Orlando City continued to suffer the critical defensive lapses that have cost the team goals during the first month of the 2025 season in a controversial 2-2 draw against the New York Red Bulls at Sports Illustrated Stadium. Despite leading twice, Orlando City (1-2-1, 4 points) dropped points again.

Stunning strikes by Martin Ojeda and Marco Pasalic were canceled out by equalizers from Eric Choupa-Moting — controversially, from the penalty spot — and Dennis Gjengaar, and Carlos Coronel stopped every good look in the second half that the Lions put on target, allowing New York (1-1-2, 5 points) to take a point from a trailing position.

“A competitive game, and I thought our boys today implemented another gear on the challenges that we had — not just defensively but offensively,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “I thought the amount of opportunities that we created to score kept us optimistic.”

Pareja had some wrinkles to his starting lineup this week, with Cesar Araujo unavailable after experiencing muscle tightness late in the week. Joran Gerbet made his first professional start alongside Eduard Atuesta in central midfield. Additionally, Kyle Smith replaced Rafael Santos at left back. Pedro Gallese started in goal behind a back line of Smith, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Alex Freeman. Gerbet and Atuesta were in central midfield behind the usual attacking line of Ivan Angulo, Ojeda, and Pasalic. Luis Muriel started for the second straight game. Pareja got some bodies back on his bench, however, with Duncan McGuire available for the first time, along with David Brekalo. Zakaria Taifi was on the bench after signing a short-term contract, and Gustavo Caraballo — after signing a Homegrown Player deal Friday through 2027 — was also on the bench.

Orlando’s game plan coming out was to drop Angulo to left wingback when the hosts had possession, which the Lions were happy to concede. The Red Bulls found some width early to create some issues, but other than that, Pareja’s plan worked beautifully in the first half. The Lions were able to create on the break.

The first half chance of the match fell for Muriel from a severe angle on the right. Looking to catch Coronel by surprise, he smashed a shot in the third minute but couldn’t keep it on frame.

New York’s first opportunity came three minutes later, as Peter Stroud found space outside the area with Orlando’s lines dropping too deeply. Stroud fired a shot that Schlegel came out to block. Two minutes later, Gallese was forced to make a huge early save when Gjengaar was slipped down the right. The Peruvian came off his line and made himself big to deny a point-blank chance.

Orlando broke the scoreless tie in the 18th minute when Muriel flicked a ball on the left for Ojeda to pick up. The Argentine broke to the top of the area, looking for a teammate, but the defense had his options well covered. Ojeda fired a shot instead, blasting it into the upper right corner to make it 1-0.

Have a hit, son! 🚀#MLSSeasonPass: https://t.co/lWp04ZBCSE pic.twitter.com/bHAL9ZBRmq

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 15, 2025

“The guys who need to put the team on their shoulders seem like are doing the job,” Pareja said. “Now, we need to maintain it and even get better.”

Choupa-Moting fired well over the bar from outside the area in the 21st minute, but moments later he initiated contact with Jansson in the box that was not called a foul during play. Video assistant referee Daniel Radford sent match referee Armando Villarreal to the monitor for a look. Although Choupa-Moting stuck his foot out in front of Jansson as he was striding forward, Villarreal gave a penalty that’s seldom called, handing the hosts an easy scoring opportunity from the penalty spot.

Gallese guessed correctly, but Choupa-Moting’s shot was low and just inside the post, making it 1-1 in the 29th minute. It was an unfortunate decision for Orlando, and it would have been an unnecessary one had the Lions’ captain not cheated forward when he didn’t need to, allowing Choupa-Moting to get into the box.

First MLS goal for Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting! 🇨🇲 pic.twitter.com/dTFMVEtUIU

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 15, 2025

“The boys were very annoyed by the decision,” Pareja said. “I have to see it better. The common word in the locker room was that it was a very unfair call, but nothing that we can do now.”

The Lions went back in front 10 minutes later, but it was a goal that saw almost no celebration. Atuesta sent a long ball over the top to Pasalic, who looked a mile offside, but the flag stayed down. Pasalic smashed a left-footed shot past Coronel to make it 2-1. Replays showed Raheem Edwards kept the Croatian onside, so the goal counted and Orlando led again in the 39th minute.

Marco Pašalić beats the offside trap and buries the chance. 👏 pic.twitter.com/n6BVxyHJ9J

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 15, 2025

“Offensively, I see much bravery and a much functional team,” Pareja said. “I like the way we’re attacking. I like the way we are proposing the game.”

Pasalic was nearly in again in the 45th minute, but this time the flag came up and it didn’t matter anyway, as he lost his footing at the top of the area.

