Orlando City welcomed Tropic Thunder rival Inter Miami to Inter&Co Stadium Wednesday night, and while it would have been nice to get revenge for the 5-0 beatdown in Ft. Lauderdale in March, we’ll have to settle for the scoreless draw. With or without Lionel Messi, Miami has been formidable in 2024, sitting atop the Eastern Conference standings. The Herons entered on a five-game streak of scoring at least three goals, so holding them scoreless is a good result, and the defensive performance is something to build on.

Here’s what I saw in Wednesday’s match.

Pareja’s Plug-and-Play 3-5-2

Oscar Pareja went back to the 3-5-2 formation that was so successful at Philadelphia. With Robin Jansson out with an ankle injury, Papi inserted Rodrigo Schlegel as the left center back next to Wilder Cartagena and David Brekalo. Ivan Angulo and Facundo Torres reprised their roles as wingbacks (more on that below), outside a midfield of Nico Lodeiro, Cesar Araujo, and Martin Ojeda. Luis Muriel and Duncan McGuire were the forwards at the top of the formation. Lodeiro’s role was that of a deep-lying playmaker, while Araujo had a defense-first role and Ojeda was higher in the attack. While it didn’t create as much against Miami as it did against the Union, the formation was largely effective and will likely be used again in the future. The team adapted well, turning in one of its best defensive performances of the season. While there were no goals scored, there were chances.

Herons Pick on Angulo

Much of Miami’s attack focused on the left side of the Herons’ formation — Orlando’s defensive right — where Angulo was playing wingback. Miami’s players on that side were winger Robert Taylor and fullback Franco Negri, who both have good pace. While Angulo can blaze past most opponents when making recovery runs, the Miami duo had enough speed to get in behind on the left flank and stay ahead of Angulo multiple times. The most dangerous chances on the night came from that side, while the players on the right — Matias Rojas, Julian Gressel, and Marcelo Weigandt — didn’t make much noise against Torres. Neither Angulo nor Torres are natural defenders, so it was interesting to see Miami focus more on the left instead of using both sides equally.

Cartagena Adds Center Back Option for Orlando City

While Cartagena has excelled as a defensive midfielder since arriving in Orlando, and his game at Phiadelphia was a mixed bag, the Peruvian has seemingly presented himself as another option for the Lions’ back line. Cartagena was arguably the team’s best center back against Miami, often being isolated against Luis Suarez. Cartagena held his own all night, and made several big plays. The team has opted to keep just three “regular” center backs, augmenting them by putting Abdi Salim or Thomas Williams on the bench when there’s an injury or suspension. However, it’s clear from watching OCB matches that neither Salim nor Williams are ready for MLS just yet, although there is plenty of upside for both. The emergence of Cartagena as an option is vital, and by protecting him in a three-man back line (and having success with it), Pareja has found some unexpected formation flexibility. We’d all like to see Robin Jansson healthy and in the lineup quickly, but it’s always good to have depth options — even unconventional ones.

Muriel Rounding into Form

Although there were no goal contributions from striker Muriel, the Colombian striker showed that his performance against Philadelphia was not a one-off. Muriel was outstanding both in the attack and in winning the ball back for his team. He should have had an assist on a Martin Ojeda goal in the 32^nd minute, splitting the defense with his pass through a narrow opening. Unfortunately, Ojeda left his shot too close to Drake Callender, who still had to make a world-class save to keep it out. He dribbled defenders at will, made three key passes, and his second-half steal resulted in a yellow card on Taylor. He did the same thing to Sergio Busquets, only to see a soft foul given the other way. Muriel passed at a 74% success rate, put the ball in good areas, and forced a second big save from Callender with one of his three shots. While you’d like to see him finish his chance in the 77^th minute on the counterattack, he lost the handle while setting himself up for a final move and shot, which is understandable with all the running he did Saturday and Wednesday. If this form continues, the goals and assists will as well.

