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Orlando City vs. Austin FC: Final Score 2-0 as Lynn and Lodeiro Lead Lions to Victory

Lions get their first win of the season in comfortable fashion despite missing several regular players.

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1 year ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City scored a goal in each half and limited Austin FC to just three shot attempts as the Lions won 2-0 in front of a crowd of 20,985 at Inter&Co Stadium. Jack Lynn and Nico Lodeiro scored the goals to lead the Lions to their first win of the season. Mason Stajduhar only had to make one easy save on a weak effort from distance to keep the clean sheet for Orlando (1-3-1, 4 points) in a comfortable victory over Austin (0-2-3, 3 points).

The win by Orlando was the first for either side in the series, with the Lions now 1-0-1 in two meetings with the Texas-based side. It was a much-needed victory for City, which was rarely threatened in the match by Austin’s attack.

“Today was much complete. We had a good performance,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “We had players getting much closer to their best performance, but we had the result. We scored goals, we had volume, we had the initiative to play the way we are, and we controlled a team that has a lot of speed, especially on the flanks and we’re happy. Congratulations to the footballers and happy to see them enjoy the result.”

Pareja’s 4-4-2 starting lineup reflected the international window the team finds itself in, with Mason Stajduhar starting in goal behind a back line of Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson. The midfield was made up of Ivan Angulo, Lodeiro, Kyle Smith, and Martin Ojeda, with Luis Muriel and Lynn — his first start with the senior team in any competition.

The game’s first 15 minutes went by without either side getting a look at goal. Both teams kept spells of possession but a heavy touch or a misplaced pass broke down the attack. Then each team suddenly got a good look at goal.

The first was a volley effort from the crescent above the box for Diego Rubio in the 17th minute. The Austin striker took a ball first time and sent it just wide of the left post.

Orlando then got forward for its first look at the net. Muriel sent Thorhallsson down the right channel and he laid off a pass for Ojeda. The Argentine sent a ball in that was intercepted, but Thorhallsson got to the ball first, then spun and fired a shot. The effort was well over the bar from the right side of the box.

The next half chance came in the 24th minute, when Muriel overcooked either a cross for Lynn or a back-post shot attempt. Thorhallsson won a corner a few minutes later when he nutmegged a defender and was taken down trying to get to the ball. Ojeda played the ball to the Icelandic fullback on the set piece, and he was wide open at the top of the area. But Thorhallsson made an absolute mess of his shot, which sailed high into The Wall behind Brad Stuver’s goal in the 31st minute.

Muriel was taken down 30 yards straight out from goal on Orlando’s next attack, giving the Lions a free kick. Ojeda took a shot from there with a hard drive toward the inside of the right post in the 34th minute. Stuver got over to make the save, but he fumbled the ball. He was saved embarrassment when the ball trickled wide of the post for a corner kick.

Austin’s best opportunity came in the 38th minute, as Orlando got caught in transition on a long diagonal ball. Schlegel got to a centering pass ahead of his opponent, but couldn’t clear it convincingly. Jader Obrian got to the loose ball with tons of room to shoot, but the Austin winger fired off target to the left of goal and high.

A minute later, Lynn should have opened the scoring. A ball placed out front found Lynn at the left post and all he had to do was direct it on frame, but the 2022 SuperDraft pick stabbed his shot wide to the left from point-blank range.

No matter, however, as Lynn made up for the miss in the 42nd minute. Thorhallsson and Lodeiro exchanged passes on the right wing and the Icelandic fired in a perfect ball to the back post. Lynn simply had to guide it on target. He hit his header at Stuver, but from that close in, the Austin keeper could do nothing to keep it out and the Lions broke the deadlock. It was Lynn’s first MLS goal.

“It was amazing,” Lynn said about scoring his first MLS goal. “I’ve been looking forward to that one for a long time, so it felt really good, especially right in front of our crowd. I don’t honestly remember the buildup too much. I just remember the ball kind of recirculating back to Dagur and trying to find an empty pocket of space in the box, and he put it right on my head, so it’s hard to miss that one.”

