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Orlando City vs. New York Red Bulls: Five Takeaways

Here’s what we learned from Orlando City’s latest shutout loss.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City finished out three matches in eight days with an anemic performance on the road against the New York Red Bulls. After a lengthy stay on the runway that delayed the team’s departure from Chicago, Orlando City arrived late, could not shake off the jet lag, and fell 1-0 to a team near the top of the Eastern Conference table. What follows are my five takeaways from another disappointing result for the Lions.

Pressured Early

The Red Bulls had all of the momentum early in the match, probing Orlando City from multiple directions with constant pressure. Despite a major disadvantage in the early possession numbers, the Orlando City defense played well enough in the first half hour of the match to disrupt the flow of the Red Bull attack. Pedro Gallese chipped in a solid save off of a Red Bull corner kick and — despite not mounting any attacking threat whatsoever — it appeared that the road warriors might at least head into halftime level.

Set Piece Sadness

The game turned in New York’s favor on a phantom foul call from referee Drew Fischer against Wilder Cartagena when Lewis Morgan flopped, leading to a free kick opportunity for the Red Bulls in the 38th minute. USMNT defender John Tolkin stepped up to curl a shot around the wall with enough pace to beat Pedro Gallese. It was an opportunity that never should have been granted, but the Red Bulls took advantage of the set piece to go up 1-0 before the end of the half.

Chemistry Lacking

Orlando has been no stranger to chemistry issues this season and has played multiple matches without the likes of Robin Jansson, Duncan McGuire, Cesar Araujo, Cartagena, and Ramiro Enrique to name just a few. These absences were due to either injury, suspensions, or both. The lack of chemistry and various absences combined to force Head Coach Oscar Pareja to try players out in new positions and adopt a new team shape. Despite some initial success with it and a bit tighter defense, the 3-5-2 experiment is failing in the attack. Against the Red Bulls, passes were not crisp and often late or off line, runs were ill timed or not picked out at all, and multiple members of the squad looked as though they were unsure of their spacing or assignments.

Non-Existent Offense

The boys in purple turned in their worst offensive performance of the season. Orlando was out-shot 11-4 and only managed to place one of their four attempts on frame — a weak effort right at the goalkeeper by Facundo Torres. Orlando has now failed to score multiple goals for five straight matches. The offense is trending towards a historically bad place, and watching the game against the Red Bulls in real time, it seemed as if every attacking player was afraid to shoot, instead looking for the perfect combo play or through ball, ultimately resulting in turnovers instead of goal-scoring opportunities.

Strikers Gotta Strike

Illustrating the above point on a more granular level, Orlando City used four players who are strikers by trade in the match — McGuire, Enrique, Luis Muriel, and Jack Lynn. These four players finished with one single (off-target) shot attempt over the course of a combined 144 minutes. That shot came from Enrique and sailed over the crossbar in the 78th minute. While the strikers aren’t solely to blame for this, requiring some type of service from the various midfielders and wingbacks in order to receive the ball in scoring positions, it illustrates how poor Orlando’s attack was on Saturday.

McGuire’s return from a shoulder injury didn’t bear any fruit, which was frustrating, but again, it wasn’t necessarily just his fault. He only touched the ball 16 times in 45 minutes, and three of those were aerials he knocked down. Enrique touched the ball only nine times in 45 minutes, which is simply not good enough. Lynn had nearly as many touches (5) in only nine minutes on the pitch, but nothing in a dangerous area. Muriel managed 40 touches across 45 minutes, but he often dropped deeper to get those touches and wasn’t able to set up others, finishing with only one key pass. The Lions need more from the strikers, but they also need more service from everyone else to those strikers.


That is how I saw things in a match that I will be quick to forget and move past. Orlando will limp back to Central Florida for a bye week before welcoming LAFC to Inter&Co Stadium on June 15. The break couldn’t come at a better time as I think that everyone involved — fans, players, and coaches — can use the time off to reset before the summer gets even hotter in the Sunshine State.

Let us know your takeaways in the comments below, and as always Vamos Orlando.

Orlando City

Orlando City Unveils New Perfect Storm Kit Ahead of 2025 MLS Season

The Lions’ new kits are meant to represent the uniqueness and intensity of the Central Florida weather.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City unveiled the club’s new home “Perfect Storm” kit today. The new home purple kit is meant to evoke the intensity of the Central Florida weather, and features a lightning bolt (called a “thunderbolt” by the club) made out of the Orlando area code, 407, on the back of the neck and a jocktag with a doppler radar storm icon. Per the club, no two kits will have the exact same pattern.

The Perfect Storm kit will be available on MLSStore.com and on OCMobileShop.com, with pick-up at The Den at Inter&Co Stadium starting Thursday during regular business hours.

“This kit is a tribute to our fans who have supported us day in and day out, through everything, rain or shine,” said Orlando City Chief Marketing Officer Pedro Araujo in a club press release. “It is also inspired by our players’ ability to thrive in adverse weather conditions, and a reminder that Inter&Co Stadium is one of the toughest environments in Major League Soccer for visiting teams to compete in.”

The Perfect Storm Kit will be first available to fans at the club’s official jersey launch tonight at 6 p.m. at Canvas (1401 Florida Mall Ave.). Fans can purchase the new shirt and have it customized. The first 200 fans in attendance to purchase the new kit will receive an exclusive CITYiD patch

The Lions will first wear the new kit at their home opener against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, Feb. 22.

Here are some shots of the new kit:

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 2/12/25

Leagues Cup Schedule released, Sams and Moorhouse called up, Champions League results, and more.

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers! It’s new home kit reveal day, so get ready to potentially spend some money. I may end up getting one regardless of how it looks. I’ve lost some weight, and while that is good, none of my jerseys fit anymore. I hope it’s a good one.