Because Villarreal gave seven minutes of stoppage time, the final chances of the half fell for the Red Bulls. A header by Choupa-Moting forced a good save from Gallese on a shot that bounced in front. The Red Bulls had a couple opportunities to do something with the ensuing corner but couldn’t pay it off before the halftime whistle.

New York had the halftime advantage in possession (55%-45%), shots (7-4), shots on target (3-2), and passing accuracy (85.7%-83.5%). Each team won one corner in the opening period.

Orlando coughed up the lead moments after the break, and it was from yet another defensive breakdown in this early 2025 season. New York attacked down the wide left and a ball into the box was turned home by Gjengaar, who was left alone in front of the net. Schlegel looked for an attacker and didn’t see one, but then was caught ball watching as Gjengaar cut diagonally away from Jansson to occupy the space behind Schlegel, where he was left alone. Stroud got outside of Freeman on the switch and sent in a cross. Smith dropped deep enough on the left to keep Gjengaar onside, allowing him to tie the game in the 47th minute with a redirection off his thigh.

Off his thigh and in! 😳

Dennis Gjengaar levels the score in New Jersey. 🇳🇴 pic.twitter.com/csPlZI4Tvy

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 15, 2025

“We know about our errors defensively, and this is not just defenders, but this is the whole group just conceding goals that we have to erase from our performances,” Pareja said.

“We need to figure it out, because we need to do a better job right after halftime, because we have been conceding goals like right after, and we need to raise up the energy,” said Gerbet, who played a strong match in his first start against. We need to do a better job to come back with the same energy as we had in the first half to avoid those types of goals.”

That early second-half goal set off a nervy spell for the Lions, who again were giving too much width to the Red Bulls. In addition to width, Orlando City was conceding extra chances. Angulo’s poor clearance set up Edwards right in front in the 52nd minute, but the shot went wide of the left post.

Angulo again gave the ball away in his own end in the 53rd minute, and that allowed Dylan Nealis a chance to fire a shot at the top of the area. Gallese did well to get down and make the save, that bounced to Edwards. The New York player couldn’t dig it out of his feet and his chance for an easy put-back evaporated.

The Lions settled down a bit after that, creating a couple of chances. Pasalic shook free on the left and fired just wide of the right post in the 61st minute. Two minutes later, Muriel tried a long-range effort that forced a diving save from Coronel. Pasalic created another chance in the 65th minute by forcing a great diving stop by Coronel to keep the match tied.

The best chance in that Orlando flurry came in the 67th minute. Smith got to the end line and sent a good pass into the area. Ojeda dug it out of traffic and fired from close range but hit his curling shot wide of the right post.

New York should have taken the lead in the 72nd minute. With Orlando enjoying a spell of possession, Jansson was dispossessed at the halfway line, allowing Gjengaar to break in alone on goal. Rather than risk a pass to Choupa-Moting with Schlegel tracking back, Gjengaar fired a shot, trying to beat the onrushing Gallese. The Peruvian did well to get a slight touch to the shot, forcing it to skip just wide of the left post.

PEDRO STOPS THE FAST BREAK ❌ pic.twitter.com/8YwC1tRLSR

— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) March 15, 2025

“I felt it more like individual moments every time,” Gerbet said about the club’s defensive struggles. “So, I felt like we just need to train more, be more focused, even like at halftime or before, be willing as a team to talk, to communicate, to be able to be all together, to raise up the energy — if we see someone is a little bit down, to push him a little bit. And I felt like those little tips can help us moving forward.”

Orlando went back on the front foot after that with some late chances to win the match. Pasalic held the ball too long on a promising transition break, rather than shifting the ball right to Freeman. Felipe Carballo was able to make him pay by tackling it away from him, although the Croatian felt he was fouled on the play. He came off limping when substituted off moments later, but Pareja indicated in his postgame comments that he wasn’t concerned with an injury to Pasalic.

The Lions gave up the ball too easily a few more times after that opportunity on the break, with Gjengaar hitting the left post with a curling effort from the right side, nearly making Orlando pay in the 85th minute.

McGuire subbed on for his first appearance of the season moments later and his impact was noticeable, despite no changes to the scoreline. He quickly won a corner in the 90th minute and fellow substitute David Brekalo got under his header on the ensuing set piece, sending it over the goal.

Ramiro Enrique had a golden opportunity for a winner in the third minute of injury time when McGuire laid off a pass for the Argentine. His shot was a decent one, but placed a bit too close to Coronel, who made an excellent diving save. A minute later, Coronel blocked a shot by Rafael Santos pinching in from the left, and McGuire’s follow-up effort was blocked by the defense in front.

