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Orlando City vs. Chicago Fire: Final Score 3-1 as Dreadful Defending Dooms Lions

A brutal first half sent the Lions to their second straight loss and just their second home defeat of the season.

Published

11 months ago

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Dan MacDonald, The Mane Lane

Orlando City played a terrible first half and could not recover in a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Fire at Inter&Co Stadium. After 12 games without a loss, the Lions (7-4-6, 27 points) fell for the second straight game and just the second time at home all season. Chicago (6-5-4, 22 points) didn’t have to work terribly hard for its goals on this night as the first one went through Pedro Gallese’s hands, and the other two were wide-open looks for Fire leading scorer Hugo Cuypers, who finished both with no trouble.

After falling behind 3-0 in the first half, Alex Freeman got the Lions on the board, but other than that there was no final product on 28 other shot attempts, with only five others sent on target.

The Lions played this match without Head Coach Oscar Pareja, who was sent off in Atlanta Wednesday and had his appeal denied. Pareja served his suspension in this match, leaving his first assistant in charge on the touchline.

“The game, I think we lost in one minute,” Orlando City Assistant Coach Diego Torres said after the match. “In one minute we received two goals. But the energy with the players is amazing.”

Torres’ lineup included Gallese in goal behind the usual back line of David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Freeman. With Cesar Araujo suspended, Joran Gerbet joined Eduard Atuesta in central midfield with attacking midfielders Ivan Angulo and Marco Pasalic. Martin Ojeda and Luis Muriel operated up top as the forwards.

Orlando looked every inch the team playing on short rest against Chicago, which had full rest after not having a midweek game. The Lions were lethargic early and dug a deep hole in the first half with poor attention to detail in defending the final third. The opening goal was a terrible one for Gallese to concede, and the back line did far too little to prevent two more that the visitors tacked on to build a cushion.

The Lions never quit trying to fight their way back into the match, but the hole was far too deep for a shattered group trying to break down a defensively organized team protecting a lead. Had Orlando been able to find a second goal to put pressure on the Fire, the hill might not have proven too difficult to climb, but as it was, Chicago didn’t have to take any real risks after the 32nd minute of the game.

The Fire scored on the first shot of the match, but it wasn’t a great shot, and it was a goal that Gallese will want back, because it was right down the middle and he made a mess of it. Philip Zinckernagel’s drive from outside the box was above Gallese, who let it slip right through his hands and in for the worst goal conceded this season. Zinckernagel hardly celebrated, knowing he’d caught a huge break. The Fire led 1-0 just five minutes into the game and the air went out of the stadium.

“It’s normal (to make) one mistake, one player, but when it’s the goalkeeper, it’s more hard,” Torres said.

Orlando finally attempted a shot in the 16th minute when Angulo cut left to right outside the area, but the Colombian sent his floater well over the target.

The Fire nearly doubled their lead a minute later. Chicago cycled the ball right to left to Jonathan Bamba. Gerbet was slow to close down and Bamba’s shot from the left didn’t miss the right post by much.

Ojeda found some space for Orlando’s first truly dangerous opportunity in the 21st minute. Finding an opening, Ojeda blasted a shot from about 25 yards out. Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady fought it off with an important save.

The Lions tried to get back in the game and held a bit of possession, forcing Chicago into a couple of bookings. Muriel fired wide off a good play by Atuesta to bring the attack into the box in the 29th minute.

Two minutes later, Cuypers doubled the lead. Zinckernagel sent a cross in front to a wide-open Cuypers who had drifted away from Schlegel. The Argentine was caught ball watching as the Fire’s leading scorer pushed the game to 2-0 in the 31st minute.

The restless crowd was still grumbling about the second goal when Cuypers made it 3-0 less than a minute later. Schlegel seemed to take too long to recognize the danger, and when the Argentine tried to recover, Cuypers roasted him to get inside alone and fired home.

