Orlando City
Orlando City vs. New York City FC: Five Takeaways
What did we learn from Orlando City’s 1-1 home draw against NYCFC?
Orlando City was riding a four-game winning streak when the Lions returned home for their second match of the season against New York City FC. The Lions were looking to avenge their most recent loss, which coincidentally came against the same opponent, however, despite taking the lead in the second half, the team was unable to gain to all three points at home.
The good news is that Orlando City kept its unbeaten streak alive. What follows are our five tawkways from a 1-1 draw.
Squad “Rotation” on the Wing
Despite Orlando playing its third game in eight days, Head Coach Oscar Pareja only made a single change to the lineup, substituting Nicolas Lodeiro for Facundo Torres. This did not cause much of a change in game plan as the veteran midfielder slotted into Torres’ usual position. Lodeiro provided a few quality runs in the first half but was otherwise ineffective in the buildup with his fellow attacking players against a compact and organized NYCFC defense. He was substituted off for Torres in the second half and the Orlando City attack appeared to show a bit more bite with the youthful Designated Player back on the pitch, but that may have less to do with the personnel change than figuring the opponent out, as Lodeiro and Torres finished with virtually the same number of touches (the official stat packet had both with 29, while whoscored.com gave Torres 31 to Lodeiro’s 29). Both players finished with one key pass, while Torres had one off-target shot, while Lodeiro did not record an attempt.
Defensive Struggle
The match wasn’t an advertisement for the excitement of the game of soccer in the first half. There were few shots and even fewer decent chances in the opening 45 minutes. Whether this was an intentional cagey start from both teams, the fact they were playing in the Florida heat in their third matches in eight days, or both, the opening 45 minutes produced only six total shots, and none of them were big chances. Pedro Gallese had to make two saves to Matt Freese’s one. The game was a bit more open in the second half, but both teams’ defenses played well. Cesar Araujo stood out by dispossessing NYCFC’s most dangerous attacking threat, Santiago Rodriguez, on multiple occasions. Araujo finished with four tackles and nine ball recoveries.
Red-Hot Ramiro
Ramiro Enrique kept up his hot streak by putting the Lions ahead in the second half on the slightest of touches. The age-old adage of ‘put the ball on target and good things will happen’ rang true in the 52nd minute on the breakthrough goal of the match. Martin Ojeda drove toward the top of the penalty area and fired the ball on target. A shot that looked to be heading toward an easy block by the defender or a save by Freese deflected off Enrique’s foot, catching the NYCFC goalkeeper leaning the wrong way. The goal gave Orlando a 1-0 lead at the time. Enrique has now scored in four straight matches and the Lions are undefeated over that stretch (3-0-1). While Duncan McGuire is away representing the United States in the Olympics, and with a potential transfer looming during the MLS secondary window, Enrique’s surge couldn’t come at a better time.
Cartagena Coughs Up the Lead
Orlando City didn’t lead long. Just five minutes after Enrique’s opener, the Lions gifted the visitors a tying goal. NYCFC had pressed Orlando high much of the game, and although the Lions mostly figured out how to deal with it, it was Wilder Cartagena’s blind pass just outside his own area that proved costly. The usually secure Peruvian took the ball while facing goal, turned, and sent a blind pass to the right, looking for fullback Dagur Dan Thorhallsson. However, he didn’t account for Rodriguez, who didn’t even have to move to intercept the ball. Rodriguez switched the play quickly to Alonso Martinez on the right, creating an overload against an Orlando defense that thought it was transitioning forward. Martinez played in Hannes Wolf on the right. Pedro Gallese tried to come out and pressure the shot, but Wolf calmly chipped it over the goalkeeper and inside the far post to tie the match in the 57th minute.
