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Orlando City vs. Nashville SC: Final Score 3-0 as Facundo Torres’ Brace Leads Lions

The Lions bounced back from last week’s loss in Kansas City with a home win by the same score over Nashville.

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5 months ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City started slowly but bounced back from a flat road performance at Kansas City with a 3-0 win over Nashville SC at Inter&Co Stadium. Facundo Torres scored a brace after Ivan Angulo opened the scoring as the Lions (10-10-7, 37 points) got their fifth consecutive shutout win over Nashville (6-13-8, 26 points) and climbed back to the .500 mark.

For Nashville, it was the club’s 10th consecutive match in all competitions without a win (0-9-1).

“We want to play well and keep growing as a team. And I saw a lot of positive areas today that made us feel that we had played a very serious and very professional game against a rival that created, in the first 15 minutes, a few chances and complicated our game,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “But the reaction was good. I thought we were precise in the way we were finishing. Today we were very clean on being precise.”

Pareja’s lineup included two changes from the team that lost at Sporting Kansas City a week ago, as Rodrigo Schlegel and Rafael Santos slotted into the back line in the starting XI for David Brekalo and Kyle Smith, respectively. Goalkeeper Pedro Gallese started behind a back line of Santos, Robin Jansson, Schlegel, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson. Cesar Araujo and Wilder Cartagena started in central midfield behind the usual attacking line of Angulo, Martin Ojeda, and Torres, with Ramiro Enrique up top.

Orlando City started the match like it played for the final 80 plus stoppage time at Kansas City. Passes and clearances weren’t sharp and Nashville had the better of the early play. The visitors won the game’s first corner three minutes in and nearly paid it off. An inattentive Santos let Alex Muyl have a free run at goal and he met the set piece cross in the air. Muyl headed the ball down but got the angle wrong and the shot bounced off the ground in front of goal and landed on the roof of the net in the fourth minute.

Four minutes later, Muyl should have scored when Schlegel got caught wandering too far forward and Nashville came the other way. Muyl was alone on goal but Gallese came out and made a vital save.

“He’s fantastic,” Torres said of Gallese keeping the team in the game early. “We know that he is always behind us. We know the caliber player he is. He shows it through each and every one of his saves, and it gives us such confidence to know that we’ve got a player like Pedro behind us in goal and really covering us.”

“It’s the first time that I’ve seen Nashville pressing that much, pressing, pressing, pressing in the first part of the game,” Pareja said. “We remember a Nashville that has been more conservative, dropping the lines and playing with lines of five and things. Today we got surprised in those (first) 15 minutes too. We survived, but that was unexpected.”

Orlando’s first decent look at goal fell to Ojeda in the 10th minute but the Argentine sent his shot right at goalkeeper Joe Willis. Ojeda atoned for his shot seconds later. Willis tried a clearance but got it wrong. Ojeda picked it off and knocked it down to Angulo in front of goal. The Colombian, who was kept just onside by Josh Bauer, beat Willis to make it 1-0 in the 10th minute. It was Angulo’s fourth goal of the regular season.

The Lions needed only four minutes to double the lead. Ojeda made a great turn in traffic in the midfield to break Nashville’s pressure and found himself in space. He passed to Torres on the right, who in turn played Thorhallsson to the end line on the right flank. The Icelandic fullback crossed to the back post where Torres met the ball with a volley, knocking it past Willis to make it 2-0 in the 14th minute.

“(Torres) passed it and in my head I was thinking it was a little bit too long for me,” Thorhallsson said about getting the pass that led to his assist. “I ran to it and I saw him make a run inside, and I just thought, ‘I’ll put it into an area where it’s dangerous to get the ball,’ And the ball landed there and he was sprinting and shot and scored. Very nice, and a good goal. I’m happy with that assist.”

Nashville nearly pulled a goal back in the 20th minute when Sam Surridge hit the right post. The striker blew past Santos and met a well-placed Hany Mukhtar cross but headed it off the woodwork.

The next good chance fell Orlando City’s way with a foul drawn by Araujo. Ojeda’s free kick found Torres at the right post and the Uruguayan nodded it back across goal. Jansson met it in the air but was perhaps distracted by Enrique arriving at the same time, sending his shot just wide of the left post in the 26th minute.

Nashville came on strong in the final 20 minutes of the half, winning set pieces and creating danger from them. However, the Lions did well to bother shooters and win balls into the area.

