Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Sporting Kansas City: Final Score 3-0 as Lions’ Unbeaten Run Crashes to a Halt
The Lions made Sporting Kansas City look like the team riding an unbeaten streak in a poor road performance.
Legendary Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes once said, “There’s nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you.” If that’s true, Orlando City’s soul should be clean as a whistle after tonight’s match at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City.
Orlando City’s eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions came to an abrupt stop in a lackluster 3-0 loss to Sporting Kansas City. Even after the hosts went down a man with 23 minutes remaining — a figure that doesn’t include 12 added minutes of stoppage time — the Lions (9-10-7, 34 points) couldn’t muster any attack whatsoever, and a golden opportunity to pick up points against a team low in the Western Conference table was squandered. Jake Davis, Daniel Salloi, and Remi Walter provided the offense for Sporting Kansas City (7-14-6, 27 points).
There weren’t even any positives to take away from the performance, which was substandard across the board.
“Obviously very disappointed (with the) result,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “A great opportunity for us to escalate on the standings and obviously continue with what we had in the last few games, but today was not a good day for us.”
Pareja’s lineup included Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson. Cesar Araujo and Wilder Cartagena started in central midfield behind an attacking line of Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, and Facundo Torres, with Ramiro Enrique up top.
Sporting went for goal on the opening kickoff, with Erik Thommy trying a shot from the center circle, trying to catch Gallese off his line. The effort wasn’t bad, just clearing the crossbar, but Gallese had it covered anyway had it managed to dip.
After the Lions snuffed out another foray into the attacking third by the hosts, they wasted a few good early opportunities to take the lead. The first of those happened in the second minute when Torres sent a long ball for Enrique to track down in the right corner. Enrique cut inside and found Angulo at the top of the box and the Colombian found Torres on his left. The shot from Torres was a poor one, with little pace on it and well wide of the right post.
A minute later, a turnover by the hosts gifted Enrique a chance inside the box, but the Argentine fired his shot straight at goalkeeper Tim Melia. Cartagena fired wide from the top of the box in the fifth minute as Orlando’s bright start continued. A minute later, Ojeda sent a good free kick from distance to Smith making a run at the far post. Smith’s header was off line and went back across the six. Enrique tried to get to it at the left post but it was just beyond his reach with an empty net in front of him.
Ojeda got down the left in the eighth minute and made a great cutback pass into the area for Torres, but it was blocked by defender Tim Liebold and went out for a corner. The service on the ensuing set piece was overhit, ending the threat. Those missed opportunities were costly, eventually allowing the hosts to take a lead into halftime, but the most badly squandered chance came late in the half.
“We started the game sharp,” Pareja said. “Had a few options to score, but after that, I thought we didn’t have a good game. We were low in energy. I didn’t think we had the intensity that has characterized this group all the time.”
“After those first 10 minutes, they started to press us. We weren’t able to to really come out of that pressure clean as much,” Torres said. “And then, once they started to do that, they added more and more. And then at that point, we had trouble kind of finding ourselves back into the game and and they took over from there.”
After all the open play in the game’s first 10 minutes, things settled down a bit. Neither team was able to create a chance for the nesxt 15 minutes. Eventually, the Lions fashioned a chance from the right with Araujo smashing a shot from outside the box in the 26th minute. However, Andreu Fontas blocked it in front.
The Lions got loose with the ball after that, giving up multiple chances. Thommy beat Smith and worked his way for a clear shot from the right, but Gallese made a terrific reaction save in the 27th minute to keep the game scoreless. Angulo then gave the ball away cheaply in the 30th minute, leading to a good long-distance try from Salloi that Gallese parried away.
It looked like the Lions had something going in the 34th minute when an outstanding ball from Cartagena found Torres over the top, but before the winger could gain control, Liebold recovered and knocked the ball off of him and out for a goal kick.
Orlando City caught a break a minute later on another turnover by Angulo — this time deep in his own end. The quick counter ended up with Stephen Afrifa on the right but he fired badly wide of the near post in the 35th minute. Five minuts later, Angulo made another ill-advised pass in his own half. This time he got it to a teammate, but he led Enrique into traffic, where he was easily dispossessed. The ball ended up with Thommy outside the box but he sent his shot just inches wide of the far post, although Gallese may have had it covered anyway.
If all of those warning signs weren’t enough, Angulo turned the ball over yet again in the 43rd minute to ignite a quick counter, that ended up with a good ball to the back post for William Agada, who missed just over the net.
