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Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC: Final Score 0-0 (1-3) as Lions’ Offense a No-Show in North Carolina

Orlando City was substandard offensively in every way on the road in Charlotte, falling in the Lions’ worst penalty performance ever.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City played tentatively and tense in Game 2 against Charlotte FC, creating next to nothing offensively except a late goal that was controversially flagged for an offside in the buildup, playing to a 0-0 road draw at Bank of America Stadium. The hosts then blew the Lions away 3-1 in a subpar penalty shootout, tying the series at 1-1 and sending it back to Orlando for a deciding Game 3 on Nov. 9.

A usually reliable shootout team produced only one goal on four shots from the spot as the Lions coughed up their lead in the series and all the good vibes from Sunday’s dominant performance. Nico Lodeiro and Duncan McGuire left their penalties too close to Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina, and Robin Jansson missed the net badly on his attempt, making him zero for his last two attempts.

All of that could have been avoided had the assistant referee kept his flag down on a controversial call in stoppage time when it appeared Facundo Torres had broken the scoreless deadlock. The play was too close to overturn on review, ultimately sending the match to the penalty spot after a scoreless 90 minutes of normal time and more than 10 added minutes.

“We wanted to be more offensive and create more situations to score, but these games in playoffs are like that,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “It’s tight and the tension of the game was (there) all the time for both teams. “

Pareja’s starting lineup for Game 2 was a carbon copy of Game 1, with Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of Rafael Santos, Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson. Cesar Araujo and Wilder Cartagena started in central midfield behind an attacking line of Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, and Torres, with Ramiro Enrique up top.

The Lions played the first half as if they were trying to protect a 2-0 aggregate rather than winning a second game in a best-of-three series. Orlando turned down chances to get forward, refused to attempt to switch the play quickly, and then started turning the ball over repeatedly to give the hosts opportunities to get forward. Meanwhile, Charlotte started the game as the more physical and aggressive team, racking up several fouls, and escaping punishment for kicking a ball away to prevent one Orlando restart and physically carrying it away from a free kick spot later in the half to prevent another.

The first shot attempt of note came in the ninth minute when Liel Abada fired wide from the top of the area in transition. Charlotte had a decent spell of attacking possession around the quarter hour mark, with Thorhallsson and Jansson doing well to clear crosses into the area.

The first dangerous opportunity came off a Charlotte corner in the 17th minute. Orlando cleared the initial service, but the ball pinged around in the area on the recycle, with Brandt Bronico sending it into traffic. Adilson Malanda’s shot was deflected and fell to Kerwin Vargas, who sent his attempt over the bar, ending the threat.

Abada sent a shot on goal that Gallese saved in the 23rd minute after Cartagena expected a whistle for an obvious handball on Bronico and didn’t get one. The Orlando midfielder let up, allowing the hosts to get forward and create a chance. Schlegel did well to clear a follow-up shot, although it appeared Gallese had it handled.

Orlando didn’t mount any kind of offense in the half, but nearly did so in the 30th minute when Ojeda sent a cross into the box, but none of his teammates were there. Ten minutes later, Ojeda tried to pick, out Enrique in transition. The striker went down under pressure from Tim Ream from behind but there was no foul given.

Gallese made a good save to deny a blast from Vargas in the 43rd minute, and that was the last good look for either side in the half.

At halftime, Orlando City had the edge in possession (60.4%-39.6%) and passing accuracy (89.3%-83%), but accomplished nothing over the opening 45 minutes. As the only side interested in trying to score a goal, Charlotte had more shots (7-0), shots on target (2-0), and corners (2-0).

“They’re playing at home on their field. Obviously we all know that they have the urgency that this is a must-win game, and we knew they were going to come out aggressive,” Pareja said. “The fact is we sustained that pressure but we couldn’t hurt them when we had the ball. I think it’s probably what we missed today. But the game plan was the same. It’s just that the games are not the same.”