“I was so happy seeing (McGuire), because he has been training normal, but I know the competition in the games is different,” Pareja said about the striker’s return. “I was urgent to see him giving us those glimpses of the Duncan that we all know. And when I saw him today competing, jumping with no fear, winning those duels, and getting in behind, that made us so happy. I’m very convinced that Duncan will be back in his best level soon and all what he brings is just good news for our offensive side.”

The final chance of the game fell to Orlando in the sixth minute of stoppage time when Santos won a corner kick. The service found its way to a wide-open Schlegel high in the box on the right. The defender took a shot but sent it wide with just about the last kick of the game.

New York finished with the advantage in possession (55.7%-44.3%) and passing accuracy (83.1%-80.7%), but aside from the first 15 minutes of the second half and a few random giveaways, Orlando controlled the match, finishing level on shots (15-15) and finishing with the advantage in shots on target (7-6) and corners (6-2).

Ultimately, the continued momentary lapses in defending cost the team points again. The Lions have now conceded 10 goals in just four games to start this season, using four different starting back line combinations.

“We’re disappointed of course because we wanted more,” Gerbet said. “I think we had the chances to get more (than one point), but we know how it’s tough to come here to New York to get a point, so I won’t say we’re happy, but we need to go with that because that’s what we got. Disappointed of course with the result, because as a team we want to win every single game.”

“At the end, we take a point and we take proudly, because we made a great effort today,” Pareja said.

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The Lions finish their road trip without a win (0-1-1) and now return to the friendly confines of Inter&Co Stadium a week from today when they host D.C. United.

Welcome to your match thread and preview for a Saturday afternoon Eastern Conference matchup between Orlando City (1-2-0, 3 points) and the New York Red Bulls (1-1-1, 4 points) at Red Bull Arena Sports Illustrated Stadium (2:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). This is the first of two scheduled meetings between the teams this season, with the Red Bulls making the return trip to Orlando on April 12.

Here’s what you need to know for the match.

History

The Lions are 8-10-3 in 21 league meetings with the Red Bulls in the all-time series (9-11-3 in all competitions), with a record of 4-6-1 on the road. Goals have been scarce in this series the last couple of seasons.

These two teams last met 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 last 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 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. Ivan Angulo and Jack Lynn combined to force the own goal. So, if you’re counting, the Lions only mustered one goal against the Red Bulls in three meetings in 2024 and it came off a New York player.

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 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 got 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 is coming off a hard-fought 2-1 road loss at New York City FC a week ago with all of the scoring in the second half. The Lions used their third different back line in three games and individual mistakes again proved costly in an otherwise solid road performance by the defense. It was the first match of the season in which the offense failed to score more than once, although there were enough good chances to get a better result. As a result of last week’s performance, Orlando is 0-1-0 on the road in 2025, but the Lions will try to regain the away form that allowed them to go 8-6-3 away from home last season.

New York is 1-0-0 at home and is coming off a 0-0 road draw at Atlanta United last weekend. The Red Bulls are once again stingy, having allowed just one goal through the first three matches of the season — second only to St. Louis City’s zero. On the other hand, New York has only scored twice this year, with Emil Forsberg and Mohammed Sofo netting those goals.

As has been the case in recent years, the Red Bulls defend well, have a great goalkeeper, and have recently turned 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, although today’s hosts will be without offensive talisman Morgan. Forsberg is the player who has taken over as the leader of the offense, however, with nine goals and five assists last year in the regular season. Carlos Coronel is a difficult goalkeeper to beat, so when Orlando manages to create a chance against New York’s stout defense, the Lions will need to be clinical to finish.

“(Today’s) match is a good opportunity for us to bounce back. But it’s an even better opportunity to keep growing as a team and keep gluing together,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “It’s a good chance for the players who are new to come into our game model and make it better and better. We’re good, we’re optimistic. The way we approached the week was trying to put together a good game plan but also trying to spend a lot of time doing the exercises with the guys. So, as I said, the guys can glue in with everybody and find a rhythm and hopefully results too. Results make us more confident.”

Orlando City will be without Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), Favian Loyola (thigh), Nico Rodríguez (thigh), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee), while Duncan McGuire (shoulder) and David Brekalo (shoulder) have been elevated to questionable. New York has a considerable number of players on its availability list. The Red Bulls will be without Wiktor Bogacz (back), Ronald Donkor (shin), Kyle Duncan (knee), Cameron Harper (knee), Roald Mitchell (knee), Morgan (knee), Marcelo Morales (knee), and Sofo (groin). Serge Ngoma (abdominal) and Adri Mehmeti (thigh) are questionable.