Three Big Defensive Plays Led to Lions’ Clean Sheet

There were three key moments from Orlando City’s defense that preserved the clean sheet Wednesday night. The first happened two minutes after kickoff, when Luis Suarez managed to get outside and behind Brekalo. One of the most dangerous strikers in all of MLS was alone on goal with only Pedro Gallese to beat. Despite being at an angle, Suarez normally finishes such chances, but Gallese did well to get down and get a tentacle to the shot, keeping it out of his net. The defense arrived in time to clear the rebound and the Lions had dodged a bullet. The second big chance came in the seventh minute. It looked like an offside play when fullback Negri got in behind down the left flank. He cut the ball back for the trailing run of Taylor, who fired on target with his first shot. Brekalo was there to block the effort, keeping the game scoreless. The third of Miami’s golden opportunities came late. In the 74^th minute, Jordi Alba — who had subbed on for Negri — got to the end line and sent a cross just in front of goal that got past Gallese at the near post. With striker Leonardo Campana breaking toward the back post, it appeared the shutout was over. However, midfielder-turned-center-back Cartagena arrived just in time to block the cross and Orlando survived.

That’s what I took away from a hard-fought, scoreless battle at Inter&Co Stadium. What stuck out to you? Let us know in the comments.

I hope you’re all having a nice and easy start to your Thursday morning. Orlando City’s match Wednesday night could’ve gone worse, but could’ve gone better as well. As far as rivalry games go, it probably won’t be all too memorable, but I still hope you enjoyed yourself if you went to the game. Let’s dive into today’s links!

Orlando City Draws Inter Miami at Home

The Lions hosted rival Inter Miami and had to settle for a scoreless draw that featured solid chances for both sides. Orlando remains shorthanded defensively, but Pedro Gallese and the back line of Rodrigo Schlegel, Wilder Cartagena, and David Brekalo did well to get a clean sheet against a Miami side that leads the league in goals by a wide margin. Familiar attacking struggles plagued the Lions though with many chances going unfinished. The Lions will now turn their attention to a trip across the country for a match with the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.

Orlando City B Falls On the Road

After earning its first home win last week, Orlando City B was handed its first road defeat of the season in a 4-3 loss against Columbus Crew 2. OCB was without Yutaro Tsukada, who made his debut with the first team, but the team still did well generating chances on offense. The Young Lions took the lead on two different occasions in the match, but they ultimately couldn’t hold on for a result in a rollercoaster of a match. There’s plenty of time for Head Coach Manuel Goldberg to get his team ready for its next match, which is set to take place at Osceola County Stadium on May 26 against Huntsville City FC.

Orlando City Fined After Match in Philadelphia

Following Orlando City’s win over the Philadelphia Union, the club and Head Coach Oscar Pareja have been issued fines by the MLS Disciplinary Committee for the team violating the mass confrontation policy for the second time this season. The violation took place in the 86th minute at Philadelphia, when the Union were awarded their second penalty of the game. Gallese, Nicolas Lodeiro, Ivan Angulo, and Duncan McGuire were issued fines for their role in things as well.

Luis Muriel was also fined an undisclosed amount for embellishment during an incident with Damion Lowe in the 81st minute of the match. You can judge for yourself if the MLS Disciplinary Committee got it right, but what’s not up for debate is that the Lions got the job done on the road and survived an obscene amount of stoppage time.

Austin Will Host 2025 MLS All-Star Game

MLS announced that next year’s MLS All-Star Game will take place at Q2 Stadium in Austin. It will be the first time the event is held there and the first time Texas has hosted it since Houston had it back in 2010. The official date, along with what team the MLS All-Stars will play against, will be announced at a later time. Austin FC entered the league in 2021 and every game played at Q2 Stadium has sold out. There is a strong soccer community there, and I’m glad it will get a chance to show the league what it is all about. I also really like the graphic promoting the event and feel it captures Austin fairly well.

