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Orlando City vs. D.C. United: Final Score 5-0 as Lions Blast D.C. in Orlando

Lions run roughshod over visiting D.C. to win consecutive matches for the first time in 2024.

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2 years ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

On a night when original captain Kaká was the first player inducted into the club’s Legends Terrace, Orlando City ran roughshod over D.C. United in a 5-0 beatdown before an announced crowd of 22,561 at Inter&Co Stadium. The Lions (7-9-6, 27 points) got goals from five different players and kept D.C. United (4-11-8, 20 points) off the board to earn their first clean sheet since a 1-0 win at San Jose on May 18.

Martin Ojeda, Robin Jansson, Ivan Angulo, Facundo Torres, and Ramiro Enrique all got on the scoresheet, with three of those goals coming before United center back Lucas Bartlett was sent off for denying Angulo a goal-scoring opportunity late in the first half. Orlando crept above the playoff line with the victory and won consecutive games for the first time in 2024, sweeping the season series from D.C.

“I thought it was another good night for us,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “We tried to get more consistency in these games, and we need it, not just because of the points but the confidence we need in the team.”

Pareja rolled with the same lineup that started in Toronto on Wednesday, with Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of Kyle Smith, Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson. Cesar Araujo and Wilder Cartagena continued their central midfield partnership behind an attacking line of Angulo, Ojeda, and Torres, with Duncan McGuire — who was officially named to the 2024 U.S. Men’s National Olympic Team earlier in the day — up top.

D.C. came out as the more aggressive team, pressing high and winning the ball in the attacking half, but when United had the ball, it struggled to break through the Orlando defense. The Lions looked to spring the counter whenever possible and had success with it throughout the opening 45 minutes, building a big lead.

Thorhallsson did well to read D.C.’s movement and stole the ball in his own half, igniting the break in the eighth minute. He found Torres, who cut inside past a couple of defenders and fired a shot that was blocked. D.C. fullback Aaron Herrera was shaken up on the play. Although he was able to continue, he had to sub off before halftime. There was also a whiff of handball on the play but none was given and there didn’t appear to be a check.

Angulo gave D.C.’s three-man back line fits all night. In the 12th minute, he got down the left channel and tried to turn the corner but the ball was knocked away for an Orlando corner kick. The initial ball on the set piece was cleared out but knocked back in front, where Schlegel touched it home but he was well offside on the play.

The next few attacks went to waste due to a heavy left-footed cross by Smith and a good, right-footed, back-post cross from Smith without a teammate in that area.

The Lions took the lead in the 19th minute through Ojeda’s strike. Torres released Thorhallsson down the right flank and the Icelandic fullback was able to fight off the contact of Christopher McVey to get in behind. Tyler Miller came over to square up to Thorhallsson, who cut back and picked out Ojeda on the left. Ojeda did the rest, smashing it into the back of the net to make it 1-0. For the Argentine, it was goals in back-to-back games and his third of the 2024 season.

Angulo won another corner in the 23rd, as the Lions had trouble clearing the first defender with crosses at times. No matter, because the set piece turned into a goal. The ball was knocked out of the area and Torres retrieved it, feeding Cartagena down the right flank. The Peruvian sent in a perfect cross and Jansson met it in the air, heading it past Miller to make it 2-0 with his first goal of the year.

Another great ball from Cartagena sent Torres down the right moments later. However, a heavy touch allowed the defense to knock it behind for another corner. Ojeda’s service was flicked on by McGuire at the near post, but right at Miller, who was able to hold onto it in the 26th minute.

Ojeda again tried to pick out McGuire in the 29th minute but the pass had a lot of pace on it and the striker couldn’t keep his flicked shot on frame. Herrera then subbed off for Jacob Murrell a minute later.

Orlando spring another counter just after the restart, and Cartagena was sent down the right but he sent either a shot or a cross right at Miller.

D.C.’s closest opportunity at a goal came on a cross that was knocked high in the air, as Gallese and Smith collided along with a D.C. attacker. Jansson cleared the ball off the line as it landed. After a few minutes of treatment, Gallese was able to continue.