“(Jack) is a player who patiently has been waiting (for) his opportunity,” Pareja said. “I could say that maybe he should have more games at this point with the way he has performed in the second group and what he has achieved as an individual. He’s very lethal and he has goals. Today, he opened the game. Jack’s discipline and constant effort has paid off and we’re happy.”

Ojeda tried to double the lead two minutes after Lynn’s goal, firing a laser from 30 yards out. But the Argentine’s shot went straight into Stuver’s midsection. Neither side mustered any opportunities in the one minute of stoppage time and the Lions took their slim lead into the locker room.

The visitors held the halftime edge in possession (51.6%-48.4%) and passing accuracy (88%-86.7%), while Orlando had more shots (6-2), shots on target (3-0), and corners (2-0).

The Lions came out of the break the much stronger team, pushing the attack toward Stuver’s goal. Thorhallsson sent another outstanding cross through the box in the first minute of the second period, but multiple teammates made the same run and no one held up near the penalty spot. As a result, Austin was able to clear, but only as far as Santos, who took a big windup before firing a shot that the defense blocked. The ball then found its way to Muriel, who sent a shot just wide of the post. Lodeiro missed the right post by inches in the 47th minute.

Ojeda just missed a shot toward the right post in the 54th minute as the Lions kept pushing. IN the 56th minute, the ball ended up on Lodeiro’s foot at the top of the box but his shot hit Ojeda. The latter picked up the ball on the recycled attack and fired a shot that deflected just wide off of Austin defender Brendan Hines-Ike for a corner kick. The Lions were whistled for a foul on the set piece cross.

Two minutes later, the Lions turned Austin over in the visitors’ own end and Angulo smashed a shot on target. Stuver made a good diving save to his right to knock it out for a corner in the 58th minute. Lynn got his head to the ensuing set piece cross, but he couldn’t get any power on it and it was a comfortable save on one hop for Stuver.

Orlando continued to pour forward and Muriel sent a dangerous ball to the back post in the 60th minute, but none of his teammates made that back-post run, where they’d have had a similar situation to what Lynn had on the earlier goal.

Two minutes later, Lodeiro lined up a shot outside the box. Austin blocked the effort but it came off a hand, giving Orlando City a free kick from just outside the area. Lodeiro made the set piece pay off, delivering a lethal shot inside the top left corner of the goal. Stuver just managed to get a hand to the ball, but there was no keeping out a shot of that quality and the Lions led 2-0 in the 64th minute.

“When the goal is that size, Martin or myself, it’s our time,” Lodeiro said.

“I’m happy to see him scoring,” Pareja said. “It’s not just all the work that he does for the team internally in the game, but scoring is great for us.”

Austin sent on some reinforcements in Emiliano Rigoni and Owen Wolff after the goal, trying to chase the match, but aside from the visitors trying to attack down Orlando’s right flank more, not much changed.

Santos blasted a long-range shot in the 70th minute that forced Stuver to fight it off. There was a big rebound on the shot but the Austin keeper was able to dive on the loose ball.

Austin sent on Gyasi Zardes and Hector Jimenez, changing shape to try to pull a goal back, but not much was working for the visitors as the Lions stayed compact in the defensive end.

Orlando only went forward when numbers were advantageous for the rest of the match, keeping organized and behind the ball. This allowed Austin to keep possession but the visitors could only swing the ball from side to side, hardly able to free up enough room for a cross attempt.

A good cross through the box in the 84th minute was palmed away by Stuver but the rebound ended up splitting two attacking Orlando players. It was knocked out to Santos outside the box and the left back drove a shot over the bar. A minute later, Lodeiro got down the left side of the box but his shot was blocked by the defense. The ensuing corner was played short and ended up falling to Schlegel in the box, but the defender’s shot was also blocked.

Austin could manage nothing offensively in the four minutes of stoppage time, but did manage a weak dribbler of a shot on target that Stajduhar picked up. The full-time whistle blew seconds later and the Lions had their first victory of the 2024 regular season.