A minute later, the hosts got the goal that had been coming for so long, and it should never have happened. Somehow both Smith and Araujo failed to take the ball from a prone Afrifa and the referee kept his whistle in his pocket while he played the ball on the ground. It squirted beyond both defenders for Davis, who took it to his left and scored into the upper right corner to make it 1-0 in the 44th minute.
“Tonight was just another one of those games where, once they took that first goal, it kind of got into our heads a little bit, and we had difficulty coming back from that,” Torres said.
Orlando City should have pulled the goal right back two minutes into stoppage time, when Cartagena took the ball into the area and was bundled over. Enrique set a pick so Ojeda could get a free shot at the ball, but the Argentine missed badly over the bar from point-blank range. With that much time and space, and from that position, it was an egregious miss by Ojeda.
Agada missed just off target in the dying seconds of stoppage time and Sporting Kansas City took its 1-0 lead into the break. The hosts held the halftime advantage in possession (54.6%-45.4%), shots (9-8), shots on target (3-1), and passing accuracy (80.5%-75.3%). The Lions won more corners (3-2).
Pareja brought on Rafael Santos at the break for Smith, who had a difficult first half.
Orlando City got forward a couple of times early in the half but the second of those ended up biting them. A good ball down the left set up a cross into the box for Torres. The Uruguayan missed the ball going for a volley and the defense arrived before Thorhallsson could get there. The clearance ignited the break and it ended up with Salloi on the left, who scored to make it 2-0 in the 52nd minute with a powerful shot inside the near post that left Gallese no chance.
Pareja injected Duncan McGuire and Luis Muriel into the game, withdrawing Angulo and Ojeda, who both were well below their usual levels, but they weren’t the only ones by any means. McGuire had a chance to get Orlando back into the game moments after coming on, as the Lions got forward in transition with a 3-v-1 situation. However, he played the ball for an obviously offside Torres, who must have known he was off but never checked his run to re-establish himself, rather than sending it Enrique. Torres laid it off for Enrique, who scored with a great finish in the 65th minute, but the flag came up immediately.
Gallese kept it at 2-0 with a good save on Alan Pulido in the 67th minute, as the hosts continued to outplay Orlando, creating the only real scoring chances.
The Lions should have gotten a lifeline two minutes later when a horror tackle by Agada on Torres saw him initially pick up a second yellow card but Tim Ford changed his mind after reviewing the play and gave a straight red instead in the 67th minute. That gave Orlando City a man advantage for the final 23 minutes and stoppage time. However, Orlando struggled to generate a shot or even maintain possession in the attacking third after going up a man.
“We had time enough to equalize the game, especially when they ended up playing with 10 players,” Pareja said. “We didn’t have that resolution, that eagerness in the last 20 meters. We were moving the ball but we didn’t find spaces just to hurt them. It looks like we could have played longer without succeeding in the last part of the field.”
“Even when they went down to 10 men, and we had a one-man advantage, we still weren’t able to find that space,” Torres added. “We were tight. We were having issues finding each other.”
Kansas City was content to make defensive subs, stay compact and force the Lions to break them down, which Orlando could not do.
The night got more embarrassing in the second minute of stoppage time when Walter scored Sporting’s third. The Lions were badly out of position and several stopped playing completely. Walter’s blast from outside the box was a good one and picked out the upper left corner to put the game to bed.
Muriel had a poor free kick and an even worse shot from distance down the final moments of the 12 minutes of stoppage time and the whistle finally blew on one of the worst performances of Orlando City’s 2024 season.
Despite being up a man for 35 minutes, the Lions barely turned around the possession advantage in their favor (53.1%-46.9%), could only equal Sporting’s 13 shot attempts, and could not put a single effort on target against a team that had given up 52 goals on the season and was playing with 10 men. They managed to win more corners (6-3) and pass more accurately (81.7%-77.3%). Sporting ended the game with more shots on goal (6-1).
“The second half was heartless. I didn’t see us with that willingness that we all have,” Pareja said. “I take responsibility for us, of course, the preparation of the group and the reactions after these two weeks. Today we didn’t look the majority of the time like we are. So, (we’re) disappointed. We’re going to review, but we have to move on.”
“Obviously we’ve got a lot of negative thoughts right now. We leave today’s game with a with a sour taste in our mouths,” Torres said. “You know, the team thinks that that wasn’t us out there tonight. That’s not the the team that we are. That’s not the way that we like to play. We’re a team that has a lot of ambition and a lot of goals and drive together, and we just didn’t show that out there tonight. And so yeah, obviously, leaving this one with with some bad feelings.”