Match Content

• Our Intelligence Report provides more background on tonight’s opponents, courtesy of Mark Fishkin of the Seeing Red podcast.
• The most recent episode of the PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for the match.
• Our David Rohe provided his three keys to an Orlando City victory over the New York Red Bulls.

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Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Alex Freeman.

Defensive Midfielders: Joran Gerbet, Eduard Atuesta.

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

Forward: Luis Muriel.

Bench: Javier Otero, Rafael Santos, Zakaria Taifi, David Brekalo, Colin Guske, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Gustavo Caraballo, Ramiro Enrique, Duncan McGuire.

New York Red Bulls (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Carlos Coronel.

Defenders: Alexander Hack, Noah Eile, Sean Nealis, Dylan Nealis.

Defensive Midfielders: Daniel Edelman, Peter Stroud.

Attacking Midfielders: Raheem Edwards, Emil Forsberg, Dennis Gjengaar.

Forward: Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.

Bench: AJ Marcucci, Tim Parker, Wikelman Carmona, Serge Ngoma, Omar Valencia, Aiden Jarvis, Andy Rojas, Felipe Carballo, Julian Hall.

Referees

REF: Armando Villarreal.
AR1: Jeremy Kieso.
AR2: Meghan Mullen.
4TH: Lorenzo Hernandez.
VAR: Daniel Radford.
AVAR: Robert Schaap.

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How to Watch

Match Time: 2:30 p.m.

Venue: Sports Illustrated Stadium — Harrison, NJ.

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

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

Twitter: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow along at @TheManeLand, as well as Orlando City’s official Twitter feed (@OrlandoCitySC). You can also catch our live updates on Bluesky (@TheManeLand.bsky.social).

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Enjoy the match. Go City!

An Orlando City game is just over the horizon, and that means the Lions will have a chance to bounce back from a disappointing loss on the road against New York City FC on Matchday 3. Up next is another away match — this time against the New York Red Bulls.

A showdown with the Red Bulls means that I caught up with Mark Fishkin, host of the excellent Seeing Red Podcast. As always, Mark was very helpful in bringing us up to speed on everything we need to know about the Red Bulls.

Take me through New York’s off-season transfer business. Where do you feel this roster stands compared to the one that made the MLS Cup final last year?

Mark Fishkin: New York restocked the attack by bringing in 35-year-old former Bayern striker Erik-Maxim Choupo-Moting and 20-year-old Polish second-division player Wiktor Bogacz, though the latter has yet to play due to injury. Experienced central defender Alexander Hack, who played under coach Sandro Schwarz at Mainz, joined as well. John Tolkin was sold to Holstein Kiel in Germany, and Dante Vanzeir returned to Belgium. Elias Manoel was traded to Real Salt Lake. So far, the team has scored just twice in three matches but has conceded only once, continuing the strong defensive play that served the Red Bulls so well during last season’s playoff run.

Bearing those moves in mind, have there been any changes to the way New York wants to play, or has the team’s identity remained the same?

MF: New York’s principles of play have remained the same…turn over the opponent in their defensive half, and get to goal. Under Schwarz, though, the Red Bulls are much more comfortable holding possession. New York has switched full-time to a three-man back line and usually drive the ball forward through the wings. There isn’t a ton of speed up front with this season’s squad, especially now that Lewis Morgan is out for six weeks after knee surgery.

Obviously it’s very early in the season, but what are your expectations for New York this year? What will be considered a successful season?

MF: The baseline expectation is that New York will extend their long playoff streak for the 16th straight season. After that, who knows? The playoffs are such a crapshoot as the Red Bulls proved last season, advancing to MLS Cup as the seventh seed. Fans don’t want to take a step backwards, but they understand how hard the playoffs are to predict. Coach Schwarz has said that the team will push for deep runs in the U.S. Open Cup and Leagues Cup.

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

MF: The Red Bulls will be without the aforementioned Morgan, as well as right wing Cam Harper, who is recovering from a knee injury. There are quite a few depth players sidelined as well.

The New York lineup could be (3-4-1-2): Carlos Coronel; Alexander Hack, Sean Nealis, Noah Eile; Omar Valencia, Daniel Edelman, Peter Stroud, Dylan Nealis, Emil Forsberg; Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Mohammed Sofo.

The Red Bulls put on a defensive masterclass in Atlanta last week. Orlando scores and concedes a ton. New York does neither. I can see a 1-1 draw.

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Thank you to Mark for the excellent primer on this year’s Red Bulls team. Vamos Orlando!