Foiled By Freese
Sometimes you simply have to tip your hat to a good performance by the opponent. Saturday night produced such a time, as Orlando City had a couple of good looks that New York City FC’s goalkeeper stopped. Cartagena and Enrique each had a good opportunity denied by good diving stops by Freese, who has excellent lateral movement. Enrique had a good shot at a brace when he blasted a shot from outside the area in the 67th minute. The shot was toward the right side of the net, and Enrique hit it with a lot of pace, but he didn’t quite get it far enough toward the corner. Still, Freese did well to get his left hand to it moving to his left, to keep it out. Cartagena nearly atoned for his giveaway on the tying goal in the 83rd minute, unleashing a cannon toward the bottom left corner in the 83rd minute. This time, Freese made an outstanding stop, fully extending to deflect it just wide of the post. The goalkeeper landed hard on his shoulder and needed treatment before continuing. A final opportunity in the last minute of stoppage by Luis Muriel again was saved by Freese, but the Colombian wasn’t able to generate a lot of power on his spinning shot and it was a more routine stop.
Freese’s performance not only prevented the Lions from taking all three points, but also stopped Orlando City’s streak of multi-goal games at seven, which is a club record.
Orlando City now heads into the All-Star and Leagues Cup break. The above items give the basics of what happened Saturday night in a tight, playoff-style match. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Lion Links
Lion Links: 1/23/25
Orlando City signs Thomas Williams to new contract, Orlando Pride schedule revealed, USMNT wins against Costa Rica, and more.
I hope you all are staying warm as we deal with cold weather across Florida. It’s at least been nice to break out some of my heavier blankets and forgotten hot cocoa packets I’ve had stored away. My cat has also been curling up next to me more, which is always a plus. Still, not shivering while waiting for my car to warm up would be great. Let’s dive into today’s links!
Thomas Williams Signs New Orlando City Contract
Orlando City center back Thomas Williams signed a new contract with the club that lasts through 2026, with an option for 2027 as well. Williams joined the club’s academy back in 2015 and became the youngest Homegrown Player in club history when he signed a first-team contract at 16 years old in 2021. The 20-year-old hasn’t featured much for the first team, and he’ll likely spend most of this year with Orlando City B for consistent playing time. Hopefully Williams can take a step forward in his development and provide the Lions some helpful depth at center back in the event of injuries.
Orlando Pride 2025 Season Schedule Unveiled
The NWSL announced its 2025 season schedule Wednesday, and the Orlando Pride will start their title defense season at home against the Chicago Red Stars on March 14. Their first road game will be the following weekend on March 23 against NJ/NY Gotham FC. Decision Day returns to the schedule this year, with all 14 clubs in action on Nov. 2. The Pride will close out their regular season at home that day against the Seattle Reign, with the postseason set to begin on Nov. 7. There’s also a break in the schedule in July, with no regular-season games scheduled due to international tournaments like the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and Copa America Femenina.
USMNT Shuts Out Costa Rica in Orlando
The United States Men’s National Team beat Costa Rica 3-0 at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando Wednesday night to stay perfect at the home of the Lions and Pride at 7-0-0. Goalkeeper Zack Steffen truly earned his clean sheet, coming up with some great saves to deny Costa Rica. It was also a solid attacking performance from the Yanks, and Patrick Agyemang put a bow on what’s been a great month for him with his second goal in as many games. Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino has some time to assess things before the USMNT plays Panama in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals on March 20
Keeping Up With MLS Transfer News
San Diego FC added another Designated Player ahead of its inaugural season, signing Danish winger Anders Dreyer from Anderlecht for a transfer fee reportedly near $5 million. He recorded 31 goals and 23 assists in 87 appearances across all competitions for Anderlecht and joins San Diego on a three-year deal. Charlotte FC officially added Wilfried Zaha on loan from Galatasaray. He’ll occupy a DP spot and the loan lasts through Jan. 16, 2026, with an option to extend it through June of that year as well.