The Lions will look to bounce back when they home to face Nashville SC next Saturday night.
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Real Salt Lake: Five Takeaways
Here’s what we learned from Orlando City’s 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake.
Orlando City hosted Real Salt Lake at Inter.co Stadium Saturday, and it was a tale of two halves. The first half was one of the most boring first halves of soccer ever, and the second half was a wild free-for-all with Orlando City coming to life. The Lions were able to earn all three points at home, defeating RSL 2-1. Here are my five takeaways from the match.
An Inevitable Goal
Orlando City put out a mostly first-choice team on short rest, while RSL rotated pretty heavily due to their schedule congestion and a Leagues Cup knockout match coming up on Tuesday.The Lions had the majority of the possession through the first 35 mintues, while RSL was able to send the ball over the top a few times early, but the visitors kept getting the timing wrong against Orlando’s high line, resulting in offside calls. That was until the 36th minute, when Dominik Marczuk managed to stay onside, blazed past Zakaria Taifi, and was all alone on the back post. It wasn’t hard to put it in from there. Orlando City had the better of the play up to that point, but it still felt like Real Salt Lake’s goal was more likely.
Possession Without Purpose
Despite holding 58% possession in the first half, Orlando City managed to get exactly zero shots on goal on zero shots total. Zero shots taken the entire first half! As I mentioned above, that was zero shots against a heavily rotated RSL squad. For a team with Antoine Griezmann, Marco Pasalic, and Griffin Dorsey in the starting lineup, that stat is unacceptable. The lack of any chances resulted in Martin Perelman bringing on Justin Ellis and Daryl Dike as offensive halftime substitutions.
Subs Make a Difference
It took less than 10 minutes for Ellis and Dike, along with fellow substitute Joran Gerbet, to make a difference. While it was ultimately Griezmann who scored the goal, it was Gerbet, Ellis, and Dike that made it happen. Gerbet picked up a loose ball Eduard Atuesta won and sent it to Ellis on the right. Ellis sent the ball into the box to Dike, who took it with his back to goal, pirouetted with the ball, and shot it. Unfortunately for Dike, Mason Stajduhar was there to block it. Unfortunately for Stajduhar, Griezmann was there for the poacher’s goal to level the score for Orlando City. Griezmann positioned himself wisely without the ball, but it was the three halftime subs that really made it happen.
Griezmann Gets Another
After equalizing, Orlando City had all the momentum and pressed for a second goal. It was Griezmann who provided the winning goal with his first brace for the Lions. If his first goal was a “right time, right place” type of goal, his second was luck and skill combined. He took a pass in the box from Tyrese Spicer and tried to back heel it to Dike. The ball bounced off the defender and right back to Griezmann, who wasted no time in putting it in the back of the net. It was a microcosm of Griezmann’s time in Orlando for me. He tried to be unselfish, but ultimately taking the shot himself was what was needed. More of this please.
Possession With Purpose
If Orlando City did almost nothing with the ball in the first half, the Lions did everything needed with the ball in the second half. They actually raised the possession to 60% by the end of the match, scored two goals, and didn’t allow a second from RSL. The defenders were able to clear most of the attacks and Maxime Crepeau cleaned up anything that got through. Orlando City was able to continue to push into the attack even after the second goal. As I said above, it was a tale of two halves, and fortunately, the second half was enough for the win.
That is what I saw in Orlando City’s 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Real Salt Lake: Final Score 2-1 as Griezmann’s Brace Lifts Lions to Win
Antoine Griezmann scored twice in the second half to help Orlando City erase a 1-0 deficit and beat RSL at home.
Antoine Griezmann scored two second-half goals for his first Orlando City brace, leading the Lions to a 2-1 comeback win over Real Salt Lake at Inter.co Stadium tonight. After a lethargic opening 45 minutes that saw the visitors take a 1-0 lead into the half on Dominik Marczuk’s goal, an energetic trio of halftime subs injected life into the attack for Orlando (7-11-3, 24 points).
Griezmann’s two goals pushed the Lions past Real Salt Lake (8-8-4, 28 points), but it’s fair to say Orlando City wasn’t clean enough in the first half and couldn’t turn possession into attacking threat until the introduction of second-half subs Justin Ellis, Joran Gerbet, Daryl Dike, and Tyrese Spicer.