“Distractions. But the responsibility is mine, because the defender is discoordinated in these two situations,” Torres said of the breakdowns that led to the two Cuypers goals.

To their credit, the Lions kept fighting to get back into the game, winning a series of corners. Orlando made one pay off with Ojeda sending in a good ball for Freeman in the 40th minute. The young fullback didn’t get a lot of power on his header, but it deflected off of Romingue Kouame to catch Brady wrong-footed. Freeman’s fourth goal of the year made it 3-1.

“I think we went over that set piece a lot during training in the past week,” Freeman said. “It was just me and Rodri (Schlegel) trying to decide who goes first and goes second. Tincho played a wonderful ball and Rodri kind of blocked the guy for me, and then I kind of just headed it and got a little deflection, and it went in. Obviously I was hoping that was going to be the way that we (could) come back.”

Orlando had a couple of shouts for a penalty late, but there wasn’t anything in them. However, Pasalic had a good opportunity to make it 3-2 in the 44th minute on a great hustle play from Angulo, who tracked deep into his own end to defend and then blasted down the field to keep a ball in play at the end line, backheeling it to Muriel, who dropped it to Pasalic. The Croatian had space but sizzled his shot just over the bar.

Neither side did much in more than five minutes of stoppage time and Orlando was looking up at a two-goal deficit at the break.

Possession was split right down the middle in the first half. Orlando City held the advantage in shots (16-6), corners (5-0), and passing accuracy (88.6%-84%). Chicago put more shots on target (4-3).

“We came out too slow, and I feel like as a team, we wanted to start better and perform better,” Freeman said. “But in the second half, we kind of got our stuff together, but we weren’t able to get the goals that we wanted, and we ended up losing.”

Ramiro Enrique subbed on for Angulo at the break, although Muriel looked the most leggy of the Orlando attackers on this night.

The Lions were fortunate that a wayward pass from the right didn’t find two free Fire runners in the box shortly after the restart or it surely would have been 4-1 just moments after the restart.

The Lions continued to win corners early in the second half. The ball fell in the midst of all the bodies a couple of times but Orlando couldn’t find the handle. The closest the Lions came to finding a finish was a Brekalo shot that was blocked out front in the 51st minute. A minute later, Pasalic fired from outside the area on a recycle but Brady tipped the dipping effort over the bar. Pasalic fired again in the 55th minute from the right side, sending his shot through traffic but just wide of the left post.

Chicago nearly put the game to rest in the 57th minute when Andrew Gutman fired off the left post. The rebound came out of the box to Bamba, who fired well over the bar.

The Fire handed Orlando a dangerous free kick in the 58th minute by fouling Ojeda just outside the area on the left. Muriel took the set piece but hit the wall and popped up for Brady to gather.

Enrique’s first sight of goal came in the 62nd minute, but he had to regather after Christopher Cupps put a foot in. By the time Enrique fired, Brady was in position and made a good save from point-blank range. Three minutes later, the Lions came within inches of pulling to within a goal when Muriel fired from outside the box, crashing his effort off the crossbar in the 65th minute.

Orlando kept coming but could not find the quality on the last touch. Freeman headed over the bar in the 70th minute on the recycle of a set piece. Enrique then tried to stab home a great ball from Muriel in the 75th minute, but Brady made a terrific save. Two minutes later, Muriel tried to head it toward the back post on a set piece but it skipped wide. Enrique then got under a header in the 79th as the missed opportunities continued.

There were no major chances for Orlando after that, although second-half sub Dagur Dan Thorhallsson made a terrific effort to steal the ball and start an attack in the fourth minute of stoppage time. In a microcosm of the night, Enrique finished the play by firing over the bar and was offside on the play anyway.

The Lions were spared further blushes deep in stoppage time when Maren Haile-Selassie missed wide of the right post in transition when the Lions were caught out. The whistle finally put a mercy killing to the proceedings and the Lions were deservedly on the wrong side of the scoreline.