Charlotte quickly got a look at goal after the restart when Santos whiffed on an easy-looking ball at his feet and Vargas picked it up and fired. Gallese got down to make the stop in the 46th minute. Three minutes later, it was Torres’ turn to cough up the ball. The Uruguayan left a soft pass attempt too close to Vargas, who quickly found Patrick Agyemang. The Charlotte striker sent his header right at Gallese.

Ojeda sent in a cross in the 52nd minute that he left too close to Kahlina for an easy catch.

A minute later, Charlotte won a corner. Ashley Westwood got his head to the back-post cross but could only get a piece of it, heading it softly wide.

Pareja sent McGuire on for an ineffective Enrique in the 56th minute to get the offense going, but Charlotte quickly won a corner and Andrew Privett headed it softly wide. Vargas knocked heads with Privett when the two arrived at the ball at the same time, and they continued after treatment.

The Lions finally attempted a shot in the 65th minute. Thorhallsson cut inside and had a go, but his effort was deflected behind by the defense for an Orlando corner. Despite generating no offense all night, the Lions played the corner short, quickly passed it backward near midfield, and then sent in a lazy lob of an entry ball for Kahlina to catch.

Agyemang nearly got in behind two minutes later. Jansson did well to make a vital sliding challenge in the box to knock it out for a corner. Nothing came from that or another corner moments later, sandwiched around an unsuccessful Orlando corner at the other end.

Another corner kick was cleared outside the area in the 74th minute, falling for Nathan Byrne, who blasted his shot into the stands.

The Lions got their only shot on target of the night in the 83rd minute. Left with time and space just outside the area, Angulo sent in a shot, but it didn’t have a lot on it and sailed right at Kahlina.

A couple more wasted Charlotte corners and the game headed into an indicated nine minutes of stoppage time that ended up being a bit longer than that.

Torres looked to have finally broken the ice in the fifth minute of stoppage time. A good ball from Luis Muriel sent Lodeiro down the left. Lodeiro found Torres in the middle and the Uruguayan blasted the shot into the net, but the flag came up after the ball went in. The replay showed Lodeiro was about even with the last defender. His arm, which is not a part of the body that an attacker can score with, may have been beyond the closest defender, but Ream’s foot may have been keeping him on.

It was one of those plays that probably would have stood regardless of how it was called on the field, so it was fortunate for Charlotte that the flag came up.

“We have seen it already multiple times. Don’t understand why, knowing the ruling, why the team was flagged up without (it) just being so obvious,” Pareja said of the play. “And after we reviewed it, I have to say that I didn’t see it clear that it was an offside. Nothing that I say now is going to change that.”

That was the final attack and the game went to penalties.

Orlando City held the advantage in possession (55.3%-44.7%) and passing accuracy (86.7%-83.2%), while Charlotte had more shots (13-2), shots on target (3-1), and corners (11-3).

“I think they did a really good job of really sitting and waiting and staying compact together and trying to hit us on the counterattack, which they did very well,” Schlegel said. “You know, they’re a really strong team and a really physical team, so when they were defending us, they used that to their advantage. We have to take this week to fix those mistakes that we had today and really get stronger, so that way we can be the best team out there on Saturday and advance to the next round.”

“I think that we could have done much better after we extended our game to the middle third and then create some chances and put Charlotte in more difficult situations,” Pareja said. “But it was the game that was proposed for Charlotte, just waiting for any error and counterattack. At that moment we preferred just to have the control and see if we can break those lines in a different manner, but it really was tense for both teams. It was again very tight in the middle, not much spaces, and that’s very clear that we couldn’t break that line the way we wanted.”

Lodeiro was the first Orlando shooter and unfortunately he didn’t set the tone. Lodeiro’s shot was too close to Kahlina and a good height for the keeper. Kahlina guessed correctly and saved it.

After Agyemang scored for Charlotte, Jansson sent his penalty way over the bar to effectively end things. Karol Swiderski hit his penalty to give the hosts a commanding 2-0 lead after two rounds.

Muriel had no trouble with his penalty to get Orlando on the board, but Westwood answered, pushing Orlando to the brink. The Lions’ fourth shooter was McGuire, who hit it hard but left his shot far too close to the goalkeeper, and Kahlina made the save, ending the game.