The Lions snapped an 0-2-2 winless streak in all competitions and a 0-2-1 skid in league play with tonight’s win, moving just over the playoff line into ninth spot in the Eastern Conference.
“It was a tough game,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said after the match. “It wasn’t easy the first half; we tried good and sometimes it happens like that, the game. I think the team in the second half was able to to play in a very difficult moment. It’s not easy and the guys did an amazing job.”
Perelman’s lineup included Maxime Crepeau in goal behind a back line of Zakaria Taifi, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, and Griffin Dorsey. Luis Otavio and Eduard Atuesta started in central midfield inside of Ivan Angulo and Marco Pasalic, with Tiago joining Antoine Griezmann up top.
The first half consisted of long spells of Orlando possession that came to nothing against a heavily rotated RSL side, with former Lion Mason Stajduhar having to do nothing in goal, because the Lions couldn’t even manage one first-half shot attempt. The visitors were content to stay in their low block of five at the back and four midfielders, wait for the exhausted-looking hosts to misplace a pass or have a bad touch, and look for chances to hit on the counter or with balls over the top.
Griezmann looked the most in need of a rest, as several of his touches were heavy in the first half, but he was far from the only one.
There was a scary moment early in the game when Jansson collided with Marczuk on an attempted RSL switch of play. The Orlando City captain was fouled and stayed down to get treatment, eventually leaving the field under his own power. He was able to return moments later.
Orlando City won a few set pieces in the opening half but did nothing with them, while the visitors looked dangerous if they could stay onside, which they struggled to do early. When the Lions did manage to find space against RSL’s back line, the crosses were poor, ending up either out of play or in the goalkeeper’s hands.
The visitors broke through the dull affair in the 36th minute. Alexandros Katranis laid off a ball on the left flank for Sam Junqua behind him. Junqua picked up his head and spotted Marczuk’s well-timed run behind Taifi and delivered a nice cross. Marczuk met the ball in the air with his foot and knocked it past Crepeau to make it 1-0.
Crepeau kept things from getting worse just before halftime. Angulo turned the ball over on an attempted recycle of a failed set piece, igniting a Real Salt Lake counter. The ball ended up with Marczuk again on the right and this time Crepeau was able to get a hand on it to palm it out for a corner.
The Lions dealt with the set piece and the half came to an end with Orlando’s starters trailing 1-0 to an RSL B-squad that dien’t allow a single shot attempt.
At the break, Orlando City had the advantage in possession (59.4%-40.6%) and passing accuracy (89.7-84.2%), while Real Salt Lake led in shots (3-0) and shots on target (2-0) and each team won one corner.
“It was a complicated game,” Griezmann said. “It’s never easy starting off with with a negative mark like that, but we made changes at halftime and put more more guys further up the field, and we were able to to get that goal and really kind of give ourselves some time of tranquility to create more opportunities to create those occasions to go out and get the winner.”
Looking to injuct some life into the game, or at least some fresh legs, Perelman sent Gerbet, Dike, and Ellis into the game at halftime for Otavio, Tiago, and Pasalic. It took a few minutes for the subs to settle in, but it made a difference in the Lions’ energy level.
Marczuk had the first look at goal in the second half, however, firing from distance from the right side, but it caused no trouble for Crepeau in the 50th minute.
Gerbet and Atuesta worked well together in the middle, keeping the ball better and allowing Taifi to jump into the play on the left. Taifi had a shot blocked out for a corner in the 51st minute. A minute later, Atuesta played a slick through ball for Griezmann. With Stajduhar coming off his line, the Frenchman chipped a shot over him but it went inches wide of the left post.
Orlando scored seconds after Stajduhar put the ball back into play. Jansson’s pressure helped knock the ball to Gerbet, who found Atuesta at midfield. Atuesta turned and quickly played it to the onrushing Ellis up the right channel. Ellis sent it in front to Dike, but it was a little behind the big striker. Dike was able to pull it down with his foot and make a spinning shot, but it was blocked to Griezmann, who cleaned up in front, making it 1-1 in the 53rd minute.
Taifi got down the left in the 55th minute and did well to cut back a cross for Griezmann entering the box. Griezmann hit his shot immediately but it fizzed just over the bar. Three minutes later, Taifi cut inside and fired but hit the outside of the left post.
Real Salt Lake sent on Diego Luna, Saba Lobjanidze, and Morgan Guilavogui to try to counter the energy Orlando’s subs had brought into the game, and things opened up a bit. Dorsey did well to stick out a foot to deny a pass that would have put Luna in on goal in the 64th minute.
