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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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2 years 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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Orlando City

Flashback Friday: July 4, 2023 vs. Toronto FC

Let’s rewind to an Independence Day affair that had plenty of offensive fireworks.

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3 days ago

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July 3, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

The United States Men’s National Team picked up a gritty, resilient 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32 on Wednesday, and will now face Belgium in a rematch of the 2014 World Cup Round of 16 next Monday. While we patiently wait for that game, it’s time to continue our Friday tradition of revisiting some classic Orlando City games from years past.

Last week, we rewound to a high octane affair against the Chicago Fire in late June 2022, that saw the Lions douse Chicago’s flames and pick up a much-needed 4-2 victory. Today, let’s hop in the time machine and travel back to Independence Day 2023, when Toronto FC came to town.

At the time of Toronto’s visit, things were going relatively smoothly for OCSC. The team was riding a three-match unbeaten streak and had scored five goals across those three games. Oscar Pareja lined up his team in its customary 4-2-3-1, with Pedro Gallese in goal; a back line of Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, and Kyle Smith; Wilder Cartagena and Cesar Araujo in the double pivot; Ivan Angulo, Mauricio Pereyra, and Facundo Torres in the attacking midfield; and Duncan McGuire up top.

Orlando very nearly got a goal a little under 10 minutes into the game. Former OCSC goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh knocked down a cross in front of the net, and while Pereyra was first to the ball, he could only blast it over the bar with the goal at his mercy. Fortunately, that miss would not come back to haunt the Lions, who bagged the game’s first goal in the 16th minute. Angulo sucked defenders toward him on the left edge of the box before releasing Santos out wide. The fullback played a peach of a first-time, curling cross to the back post, where Araujo was waiting to power a diving header into the side netting at the far post for his first league goal.

That goal broke the game open, and Orlando got another goal six minutes later to double the advantage. It initially looked like a carbon copy of the first goal, with Santos out in space on the left side of the box, sending in a curled cross. The ball deflected off a defender and came in low toward the goal. Ranjitsingh waited for the ball instead of going to claim it, and that allowed McGuire to nip in front of him and get a touch on the ball to sneak it in at the near post.

Orlando nearly got even more goals inside the half hour, with Torres and McGuire both going close in quick succession. Federico Bernardeschi smashed a shot off the post in the 28th minute, and the Lions seemed to be losing focus a little bit, with the hydration break a welcome pause in play when it came. OCSC came out of the pause well, and Pereyra put Angulo through in the 36th minute, but the Colombian couldn’t bring the ball under control and fashion a shooting chance.

Orlando led in every meaningful statistical category at halftime. The Lions had more possession (55.8%-44.2%), shots (6-2), shots on goal (2-0), corners (4-2), and passing accuracy (89.5%-85%). Most importantly, they led 2-0 on the scoreboard.

Toronto tried to change things at halftime by introducing three substitutes, but Orlando settled back into the game quickly and negated the efforts of interim TFC manager Terry Dunfield. Angulo and Torres forced Ranjitsingh into a pair of saves in the 53rd and 55th minutes, and the Lions tried to press their advantage by sending on Ramiro Enrique and Martin Ojeda in the 57th minute for McGuire and Pereyra.

The game then changed in a big way in the 62nd minute. Cartagena and Bernardeschi exchanged words after a turnover, and the Italian winger put Cartagena on the ground with the help of a little theatrics from the midfielder. Bernardeschi had already been yellow carded in the 47th minute for a foul on Smith, and the altercation with Wilder saw him receive a second yellow and his marching orders to go along with it.

With TFC down to 10 men, the Lions started to tee off at goal. Ojeda came close to getting the team’s third in the 69th minute, with Enrique doing the same in the 71st but missing just wide. When the goal finally came, it was from the unlikely foot of Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, who had been subbed into the game alongside Ercan Kara in the 68th minute.

Thorhallsson made a great run behind the defense in the 77th minute, and Araujo picked him out well. Ranjitsingh came out to try to play sweeper-keeper, but DDT beat him to the ball easily, touched it around the former Lion, and rolled it into the empty net to score his first MLS goal and make it 3-0.

Toronto had a halfway decent chance to pull one back in the 82nd minute, but Brandon Servania’s long-distance attempt at chipping Gallese ended up missing high and settling on the roof of the net. Kara then iced the game in the 84th minute. Araujo fired a pass to Ojeda at the top of the box, and even though he had trouble bringing it under control, he had the presence of mind to backheel it toward goal for the big Austrian to pounce on and fire a low, hard shot into the net for 4-0.