“At the end, we could have won it,” Pareja said. “(The penalty shootout) It’s obviously frustration, but it’s part of this game. It’s something that I don’t want to stick with, and the players have to have the positivism and the courage that we always have to finish our game at home.”

“Obviously, not the result that we wanted tonight and a difficult way to have the final,” Schlegel said. “We’re a little bit angry at the result, because we felt like we played a really good game. We were driving the game at times, but we weren’t able to score that goal, and they were able to take the victory in penalties. So, certainly something to discuss this week. But yeah, we’re heated, and focusing on Saturday now.”


The Lions will host Charlotte on Saturday, Nov. 9 in a winner-take-all Game 3. The winner advances to the Eastern Conference semifinals, while the loser is done for the season. Like tonight’s game, a draw would immediately go to penalties.

Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/24/25

Orlando City’s upward aspirations, Tim Weah reportedly set for transfer, Club World Cup roundup, and more.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Happy Tuesday, everyone. We’ve got a busy week ahead of us with the Club World Cup approaching the end of the group stage, OCB at home on Wednesday, and Orlando City back in action with a pair of games. That means we have plenty to talk about, so let’s get straight into today’s links.

Orlando City’s Lofty Goals

Kyle Smith took some time after training on Monday to speak to the media and shed some light on where OCSC is at right now. The utility player was candid in saying he believes this year’s team is the best one he’s seen since he’s been with the club, and that’s saying something considering he’s the longest-tenured player on the team. Smith said the team is focused on climbing higher in the standings and that the two recent breaks will help the team do just that. He emphasized the importance of handling extra time off between games the right way by making sure the players are taking care of their bodies, getting in the gym, and recovering afterwards. That sort of professionalism paid off in the 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids, so hopefully the same is true of Wednesday’s game against St. Louis City.

Tim Weah Reportedly on the Move

Nottingham Forest has reportedly agreed a deal with Juventus to sign Tim Weah and fellow Juve player Samuel Mbangula for roughly €22 million. That being said, personal terms have not yet been agreed upon with Weah, and that will likely take some time, since he’s playing for them at the Club World Cup, and the Italian side is probably keen to minimize outside distractions. Weah broke out with Lille during a four-season spell with the French side, earning a move to Juventus in 2023 as a result.

Club World Cup Roundup

The Club World Cup continues to roll on, as the tournament entered its final round of group stage games on Monday. Atletico Madrid became the first big name to exit the competition, as it beat Botafogo 1-0 to finish level with the Brazilians on six points but will be going home due to having worse goal difference. Atletico needed to win by at least three in order to overtake Botafogo in the standings and might have managed it if not for some poor finishing. In Group B’s other game, Paris Saint-Germain took down the Seattle Sounders 2-0 to finish top of the group. Seattle was given a brutal draw and accounted itself as well as can be expected, but ultimately, the Sounders exit the competition without picking up a point.

Club World Cup Takeaways

Speaking of the Club World Cup, what are some of the impressions so far of the expanded tournament? There have been plenty of good things, as teams have been taking it seriously with strong lineups, and barring the outlier that is Auckland City, no one team has been consistently getting shelled. On the other hand, making the jump from six teams to 32 simply feels like too much too soon, and that’s probably contributed to fluctuating levels of interest from local fans. High ticket prices and games starting in the heat of the day haven’t helped much either, as weather conditions have been a recurring concern among both fans and players. The competition is still a net positive overall, but there are certainly some things to learn from and improve upon next time around.

Free Kicks

  • Check out some of the scenes from the Lions’ training session on Monday.

That’s all I have for you this morning. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/23/25

Pride fall to Racing Louisville, Seb Hines and Giles Barnes share insight on path to success in Orlando, USMNT defeats Haiti, and more.

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Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been busy working and catching up with friends over the past week. Before we get started, let’s wish a belated happy birthday to Orlando Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter, who turned 41 on Saturday. The Pride was the lone team in action over the weekend, while the Lions and OCB were off. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.