Spicer came on for Taifi in the 69th minute and injected even more energy into the match. He quickly won a set piece on the left just moments after coming on near the left corner flag. Atuesta sent his delivery on target toward the near post but it was headed behind for a corner kick. The ensuing corner bounced out to Ellis near the top of the area. The Homegrown forward used some deft footwork to work his way past two defenders before getting his shot blocked out for another corner.
Real Salt Lake broke the other way after the set piece and Luna ended up with it. He fired on target but Crepeau blocked it out of play for a corner. Orlando partially cleared the set piece delivery and Katranis tried a shot from long range that was well off target.
Orlando City took the lead moments later. Jansson sent the ball long out of the back to Spicer on the left. The Trinidad & Tobago international did well to get a cross in for Griezmann in the box. The first touch got away from the Frenchman but he picked up the rebound and slotted it past Stajduhar to make it 2-1 in the 81st minute.
“I think it’s a very good cross from ‘Spice’ and I was thinking to do one touch to score but I did very bad,” Griezmann said. “The defender touched the ball and the ball came to me, and yeah I saw a lot of legs and I tried to just make a pass between the legs of the defender and here is where you need to be patient just for one or two seconds. And today I was very patient in this time and this is why I scored.”
“It’s mandatory for us to enjoy Griezmann,” Perelman said. “We are lucky to be in the moment that he’s here with us. He’s one of the best players in the history of this sport. We have the privilege to see him. It’s just about enjoying him, watching him and enjoying him.”
Real Salt Lake threw bodies forward into the attack, but aside from some corner kicks, the visitors couldn’t produce much. Any time it looked like RSL might create something in the final third, Orlando was able to block crosses or head them out of danger. Orlando City also kept the ball well for spells down the stretch, taking the pressure off and allowing the Lions to see out the game.
At the final whistle, the Lions held the advantage in possession (59.6%-40.4%), shots (13-9), passing accuracy (88.8%-82%), and corners (5-4). Real Salt Lake put more shots on target (4-3). Ultimately, the Lions were sharp enough in the second half to make up for the slow start, although RSL helped out by being offside seven times to just once for Orlando.
“In the final zone, we were a lot more aggressive,” Griezmann said of the second half. “We were pressing more and more aggressive with our press, and it was a really good way to to get the win tonight.”
“The players were wanting to give us that control of the game against a team who sat back a little bit,” Perelman said. “I think the guys did a huge effort. Fortunately we could come back, win, because we really need it, and now we need to rest and think (about) the next one.”
“Just so happy to have the win at home,” Gerbet said. “It’s been like a gritty one, but a necessary one, an important one towards like the end of the season to get some momentum, because we’re going to start to go away as well, so we need to start to gain momentum, and I think that was a great way to do it.”
The Lions now get an honest-to-goodness normal work week. Their next match will be a week from tonight at Minnesota United.
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Real Salt Lake: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions look to finish their long homestand with a bounce-back performance against RSL.
Welcome to your match thread and preview for a Saturday night showdown between Orlando City (6-11-3, 21 points) and Real Salt Lake (8-7-4, 28 points) at Inter.co Stadium (7:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the first and only scheduled meeting between the two teams from opposing conferences and the first time they’ve met since 2023 in Utah.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.
History
The Lions are 2-2-3 in seven previous MLS meetings with RSL, including a 1-0-2 mark at home. However, Orlando City is 0-2-1 in their last three games against tonight’s visitors.
The last time the teams met, it was a forgettable result for Orlando City fans. But if you do remember, it’s not for good reasons, because it was a 4-0 beatdown that Real Salt Lake laid on the Lions on July 8, 2023. Cristian Arango, Justen Glad, Jefferson Savarino, and Anderson Julio did the damage.
During the most recent matchup in Orlando, most of us had no idea what COVID-19 was yet. The Lions and Real Salt Lake met on opening day of the 2020 MLS season, playing to a 0-0 draw at Exploria Stadium on Feb. 29. Despite it being a Leap Day, no one wanted to leap onto the scoresheet.
Orlando City lost the previous meeting, a 2-1 Real Salt Lake win in Utah on April 13, 2019. Nani scored Orlando’s only goal that day, but it came late in the match after Sam Johnson and Demir Kreilach had staked RSL to a 2-0 lead.
