Martinez scored the goal.

Atlanta won at the building then known as Orlando City Stadium on Aug. 24, 2018 by a 2-1 final score. Leandro Gonzalez Pirez bundled home a rebound off Joe Bendik, who misplayed Barco’s free kick to open the scoring just 21 minutes in. Scott Sutter tied the game just before the half, but Josef Martinez broke the deadlock in the second half, with only 16 minutes remaining in normal time.

Atlanta easily claimed the June 30, 2018 meeting at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, 4-0. Josef Martinez and Barco each scored a goal and Miguel Almiron added a brace. Orlando lost the first matchup of 2018, 2-1, on May 13. An early penalty on a Cristian Higuita foul gave the visitors a leg up on a Josef Martinez goal from the spot and Barco doubled the lead before halftime. Justin Meram scored his first goal as a Lion to pull one back, but Orlando could get no closer. The unfortunate ending included a shower of debris coming out of the stands due to dissatisfaction with referee Alan Kelly’s decisions that night.

Hector Villalba’s two late goals in the first two meetings turned what could have been an Orlando draw and a win into a loss and a draw. The two teams kicked off their series with Orlando suffering a late 1-0 loss at home on July 21, 2017. Villalba found the net late. Villalba then scored a stoppage-time tally to rescue a 1-1 draw for Atlanta in the second meeting on July 29, 2017. Kaká scored one of his best goals as a Lion in that match to provide Orlando’s lone score.

Orlando City became the first visiting team to take any points out of Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a 3-3 draw in Atlanta that September. Dom Dwyer scored his first brace as a Lion (in MLS, anyway) and also assisted on Cyle Larin’s goal. Josef Martinez’s hat trick spoiled Orlando’s bid to take all three points.

Overview

Orlando is coming off three consecutive scoreless draws and has played a man down in each of the last two. The Lions played well enough to win all three of the 0-0 draws, but have not capitalized on their chances, with the most recent pair of games ruined by a defender picking up a second yellow card. The most recent of those was a week ago at CF Montreal. Orlando didn’t allow the hosts much of an attack until the late stages, after Rafael Santos was sent off with a second booking.

The Lions are 2-1-1 at home, with a 2-0-1 mark since falling in the season opener.

Atlanta United is coming off a 3-0 drubbing at Philadelphia a week ago, dropping the Five Stripes to 0-2-1 on the road in 2025. However, that team from up north swept the season series from Orlando City in the 2024 regular season, including the aforementioned Decision Day victory. Although the Lions got the last laugh by winning the playoff matchup, Atlanta has had far too much success in Orlando over the years.

Orlando City’s defense will have to keep tabs on Lobjanidze, who led Atlanta in goals (9) and was second in assists (7) a year ago. He’s off to a slow start in 2025, but he’s plagued Orlando in the past, so he’ll bear watching. At least the Lions won’t have to deal with former Middlesbrough man Emmanuel Latte Lath, who has five goals and an assist on the season. The Ivorian is suspended for yellow card accumulation. Forgive us for not realizing that during this week’s PawedCast or David Rohe’s Three Keys to Victory piece, as we don’t normally see accumulation suspensions by Matchday 10. Not even Robin Jansson or Cesar Araujo has pulled that off. Miguel Almiron is back with Atlanta and is always a threat, and Jamal Thiare has also had success in the past against Orlando City.

“The context of the situation for both teams is that we are urgent to win games,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “I think we have had good results, but we know that adding three points is what’s going to make us escalate [ourselves] in the tournament and put [ourselves] in the place that we want. Despite playing good games away, we’re doing all [the work] we can do. It’s an important game for both sides, and the players understand that as well. I like that they understand that we need to escalate. Atlanta United FC is in the same position.”

Orlando City will be without Rafael Santos (suspension), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), Yutaro Tsukada (knee), and Favian Loyola (thigh), while Araújo (lower leg), Eduard Atuesta (thigh), Ramiro Enrique (upper extremity), and Joran Gerbet (lower leg) are all listed as questionable. Atlanta will be without Derrick Williams (hamstring), Tristan Muyumba (adductor), Emmanuel Latte Lath (suspension), and Stian Gregersen (quad).

Match Content

• The latest episode of The Mane Land PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for the match.
• Our David Rohe provided his three keys to an Orlando City victory in tonight’s match. It’s really only two keys because of the Latte Lath suspension.

Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Alex Freeman.

Defensive Midfielders: Kyle Smith, Eduard Atuesta.

Attacking Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Luis Muriel, Marco Pasalic.

Forward: Duncan McGuire.

Bench: Javier Otero, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Thomas Williams, Colin Guske, Gustavo Caraballo, Nico Rodriguez, Martin Ojeda, Shak Mohammed, Ramiro Enrique.

Atlanta United (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Brad Guzan.

Defenders: Pedro Amador, Noah Cobb, Luis Abram, Brooks Lennon.

Defensive Midfielders: Mateusz Klich, Bartosz Slisz.

Attacking Midfielders: Saba Lobjanidze, Aleksey Miranchuk, Miguel Almiron.

Forwards: Jamal Thiare.

Bench: Josh Cohen, Ronald Hernandez, Matthew Edwards, Efrain Morales, Ajani Fortune, Edwin Mosquera, Luke Brennan, Will Reilly, Cayman Togashi.

Referees

REF: Marcos DeOliveira.
AR1: Andrew Bigelow.
AR2: Tyler Wyrostek.
4TH: Matt Thompson.
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic.
AVAR: Jozef Batko.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:15 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.

TV/Live Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, FOX, FOX Deportes.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 (Spanish).

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!