Orlando City finished with the advantage in possession (54.5%-45.5%), shots (29-10), shots on target (6-4), corners (13-1), and passing accuracy (89%-83.5%).

“I feel like after the game, we were all quiet. I mean, it’s not how we wanted to go to the break,” Freeman said. “I mean, it’s our home turf. This is where we’re supposed to win. We’re supposed to win for our fans, so I think that after the game all of us were disappointed in ourselves, but I think everybody shouldn’t be disappointed, we should be happy what we’ve done in the past month.”

“We had many chances. It was tough. The goalie made many good saves,” Enrique said. “We gave it our all, but at the end of the day, we leave disappointed with that result.”

The Lions finally get to rest, as Orlando City will not play again until June 14 at the Colorado Rapids.

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Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew: Final Score 1-1 as Lions Finally Earn Road Point

The Lions earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Columbus in Robin Jansson’s first game of the season.

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5 hours ago

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April 12, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

In a draw that felt simultaneously like a loss and a huge win, Orlando City (1-5-1, 4 points) finally showed some defensive grit and determination that has been woefully missing in captain and starting center back Robin Jansson’s first match of the year. A strong start, the captain’s return, some great goalkeeping, desperate defending, and a little luck saw the Lions through to a point on the road against a struggling Columbus Crew (1-3-3, 6 points) side still looking for its first home win. Jansson’s return seemed to be felt throughout the team which fought desperately to redeem itself after a record-setting bad start.

“We were able to maintain the level of energy,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said after the game. “I think we started the first 20-25, minutes, really, in a really good manner, when we scored, not only compact and solid, but also…controlling the game with the ball. I think we could score maybe one more goal there. Then, in the second half, we knew…they’re gonna try to attack more, and that will allow spaces for counterattacks, which we have, and…we couldn’t score. And then the game is the game.”

Perelman’s starting XI featured Maxime Crepeau in goal behind a three-man central defense of David Brekalo, Jansson, and Iago, with wingbacks Griffin Dorsey and Ivan Angulo. Braian Ojeda and Eduard Atuesta played in central midfield, while, Tiago, Martin Ojeda, and Marco Pasalic manned the attack. Duncan McGuire was a late scratch after picking up a knock late in the week in training.

The Lions came out looking like a team that knows how to play football. They pressed and combined and put Columbus under significant pressure early on. The back line was particularly good at reading the Crew’s attacks and snuffing them out, one way or another.

On the other side of the ball, Angulo was aggressive and made good things happen in the opening half hour. Winning the ball, making a quick stop-and-go move, and sprinting down the left side, Angulo sent in an outstanding pass to send Tiago behind on the left. The Brazilian then sent a nice cutback pass to an on rushing Pasalic, who fired home under pressure in the 14th minute to put the Lions ahead early and give some much needed optimism to the team.

“We trained this, not only this week, but it’s something we tried to improve from training to training this last week, and I give props to the team and to Martín [Perelman], the coach, that we have the patience after these losses and we come here with motivation,” Pasalic said. “He motivates us, the team had their heads high, you know, we keep it high after these losses, and it was important to come here and try to show that we can score goals. We created a lot of chances today, especially me. I could’ve scored one more goal. I’m sad about it, but the most important thing, in the last games we don’t create as many chances like today, so this is a good way to go.”

Minutes later, Angulo took advantage of a bad back pass and made an opportunistic run and an accurate pass to Pasalic, whose shot was blocked.

Disaster struck for Columbus when Wessam Abou Ali suffered a non-contact knee injury. He was able to continue, but later went down again and had to be stretchered off.

Dorsey and Brekalo made some good defensive plays early to defend crosses. Brekalo fouled Rossi to prevent a promising attack in the 29th. However, Columbus was beginning to grow into the game and Orlando was beginning to struggle to posses the ball.

