Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC: Five Takeaways

That was fun! Orlando City picked up a 3-1 win over Charlotte FC, continuing its unbeaten run and ensuring the Lions enter Sunday’s match against Inter Miami in a good run of form. What follows are my five takeaways from a great win at Inter&Co Stadium.

An Even Faster Start

Orlando got off to a good start on Saturday against the New England Revolution, and held a 2-0 lead after 33 minutes. The Lions did even better Wednesday though, opening the scoring in the eighth minute before doubling the lead in the 24th. For a team that has had trouble scoring goals during recent weeks, getting off to those quick starts has been a breath of fresh air, and it allowed OCSC to dictate the way that the game is played. That was the case against Charlotte, as Orlando ferociously attacked to start the game before eventually shifting to a more conservative approach and looking to pick off the visitors on the counter.

Lessons Learned from Last Match

There was plenty of reason for concern when Charlotte pulled a goal back in the 34th minute through Wilfried Zaha. It looked eerily similar to what happened against the Revs, when Orlando blew a two-goal lead and ultimately had to settle for a 3-3 draw. Despite giving up that goal though, the Lions mostly did a good job of limiting Charlotte’s opportunities for the rest of the night. The big exception came in the 71st minute, when Pep Biel got a chance to shoot at an open goal from inside the six-yard box but could only volley his effort onto the bar and over. Otherwise, OCSC was defensively sound and limited Charlotte to eight shots with one on target. The Lions had to ride their luck at times, but did a much better job of closing out the game than they did last match.

Designated Players Make the Difference

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Designated Players came up big for Orlando City in this match. Luis Muriel and Martin Ojeda got the team’s first two goals, although Muriel’s strike had an element of luck about it, as it really should have been saved by Kristijan Kahlina. He was dangerous all night though, and he looked to have opened the scoring just two minutes in but it was (correctly) ruled out for offside. Ojeda’s goal was spectacular, which is no less than we’ve come to expect from him in recent weeks. He’s been on an absolute tear this season with eight goals and three assists in 13 games. Muriel has five goals and three assists in the same number of games, and the general rule of thumb so far this season has been that when the DPs are cooking, the Lions do well. That was the case in this game, as the big guns showed up and Orlando got the win.

Ramiro Gets Going

Ramiro Enrique had already scored his first goal of the year in Orlando’s 5-0 decimation of the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the U.S. Open Cup, but he opened his 2025 MLS account with the insurance goal that made the scoreline 3-1 in favor of OCSC. It was well taken too, as he showed great composure to cut the ball back onto his right foot before blasting a shot high into the net. The more threatening players that the Lions can call upon, the better, especially when considering the rash of 0-0 draws that we’ve had to suffer through in recent matches. Orlando somehow still has five more matches to play before the month of May concludes, so the Lions are going to need all hands on deck and contributing if they want to carry on their current run of form. Wednesday night was a reminder that Enrique has shown himself in the past to be capable of pulling his weight.

David Brekalo Makes His Mark

Speaking of needing contributions from different areas, I’d be doing you all a disservice if I didn’t spend some time waxing lyrical about the work David Brekalo did in assisting Enrique’s goal. The Slovenian embarked on a great run forward from his left back position in the 82nd minute and took the entirety of the Charlotte midfield out of the game before splitting the visitors’ lines with an excellent through ball for Enrique. It was his first primary assist of the season, although he did have the secondary assist on Muriel’s opener. He seems to have cemented the job as the starting left back since the April 5 match against the Philadelphia Union, and he’s been putting in some strong performances defensively. He doesn’t get forward a ton, primarily due to how offensively minded Alex Freeman is on the other flank, but his assist on Enrique’s goal showed that he has some potential in that area himself.

Orlando didn’t quite play a perfect game, as things were a little shaky both before and after Charlotte scored its goal. On the whole though, it was a solid performance, albeit against a Charlotte team that has now lost four straight games. Tougher tasks await in the form of Inter Miami and a tortuously crowded schedule for the remainder of May, but the Lions are in as good of shape as they could hope to be at the moment. What did you make of this game? Be sure to have your say down in the comments. Vamos Orlando!