Austin finished with more possession (57.4%-42.6%) and slightly better passing accuracy (85.5%-85.4%), while the Lions held the final edge in shots (22-3), shots on target (8-1), and corners (6-0).

“It has been a challenge for us to train and have a complete roster, and this week was not an exception,” Pareja said. “We had many players outside for the FIFA date, but we had time to work. With the group that stayed, we had a couple of days when we could do the repetitions and just get back to the principles that make us feel more like us, knowing that we have to glue together these new players and have best chemistries. It helped a lot to have (time to) work this week.”

Orlando City will be back in action at home again next Saturday when the New York Red Bulls visit, fresh off their 4-0 win over Inter Miami earlier today.

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Orlando City vs. New York Red Bulls: Final Score 0-0 as 10-Man Lions Held at Home

Rodrigo Schlegel’s second yellow card early in the second half derailed a good performance and forced the Lions to hold on for a single point at home.

Published

2 hours ago

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April 12, 2025

By

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

A great (but wasteful) performance at home was ruined in the 56th minute when Rodrigo Schlegel picked up a second yellow card, forcing the Lions to hold on for a 0-0 draw against the New York Red Bulls at Inter&Co Stadium. Orlando City (3-2-3, 12 points) was the better side and created by far the most chances than New York (3-2-3, 12 points) up to that point in the game, but the manpower disadvantage eventually took its toll, and the Lions were holding on at the end.

The Lions extended their unbeaten run to five games (2-0-3) but are also winless in two (0-0-2). Meanwhile, the Red Bulls are still winless on the road (0-2-2). It was the first time Orlando City had experienced two consecutive scoreless draws since the start of the 2023 season, when the Lions drew FC Cincinnati and Tigres each 0-0 at home on March 4 and 7 in MLS and Concacaf Champions League play, respectively.

“I thought after the performance, especially that we had in the first half and part of the second half until the red card came, we felt that we lost those two points, and it was a team that that we dominated,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “But this is another experience that we have to learn from, and how can we kill those games when we have the chances and be precise and be lethal. We’re good when we’re in that mode. Unfortunately, today we weren’t.”

Pareja made no changes from last week’s lineup at Philadelphia, although Cesar Araujo and Eduard Atuesta were available off the bench. Pedro Gallese started in goal behind a back line of David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Schlegel, and Alex Freeman. Joran Gerbet and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson started in central midfield behind an attacking line of Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, and Marco Pasalic, with Luis Muriel up top.

Orlando created a great chance almost immediately. Freeman threaded a pass through traffic to Thorhallsson to break the defensive line and the Lions came forward with numbers. Ojeda slipped a ball in behind to Muriel, but the Colombian sent his shot too close to Carlos Coronel, who made the save.

Two minutes later, Eric Choupo-Moting scored off a pass from Emil Forsberg, but he was well offside on the through ball and the flag came up.

Orlando held more of the ball in the opening minutes and Pasalic shook free at the top of the area in the 12th minute with enough space for a shot. The Croatian fired a blast toward the near post from the right side but it caught outside netting after fizzing just wide of the right post.

New York’s next chance came in the 18th minute, when Felipe Carballo fired from about 25 yards out from goal. He didn’t miss by much, sizzling a shot just wide of the left post.

It was Muriel’s turn to hit the outside netting in the 22nd minute. Three minutes later, the ball found Angulo at the top of the area. The left wing spun around and fired, but hit his shot just wide of the right post.

Ojeda got a good shot on target in the 33rd minute, but he tried to go near post on Coronel, who was well positioned to make the save.

The Lions did nothing with the ensuing corner. Pasalic sent a weak dribbler right at Coronel in the 38th minute, as the Lions kept pressing the attack but not finishing it. Two minutes later, Muriel nearly jumped on a gift turnover in front of goal but Coronel got a touch on it and the chance evaporated.

Jansson was left in front on a recycled set piece in the 43rd minute and had a free header, but he too hit his shot right at Coronel, who fought it off with a good reaction save.