In the 32nd minute, Pasalic made a great run but a touch took him wide, resulting in a spoiled attempt that was blocked. On the other side of the pitch, Abou Ali went down without contact in the Orlando 18-yard box during a Columbus attack and was stretchered off in the 35th. This left the Crew without one of their most productive attackers. You couldn’t tell from how the game shifted though, as Columbus began to use quick, accurate passing that the Lions struggled to deal with.

The defending became more and more reactionary and frustrated, resulting in a yellow card to Iago in the 41st for a completely unnecessary foul in the back on Max Arfsten. Brekalo took his turn getting a yellow in the 43rd for persistent infringement, although this one was a bit soft. Columbus kept pouring it on, creating increasing half-chance after chance, but the Lions managed to fend the attacks off. Tiago was particularly effective defending the barrage of set peices.

The half ended mercifully, with Orlando still leading 1-0.

Columbus led in possession (56.2%-43.8%) and shots (5-3), with both teams tied in shots on target (1-1). The Crew dominated the corners (6-0), and led in passing accuracy (90.7%-84.6%).

The second half started like the first half finished with the motivated Crew on the front foot. Orlando could not seem to stop Columbus from playing right through the entire length of the field, leading to a corner in the 54th minute barley surviving the Crew’s relentless efforts.

Tiago earned himself a yellow card defending a Columbus attack by fouling Steven Moreira.

The Lions did have their counterattack chances though and unbelievably were unable to capitalize on a Patrick Schulte gaffe in the 56th minute. Ruby Camacho sent a difficult pass back to Schulte, who kept the ball in play, but teed it up for Pasalic, who tried to pass it back to Martin Ojeda with no one in goal. But Camacho tracked back to interfere with the pass to Ojeda, saving a the Crew from a tap-in goal by Orlando.

Columbus had many chances but was lacking just a little precision which helped keep the Crew off the scoreboard.

Again Orlando created a promising chance in the 57th, with Angulo, Martin Ojeda, and Tiago combining well and Tiago fighting off pressure from Sean Zawadski. Tiago passed right to Malte Amundsen though instead of Ojeda or Pasalic crashing the box.

Jansson was a predictably reassuring presence as he was reading plays and snuffing out chances, but Orlando was still not able to do much but defend deep and launch hopeful balls over the top, with the occasional Angulo attack in the mix but usually leading to a bad touch and no shot.

Luis Otavio came on for Atuesta in the 64th minute giving the veteran some rest and some needed minutes for the young player. In the 65th minute, Angulo’s pace snuffed out a counter, as he contributed to the defense about as much as he did to the offense on the evening.

A common theme was a well placed ball over the defense by Martin Ojeda to Tiago, but unfortunately each time the chance went wanting.

Zakaria Taifi came on in the 68th minute for an active Dorsey who returned from a back injury. In the 70th minute, Iago defended a strong shot with his head and went down for a few minutes and was held off in the sidelines to undergo concussion protocols.

Following the restart, the Lions were awarded a dropped ball, which Ojeda once again sent over the Crew to Tiago who, once again, failed to make anything of a tremendous opportunity, as a poor touch prevented him getting in behind for a scoring chance. Following this play, Iago was subbed based on the concussion assessment and Adrian Marin replaced him.

Jansson lost out on a shoulder-to-shoulder with Jamal Thiare, who played it out to Arfsten, but Crepeau made the save. Orlando countered and again a great opportunity went wanting — this time, after some beautiful buildup via a short Angulo cross that missed a wide-open Martin Ojeda.

Jansson hobbled off the pitch in the 78th, replaced by Tahir Reid-Brown, and Orlando City was officially out of subs.

“Robin was planning to leave the game at the moment, so he’s fine,” Perelman said. “He was coming back from a long period of time without activity, so we knew he wasn’t going to be able to complete the game. Of course, (the) Iago substitution [hurt] us more.”