Orlando kept coming, winning a couple of set pieces, but the Lions couldn’t pay them off. Ojeda was waiting at the back post wide open in the 41st minute on the right, but Torres couldn’t get his chip pass over Miller, who caught it.

The Lions scored a few seconds later anyway.

Ojeda pulled Miller out to the left and dropped it off to Angulo, who smashed it in to make it 3-0 in the 42nd minute. It was Angulo’s third of the year.

Angulo slipped behind the defense early in stoppage time and he was taken down inches outside the box by Bartlett. It was a clear denial of a goal-scoring opportunity and Bartlett was sent off. For some reason, Araujo took the free kick and couldn’t get it over the wall.

Smith sent a layoff from Angulo well over the bar in the fifth minute of the eight minutes of injury time (that ended up being nine). Ojeda smashed a shot just over the bar in the final seconds and that was the end of the half.

Orlando City had the halftime advantage in possession (50.2%-49.8%), shots (11-4), shots on goal (4-1), corners (5-1), and passing accuracy (80.9%-75.2%).

“They don’t like to keep the ball in the back line much. They like to pump it forward to (forward Christiand) Benteke,” McGuire said. “We knew they were going to press high and get second balls off him, and that was going to leave spaces in behind in the counterattack. I think we definitely had our opportunities and took them well with getting three goals in the first half.”

“It was an outstanding first half, probably the best we have played during the year,” Pareja said. “It seems that our players are getting more confidence and we’re getting more close to what we were.”

The Lions started the second half looking to keep the ball more and D.C. tried to stay compact to keep the score from getting worse. The first chance of the second period came on a cross from Ojeda to McGuire, who fought off a defender and sent a header toward the right post. He couldn’t get much on it and Miller scrambled over to touch it out for a corner in the 48th minute.

Torres then took a layoff from Angulo in the 52nd minute to start a flurry of chances. After Torres’ shot was blocked, Cartagena went for goal from long distance and Miller had to dive to make the save. McGuire got to the rebound first but was at a tight angle and fizzed a shot just off target.

The game settled down for a while after that chance, but business picked back up.

Smith had a shot blocked at the top of the area in the 63rd minute. Second-half sub Luis Muriel got onto a pass from Angulo in front but had his shot blocked out for a corner in the 73rd minute. Miller made a great save to keep Schlegel’s header out and Jansson couldn’t make good contact with a teasing aerial rebound just in front of the goal line.

Orlando got its fourth goal in transition in the 74th minute. Angulo sent the ball left, releasing McGuire down the flank. When the big striker got into the box, he sent a perfect cross through the area to the right post for Torres to tuck home with his right foot, making it 4-0 on his sixth goal of the season.

“The confidence is obviously growing,” McGuire said of the team’s offensive outburst over the last several matches. “I think in the practices we’ve gotten a lot of the sequences and the attacking phases have started to come to us a lot more, and we’ve started to get more creative and (are) attacking with more urgency. And I think that’s shown in the past few games, and definitely tonight. It’s starting to come together for us.”

The second-half hydration break took place after the goal and Pareja sent Ramiro Enrique, Nico Lodeiro, and David Brekalo on for Ojeda, McGuire, and Jansson.

Enrique made it 5-0 in the 85th minute on a corner kick. Lodeiro sent in a dangerous cross that was flicked on by substitute fullback Alex Freeman. Enrique’s head was the next thing to make contact with the ball and he powered it past Miller for his first goal of the season.

Cartagena sent a shot from distance right at Miller in the 88th minute, and seconds later, D.C. nearly spoiled the shutout. Gabriel Pirani cut across the top of the area and tried to cut back a shot from the right inside the left post but it trickled wide.

The game ended without any further incidents and the Lions had their biggest win since June 22, 2021, when Orlando City beat San Jose by the same 5-0 scoreline.

The Lions finished with a lopsided statistical advantage, finishing with the edge in possession (61.8%-38.2%), shots (24-5), shots on target (10-1), corners (11-1), and passing accuracy (90.2%-80.7%).