The May 6, 2018 meeting in Orlando was a wild 3-1 win for the Lions in which RSL missed multiple good scoring chances, hitting the woodwork and forcing Joe Bendik into some big saves. Dom Dwyer, Lamine Sané, and Yoshimar Yotún provided Orlando’s offense to offset Corey Baird’s early strike.
When the teams met in 2017 at Rio Tinto, Will Johnson provided all the offense against his old club in a 1-0 Orlando City victory. Johnson’s tally in the 17th minute was all Orlando City needed to take the first win of the series after two draws the previous two seasons.
In 2016, the teams played a memorable opening day match in which the Lions roared back with a frantic rally, as Cyle Larin and Adrian Winter pulled City level in a 2-2 draw at the Citrus Bowl. Joao Plata scored both RSL goals — one from the penalty spot — and RSL led 2-0 despite going down a man for 25 minutes, prior to Chris Penso evening things out by sending off Darwin Ceren.
Orlando drew 1-1 on the road in 2015 while down to 10 men after Kaká was sent off at the end of the first half. The captain opened the scoring. Sebastian Jaime found the equalizer in the 28th.
Match Overview
Orlando City enters on a poor run of form in a congested fixture schedule. The Lions lost 2-1 at home against the Chicago Fire on Wednesday, making it four games without a win in all competitions (0-2-2) and they haven’t won in MLS play in their last three (0-2-1). While the defense is leaking just one or two goals per game of late, the offense has been less tidy in finishing chances, which could be attributed to some players, including Antoine Griezmann, not getting much rest during this stretch of seven games in 22 days. Orlando is a pedestrian 4-4-2 at home this season and is winless in its last two home matches (0-1-1).
Real Salt Lake sits eighth in the Western Conference after going 0-3-3 in its last six league matches, including a 4-3 home loss to FC Dallas on Wednesday. But, oddly enough, that stretch of matches sandwiches a 2-0-1 run in Leagues Cup, and RSL advanced to the knockout rounds, where it will play Club Leon on Tuesday, so we may see some rotation, assuming the Utah-based club is going all in on trying to win Leagues Cup or at least one of the three coveted Concacaf Champions Cup spots. Tonight’s match will be RSL’s first on the road since Aug. 1, where the team is 1-5-3 in 2026 in league play.
Sergi Solans leads tonight’s opponents in goals (9) and goal contributions (12), with Diego Luna leading in assists (6) while adding five goals for 11 total goal contributions. The departure of Zavier Gozo and his six goals and five assists is a tough break for RSL, because beyond those three, 10 goals are spread across eight different players.
The Lions must rediscover their scoring boots for this game, as the Orlando defense pitches precious few shutouts, and if RSL plays its starters, either Solans, Luna, or both could do some damage on the other end.
The Lions will be without Braian Ojeda (foot), Martin Ojeda (thigh), and Bernardo Rhein (thigh), while Adrian Marin (thigh) is questionable, so left back may be an adventure, with Zakaria Taifi, Ivan Angulo, and David Brekalo as the leading candidates to play there, and all of them are right-footed. Real Salt Lake will be without Zach Booth (hamstring), Griffin Dillon (foot), Emeka Eneli (knee), Glad (adductor), and Ariath Piol (Achilles).
Match Content
- The most recent episode of the PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match.
- David Rohe gave his three keys to an Orlando City victory in tonight’s match.
Official Lineups
Orlando City (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.
Defenders: Zakaria Taifi, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Griffin Dorsey.
Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Luis Otavio, Eduard Atuesta, Marco Pasalic.
Forwards: Tiago, Antoine Griezmann.
Bench: Javier Otero, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Joran Gerbet, Gustavo Caraballo, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer, Justin Ellis, Daryl Dike.
Real Salt Lake (5-4-1)
Goalkeeper: Mason Stajduhar.
Defenders: Alexandros Katranis, Sam Junqua, Juan Arias, Kobi Henry, Domink Marczuk.
Midfielders: Aiden Hezarkhan, Luca Moisa, Pablo Ruiz, Lineker Rodrigues.
Forward: Victor Olatunji.
Bench: Rafael Cabral, Juan Sanabria, Philip Quinton, Lukas Engel, Noel Caliskan, Colin Guske, Morgan Guilavogui, Saba Lobjanidze, Diego Luna.
Referees
REF: Fotis Bazakos.
AR1: Brian Dunn.
AR2: Jose Da Silva.
4TH: Marcos DeOliveira.
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.
How to Watch
Match Time: 7:30 p.m.
Venue: Inter.co Stadium — Orlando.
TV/Streaming: Apple TV.
Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).
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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