That sub was costly, because Columbus quickly equalized. In the 80th minute, Columbus finally scored at home for the first time this season via a Diego Rossi shot roofed into the net. Taha Habroune chipped the entry ball over the defense for Rossi, kept onside by Angulo. Reid-Brown was a bit late to recognize the danger as well and was caught on the wrong side of the Columbus forward. Marin was also a tad late getting over to try to block the attempt.

Orlando was clinging to a point, and Marin earned a yellow for a necessary tactical foul, snuffing out a Crew counter in the 82nd. Pasalic earned himself a yellow as well in the 86th for an pulling back Amundsen.

Crepeau kept the Lions in the match with an excellent reaction kick save in the 88th minute on a powerful Daniel Gazdag shot. The Canadian international had to receive medical attention shortly after for an injury to his left hand, but he was able to continue.

The referee added ten minutes of stoppage time that eventually bulged to 12 as the Lions tried to hang on. Angulo looked fatigued in the 96th minute, sending a throw-in right to Rossi which nearly led to another Columbus goal if not for a near miss on a Gazdag header.

The Crew kept coming, but a committed defense, including a great tackle by Marin in the 99th kept the Lions alive. The final whistle blew and the Lions could go home with a much-needed and well-earned result.

The Crew heavily dominated every statistical category though, including possession (60.7%-39.3%), shots (20-5), shots on target (7-1), corners (8-1), and passing accuracy (90.7%-78.7%).

“I’d say we started really good,” Pasalic said. “We hadn’t conceded a goal for 80 minutes, then we made the changes and that mistake happened, but it’s football. I’m happy that the team showed mentality today, that we showed that we can handle things after these big losses. And, I mean, on one side, I say this team didn’t deserve these losses in the past, so I’m not going to speak about it anymore. I look to the future, and we can connect the future games to this game today.” 

Up next, the Lions will hit the road in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 to face FC Naples at Paradise Coast Sports Complex on Wednesday. The Lions return to MLS action with a home match against Houston on Saturday.

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Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Lions remain on the hunt for something good to happen on the road.

Published

18 hours ago

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April 12, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread for a Sunday night matchup between Orlando City (1-5-0, 3 points) and the Columbus Crew (1-3-2, 5 points) at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field (7 p.m., Apple TV). This is the first of the two scheduled meetings between the two Eastern Conference rivals this season with the reverse fixture in Orlando scheduled for Oct. 10.

Here’s what you need to know about the match.

History

The Lions are 10-8-5 in the all-time, regular-season series and 3-5-2 on the road in MLS play. Orlando City is 11-9-5 overall against the Crew in all competitions, which includes a home loss in the playoffs and a home win in the U.S. Open Cup.

The last time these teams met was last Oct. 4 at Inter&Co Stadium. The Crew struck just past the half-hour mark through Andres Herrera, but Marco Pasalic slammed home the rebound of a Luis Muriel shot two minutes later. That was all the scoring in a wasteful 1-1 draw for Orlando. The first meeting of 2025 took place July 25 in Columbus, just prior to the Leagues Cup break. The Crew took the lead on Diego Rossi’s spot kick shortly after the hour mark on after Pasalic was called for a handball in the box. Ramiro Enrique struck 10 minutes later and again three minutes after that to turn the game around. Martin Ojeda added an insurance goal in stoppage time as the Lions won 3-1.

The two sides faced each other in Columbus on Sept. 21, 2024 in a wild back-and-forth game, with the Crew winning 4-3. Rossi, Christian Ramirez, and Cucho Hernandez staked Columbus to a comfortable 3-0 lead by the 71st minute, and the game seemed over. But Enrique’s goal three minutes after Hernandez scored sparked the Lions, who added a Muriel penalty goal to make it a match again. Miscommunication and a poor back pass from Felipe led to a turnover that allowed Aziel Jackson to score in transition, making it 4-2. Muriel scored late in stoppage time, but the Lions ran out of clock and couldn’t complete the comeback.