That was the last good look at the half, as the wasteful Lions were level with the Red Bulls at the break. Orlando City finished the half with the advantage in possession (64%-36%), shots (9-1), shots on target (4-0), corners (4-0), and passing accuracy (83.8%-71.1%). However, the Lions did not take their chances, which helped the visitors stay in the game.

“I think the elaboration of our game today was cleaner,” Pareja said when asked about what was different in this match than previous recent games against the Red Bulls. “I have to recognize and highlight the performance of those two midfielders that we had today with Joran (Gerbet) and Dagur (Dan Thorhallsson). They absorbed that pressure and they cleaned it up in a way that we could advance to the next phase of the game, or put a team in deeper situations. We were a cleaner team with the ball. It was something that we’re going to appreciate much more during the week, now that we’re not happy with the result, but that phase just makes our team go to the next level.”

Orlando continued to press forward after the restart. Gerbet sent a header across for Brekalo on a set piece but the defender was falling under contact and couldn’t get on the ball. Moments later, Pasalic fired a shot that a defender blocked out for a corner. Brekalo got his head to the cross on the corner kick but he was turned around and couldn’t get it on target in the 54th minute.

The match changed in the visitors’ favor in the 56th minute. Schlegel picked up a second yellow card and Chris Penso sent him off, putting the Lions down a man for the rest of the game.

“I felt early in that game, you have to be careful, because it’s still 30 minutes (left) and 10 men, we know, is a lot of running for everyone,” Gerbet said. “So, you have to cover more space from everyone, so I felt like you have to be cautious. But we want the result at home, so I felt like we did a pretty good job until the last 10 minutes in the game, like trying to push, trying to push, trying to score, but after, at some point, you also have to be true with yourself that you have to (not) lose the game. If you cannot win, you don’t need to lose. So, I felt the team responded really well. I mean, we’re disappointed, but we take it.”

New York quickly created danger after Schlegel’s dismissal and won a corner as Jansson was forced to knock a dangerous cross behind and out of play. The Lions countered after clearing the set piece, with Angulo winning an Orlando corner. However, nothing came of it.

The game setled into a back-and-forth affair for about a quarter of an hour before the Red Bulls started keeping more of the ball after the Lions subbed off a few attacking midfielders. Wikelman Carmona got in front and redirected a ball on frame that forced a save from Gallese in the 76th minute.

Second-half sub Atuesta committed a foul moments later to set up a dangerous set piece. The cross found Carballo at the near post but his free header sailed wide. Moments later, Dylan Nealis fired from long range but his shot was always rising and sailed well over the bar in the 87th minute.

Omar Valencia went down looking for a penalty call in the 89th minute, but all he drew was a yellow card for simulation.

Orlando was unable to fashion an attack of any kind in the seven minutes of stoppage time, but at least the Lions were fundamentally sound on the defensive end. New York’s only half chance came in the fifth added minute, when a good ball from the right nearly found Choupo-Moting at the back post. Freeman did just enough to keep the opposing striker from getting to the cross.

The whistle blew on Orlando’s second consecutive 0-0 draw moments later, as the second Schlegel yellow card spoiled an opportunity for the Lions to get all three points from the match.

Despite being a man down for most of the second half, Orlando City still finished with the advantage in possession (50.7%-49.3%), shots (14-10), shots on target (4-1), and corners (7-2). The Red Bulls finished with better passing accuracy (82.8%-79.1%).

“I felt like we played an awesome game,” Brekalo said. “We were dominating most of it, just disappointing that we didn’t get three points today. But I think with this attitude, these qualities that we’ve shown today, we are going to be successful in the long term. We knew that most of the dangerous balls that come are through balls from Forsberg, so just being close to him and expecting the through balls to (Choupo-Moting). Obviously, I think we did well. I don’t think until the red card, they got any clear chances of scoring.”