Orlando was dominant even before the red card to Bartlett, but the outcome was never in doubt once that happened. It seemed only a matter of how many goals the Lions could score.

“Second half, obviously to play with one man more, we dominated the game territorially and spaces,” Pareja said. “But I think overall it showed us that we look much more like us now.”

The Orlando offense, which had been stagnant for more than half of the season, has now scored 15 goals in the Lions’ last five games.

The Lions head north to face the New England Revolution next Saturday at Gillette Stadium — a place they’ve never won.

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Orlando City

By the Numbers: Orlando’s Top Goal Contributors of 2026

Barbra Banda sits atop Orlando’s 2026 goal contribution leaderboard, but Justin Ellis and several other attackers are closing quickly as the season comes to a conclusion.

Published

9 hours ago

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October 8, 2026

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Image of Exploria Stadium at night.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

October is here, and while in most recent years that meant Orlando City and the Pride working to lock in a good playoff seed and actual playoff games for Orlando City B (OCB), that is not the case this year.

OCB went ahead and dressed up as a pumpkin well in advance of Halloween, failing to make the playoffs after a strong early start to their season. The Pride need, I don’t know, just about everything to go their way (you can create scenarios at this link; it is possible but exceedingly unlikely) in order to make the playoffs, and Orlando City is in a tight battle to qualify, with playoffstatus.com giving it just a 34% chance of making it this year.

October could indeed live up to its scary billing if the Pride do not get their miracle and the Lions falter and drop below the line. Not since 2019 have all three Orlando teams missed their respective playoffs during the same year, and the Lions are realistically the City Beautiful’s only hope for postseason soccer.

I generally prefer optimism to pessimism, so with that in mind, I wanted to look at something more on the glass-half-full side this week, with that glass being half full of goals. Goalkeepers and defenders can have fun too, but their fun is often more like that of an actuary or accountant — clinical and black and white. Goals are expressive and explosive and full of color (in this case, a heavy helping of purple) and joy. I like thinking happy thoughts while I write.

The three Orlando teams have scored more than 150 goals this season across all competitions, and the chart below details the makeup of all three teams and where those goals came from, using data from fbref.com for Orlando City and the Pride and from the MLS NEXT Pro website for OCB:

TeamPlayers UsedGoal ScorersGoal Contributors*Leading Contributor
Orlando City331720Martín Ojeda – 15
Orlando City B371522Issah Haruna – 14
Orlando Pride261017Barbra Banda – 21
All Three Clubs833855

*Goal contributors are the players that scored or provided the primary assist on the goal

More than 80 players have appeared in at least one game for an Orlando team thus far, with 13 players appearing for both Orlando City and OCB. Seven players are goalkeepers, and if you remove them from the players used count, that leaves 76 field players, of which 54 (goalkeeper Juan Rojas had an assist for OCB) contributed to at least one goal (71%, not bad).

Barbra Banda, Martín Ojeda, and Issah Haruna are the leaders for their respective teams thus far. OCB’s season is over, so Haruna — and his seven goals and seven assists — is locked in as the leading contributor for OCB. Ojeda has been in the lead for nearly the entire season for Orlando City, but Antoine Griezmann started playing after the World Cup break and has been rapidly cooking up escar-goal contributions ever since. As for the Pride, it was Agatha Barbra all along, and as our Sean Rollins noted earlier this week, it has not even been close.

I mentioned earlier that 13 players have played for both men’s teams this season, and even though Ojeda leads the Lions and Haruna led the Young Lions, neither are the leading contributor on the men’s side of the club. In fact, neither are the leader or the player in second place, as it is Justin Ellis who sits in first place and Harvey Sarajian who trails him on the men’s side.