The teams opened the 2024 season series against each other on May 25. As has been the case with so many matches between Orlando and Columbus, there was controversy in the Crew’s 2-0 win in Orlando. The opening goal came in the second half on a penalty kick that was awarded upon video review following a penalty call at the other end of the pitch. Referee Jair Marrufo awarded the Lions a penalty for a foul on Steven Moreira against Muriel in the box late in the first half. Before Orlando could take the spot kick, Marrufo went to the monitor and ignored a blatant foul by Rossi in the buildup, ruling it a different attacking phase, despite the Lions never regaining clear control of the ball before the next attack, in which the referee ruled a routine shirt pull by Cesar Araujo — embellished significantly by Aidan Morris falling away from the direction of the tug — was clear-cut enough to wipe out the penalty seconds later at the other end. Rossi converted the penalty in first-half stoppage time, adding a second goal just past the hour mark.

The most meeting between the teams with the biggest stakes came in the 2023 Eastern Conference semifinals on Nov. 25, 2023. The teams played scoreless through the 90 minutes plus injury time, with Orlando City defender Rodrigo Schlegel getting sent off late with a second yellow card. The Crew were able to bundle home a goal in extra time and add an insurance marker for a 2-0 win en route to an eventual MLS Cup championship. Ramirez and Hernandez scored for the Crew.

The teams played a memorable game at Exploria Stadium on Sept. 16, 2023, with Orlando coming from behind to snatch a stunning 4-3 victory at the death. Julian Gressel gave Columbus an early lead that held up through the first half. Ojeda equalized just after the restart, but Rossi and Hernandez staked the Crew to a two-goal lead. Facundo Torres pulled one back and Enrique bagged his first MLS brace, with a goal just a few minutes from the end of normal time and another late in stoppage.

The teams met in Columbus on May 13, 2023, playing to a 2-2 draw. Orlando City fell behind 2-0 by halftime on goals by Darlington Nagbe and Jacen Russell-Rowe, but Ercan Kara pulled one back just a few minutes after the restart, and Duncan McGuire leveled the game in stoppage time.

The sides met in Orlando on Decision Day 2022, with Orlando City erasing a 1-0 deficit on a Derrick Etienne Jr. goal to win 2-1 and clinch a playoff spot. Junior Urso leveled the game in the second half and Torres struck from the penalty spot late. The meeting in Columbus that year took place on April 16, 2022, with the Lions winning 2-0 on goals by Schlegel and Kara.

The 2021 season series concluded on Oct. 27 in Columbus with the Crew winning 3-2. Columbus had lost five straight to Orlando prior to Lucas Zelarayan’s one-goal, two-assist performance. Miguel Berry and Etienne also scored for the Crew. Daryl Dike pulled a goal back from the spot and Robin Jansson struck late, but it wasn’t enough.

The teams met at Exploria Stadium on Sept. 4, 2021, with the Lions winning 3-2. Orlando built a 2-0 lead on goals by Dike and Silvester van der Water, but a bizarre own goal by Antonio Carlos threw the Crew a lifeline, and a Berry equalizer turned the game around. Urso provided the winner in the 69th minute.

City won the only meeting of the 2020 pandemic season when the 10-man Lions got a late Benji Michel goal to defeat the Crew 2-1 on Nov. 4. Chris Mueller gave Orlando the lead but Harrison Afful was able to equalize just moments after referee Ramy Touchan sent off Nani on a ludicrous call that was overturned by the MLS independent panel a few days later. Thanks to Michel’s goal, the officiating error didn’t end up costing the Lions, who clinched their first-ever MLS playoff spot with the win.

The Lions swept the season series in 2019, defeating the Crew 1-0 on July 13, 2019, and two weeks previously getting their first road win in the series, 2-0.

Orlando won 2-1 on Oct. 21, 2018 to start a five-game winning streak against the Crew on a pair of penalty kick goals. Yoshimar Yotún and Sacha Kljestan provided the spot kicks to offset Federico Higuain’s opening goal.