LAFC made a trade with its rival to strengthen its midfield, acquiring Mark Delgado from the LA Galaxy in exchange for $400,000 in General Allocation Money. The Portland Timbers signed Venezuelan forward Kevin Kelsy from Shakhtar Donetsk as an MLS U22 Initiative player, with FC Cincinnati receiving GAM for his discovery rights. Real Salt Lake, which signed Mason Stajduhar from Orlando City earlier this month, continued to make changes to its goalkeeping group. The club signed veteran goalkeeper Rafael Cabral as a free agent and transferred 19-year-old American Gavin Beavers to Brondby IF in Denmark.
UEFA Champions League Roundup
The penultimate round of the UEFA Champions League’s league phase wrapped up this week. Paris Saint-Germain beat Manchester City 4-2 in the heavyweight matchup of the round, with all six goals coming in the second half. Joao Neves gave PSG the lead in the 78th minute before Goncalo Ramos put the game on ice in stoppage time. City now needs to win its final game against Club Brugge on Wednesday in order to advance.
Real Madrid cruised to a 5-1 win against RB Salzburg to advance, with both Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr. scoring braces. Celtic also booked its spot in the next round after a 1-0 win against Young Boys. Feyenoord pulled off an upset by winning 3-0 against Bayern Munich as well. Elsewhere in the tournament, AC Milan won 1-0 at home against Girona, Arsenal beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-0, and RB Leipzig did well in a 2-1 victory over Sporting CP.
Free Kicks
- American goalkeeper Michelle Betos announced her retirement from professional soccer after a career that included winning the 2016 NWSL Shield with the Portland Thorns and the 2023 NWSL Championship with Gotham. Betos was also named NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year with the Thorns in 2015.
- Arsenal and Chelsea are among the multiple clubs reportedly keeping an eye on American forward Trinity Rodman, whose contract with the Washington Spirit ends after this year.
- Borussia Dortmund fired Nuri Sahin following the club’s 2-1 defeat to Bologna in the Champions League. Dortmund has lost all four of its matches so far in 2025 and is 10th in the Bundesliga standings.
- Some of the notable matches in today’s Europa League action include Manchester United hosting Rangers, Tottenham taking on Hoffenheim, and AS Roma traveling to face AZ Alkmaar.
- Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas has joined Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina. The 38-year-old hasn’t been with a club since departing PSG in May of 2024.
That’s all I have for you today. I hope you all have a great Thursday and rest of your week!
Orlando City
Orlando City Signs Defender Thomas Williams Through 2026
Orlando City signs Homegrown center back Thomas Williams to a new contract through 2026 with a club option for 2027.
Orlando City announced this morning that the club has signed defender Thomas Williams through the 2026 season with a club option for 2027. The Homegrown Player has been with the first team since 2021 and will continue for at least two more years.
“Thomas is someone whose future we’re still very excited about and we’re happy to get him locked in with us for a couple more years,” Executive Vice President of Soccer Operations and General Manager Luiz Muzzi said in a club press release. “He’s shown a lot of growth these last few seasons, continuing to get game action with Orlando City B and proving the importance of our development pathway, and we’re looking forward to having him with us for the foreseeable future.”
The Titusville native joined the Orlando City Academy in 2015 and made his professional debut for the club on Aug. 7, 2020 against New England Revolution II. He played in 13 games that year with 10 starts and recorded 844 minutes. His play on the Young Lions’ back line earned him a first-team contract on June 15, 2021, at just 16 years old, making him the youngest player in club history to sign a Homegrown contract.
The 20-year-old center back made his MLS debut on April 16, 2022 in a 2-0 win over the Columbus Crew in Ohio. He made five appearances with three starts in all competitions that season, recording 271 minutes. To date, those are the only appearances he’s made with the first team.
Since joining OCB in 2021, Williams has made 69 appearances with 61 starts and recorded 5,132 minutes. He’s been booked 19 times and sent off twice, both times after receiving second yellow cards.
