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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

Orlando City vs. San Diego FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Lions welcome San Diego FC to Orlando for the first meeting ever between the two clubs.

Published

7 hours ago

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September 5, 2026

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Image of Joran Gerbet playing against Minnesota United.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match preview and live thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (7-11-4, 25 points) and San Diego FC (8-8-6, 30 points) at Inter.co Stadium in Orlando (7:30 p.m., Apple TV). It’s the first-ever meeting between these two teams from different conferences

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.

History

As mentioned above, tonight’s meeting between the Lions and San Diego is the first in the series history, so there is no history. The Lions are 2-2-1 against Western Conference teams this season, which means little to nothing in this particular match, and San Diego is going to be Orlando City’s final opponent from the opposite conference in MLS regular-season play this season.

Overview

The Lions are coming off a wild 3-3 road draw at Minnesota United a week ago, in which Daryl Dike and Antoine Griezmann scored on either side of halftime on Orlando’s first two shot attempts to put their team up 2-0 in the 64th minute. Minnesota stormed back with three goals off defensive errors in a four-minute span to take a late 3-2 lead. Just when the Loons appeared to be headed for all three points, Tyrese Spicer scored in stoppage time, forcing Minnesota to split the points. Orlando has a modest 1-0-1 unbeaten streak entering tonight, and the Lions are 5-4-2 at home in 2026.

San Diego is coming off a 3-1 home win over the LA Galaxy despite having Jeppe Tverskov sent off. Tonight’s visitors have won two straight games, but both were at home. They lost their last home game 3-1 at Portland on Aug. 19 and are 2-5-3 away from home this season.

The key for Orlando City tonight will be to mark Anders Dreyer, which is far easier said than done, as he has emerged as one of the league’s best playmakers. His eight goals and 11 assists give him 19 total goal contributions to lead his team. Marcus Ingvartsen is Dreyer’s favorite teammate to combine with, as the Danish forward has converted 11 times, leading San Diego in goals, and has added five assists. However, Ingvartsen is listed as out with a lower body injury. Midfielder Onni Valakari has chipped in four goals and seven assists.

“We respect San Diego, but as well we prepare our game,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said ahead of the match. “We know how strong we are, especially at home, so now we go.”

Orlando City will be without Braian Ojeda (foot) and Adrian Marin (thigh), while Bernardo Rhein (thigh), has been upgraded to questionable. San Diego will be without the aforementioned Ingvartsen (lower body) and Tverskov (suspension).

Match Content

Projected Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Zakaria Taifi, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Joran Gerbet, Eduard Atuesta, Antoine Griezmann.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Daryl Dike.

San Diego FC (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: C.J. dos Santos.

Defenders: Kieran Sargeant, Ian Murphy, Manu Duah, Oscar Verhoeven.

Midfielders: Gabriel Pirani, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Anibal Godoy.

Forwards: Elias Achouri, Onni Valakari, Anders Dreyer.

Referees:

REF: Joe Dickerson.
AR1: Corey Parker.
AR2: Justin Howard.
4TH: Rodrigo Albuquerque.
VAR: Daniel Radford.
AVAR: Jeff Muschik.

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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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Diego FC: Three Keys to Victory

Here’s what Orlando needs to do in order to return to winning ways against San Diego.

Published

1 day ago

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September 4, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

After the disappointment of two dropped points against Minnesota on Saturday, Orlando City is back home with an opportunity to get things back on track. The Lions need to keep picking up points if they want to keep pace in an increasingly crowded Eastern Conference, and Saturday’s game is a good chance to start September off on the right note. San Diego FC stands in the way of that good start, and what follows are three things that I believe Orlando needs to do in order to emerge victorious from this game.

Stay Strong on the Left

The left side of the defense has been a question mark for the Lions for much of the year. Adrian Marin, Bernardo Rhein, and Zakaria Taifi have all spent time at left back lately and have done so with varying degrees of success. Regardless of who suits up there on Saturday, that area of the field will be under scrutiny once again, since they’ll be tasked with stopping San Diego right winger Anders Dreyer. He has eight goals and 11 assists in 21 appearances this year, has played 60 key passes during that time, and is generally the lynchpin through which the San Diego offense operates. He hasn’t quite been on the same pace that saw him bag 19 goals and 19 assists in the regular season last year, but with four goal contributions in his last three MLS appearances, he’s extremely capable of wreaking havoc from the wing. A lot of the goals OCSC has conceded lately have come down the left side of the defense, and if that area of the field can’t be taken care of better, the Lions will likely be in for a difficult night.