The last Crew win in the series prior to the Orlando winning streak was assisted by a horror call by Silviu Petrescu in the 88th minute on July 21, 2018, giving Columbus an equalizer from the penalty spot. Wil Trapp then scored the kind of goal in stoppage time that he’ll probably never score again to lift the Crew to a 3-2 victory in a game the Lions had stolen away from them on a call that Petrescu’s own organization said was an error.

Columbus got the better of Orlando in 2017, going 2-0-1. The Lions were 0-1-1 against Columbus in 2016 and 1-1-1 in the series in 2015, with a home U.S. Open Cup win that season against the Crew as well.

Overview

Orlando City enters tonight’s match not only looking for its first win (or point) away from home this season but also its first lead on the road. To achieve a lead, the club will need to score its first road goal of 2026. The season overall has been a horror show for the Lions, but that’s been especially true on the road, where they’ve gone 0-3-0 by a combined score of 16-0 and have fallen from perennial playoff team to punchline. Orlando has done virtually nothing well in 2026, falling to last in MLS in points (3), wins (1), goals conceded (23), and goal differential (-18). The offense hasn’t been good either, placing above only D.C. United with its five goals scored this season to United’s four to hover just above the MLS basement in that category as well.

Columbus enters tonight on the heels of its first win of the 2026 season, a 3-1 victory at Atlanta a week ago. Things finally came together for a Crew squad that is 0-1-1 at home this year as Wessam Abou Ali scored a brace and USMNT left back Max Arfsten added an insurance goal. The Lions will need to deal with Ali, who leads the Crew in goal contributions with five goals and an assist. Rossi, a perennial problem for Orlando City, has two goals on the season, while Arfsten has chipped in a goal and two assists.

For Orlando to get a result — or perhaps even to keep the game competitive for a change — the Lions will need to play organized defense from the midfield on back, which has been one of the biggest trouble spots for the team in 2026. Defenders will need to track Ali and whoever starts at right back must keep Arfsten in check, which is not easy, as he’s got the ability to take the ball to the end line and cross it in accurately or to fake wide, cut inside, and look for his own shot. At the other end, Orlando City will need to try to beat goalkeeper Patrick Schulte if it is going to break its long road goal drought.

“Columbus is a team that has been doing a really good job in this last period of time. I think they’re finding the performance they want right now, and it’s a team with players at a good level,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said ahead of the match. “We’ll be there ready to compete, to fight, and to do what we know how to do with our plan and our ideas, and hopefully we can have the game we want.”

The Lions will be without Wilder Cartagena (thigh) and Joran Gerbet (knee), while Griffin Dorsey (lower back), Robin Jansson (foot), and Tyrese Spicer (thigh) are listed as questionable. Columbus will be without Mohamed Farsi (sports hernia).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Iago, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Eduard Atuesta, Braian Ojeda, Marco Pasalic.

Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Tiago.

Bench: Javier Otero, Adrian Marin, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Colin Guske, Luis Otavio, Yutaro Tsukada, Justin Ellis, Tyrese Spicer.

Columbus Crew (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Patrick Schulte.

Defenders: Malte Amundsen, Sean Zawadski, Rudy Camacho, Steven Moreira.

Midfielders: Max Arfsten, Dylan Chambost, Andre Gomes, Andres Herrera.

Forwards: Diego Rossi, Wessam Abou Ali.

Bench: Nicholas Hagen, Cesar Ruvalcaba, Amar Sejdic, Taha Habroune, Hugo Picard, Sekou Bangoura, Daniel Gazdag, Jamal Thiare, Nariman Akhundzada.

Referees

REF: Ricardo Montero Araya.
AR1: Andrew Bigelow.
AR2: Tyler Wyrostek.
4TH: Marcos DeOliveira.
VAR: Ismir Pekmic.
AVAR: Tom Felice.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7 p.m.