Free Kicks

• It’s been proposed that the first Women’s Club World Cup be held during January and February of 2026. Not many other details are known at this time, but I’m pretty excited regardless, especially with how the Orlando Pride have been playing.
• Juventus beat Atalanta 1-0 to lift the Italian Cup with Dusan Vlahovic scoring the game’s only goal. American midfielder Weston McKennie played every minute of the match, while Timothy Weah came off the bench late.
• American defender Cameron Carter-Vickers also helped his club secure some silverware with Celtic beating Kilmarnock 5-0 to clinch the Scottish Premiership title.
• Former New York City FC head coach Dome Torrent was appointed as the new head coach of San Luis in Liga MX. Orlando City is set to host San Luis on Aug. 4 as part of the Leagues Cup group stage.
• Everett Palache was named as the head coach of the U.S. Men’s Deaf National Team and he will prepare the team for the 2024 Deaf Pan American Games in Brazil this November.
• A hat trick by Antoine Griezmann gave Atletico Madrid a 3-0 win over Getafe and a spot in next year’s Champions League.
• Pep Lijnders, who has been an assistant coach with Liverpool since 2018, will be RB Salzburg’s manager after signing a three-year contract with the Austrian club.
• We end our links with a special guest at the match between the Union and NYCFC, as a raccoon was the latest visitor to run rampant at Subaru Park.

That’s all I have for you today. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!

Orlando City and Inter Miami played to a scoreless draw in front of a sellout crowd of 25,046 at Inter&Co Stadium that looked every bit the part of two teams playing on short rest. Each side created only a couple of good looks at goal and the goalkeepers took center stage for the few chances that were generated, while the back lines of both teams cleaned up everything else.

Inter Miami (8-2-4, 28 points) has still never won a road game against Orlando City (3-5-4, 13 points), as the Lions are now 2-0-5 in the City Beautiful against their Tropic Thunder rivals. Lionel Messi, who was listed as questionable on the availability report, did not dress for the match and still hasn’t played in Orlando since coming to MLS.

“A very level game,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “I thought we found two teams that both had options. They could have scored at the beginning of the game, and then through the game we had our options too. We have the sensation that we could have walked off the field with three points, but we have to recognize that was a very tight game for both teams. The effort from the players was extraordinary and we keep on adapting to new things. I’m good with the performance of the team. I think we’re going in a good direction, I think we’re turning things around, and played against a good team who has good momentum. But today, as I say, we could have walked off with three points.”

Pareja went back to a 3-5-2 after it was successful in Philadelphia Saturday, with goalkeeper Pedro Gallese behind a back line of Rodrigo Schlegel, Wilder Cartagena, and David Brekalo. Ivan Angulo and Facundo Torres played wingbacks outside of a midfield group of Nico Lodeiro, Cesar Araujo, and Martin Ojeda, with Luis Muriel and Duncan McGuire up top.

Miami started by holding a lot of the early possession and quickly created a couple of excellent opportunities. Just moments after the opening kickoff, Luis Suarez got inside of Brekalo and fired a shot from the left toward the right post. Gallese went to ground and made a huge save to keep the game scoreless.

Franco Negri then was able to sneak in behind the defense in the seventh minute down the left flank. He centered the ball for Robert Taylor, who fired with his first touch. Brekalo got in front of it to block it and Orlando was able to clear the danger.

“Honestly, I was anticipating that the pass was going to be cut back. I thought at that moment that it’s an offside — I still didn’t see that clip — so if it wasn’t, it was it was a good block and well done by me,” Brekalo said with a smile.

The Lions finally produced some chances starting in the 14th minute. Muriel took a free kick outside the penalty area on the left and sent it to McGuire at the near post. The flick was just wide of the upright and hit the outside netting. A minute later, Torres was able to get to the end line, but his cross for Angulo was caught by Drake Callender.

McGuire tried a volley shot off a high cross in the 17th minute but it was deflected out by the defense for an Orlando corner. The cross in from Lodeiro on the set piece was just over Torres’ head at the back post and went harmlessly out for a goal kick. Seconds after that, Orlando took possession and Torres had a go from the top of the area with his right foot but he just missed the top right corner.

Cartagena did well in the air to deny a ball into the box intended for Suarez, conceding a corner, but Miami could do nothing with it.