Both players have delivered goals for the senior Lions and Young Lions this season, and if you throw in the two goals from his recent stint with the U.S. Men’s National Team, Ellis has crested 20 goal contributions in 2026. Those do not count for the graph below, even though the first was in Inter.co Stadium and the second came from an assist from Alex Freeman, both of which feel very much like they should count as Orlando goal contributions. Alas, Freeman is “Forever A Lion” but not currently on the Lions, but the following 10 players are and coincidentally they are both the top 10 and only 10 with at least 10 goal contributions thus far this season:

PlayerGoal ContributionsGoal Contributions per 90 (GC/90)GC 90/Rank
Barbra Banda211.051
Justin Ellis190.805
Harvey Sarajian150.854
Martín Ojeda150.687
Issah Haruna140.668
Antoine Griezmann130.962
Gustavo Caraballo120.736
Tyrese Spicer120.933
Iván Angulo100.3218
Pedro Leão100.4412

Banda jumps out as the leader and the only Pride player in the top 10, Haley McCutcheon (a defensive midfielder!) is second on the team and 11th overall with eight goal contributions, and Jacquie Ovalle is third on the Pride and tied for 13th overall with six. The Pride have once again really been a one-woman band(a), as evidenced by how the low numbers are for their second- and third-leading goal contributors.

Back on the men’s side, Daryl Dike only has three goal contributions, so he is down at 23rd in those rankings, but his 0.58 goal contributions per 90 minutes has him ninth on the per-90 chart. Tiago, who may become a lot more important now that Tyrese Spicer is likely out for the season with a Jones fracture, is the other player not in the top 10 for actual goal contributions but in there per 90 minutes, as he sits 10th at 0.51.

It is not surprising that the two players with the highest pedigree rank in the top two on the per-90-minutes chart. Both Banda and Griezmann have been as advertised all season, and if both had been available all season, each team would likely be higher in the standings.

The Pride have three games remaining (though their next one is not until Oct. 18 due to an international window) and Orlando City has seven, so there is still ample time for movement on this top 10 chart. Perhaps McCutcheon goes McClutcheon and bags a few more braces, or Ovalle or Ally Lemos (fourth on the Pride, also as a defensive midfielder) go on a late heater and catch Pedro Leão. More likely, however, is that no other Pride player makes a leap and Banda just adds to her totals, and we see if Ellis, with four more games left to play than the Zambian, can catch her for the number one spot.

Ojeda has a chance to follow his 31 goal contribution season in 2025 with a 20+ season in 2026, and if any of those goal contributions come from goals, he will pass Facundo Torres and take sole possession as the club’s all-time leading goal scorer.

Orlando City’s season resumes Saturday against Columbus, and hopefully the Lions will return from the international break locked and loaded for the stretch run. Whether the goal contributions come from a top 10 performer or someone well off the list is irrelevant. All that matters is that the Lions can score at least one more than their opponents.

And if they can do that a few more times, that will contribute to extending their playoff run to a seventh consecutive year.

Vamos Orlando!


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Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to earn all three points at home against the Columbus Crew?

Published

11 hours ago

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October 8, 2026

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Image of Tiago and Marco Pasalic celebrating a goal in Columbus.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City is back in action Saturday taking on the Columbus Crew at Inter.com Stadium. Every point matters as the Lions chase a seventh consecutive playoff appearance. Orlando City is above the Crew in the standings, but the Lions lost to Columbus last month in the U.S. Open Cup and drew in the previous league matchup earlier this season. Hopefully, Orlando City can get a different result this go around. What must the Lions do to get a victory over the Columbus Crew this weekend?

Defend in the Den

The Columbus Crew scored two goals to knock Orlando City out of the U.S. Open Cup back in September thanks to goals from Brais Mendez and Josef Martinez. Mendez scored the winning goal, but it was the Martinez goal that irked me the most. One would hope that it was a backup goalkeeper and back line that gave up those two goals, but it wasn’t. Maxime Crepeau started in goal with a back line of Bernardo Rhein, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, and Zakaria Taifi. At this point, Taifi is the only backup. The defense needs to do better this go-round.

​There’s a chance Orlando will have Griffin Dorsey back in for Taifi, which would be good. Brekalo will also be back from international duty. Additionally, the Lions are coming off a small break as opposed to playing their third match in eight days as they were in September. With that in mind, perhaps they will be better rested both physically and mentally. 