Venue: Scotts Miracle-Gro Field — Columbus, OH.

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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Poor Starts Hurting Orlando City

The Lions have been shaky in the first 10 minutes out of the locker room, and the results speak for themselves.

Published

3 days ago

on

April 10, 2026

By

Image of Maxime Crepeau making a save against the New York Red Bulls.
Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

There are no two ways about it, 2026 has been an extremely rough season for Orlando City. The Lions are 1-5-0 after six games, and are only spared from the indignity of being the worst team in the league by the winless Philadelphia Union. As it is, OCSC has only scored five times in those six games while giving up a staggering 23 goals. The goal differential of -18 is eight worse than the next closest team, with CF Montreal sitting on -10.

Clearly, giving up goals in general is a big issue for this team, but let’s dig slightly deeper than that. Orlando has given up three goals inside the first 10 minutes of play on three separate occasions, and the Lions went on to lose each of those games.

That statistic speaks to a team that’s been starting games poorly, and that’s certainly backed up by the eye test. In the season opener against the New York Red Bulls, it took just seven minutes for the visitors to score, and it might have been even faster if not for a good save by Maxime Crepeau in the fifth minute. Poor marking and positioning were at least partly to blame in both cases, as the Lions simply didn’t look like they were playing at the same speed as their opponents. While the loss of Wilder Cartagena to injury didn’t help matters, being behind so early in the game put Orlando on the back foot for the rest of the half. OCSC finished the first 45 with two shots and one on target, while the Red Bulls took 13, put seven on frame, and scored another goal to make it 2-0 at the break. The Lions had a much better second half but ultimately couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole they helped create.

Against Nashville SC, Crepeau’s goal was breached five minutes into the game. This time it wasn’t the defense to blame but the goalkeeper himself, as he was caught out at his near post by a Cristian Espinoza shot that had no business going in when considering the place on the field where it was taken. Espinoza’s effort was well struck and hit with power, but it was a shocking goal to concede, especially so early in the game.

In Saturday’s loss to LAFC, it took seven minutes for Orlando to go behind. The culprit this time was David Brekalo, as he made a mess of a pretty ordinary cross into the box and, rather than clearing it, his touch took the ball beyond Crepeau for an own goal. The play looked to be extremely ordinary as it was developing, yet the Lions once again found themselves in an early hole.

If we want to go even deeper then we can look at the first 10 minutes of second halves as well, where Orlando has given up four goals. One came in the 49th minute against Miami and cut Orlando’s lead in half; two came against New York City FC in the 49th and 54th minutes and made the score 4-0 and then 5-0; and one came against Nashville in the 55th minute to make it 3-0. While its troubling to give up an early goal in the first half, there’s an argument that doing so right after halftime is even worse. The team has just had 15 minutes to talk over things that needed to change from the opening period, refocus, and prepare to put any tactical changes into place. That makes it especially frustrating to come out after halftime and see all that planning and preparation have been for nothing.

In the NYCFC game you can make the argument that the team was already down 3-0 and playing with 10 men, so there isn’t much to be learned from anything that happened after Maxime Crepeau’s red card. That isn’t the case for the other two games though, as the Lions had a lead against Miami and were only two goals down against Nashville. The coaching change didn’t do anything to fix the issue either, as four of the early goals came while Oscar Pareja was in charge, and three have been scored with Martin Perelman in command.

In total, seven of the 23 goals that Orlando has conceded have been scored within the first 10 minutes of the start of a half. For whatever reason, the team seems to struggle with coming out with focus and intensity to start halves, and that’s a huge problem for a team that has work to do in order to get its season back on track. Whether something needs to change in the team’s pregame and halftime preparations or it’s simply something that needs to be worked through with brute force, the Lions can’t afford to keep getting punched in the mouth early. This team needs points, and it needs to come out of the locker room more focused and intense if it’s going to get them. Vamos Orlando.

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