Pride Fall at Racing Louisville

The Orlando Pride fell to Racing Louisville 2-0 Friday at Lynn Family Stadium. Arin Wright scored the opening goal in the first half, and former Pride midfielder Taylor Flint converted a penalty kick for Racing Louisville. The Pride struggled offensively and failed to capitalize on their scoring chances. Orlando’s struggles in Louisville continue, as the club is winless in five matches at Lynn Family Stadium. The Pride will be on a long break, and their next match will be Aug. 3, taking on the Utah Royals at Inter&Co Stadium.

Seb Hines, Giles Barnes Share Insight on Path to Success in Orlando

Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines and Assistant Coach Giles Barnes were featured in an interview in The Guardian. Both Hines and Barnes shared insight into their longtime friendship, which began with playing in English youth international camps, their different paths to playing in Major League Soccer, and how they became involved in coaching. Hines discussed his time as interim manager of the Pride in 2022 and how he brought in Barnes to help change the club’s culture. Hines and Barnes helped change the perception of the club and led the Pride to winning both the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship last season.

USMNT Defeats Haiti to Win Group D in Gold Cup

The U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Haiti 2-1 Sunday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, in their final match in the group stage of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup. The USMNT finished atop its group with three wins and nine points. Orlando City defender Alex Freeman made his third consecutive start and played 90 minutes.

Malik Tillman scored the opening goal 10 minutes into the match to give the USMNT the early lead. Haiti tied the match not long after Tillman’s goal. In the second half, Patrick Agyemang pulled the USMNT back in front. The USMNT advances to the quarterfinals as the group winner and will play its next match Sunday against the Group A runner-up which was the late game Sunday night and had yet to conclude as of this writing.

Club World Cup Weekend Recap

Another weekend of matches from the FIFA Club World Cup is in the books. On Friday, Benfica crushed Auckland City FC 6-0, while Flamengo beat Chelsea 3-1. LAFC was eliminated from advancing to the knockout round after a 1-0 defeat to ES Tunis. Bayern Munich edged Boca Juniors 2-1. On Saturday, Borussia Dortmund defeated Mamelodi Sundowns 4-3. Inter Milan needed a late stoppage-time winning goal from Valentin Carboni to edge Urawa Red Diamonds 2-1. Fluminense beat Ulsan HD 4-2, and River Plate and Monterrey ended in a scoreless draw. On Sunday, Juventus cruised to a 4-1 win over Wydad Casablanca. Xabi Alonso secured his first win as manager of Real Madrid with a 3-1 victory against Pachuca. Red Bull Salzburg and Al-Hilal played to a scoreless draw, with Manchester City playing Al-Ain in the late match Sunday. Today’s matches feature Atletico Madrid facing Botafogo, the Seattle Sounders hosting Paris Saint-Germain, FC Porto vs. Al Ahly, and Inter Miami taking on Palmeiras.

Free Kicks

  • Orlando Pride midfielder Ally Lemos and forward Simone Jackson have been called-up to the U-23 U.S. Women’s National Team. The U-23 camp will be led by Orlando Pride Assistant Coach Yolanda Thomas.

USL Championship side San Antonio FC has signed former Orlando City defender Abdi Salim to a 25-day contract.

San Diego Wave winger Maria Sanchez has reportedly reach an agreement to return to her former club, Tigres of Liga MX Femenil, on a four-year contract.

Paul Pogba is reportedly set to return to playing soccer and has signed a two-year contract with Ligue 1 side AS Monaco.


That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday, and I’ll see you next time.

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Opinion

Orlando City Has Been Better than Expected Halfway Through the Season

While there was plenty to worry about at the start of the season, Orlando has had a good first half of 2025.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

With 18 matches in the books, we’ve moved just past the halfway point of the 2025 Major League Soccer season, and based off my feelings before Orlando City played its opening game of the season, the Lions have performed above expectations so far. There were plenty of valid reasons to be concerned heading into the year. Orlando had sold its all-time leading goal scorer, and there were questions about whether he’d been adequately replaced. There were worries about depth at multiple positions, and the defense was coming off an uncharacteristically poor year. Here we are though, with the Lions sitting fifth in the Eastern Conference, just three points out of second place and seven points out of first. So how did we get to this point?