“I have to say that the willingness of the players and the commitment with the game, and you saw all the metrics and and that performance, is probably the best that we have had against this club, New York,” Pareja said. “And we really, really feel that (lack of) precision, it just kept us away from winning our three points, and obviously it is another story when the red card came, and obviously they push, and then we had just to congest a little bit the middle. And then it was another game played there. It was not the same game.”

The Lions go right back on the road for their fifth away match in seven games when they visit Montreal on Saturday.

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Orlando City vs. New York Red Bulls: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Lions return home to close out their season series with the Red Bulls.

Published

11 hours ago

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April 12, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread and preview for a Saturday afternoon Eastern Conference matchup between Orlando City (3-2-2, 11 points) and the New York Red Bulls (3-2-2, 11 points) at Inter&Co Stadium (4:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). This is the second and final scheduled meeting between the teams this season.

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

History

The Lions are 8-10-4 in 21 league meetings with the Red Bulls in the all-time series (9-11-4 in all competitions), with a record of 4-4-2 at home in the regular season and 5-5-2 in Orlando in all competitions. Goals have been scarce in this series the last couple of seasons, but the teams “exploded” for four combined goals just weeks ago in their first meeting of 2025.

These two sides met less than a month ago, playing to a 2-2 draw at Sports Illustrated Stadium on March 15. Martin Ojeda’s strike put Orlando up early, but it was canceled out by a controversial penalty by Eric Choupo-Moting just 11 minutes later. Marco Pasalic restored the Lions’ lead before the break with a stunning strike. However, Dennis Gjengaar was left unattended in front just two minutes after the restart as the teams split the points.

The two teams faced off in the 2024 Eastern Conference final at Inter&Co Stadium on Nov. 30 of last year, with an Andres Reyes set piece goal all that separated the sides in a 1-0 New York win. It was the first-ever playoff meeting between the two clubs.

The teams met in New Jersey on June 1, 2024, with the hosts coming away with a 1-0 win on a set piece goal from John Tolkin. Orlando City wasn’t in the best run of form at the time, and it was the third shutout the Lions suffered in a five-game span. The first meeting of the 2024 season came at Inter&Co Stadium on March 30, with the two sides playing to a 1-1 draw. A Kyle Smith foul in the box allowed Lewis Morgan to put the visitors ahead, but a late own goal by Noah Eile resulted in a stalemate.

Orlando City got the sweep in 2023 and did not concede a goal in the series, winning the last meeting of the year 3-0 at the stadium then known as Red Bull Arena. Facundo Torres scored twice — once from the spot — after Ivan Angulo opened the scoring for an easy road win. The two sides met in Orlando on opening day of 2023, with Orlando City winning 1-0 on a Torres penalty kick on Feb. 25. Sean Nealis’ handball allowed the Lions to start the season with a victory.

Orlando City won at Red Bull Arena 1-0 on Aug. 13, 2022, thanks to a Torres goal. That allowed the Lions to split the regular-season meetings and take two of three against New York in all competitions in 2022.

The Lions scored five unanswered goals to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 5-1 romp in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals on July 27, 2022 at Exploria Stadium. Cesar Araujo scored his first two professional goals on set pieces, while Mauricio Pereyra, Torres, and Benji Michel also found the net. Morgan scored New York’s lone goal.

The win in August had allowed the Lions to snap a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) in the regular-season series. The last of those non-wins came on April 24, 2022, when the Lions were walloped 3-0 at home on goals by Luquinhas, Cristian Casseres Jr., and Morgan, and Orlando City failed to get any of its measly three shot attempts on target.

The Red Bulls swept the season series in 2021. The teams met at Exploria Stadium on July 3 of that season with New York taking home a 2-1 win. Casseres opened the scoring just six minutes in, but Chris Mueller pulled the Lions level early in the second half. Fabio’s late goal lifted the visitors. Pereyra’s poor penalty was saved by Carlos Coronel, which cost Orlando City a better result.