One of the more frustrating narratives surrounding Orlando City at the beginning of the season was the assertion that goalkeeper Pedro Gallese was playing poorly and was costing the Lions points. The main point of emphasis from the detractors was the Lions’ 4-2 opening day loss to the Philadelphia Union, although he also got a lot of flak for his performances against Toronto FC, and during the 2-1 loss to New York City FC. That criticism has started to get quieter in recent weeks, particularly after he made the bench of the most recent MLS Team of the Matchday, but I don’t think he was playing nearly as poorly as some people made him out to be at the start of the season, and his recent performances haven’t come out of nowhere.

So let’s talk about those two big supposed “black marks” on his 2025 resume. Most of the chatter came from the opening game against the Union, with him coming in for criticism in two instances here, and here. I want to specifically address the mention of Gallese allowing six goals on 2.9 post-shot expected goals. Listen, I don’t actually have a problem with the xG stat the way some people do, and I truly think it can be incredibly useful when used properly in certain contexts. I just don’t think the numbers tell the full story here.

Against the Union, three goals came from inside or on the edge of the six-yard box, and were one-touch finishes. Gallese realistically had no chance on two of them (the first and fourth goals), and while the other one came from an acute angle and was mostly right at him, the ball is still coming so fast and from such a short distance that it still feels a bit nitpicky to place the blame entirely on him. Yes, he arguably could have done better, but there are plenty of goalkeepers in this league that aren’t saving that.

The other goal of the night came from a Rodrigo Schlegel error and a first touch shot from the edge of the box that came as El Pulpo was already moving laterally across his goal to shift with the rest of his defense, only for the shot to be heading for the opposite side of the net. Despite the distance the shot is coming from, that one also feels harsh to blame him for in my book. Again, I love xG when it’s used properly, but I just don’t think this is a fair application, as it doesn’t take into account where Gallese is at the time of the turnover-produced shot — only the shooter’s location. I find it pretty hard to look at each one of those goals and honestly say that he should save them. To me, there’s a big difference between something a goalkeeper could do more to save and something they should do more to save.

The other two goals out of the aforementioned six came against Toronto FC, and honestly it’s hard for me to put a ton of blame on him for either of them. The first came off a corner and was a header from inside the six-yard box, and although he should maybe do better considering the angle of the shot and his placement in the goal, the final shot comes from about three yards away. I’m sorry, but that just requires excellent reaction time, and while it’s the sort of shot that we do see saved in MLS sometimes, I’m not sure it’s one that we should expect to see saved. TFC’s final goal of the night was a great strike from distance in the bottom corner that also came through a few bodies, which meant Gallese didn’t see it until fairly late on. Again, to me this is a shot that he could do more to save, but not one that he should do more to save, and that’s an important distinction.

Honestly, the most justified criticism I’ve seen probably comes from here, when speaking about the 2-1 loss to NYCFC. Gallese gave up a huge rebound for the hosts’ second and eventual game-winning goal. Frankly, it wasn’t great at all and it ended up costing Orlando City a point. That being said, he did still make seven saves in that game and kept the Lions in it with a chance to salvage a late point.

Aside from the error against NYCFC though, El Pulpo has largely been mistake free and pretty blameless for the three goals he’s conceded. One was a penalty kick against the New York Red Bulls, and the second was a one-touch finish from about three yards away which also came against the Red Bulls. Go back and watch the film, and you won’t be shocked to hear that I hold him blameless for both. The goal he surrendered against the LA Galaxy wasn’t great, as Christian Ramirez’s flick isn’t exactly traveling at light speed. But, the shot also goes the opposite way of which Gallese’s momentum is already carrying him, so that’s something to consider. Aside from the rebound against NYCFC, this is the one goal he’s given up in 2025 that I really think he should have done better with.

The Peruvian has gotten a lot of praise (and rightly so) for the three straight clean sheets he’s kept in Orlando’s last three games. He’s made 11 saves during that time and got absolutely peppered late against Montreal, when Orlando went down to 10 men (again!). But he’s been making saves all year long, and the one game he didn’t register any (the season opener), was also a game where you can make a real argument that he couldn’t have done a better job of attempting to stop the ball going in than he already did. His save percentage of 73% is 19th out of 33, which is close to bang average; and his clean sheet percentage of 37.5% is tied for ninth.

Oh, and if we want to bring post-shot expected goals back into this, then let’s look at his post-shot expected goals minus goals allowed (PSxG-GA). PSxG-GA uses expected goals to provide a stat that is based on how likely a goalkeeper is to save a shot. The number can be either positive or negative, with a positive number suggesting either a better-than-average shot-stopping ability, or a goalkeeper that’s been luckier than most. Gallese’s PSxG-GA of 1.7 is tied for 13th out of 49 goalkeepers, which ain’t half bad, is it? It’s worth mentioning that some of the rankings are skewed by keepers who only spent a small amount of time on the field and either let in a ton of goals or very few, but that’s the funny thing about raw stats — they need context.

At the end of the day, I’m not trying to sit here and say that Gallese has been flawless this season, is completely blameless for each and every one of the goals he’s conceded, and that every ounce of criticism that’s come his way has been unfair. There are absolutely goals that he should have done a better job on, but even at the time they were written, I think some of the assertions that he was a massive weak point for the Lions were overblown and not properly justified. He’s had a few shaky moments, like any keeper, but the defense in front of him wasn’t doing him any favors at times, and he was still regularly making saves to keep Orlando City in games. While it’s nice that he’s finally getting some plaudits, he’s had himself a perfectly fine 2025 season for the most part. You just have to take the time to look.