We want to wish a very happy birthday to Orlando City B midfielder Jhon Solis. Additionally, I want to wish my son Chris a very happy birthday. Now, let’s get to the links.

Orlando City’s Leagues Cup Fixtures Revealed

The official Leagues Cup 2025 Phase One schedule dropped Tuesday, meaning we now know Orlando City’s first three matches of the competition. All three matches will be played at Inter&Co Stadium against Liga MX squads. The Lions will face Pumas UNAM in the first match on July 30, followed by Atlas FC on Aug. 2, and then Necaxa on Aug. 6. Phase One of the competition is effectively a group stage. If Orlando City can advance out of Phase One, the Lions will head to the knockout rounds.

Pride International Call Ups

The Orlando Pride’s Emily Sams and Anna Moorhouse received call-ups for the USWNT and the England Women’s National Team, respectively. USWNT Coach Emma Hayes included Sams on her 23-player roster for the 2025 SheBelieves Cup later this month. The U.S. will play matches against Japan, Australia, and Colombia.

Moorhouse was selected by Lioness coach Sarina Wiegman for the UEFA Women’s Nations League. England’s first two matches are against Portugal on Feb. 21 and against Spain on Feb. 26. After that, the competition continues in April.

MLS Transfer Round Up

With Orlando City finally signing some new players, other MLS clubs continue to make moves in the off-season. Former Orlando City midfielder Junior Urso signed with the Houston Dynamo through 2025 with an option for 2026. Houston is the Bear’s third MLS club.

French second-division side Amiens SC is in a selling mood. The club sent defender Osaze Urhoghide to FC Dallas. Minnesota United FC signed midfielder Owen Gene from Amiens SC to an MLS U22 Initiative contract.

Elsewhere, the Philadelphia Union signed Homegrown forward Eddy Davis III, and D.C. United signed midfielder Brandon Servania. Out west, the San Jose Earthquakes have signed goalkeeper Daniel to a contract extension, and Nashville SC signed midfielder Matthew Corcoran from USL Championship side Birmingham Legion FC.

Champions League Results

UEFA Champions League continued Tuesday, with Paris Saint-Germain getting things going with a 3-0 win over Brest. Ousmane Dembélé scored a brace in the match to cement the victory. Borussia Dortmund also managed a 3-0 victory over Sporting Lisbon. All three goals came in the second half, including Serhou Guirassy’s 10th in the competition to equal Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski.

Real Madrid scored two goals to come from behind and defeat Manchester City 3-2. Jude Bellingham scored the winning goal in second-half stoppage time. Weston McKennie got things going for Juventus in its 2-1 victory over PSV Eindhoven. Samuel Mbangula scored the winning goal.

Free Kicks


That will do it for today. Check back later today for our coverage of the new kit. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 2/11/25

Orlando City signs Eduard Atuesta, MLS news roundup, Americans in midweek action, and more.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Happy Tuesday, gang! It was a long weekend for me but an interesting one, as I attended an event at St. Louis City’s Energizer Stadium on Saturday night. It was a fun time, but personally I prefer Orlando City’s home digs. We have plenty of things to discuss this morning, so let’s get into the links.

Orlando City Signs Eduard Atuesta

Orlando City has found its replacement for the injured Wilder Cartagena, as the club announced the signing of Colombian midfielder Eduard Atuesta from Palmeiras on Monday. Atuesta’s deal runs through the end of the 2025 season and also contains a club option for 2026. While the Lions still have some depth issues that need to be addressed at various positions, Atuesta will pair alongside Cesar Araujo in midfield, and if his previous numbers in Major League Soccer are any indication, he may even provide more goal scoring and creation from the position than Cartagena usually did.

MLS News Roundup

With the start of the MLS season under two weeks away, the off-season news is still flying thick and fast. First up, the Colorado Rapids have signed midfielder Ted Ku-DiPietro from D.C. United in exchange for up to $1.4 million in cash, with United also maintaining a sell-on percentage in the player. The trade was executed using the league’s cash-based trade system, with Colorado becoming the latest team to make use of the new mechanism. Up next, San Diego FC has signed defender Willy Kumado from Lyngby Boldklub in the Danish Superliga. The right back joins on a two-year deal that also contains option years for 2027 and 2028. Finally, Tom Bogert is reporting that Joseph Paintsil is expected to be out of action for over a month after sustaining an injury to his quadriceps.

Americans in Midweek Action

As always, there are a number of Americans taking part in games during the working week, and there’s a heavy emphasis on UEFA Champions League play. Things get started later today, as Tim Weah, Weston McKennie, and Juventus face a PSV Eindhoven side that has all four of Ricardo Pepi, Richy Ledezma, Sergino Dest, and Malik Tillman injured. Meanwhile, Gio Reyna, Cole Campbell, and Borussia Dortmund will travel to face Sporting CP. Wednesday has Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah traveling with AC Milan to take on Feyenoord, while Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty, and Celtic will be sorely tested at home against Bayern Munich. Thursday will wrap up European play with Johnny Cardoso and Real Betis squaring off against Gent in the Conference League.

Josh Sargent’s Opportunity

Josh Sargent had a difficult end to 2024, as he spent several months on the sideline while recovering from a groin injury that eventually required surgery. There were some natural moments of wondering what he’d be like when he made his return, but he’s hit the ground running since his first game back on Jan. 25, as he has four goals in three games for Norwich City. Not only is he getting his chance at the club level, but with Pepi and Folarin Balogun both currently injured, Sargent looks almost certain to lead the line for the United States Men’s National Team for March’s Concacaf Nations League semifinal matches. Sometimes timing is everything, and right now Sargent’s timing is pretty damn good.

Free Kicks


That does it for me this morning. Vamos Orlando!

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