The visitors came close in the first minute of stopapge time in transition when Surridge hit a shot just wide of the right post into the outside netting as Santos got caught drifting too far up the pitch. Orlando withstood a couple of late corner kicks and caught a break when Bauer headed just wide late in first-half injury time.

At the break, the Lions held the advantage in possession (54.3%-45.7%), shots on target (3-1), and passing accuracy (835%-73.9%). Nashville attempted more total shots (7-4) and corners (3-1).

Pareja said he spoke to his team at halftime about having more control in the second half.

“I said to the players, okay, we’re winning. We have no control of the game,” he said. “So, if you want to close this game in the best way possible, and it could happen that we score more goals or not, but we need control. And that we didn’t have in the first half. We had goals and we had actions and we had good behaviors as a group, but we didn’t have control.”

With Schlegel on a yellow card, Pareja subbed Brekalo on for the Argentinian center back to start the second half.

Orlando created the first chance of the second half in the 51st minute when Torres took a pass from Enrique on the right and tried to chip a shot into the left corner. Willis got a piece of the shot, knocking it up onto the roof of the net. Three minutes later, Enrique sent a soft shot at goal that Willis somehow misjudged. It nearly got through the keeper but he got a piece to knock it off the left post.

The Lions created something off a corner in the 61st minute after the initial cross from Ojeda was cleared. A second ball in found Araujo on the right, and he headed the ball back across the six. Brekalo tried to redirect it in with a backheel flick, but the ball had a lot of spin on it and stayed out.

The game settled in for a while after that, with both teams playing minly between the two penalty areas. Nashville tried to use its size and speed with direct play but the Lions did well to snuff out opportunities before they became dangerous.

Torres put the game to bed in the 85th minute with the setup coming from second half subs Nico Lodeiro and Duncan McGuire. Lodeiro got down the right and made a nice cutback pass to give the ball to McGuire in space. McGuire showed patience and waited for Torres to jump into the play on the left side and sent him a pass. Torres fired a blast just under the crossbar to beat Willis and make it 3-0 with his 10th goal of the MLS season. Lodeiro’s secondary assist gave him 10 assists on the season as well.

McGuire came close to adding a fourth in the sixth minute of stoppage time, breaking down the left and firing a heavy shot toward the near post. Willis made the save, but not a convincing one, doing just enough to stop the ball just in front of the line.

Forster Ajago scored late and would have spoiled the shutout had he not been obviously offside. The flag came up and moments later the game was over.

Orlando City finished with the advantage in possession (56.9%-43.1%), shots (13-12), shots on target (7-2), and passing accuracy (85%-79.9%). Both teams won five corners in the match.

“The second half was a much more complete game,” Pareja said. “I liked the discipline of the group. This is the way we can add points in the league, being disciplined and keep a zero on our goal, and when we have the chances, just put it in the back of the net. It’s as simple as that.”

“We could feel in the warm-ups and and even before the game, the energy of this team had changed from after what happened in in Kansas City,” Torres said. “Obviously, they got those early chances, but this team continued mentally strong with that feeling of great energy, and we were able to push through that and take the win tonight. But it was all about that energy.”

The Lions are off next weekend for the international break, returning to action Sept. 14 at home against the New England Revolution.

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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.

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2 hours ago

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January 23, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

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.
https://twitter.com/tombogert/status/1882171400481542482

That’s all I have for you today. I hope you all have a great Thursday and rest of your week!

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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.

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23 hours ago

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January 22, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City B / Mark Thor

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.

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 1/22/25

Orlando City transfer rumors, Orlando Pride preseason begins, USMNT at Inter&Co, and more.

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1 day ago

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January 22, 2025

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Dan MacDonald, The ManeLand

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.

https://twitter.com/tombogert/status/1881755961125449765?s=46&t=pMoq7Wulqfb35D7C8ydroA

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.

https://twitter.com/sandiegofc/status/1881741042904350864

Cucho Hernandez evidently wants to stay with the Columbus Crew, though he is still waiting on a new offer.

https://twitter.com/tombogert/status/1881786193693823104

Free Kicks

https://twitter.com/weareangelcity/status/1881749040863588770?s=12&t=_WZBNG4ILAyRLdwBeB4mpQ
  • Keep your eyes peeled later today for the NWSL schedule drop.
https://twitter.com/nwsl/status/1881749035218042954?s=46&t=pN-YJp3s7ZQlCXqnTAgSfw

That will do it for today. Stay warm out there, my friends. Vamos Orlando!

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