Let’s Go Wilder

I’m going to suggest that Martin Perelman do something I don’t think he will do: start Wilder Cartagena. I know that Perelman is an all gas, no brakes kind of coach, but the last time these two teams met, he started Joran Gerbet along with Eduard Atuesta. Neither of the two are midfield destroyer types that the Lions need to shield the back line.

Cartagena brings a more defensive mind and attitude to the pitch without sacrificing too much going the other way. As I mentioned above, the defense needs all the help it can get, and I think Wilder can provide that in a way that neither Gerbet nor Atuesta are able to do. 

Designated Player Powers Activate!

It’s no secret that Martin Ojeda was Orlando City’s best attacker prior to his injury. It’s also no surprise that Antoine Griezmann has taken the league by storm and made the Orlando City attack better in all respects. What we’ve yet to see is these two truly combine to devastate an opponent’s defense. We’ve heard they work well in training, and they looked good together in the friendlies prior to the season restarting post-World Cup, but I want to see it all come together against the Crew.

Columbus has given up 43 goals so far this season. That is way better than Orlando City’s 64, but the Crew are not impossible to break down. If Griezmann and Ojeda can combine for at least two goals, Orlando City will have a much greater chance to win. If Justin Ellis’ knock from the USMNT match Tuesday night isn’t hindering him, then the attack will be that much more dangerous. Patrick Schulte is a pretty good MLS keeper, so the Lions will need to finish the chances they get.

That is what I will be looking for on Saturday night. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links: 10/8/26

Orlando City prepares to host the Columbus Crew, Dan Lock joins Orlando City’s academy, Justin Ellis impresses with USMNT, and more.

Published

14 hours ago

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October 8, 2026

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Image of Harvey Sarajian getting elbowed in the neck by Juan Guevara of Club Leon
Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

How’s it going, Mane Landers? October has been going well so far for me, although I wish we got some fall weather instead of the afternoon showers that have made an umbrella a necessity as of late. It at least beats the usual oppressive heat I’m used to here in Florida. But enough about the weather, let’s get to the links!

Orlando City Prepares for Columbus Crew

Orlando City will be back in action on Saturday against the Columbus Crew in its first match since the international break. This game will be a rematch of the U.S. Open Cup semifinal between the two in Ohio, where the Crew won 2-1. Hopefully playing at home gives the Lions an edge this time around as they fight for a spot in the playoffs. Forward Harvey Sarajian spoke on the team’s excitement to get back on the field following the international break as it prepares to face the Crew yet again.

Dan Lock Hired for Orlando City’s Academy

Orlando City named Dan Lock as its academy head of methodology and coaching for him to oversee efforts to improve the pathway for academy players to develop. He joins Orlando after over a decade in youth soccer development, including time with the Columbus Crew as their academy director and leadership roles in the academies of Charlotte FC and the Seattle Sounders. Lock has also been a coach educator for U.S. Soccer and MLS NEXT.

Justin Ellis Impresses With USMNT

Multiple MLS players stood out at the United States Men’s National Team’s series of friendlies, including Orlando City forward Justin Ellis. The 19-year-old scored in the opening match against Peru and then again to beat Canada. Cavan Sullivan and Julian Hall also did well as the youth movement is in full swing with the USMNT to prepare for the 2030 World Cup. The only downside to Ellis’ international break was a knock picked up during the win over Canada, but hopefully it doesn’t take too long for him to recover from the contusion.

USWNT Will Face Tough Test from Spain

The United States Women’s National Team will take on Spain on Saturday in the first of two friendlies between the top two teams according to FIFA’s rankings. Spain has talent across all of its roster, but the offense in particular should challenge a USWNT defense that will be without key players like Naomi Girma, Emily Sonnett, and central midfielder Sam Coffey. The U.S. has put an effort into developing a solid player pool to provide depth when needed at times like these, so it will be interesting to see how Head Coach Emma Hayes aims to keep Spain’s attack in check.

Free Kicks

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

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