What It Means for Orlando City
Williams is the fourth natural center back for Orlando City on the current squad behind Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, and Rodrigo Schlegel. He played well early in his OCB and MLS career, but has struggled recently. Last year, he played exclusively with the second team, partnering with Nabi Kibunguchy.
While Williams hasn’t made much of an impact on the first team so far, he’s only 20 years old and still has plenty of time to develop. Extending his contact shows that the club still has faith that he can turn into a key player for the MLS side.
It’s unlikely that Williams will see any time with the first team in 2025 (barring injuries and/or suspensions), considering that he’s also been behind versatile defender Kyle Smith at the center back position. He’ll likely spend the upcoming season with OCB, continuing to develop and earn his spot with the first team. As a Homegrown Player, there isn’t much risk in signing Williams to a new contract, especially if the club’s technical staff thinks he can develop into a quality defender.
Lion Links
Lion Links: 1/22/25
Orlando City transfer rumors, Orlando Pride preseason begins, USMNT at Inter&Co, and more.
Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. Up here in Tallahassee, I’m waking up to snow/sleet, closed schools, closed government offices, and potentially icy roads. Many people will get an extra day off of work, however, I still get to go to work. I’m sure you can imagine how happy I am about that. Enough of my winter grumbling. Let’s get to the links but not until after we wish Orlando City fullback Michael Halliday a happy 22nd birthday.
Orlando City Reportedly Targeting Croatian International
While I can no longer say that Orlando City hasn’t signed any new players, the club is still moving at its traditionally slow speed as compared to other MLS clubs. We had the signing of Nicolas Rodriguez last week. Now, we have Tom Bogert report of yet another winger prospect for the club in Croatian Marco Pasalic from HNK Rijeka, though it is not a done deal. Hopefully the other targets Bogert mentions are of the striker variety.
Pride Preseason Begins
The 2024 NWSL champions are back to defend their title. The Orlando Pride returned to training on Tuesday. The club hasn’t needed to add many pieces, though some of the players already here, like Simone Charley and Grace Chanda, haven’t actually played any minutes for the Pride yet. Most of the chemistry is in place for Seb Hines, but reinforcing those bonds will be the challenge as the Pride look to repeat.
USMNT at Inter&Co Tonight
Hopefully you have tickets to the USMNT friendly match versus Costa Rica at Inter&Co Stadium tonight. The match starts at 7 p.m. and there are television and streaming options if you’re not going in person. Despite the squad having 14 players with three or fewer caps, Mauricio Pochettino does not consider this an “alternative” squad, nor does he want the players to think of themselves like that.
Girma Reportedly Nearing Completion of Chelsea Move
USWNT defender Naomi Girma is reportedly headed to Chelsea FC Women for a record $1.1 million transfer fee. That is a very big chunk of change for San Diego FC to use to try to replace one of the best defenders in the world. The deal is not complete as of Tuesday evening, but according to the original report from The Athletic, it is close to being done. Girma would be the first women’s soccer player to earn a transfer fee of over $1 million.
MLS Transfer Updates
Other MLS clubs keep on putting pen to paper when it comes to new players. The Chicago Fire are bringing in Jonathan Bamba on a Designated Player deal from La Liga side Celta de Vigo. The Luca de la Torre loan from Spain’s RC Celta de Vigo to San Diego FC is also official.
Cucho Hernandez evidently wants to stay with the Columbus Crew, though he is still waiting on a new offer.
Free Kicks
- I know you might think that Orlando City has a lot to do personnel-wise as the preseason begins, but evidently, the Lions didn’t make the Top 5.
- EUFA Champions League is in full swing, with big names Liverpool and Barcelona winning yesterday. There’s also more to come today.
- Former Orlando Pride player Alanna Kennedy signed a one-year contract with Angel City FC.
- Keep your eyes peeled later today for the NWSL schedule drop.
That will do it for today. Stay warm out there, my friends. Vamos Orlando!
A 2025 Orlando Pride Wish List
Lion Links: 1/23/25
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