Do Damage in Transition

Orlando’s current style of positionless, fluid, attacking soccer is at its best when it comes up against teams that want to come out and play. It struggles mightily against defensive bunkers but shines when the Lions can get out and run, target open spaces, and combine with teammates in unexpected areas. Fortunately for OCSC (in theory), San Diego is a team that likes to have the ball, as it has the highest average possession in the league. That means the Lions will have opportunities to force turnovers and break the other way at pace. In order to make that happen though, OCSC will need to be both disciplined and effective when it comes to applying its press. Then, if/when the Lions win the ball, correct decision-making and clinical execution in the final third will be key to avoid letting any chances slip through their fingers (paws?).

Clean Up the Self-Inflicted Errors

Orlando has dealt with more than its fair share of general defensive struggles this year, but avoidable errors have been a particular problem in recent weeks. Whether it’s been an ill-advised challenge, passing to the opposition in the defensive third, or leaving men unmarked in the box, unnecessary mistakes have cost OCSC points time and again. Against lesser opposition it hasn’t always mattered, as the Lions were able to rescue three points against Real Salt Lake, but if Orlando wants to make a playoff push, it needs to make a habit of playing cleaner games, plain and simple. San Diego is a good team with dangerous offensive players, and Saturday’s visitors will very likely take advantage of any opportunities that the Lions gift-wrap for them. Keeping things mistake-free will go a long way.

We’ve got ample proof this season that nothing is guaranteed, but if the Lions can lock down the left side of the defense, make hay in transition moments, and limit unforced errors, then they should be in a good position to take all three points from Saturday’s game. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 9/4/26

Martin Ojeda details his recovery from injury, Anna Moorhouse loaned to Manchester City, Orlando City’s U.S. Open Cup journey, and more.

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1 day ago

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September 4, 2026

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Image of Martin Ojeda celebrating a goal against New England.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Three straight days of Orlando soccer starts tonight with Orlando City B’s road match against Inter Miami II at 7 p.m. Hopefully, Orlando’s teams do well over the next few days as crunch time is upon us when it comes to making the playoffs, especially for MLS NEXT Pro. For now though, let’s jump right into today’s links from around the soccer world!

Orlando City Prepares for San Diego FC

Orlando City will take on San Diego FC on Saturday in the first-ever game between the two clubs, and one of the storylines to keep an eye on is how much Martin Ojeda plays as he works his way back from injury. The Designated Player came off the bench late in Orlando’s 3-3 draw against Minnesota United in his first appearance since May 23. Not often injured, Ojeda spoke on how being off the field for over a month has shifted his perspective while training to return.

“You learn to value the moment much more. You learn to value every training session because, when you’re training on your own and you’re not available to your teammates, you feel uncomfortable,” Ojeda said. “You value being healthy more. It’s like everything in life. When you feel good, you live life almost on autopilot, so to speak. You go to work, you go home, you come back, you sleep. However, when you or someone close to you goes through an illness or something like that, you value the moment much more and become more conscious of what you’re experiencing.”

Pride Loan Anna Moorhouse to Manchester City

The Orlando Pride loaned goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse to Manchester City through January of 2027. Moorhouse joined the Pride prior to the 2022 season and helped the club win both the NWSL Championship and Shield in 2024. However, she has struggled this year alongside the rest of the Pride’s defense. Moorhouse hasn’t played in the past two games for the Pride, with Cosette Morche starting in her place. Her current contract with the Pride lasts through the 2027 NWSL season, so we’ll have to wait and see what her future with the club is when the loan ends.

Orlando City’s U.S. Open Cup Journey

Between the World Cup, regular season, and Leagues Cup this summer, it can be easy to forget that Orlando City is still in contention to win this year’s U.S. Open Cup. The Lions are in the semifinals of the tournament after crushing Atlanta United 4-1 in the quarterfinals back on May 19. The Lions won much tighter affairs prior to that win, with Javier Otero coming up with seven saves in a 1-0 win over FC Naples and Zakaria Taifi scoring in stoppage time to beat the New England Revolution 4-3 in the following match. Orlando will be on the road for its semifinal match against the Columbus Crew on Sept. 16, but the offense has received a boost due to the arrivals of Antoine Griezmann and Daryl Dike this summer.

MLS Transfer News Roundup

MLS signings continue to pour in as teams look to improve their squads for the rest of this season and beyond. The Colorado Rapids signed Ghanaian winger Ibrahim Sadiq from AZ Alkmaar, where he recorded 18 goals and seven assists in 85 appearances across three seasons with the Dutch club. San Diego also added an attacker by signing forward Cedric Bakambu, who joins as a free agent after playing at Real Betis. As for other notable moves from across the league, Real Salt Lake signed winger Dusan Zagar as an MLS U22 Initiative player, forward Lyle Foster joined the Houston Dynamo on loan, and the Columbus Crew continued to improve on offense by signing Moroccan winger Anass Zaroury on loan from Panathinaikos.

Free Kicks

  • Former Orlando Pride player Christina Burkenroad is retiring from professional soccer and Monterrey will have Saturday’s game against Toluca be a send-off match for her.

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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