Orlando’s best chance of the first half came in the 32nd minute. Muriel threaded the needle at the top of the penalty area to send a ball in for Ojeda. The Argentine immediately turned and shot, but Callender did well to get down and make a diving, one-handed save.

A minute later, Callender made another huge save to deny a Muriel shot from the top of the box.

Matias Rojas went for goal in the 35th minute on a free kick conceded by Schlegel near the right corner of the box. Gallese tipped the shot over the bar, and Orlando was able to clear the subsequent corner.

The last look at goal in the first half came in the 41st minute when Marcelo Weigandt jumped into the play from his right back spot. He fired from the top of the area but missed the target badly to the left.

Orlando City finished the first half with the adantage in shots (8-4), corners (4-2), and passing accuracy (88.6%-88.2%). Miami had more possession (50.6%-49.4%) and shots on target (3-2).

Neither side generated much offense in the second half, and it got worse as the game progressed, as tired legs caught up to both teams after each played on the road Saturday.

Each team won an early corner in the second half but couldn’t do anything with it as the game settled into a chess match between the penalty areas. Gallese had a scary moment near the hour mark when going high to catch an entry ball from Rojas. Suarez hit the keeper while he was vulnerable and Gallese went down hard and needed the trainers to come on. After a delay, he was able to continue.

Orlando had some of the best transition chances of the second half but could not execute in and around the box. Ojeda failed to get a cross through in the 69th minute on the first of those promising attacks. Muriel started multiple attacks with his footwork, drawing a yellow card on Taylor after dispossessing the Miami winger and being pulled back by his shirt. Later, he took the ball from Sergio Busquets. It looked clean, but the referee called a foul on the Colombian and he was booked after kicking the ball away, angry about the whistle.

Miami’s best chance for a second-half goal came in the 74th minute when a ball from the visitors’ left was sent in front by second-half substitute Jordi Alba. If the pass had reached fellow sub Leonardo Campana, Miami would almost certainly have scored and probably would have won the match, however, Cartagena did well to clear the danger before it could get through.

A minute later, Muriel sent Angulo down the right channel, but the speedy wingback sent his cross straight at Callender, wasting the opportunity. Two minutes later, the Lions broke with numbers. Torres picked out Muriel, but the pass allowed the defense to recover somewhat and when the striker tried to put a move on to free up a shot, he lost control of it and the chance evaporated. Muriel then sent a shot just wide in the 79th minute.

Second-half sub Dagur Dan Thorhallsson marauded down the right flank in the 88th minute but sent his cross/shot into the outside netting.

During the six minutes of injury time, Yutaro Tsukada, one of the team’s 2024 MLS SuperDraft picks, made his MLS debut, coming on for Torres. Tsukada had the chance to play the role of the unlikely hero late, as a ball in the air fell for him in the box. He fired, but hit his shot into the ground and it missed the target on what was the last kick of the ball.

Orlando City finished with the advantage in shots (14-7) and corners (8-4), while Miami held more possession (58.7%-41.3%) and passed more accurately (90.0%-86.6%). Each team officially put three shots on target.

First-place Inter Miami didn’t have Messi, but that takes nothing away from a strong defensive performance by Orlando City. It was just the second time all season the Herons have been shut out, and tonight’s match snapped a run of five consecutive games in which Miami had scored three or more goals.

“Keeping our goals (against) at zero today was a great positive thing for us,” Pareja said. “Again, adapting players to different movements and absences of players who have been regulars…we looked good. That part is positive.”

One of the key reasons for the clean sheet was the play of Cartagena, who may have been the team’s best center back on this night.

“It was a difficult game,” Cartagena said. “Obviously to mark a player like Suarez is very difficult, very complicated, especially with the player that he is and the way that he likes to move, but I think as a group we did a great job defensively. With Rodri, with David, we were really solid and compact. Obviously, we’d love to take a win from today, but I think overall, taking that draw, we feel good about tonight.”

The Lions have another quick turnaround with a match on the other side of the continent Saturday night when they visit the San Jose Earthquakes at 10:30 p.m.