The Red Bulls also handed Orlando City its first loss of the 2021 season, a 2-1 affair at Red Bull Arena, on May 29, 2021. Nani was suspended for that match and it showed, as the Lions were sloppy in possession and lacked composure on the ball. New York took the lead on goals by Caden Clark and Casseres, before Silvester van der Water pulled one back late. The Dutchman had a golden opportunity to tie the match moments later but skied his shot well over the bar.

The Lions fought to a road draw on Oct. 18, 2020, with Brian White equalizing deep in stoppage time in a 1-1 match. Nani had put the Lions ahead in the second half with a penalty kick goal and Orlando clinched its first ever MLS playoff spot despite spilling those late two points. That was the last match in the club’s record 12-match unbeaten streak in MLS play.

Orlando got the better of New York at Exploria Stadium on Oct. 3, 2020, winning 3-1 on goals by Daryl Dike, Junior Urso, and Antonio Carlos. Florian Valot scored for New York.

The Red Bulls won 1-0 at Exploria Stadium on July 21, 2019. White’s goal stood up as Carlos Ascues, Tesho Akindele, and Sacha Kljestan each hit the woodwork in the second half. Prior to that, the Lions eked out a 1-0 win at Red Bull Arena on Kljestan’s goal on March 23, 2019. Before that game, the home team had won each of the previous five games in the series, splitting a pair of matches during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

The teams split two meetings in 2018, with the Red Bulls grabbing a 1-0 result in the 2018 season finale to capture the Supporters’ Shield and the Lions pulling off a 4-3 home victory on March 31, 2018. Each team won at home in 2017 to split the two-game series, with New York winning 3-1 on Aug. 12, and Orlando City opening the season series with a 1-0 win on April 9 behind Servando Carrasco’s goal.

The teams met three times in 2016, with New York going 2-0-1. The teams split two games in 2015, with the road team winning both times, including Orlando City’s 5-2 win in New Jersey behind a Cyle Larin hat trick.

Overview

Orlando City enters on a four-game unbeaten run (2-0-2), but the Lions are coming off an unsatisfying scoreless draw at the Philadelphia Union a week ago. The men in purple created few chances in the match, but managed to fashion two good ones, only to fail to take their chances. Playing with backups in the central midfield, the result was a decent one, but it was clear early in the match that the Lions weren’t going to generate much in the attack. At least the club finally kept its first clean sheet of 2025. Orlando is 2-1-0 at home and has won both matches at Inter&Co Stadium since falling in the season opener.

New York is 0-2-1 on the road in 2025, but is coming off a 2-1 home win over the Chicago Fire a week ago. The Red Bulls have played three consecutive 2-1 games since the 2-2 draw against Orlando City, losing by that score in New England and beating Chicago and Toronto. As has been the case in recent years, the Red Bulls press and defend well, have a great goalkeeper, and have turn matches into rock fights, usually finding ways to eke out enough offense to win low-scoring games.

The Lions will need to take care of the ball and avoid New York’s dangerous transition attack. Choupo-Moting and Emil Forsberg pace the Red Bulls with three goals and an assist each. However, New York has the third-stingiest defense in the Eastern Conference behind Coronel’s standout play in goal and a defense that boasts Tim Parker, Sean Nealis, Alexander Hack, Eile, and others who can protect the goal.

“We’re feeling good. It was a difficult game in Philadelphia, but I think the team had a very good performance under the circumstances,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “There are a few changes we must make to the whole performance. It was very intense, but we found ways to keep the result. We had some options that could have been even more for us, but now coming into the next matchup against a rival like the New York Red Bulls, that we know and have played not long ago. We are just preparing like always, with the same energy and understanding that this is a different [game]. We’re good, the boys are in good shape.”

Orlando City will be without Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), Favian Loyola (thigh), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee). César Araújo (lower leg), Eduard Atuesta (thigh), and Nico Rodríguez
(thigh) are listed as questionable. New York has a considerable number of players on its availability list. The Red Bulls will be without Roald Mitchell (knee) and Morgan (knee), while Kyle Duncan (knee), Raheem Edwards (knee), Cameron Harper (knee), and Marcelo Morales (knee) are questionable.