Ojeda nearly got a goal of his own two minutes later but had a great effort saved in what was the last truly dangerous moment of the game.

As was the case at halftime, when the final whistle blew, the Lions had created plenty of fireworks on both the scoreboard and the stat sheet. OCSC finished with more possession (59.6%-40.4%), shots (18-6), shots on target (9-0), corners (8-2), and passing accuracy (91%-84.8%).

Marcus Mitchell had Player Grades for this one, and he named Araujo the Man of the Match with a grade of 8 out of 10 for his one-goal/one-assist effort. The other high performers on the night were Antonio Carlos, and Cartagena, who each graded out at 7.5 out of 10.

That’ll do it for this week’s trip down memory lane. We’ve been getting spoiled lately, with Orlando putting up four goals in back-to-back time machine games, and it’s made for an enjoyable glimpse into years gone by. With any luck, next week’s edition will be similarly entertaining. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 7/3/26

Orlando Pride visit Angel City tonight, NWSL free agents to watch, Portugal and Spain advance, and more.

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3 days ago

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July 3, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Happy Friday, Mane Landers! I don’t have many plans this holiday weekend beyond enjoying some soccer and indulging myself in a few hot dogs to celebrate. It should be a fun weekend, but make sure to stay safe out there if you plan on setting off any fireworks. For now though, let’s get to the links!

Orlando Pride Take On Angel City FC Tonight

The NWSL resumes today and the Orlando Pride will play against Angel City FC at 10 p.m. in their first match since a 3-1 win over Bay FC on May 29. That win capped off a six-game month for the Pride, including a stretch of three straight road games. Meanwhile, Angel City parted ways with Alex Straus over the break after only winning once in May, and tonight’s match will be Leif Gunnar Smerud’s first since being named interim head coach. It can be tough playing an opponent with a new coach, but hopefully the Pride can bring all three points back to Orlando.

Top NWSL Free Agents to Watch

Free agency is officially underway in the NWSL and the list of players with contracts expiring at the end of the year includes some of the league’s best players. Orlando Pride star Marta was listed as one of the top free agents to watch, though I would be pretty shocked if she plays for another NWSL club if she leaves Orlando after this season. Leicy Santos, Debinha, and Rose Lavelle are other skilled attackers who will become free agents, but Gotham FC goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger is sure to have plenty of clubs reaching out for her talents as well.

Portugal and Spain Advance in World Cup

This World Cup hasn’t been short on excitement and that continued with Portugal’s 2-1 win against Croatia. After a scoreless first half, Croatia took the lead thanks to a goal from Ivan Perisic, but Cristiano Ronaldo equalized from the penalty spot and the game was moments away from heading to extra time. Goncalo Ramos gave Portugal the goal it needed to advance deep in stoppage time, but Croatia nearly came back with a goal that was disallowed due to an offside call. Spain cruised to a 3-0 win against Austria to book its spot in the round of 16 as well. Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice for his second brace of the tournament, with Marc Cucurella assisting on both of his goals. Spain and Portugal will square off in the next round in what should be a fantastic match. Switzerland and Algeria kicked off late.

The round of 32 wraps up today with a trio of matches, starting with Egypt’s game against Australia. Cape Verde will then look to shock the world when it plays Argentina, and the late game will be between Colombia and Ghana.

Columbus Crew Sign New Designated Player

The Columbus Crew have signed Spanish midfielder Brais Mendez to a Designated Player contract through the 2028-2029 season with a club option for the 2029-2030 season. Mendez has spent the past four La Liga seasons with Real Sociedad, recording 33 goals and 24 assists in 166 appearances. He gives the crew some additional firepower as reports swirl regarding Diego Rossi’s departure for CF Monterrey. While maybe not in the same headline-grabbing tier of MLS summer signings like Antoine Griezmann or Robert Lewandowski, Mendez is a big addition to the league as the Eastern Conference arms race continues.