For one thing, Marco Pasalic has been much better than I (and I think a lot of other people) expected him to be. The Croatian has six goals and four assists across 18 matches, and is second on the team in both categories. He scored 10 goals in 49 appearances in the Croatian first division before coming to Orlando and was extremely one-footed, which was enough evidence to sow real doubt about whether he could adequately replace the impact of Facundo Torres.

So far, it’s mostly been so good. His direct style of play is a good complement to the styles of Martin Ojeda and Luis Muriel, and he’s largely hit the ground running in a league that can be difficult to adapt to. It hasn’t been perfect, as he’s still very one-footed, and can sometimes disappear if he’s stringently man marked, but on the whole there’s been much more good than bad.

Speaking of Ojeda and Muriel, they’ve also had strong years. Ojeda in particular has continued his great second half of the 2024 season and has nine goals and five assists in 18 games to show for it. He looks fast, confident, and decisive and is a far cry from the player who struggled frequently during his first year as a Lion. Muriel has cooled off a little after a scorching start to 2025, but he still has six goals and three assists in 18 matches. He looks vastly improved from last year, when he looked a little off the pace of play and quickly lost the starting striker role. He still has a tendency to not be as selfish as he needs to be in front of goal, but he’s been much better than 2024.

I mentioned depth being a big concern, and not just at one position. At the beginning of the season Orlando City was, and arguably still is, thin at striker, center back, defensive midfield, and fullback. Duncan McGuire was injured to start the year and is now injured again, leaving Orlando with two true strikers in Muriel and Ramiro Enrique. There was no true backup left back, only one reliable backup center back, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson starting at right back meant that defensive midfield depth consisted of rookie Joran Gerbet and the Swiss army knife that is Kyle Smith.

Things have mostly worked out though. David Brekalo has supplanted Rafael Santos, meaning the Brazilian is now a proven backup option at the position, and Smith has filled in there as well. That means that in games in which Rodrigo Schlegel or Robin Jansson are unavailable, Brekalo fills in at center back, Santos starts at left back, and Smith is the backup for both positions, so it isn’t a flawless system. Gerbet has been playing better and better and got some valuable minutes when Eduard Atuesta and Cesar Araujo were unavailable. His emergence has been a crucial piece of the puzzle this year. So too has the rise of Alex Freeman, as his locking down the right back role has allowed Thorhallsson to fill in at defensive midfield, attacking midfield, and right back. The situation isn’t perfect, as a couple untimely injuries to the wrong guys would leave the Lions looking pretty threadbare, but so far it’s just about worked.

Another big concern was the defense. The Lions conceded 50 goals in the regular season last year, which was tied for the second-most of any Eastern Conference playoff team and fourth-most of any playoff team. With no defensive signings and the aforementioned depth concerns, there were plenty of reasons to worry about Orlando’s ability to keep the ball out of the back of the net.

Things have looked much better in 2025, though. The 22 goals OCSC has conceded are the fifth-fewest in the league, and Pedro Gallese’s eight clean sheets are tied for most in the league. Aside from a few egregious defensive performances against the Philadelphia Union, Atlanta United, and the Chicago Fire, things have mostly been tidy at the back, and when they haven’t been, El Pulpo has been around to pick up the slack. Again, things haven’t been perfect, as there have been moments where individual and collective errors have hurt the team, but it’s been better.


I thought the Lions would struggle this year. Going into the start of the season, we were talking about a team that lost Torres, arguably didn’t do enough to strengthen the team across the board, was facing depth issues, and was dealing with a leaky defense — all while pretty much every other contender in the East got stronger on paper. Instead, OCSC tied a club-best unbeaten streak and is just three points out of second place.

That being said, the East is so tight that Orlando is only five points above the playoff line, and injuries to the wrong guys could easily topple the fragile ecosystem that is the depth chart, but so far things are going better than I thought they would be. There are still a lot of matches to play, but this isn’t a bad position to be in at the halfway mark.

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