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Orlando City vs. CF Montréal: Five Takeaways

Here’s what we learned from Orlando City’s scoreless draw on the road against CF Montréal.

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2 months ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Games with no goals are usually due to excellent defenses or misfiring offenses, and Saturday night’s game against Montréal was definitely more the latter. The Lions earned their third straight shutout on defense, a major improvement after starting the season defending much like a sieve, but on Saturday their opponents only rarely threatened and Orlando City looked no better, despite being amongst the league leaders in goals scored going into this game. Here are my five takeaways from the match.

There’s No ‘O’ in Easter

Orlando City’s offense, if you can call it that, looked completely lackluster throughout the match. Playing down a man for the final 14 minutes contributed to the lack of offense at the end of the game, but the first 76 minutes were not that much better. The passing and crossing were not crisp, the offense was only able to generate two shots on target, and the decision making throughout the game was poor at best. None of the three Designated Players seemed really engaged in this game, and without much contribution from them — and with no Eduard Atuesta on the field once again — the offense just never really threatened, and a completely winnable game went begging. Our friends at fbref.com have been tracking expected goals (xG) since 2018 in MLS, and Orlando City’s 0.32 xG in this match is in the bottom 5% for the Lions during the past seven years. Not great, Bob.

Yellow, Unfortunately, is an Easter Color

Rafael Santos entered the game at halftime, and exited the game barely 30 minutes later after what was probably one of his worst games as a Lion. In between, he completed only 37.5% of his passes, lost his man several times on defense, and picked up two yellow cards, effectively ending any chance Orlando City had of getting a goal and coming home with three points. Montréal was aggressively attacking the right side of the field, with 45% of the hosts’ touches coming on the right third of the field, according to whoscored.com, and Santos was unable to defend without fouling, forcing Orlando City into bringing on Thomas Williams and Zakaria Taifi and go to five players in the back to try to hold off the lowest-scoring offense in MLS from getting a late goal.

El Pulpo Needed All His Limbs to Keep the Lions in the Game

I just wrote about how Montréal has scored the fewest goals in all of MLS, but the hosts had the better opportunities in this game and Pedro Gallese made several big stops to keep the score tied. Gallese denied Dante Sealy in the first half at full stretch, saved a shot that deflected in the opposite direction off of Joran Gerbet early in the second half, and then got a hand on a Caden Clark shot right after Santos had been dismissed. All of those very easily could have been goals if not for an excellent game by the Peruvian No. 1. Gallese commanded the box and was locked in throughout the night, looking every bit the stalwart goalkeeper he has been for the past six seasons.

Orlando City’s Bench Looked a Lot Like OCB

When the gameday roster was announced I did a triple take when I looked at who was listed on the bench, because I could not believe how thin Orlando City’s roster is that there were six players dressed who will likely play more minutes with OCB than Orlando City this year. It was no surprise that the first two players off the bench were Santos and Duncan McGuire, two established Lions, but after they entered, the rest of the bench had very little experience. However, with injuries and Rodrigo Schlegel suspended for this game, they were the only players available. I thought both Williams and Taifi played well during their limited minutes, helping the Lions kill off the game in their season (and in Taifi’s case, MLS) debuts.

Iván Angulo was Orlando City’s Best Offensive Player

Respectfully, this is not a good thing, considering the Lions played all three of their Designated Players and McGuire in the game, but of all the attacking players, I thought Angulo was by far the best against Montréal. His shooting was not great, but his playmaking was better than that of all of his teammates, and his speed created chances that none of his other teammates could have created. His work rate was unparalleled, as usual, and for the final minutes of the game he actually shifted more into a striker role at the top of what looked like a 5-3-1, and there were some counterattack chances that could have been created for him had any of his fellow attacking teammates also come ready to play a good ball forward.

Those are my takeaways from a game that bookended a terrible day for both of Orlando’s top teams, as the Pride lost at home to a Washington Spirit team missing six starters and then Orlando City came out and played a dud of a match in Canada. Keeping a clean sheet is nice, especially when playing down a player (again) for more than 10 minutes at the end of the game, but that is a game that Orlando City should have won going away with how poor Montréal is, and it feels much more like two points dropped than one point gained — even on the road and playing with 10 men.

All I can say is I hope the Easter Bunny brought some baskets filled with goal-inducing purple jelly beans for all the Orlando City players and the Lions get back on track at home against Atlanta next week.

Let us know your thoughts about the Montréal match in the comments below.

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/25/25

Orlando City and OCB play tonight, the Club World Cup continues, and more.

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2 hours ago

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June 25, 2025

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Image courtesy of Victor Tan / New Day

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. It is a busy week here at The Mane Land. Orlando City and Orlando City B play tonight, there are FIFA Club World Cup matches, Concacaf Gold Cup, and USWNT friendlies. It’s a lot, but it also means there’s a ton of soccer to watch, which is a good thing. Let’s get to the links.

Go West, Orlando City

Orlando City heads to Missouri to take on St. Louis City FC tonight. The Lions will be without Alex Freeman (international duty) and Rodrigo Schlegel (yellow card accumulation). Orlando City will need to deal with St. Louis City striker Joao Klauss while finding goals on the road. This is a must-watch midweek match. We will have a preview later today, and you should also listen to The Mane Land PawedCast to prepare.

Orlando City B Returns Home vs. Toronto FC II

Orlando City B hosts Toronto FC II at Osceola County Stadium tonight. Like the first team, we will have coverage for you. The Young Lions are coming off a two-week break after a loss to Carolina Core FC. It will be interesting to see which OCB shows up for the match. You can watch the match on mlsnextpro.com.

Club World Cup, Orlando-Style

There might not be as many people in the seats at the Club World Cup as FIFA would like, but Orlando is still a big part of it. The group stage finishes this week as the competition heads into the Round of 16. There’s a ton of prize money up for all the competitors no matter where they are currently in the standings. Our Michael Citro was at Camping World Stadium last night to cover LAFC vs. Flamengo in Group D.

USMNT News

The USMNT will face Costa Rica Sunday in a Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinal match in Minneapolis. Malik Tillman has been a bright spot on the roster, though Orlando City fans will be watching Freeman. The perpetual search for a consistent striker continues for the USMNT, though Patrick Agyemang may be the answer — at least for now.

Free Kicks

  • There’s nothing quite like having your number retired after playing for a team for two whole years after playing for another club for six years. It is especially special when the new club has been in existence for a whole four years. Congratulations to former Orlando Pride forward Alex Morgan.

Jesse Marsch cleared of all allegations by Concacaf.MORE: news.canadasoccer.com/jesse-marsch…

— CANMNT (@canmntofficial.bsky.social) 2025-06-24T03:22:25.639Z
  • After the Gold Cup, Agyemang may be making the move from Charlotte FC to Derby County.

🚨🐏 Excl: Derby County are closing in on deal to sign 24 year old striker Patrick Agyemang from Charlotte FC. Talks underway with player’s green light already in place.

— Fabrizio Romano (MIRROR) (@fabrizioromano.yopro20.com) 2025-06-24T23:28:28.124048+00:00
  • You may have seen that the USWNT is celebrating Pride month with rainbow numbers on the team jerseys. I am a supporter and ally, but it means even more to the players.

That will do it for today. Make sure you check back later for our match coverage. You can also follow our live coverage on Bluesky. Vamos Orlando!

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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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1 day ago

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June 24, 2025

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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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2 days ago

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June 23, 2025

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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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