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  • CF Montreal sent $2.1 million in General Allocation Money to Austin FC in exchange for midfielder Dani Pereira. Selected with the first overall pick in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft, Pereira has contributed six goals and 23 assists in 165 appearances across all competitions for Austin.
  • Real Salt Lake reportedly rejected a transfer bid around $3.5 million from CF Monterrey for midfielder Diego Luna.
  • American winger Emma Sears reportedly requested a trade from Racing Louisville, although the club is not reportedly interested in a midseason transfer.
  • The United States Men’s National Team’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina had record viewership. Understandably so, too, as I spent most of the match pacing around my living room.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 7/2/26

USMNT shuts out Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kat Asman loaned to Denver Summit FC, MLS transfer news, and more.

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4 days ago

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July 2, 2026

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Image of Pride goalkeeper Kat Asman
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

Wednesday nights are starting to feel magical. Orlando City has thrived this year when playing on Wednesdays, and now the United States Men’s National Team has provided us with a reason to tackle this Thursday at full force. Before we dive into that result and the rest of today’s links, let’s all wish a happy birthday to Orlando City defender Tahir Reid-Brown!

USMNT Survives Red Card to Advance

The U.S. won 2-0 against Bosnia and Herzegovina in an emotional rollercoaster of a match in the World Cup’s round of 32. Folarin Balogun got the U.S. on the board at a crucial time right before halftime by scoring his third goal of the tournament. But the game flipped on its head in the second half when Balogun was shown a harsh red card by the referee after video review for a foul when he accidentally came down on the back of an opponent’s foot. The Yanks fought hard to make up for the difference of being down a player and doubled their lead after earning a free kick right outside the box. Malik Tillman’s shot went up and over the wall and into the net for a goal U.S. fans will be replaying over and over again.

The U.S. did well to grind out the win after that second goal, with former Lion Alex Freeman doing his part on defense to help shut out Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was a memorable win, and now the U.S. will turn its focus to its round-of-16 matchup against Belgium on Monday.

Pride Loan Goalkeeper Kat Asman to Denver Summit

The Orlando Pride loaned goalkeeper Kat Asman to the Denver Summit for the remainder of the 2026 NWSL season. Asman is coming off of a loan with Lexington SC in the Gainbridge Super League, where she played every minute of the season to help Lexington win the title. She posted 11 clean sheets with Lexington last season and won the league’s Golden Glove as well. Asman has yet to make an appearance for the Pride since joining prior to the 2025 season, and her contract expires at the end of the season. She now heads to Denver, where Abby Smith has done well in goal as the expansion team’s starter.

MLS Transfer News Roundup

Real Salt Lake sent $625,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) to Atlanta United in exchange for winger Saba Lobjanidze and a third-round pick in the 2028 MLS SuperDraft, with another $100,000 in GAM going Atlanta’s way if he re-signs with Real Salt Lake. The Columbus Crew fully acquired defender Andres Herrera from River Plate after an extended loan, signing him to a contract through the 2028-2029 season. The LA Galaxy transferred defender Mauricio Cuevas to Santos Laguna, the New England Revolution added forward Wilson Harris, and Sporting Kansas City signed center back Moises Mosquera from FC Juarez. The San Jose Earthquakes are reportedly close to signing Scottish goalkeeper Angus Gunn, with Daniel heading to FC Dallas in a trade if that happens. It’s somewhat surprising considering Daniel has done well to help San Jose only concede 15 goals this season.

🏴󠁧󠁒󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Sources: San Jose Earthquakes closing in on a deal to sign Scotland int'l GK Angus Gunn.πŸ‡§πŸ‡· Sources: FC Dallas has agreed to a deal to acquire GK Daniel from San Jose.βž• Daniel trade is contingent on Gunn signing being formalized.

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert.bsky.social) 2026-07-01T16:34:02.297Z

European Nations Move On After Dramatic Comebacks

This World Cup continues to deliver thrilling games during this new round-of-32 phase. Senegal looked certain to go through to the next round until Belgium scored a pair of goals after the 85th minute to knot the game at 2-2 and send it into extra time. The game was decided by a penalty, but not in a shootout, as a foul in the box resulted in Youri Tielemans scoring from the spot to give Belgium the victory. In Atlanta, Harry Kane scored twice to rescue England in a 2-1 win over the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Brian Cipanga gave the Congo an early lead, but Kane struck twice in the second half, with his winner being one of the best goals of the tournament so far.

England is now set to face Mexico at the Azteca on Sunday in what should be a great game. As for today’s action, Orlando City winger Marco Pasalic and Croatia will take on Portugal in a matchup between European heavyweights. The winner of that match will face whoever prevails today between Spain and Austria, with Switzerland and Algeria squaring off in the late night match.

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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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