Match Content

Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

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

Defensive Midfielders: Joran Gerbet, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

Attacking Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, Marco Pasalic.

Forward: Luis Muriel.

Bench: Javier Otero, Rafael Santos, Kyle Smith, Thomas Williams, Cesar Araujo, Eduard Atuesta, Shak Mohammed, Ramiro Enrique, Duncan McGuire.

New York Red Bulls (3-5-2)

Goalkeeper: Carlos Coronel.

Defenders: Tim Parker, Noah Eile, Dylan Nealis.

Wingbacks/Midfielders: Omar Valencia, Peter Stroud, Felipe Caraballo, Ronald Donkor, Serge Ngoma.

Forwards: Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Emil Forsberg.

Bench: Anthony Marcucci, Alexander Hack, Sean Nealis, Wikelman Carmona, Cameron Harper, Julian Hall, Mohammed Sofo, Dennis Gjengaar, Wiktor Bogacz.

Referees

Ref: Chris Penso.
AR1: Logan Brown.
AR2: Nick Balcer.
4th: Marcos DeOliveira.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.

How to Watch

Match Time: 4:30 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (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!

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Intelligence Report: Orlando City vs. New York Red Bulls

Get caught up on how things have been going for the New York Red Bulls, courtesy of someone who knows them best.

Published

1 day ago

on

April 11, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Jeremy Reper

Happy Friday, everyone! Another Orlando City match is upon us, and with it comes a chance for the Lions to extend their unbeaten run to five games on the bounce. To do so, they’ll need to equal or better the result they got earlier in the season against the New York Red Bulls in the first game between the two sides, which finished in a 2-2 draw.

A visit from the Red Bulls means that I spoke to Mark Fishkin, who hosts the always excellent Seeing Red Podcast. As usual, Mark was helpful in bringing us up to speed on how things have gone for the Red Bulls since these two teams last met.

New York has been one of the better defensive teams in the league. They’ve only given up seven goals in seven games and have kept two clean sheets. What’s been the key to the good defensive start?

Mark Fishkin: Formation and experience.  RBNY has mostly played this season in a 3-4-3 with newcomer and Bundesliga vet Alexander Hack as one of the three centerbacks, and he’s been (mostly) solid. The wingbacks offer a ton of help defending. An in-form Carlos Coronel has single-handedly kept NY in games with quick-reaction saves as well.

Like Orlando City, the Red Bulls are currently hovering around the midtable of the Eastern Conference with a 3-2-2 record and 11 points. What needs to happen for this team to make the leap from being a good team in the East, to a great one?

MF: Given both teams are only four points off the top of the East, it’s evident that there’s a ton of quality sides right now for this early in the season. Both teams have points in five of seven games, and without a last-second PK at the Revs, New York would be (slightly) higher. More clinical finishing is needed for the Red Bulls to enter the elite MLS tier.

 Aside from the big names of Erik Choupo-Moting and Emil Forsberg, who is a guy that we should have our eyes on come Saturday afternoon?

MF: Young players Omar Valencia, New York’s Panamanian international left back, who made the MLS Team of the Week bench with stellar defensive play and a game-winning assist, and Serge Ngoma, an RBNY Homegrown winger who is back after 18 months of injuries — who headed in Valencia’s cross last week to beat Chicago. On a team that added experience in the off-season, these young players delivered a jolt into the New York attack.

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

MF: Lewis Morgan continues to rehab from knee surgery, but if RBNY plays in a 4-2-2-2, the lineup could look like:
Carlos Coronel; Dylan Nealis, Noah Eile, Tim Parker, Omar Valencia; Felipe Carballo, Daniel Edelman; Serge Ngoma, Emil Forsberg; Erik Choupo-Moting, Mohammed Sofo.

The Red Bulls have played to the level of their opponents for a month now. Saturday afternoon is no different. Another 2-2 draw is in order.

Thank you to Mark for helping us get caught up on the Red Bulls. Vamos Orlando!

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