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Orlando City vs. St. Louis City: Final Score 4-2 as Enrique, Pasalic Power Lions to Victory

The attack was spectacular on the road, as the Lions scored four times to stay unbeaten against St. Louis City.

Published

10 months ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City’s attack scored four goals and could have at least doubled that with a little better luck and decision making in a 4-2 win over St. Louis City at Energizer Park. Ramiro Enrique and Marco Pasalic each bagged a brace, and the Lions (9-4-6, 33 points) needed each of those goals after a pair of defensive errors allowed the hosts to climb back into a game they were seemingly out of just 22 minutes after kickoff.

Simon Becher and Joao Klauss pulled St. Louis City (3-10-6, 15 points) to within 3-2 just before halftime, but Orlando City weathered the heat and the pressure and put the game away late.

“First, I want to recognize to the players, the effort. Incredible, incredible heat today on the pitch and the humidity,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “I think everybody noticed it at the end. But the effort was constant and I want to remark (on) that.”

With Rodrigo Schlegel suspended and Alex Freeman away on international duty, Pareja’s lineup featured Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson. Cesar Araujo and Eduard Atuesta were the central midfielders between wingers Ivan Angulo and Pasalic, with Martin Ojeda and Enrique up top.

The opening half was a shooting gallery, with the Lions jumping on St. Louis early, then threatening to blow the hosts out, only to start wasting some of the best chances they’ve had all season and returning to the kind of awful defensive lapses that plagued the team early in the year. That turned a comfortable 3-0 lead into a 3-2 nervy finish to the first half.

The Lions created the game’s first scoring chance off a corner kick won by Atuesta. The service found Araujo in the box, and the Uruguayan put his header on target but it was an easy one-hop save for Roman Burki in the fourth minute. Two minutes later, Pasalic sent a good ball from the right to the back post, but there were not teammates making a run there.

No matter, because Orlando City struck first anyway a minute later. The Lions worked the ball through the St. Louis midfield, moving it right to left to Angulo. The Colombian slipped Ojeda down the left, and the Argentine sent a crisp ball across the top of the six. Enrique ran onto it and redirected it past Burki to make it 1-0 in the seventh minute.

“That was a transition goal, something we worked on a lot this week in training,” Enrique said. “It was a great transition by the team. We brought it forward well, and once Tincho (Ojeda) arrived in the spot that he did, I know that he’s always going to move it towards the center, and then open up spaces. So, as soon as he did that, I was able to get in the right spot and push it towards goal and pushed us ahead.”

The lead grew just moments later. Orlando broke in transition and Pasalic made a nice move to slow down and buy himself some space in the middle. The Croatian fired from distance and picked out the inside of the right post to make it 2-0 in the ninth minute.

Pasalic had an open header on a Smith cross in the 11th minute but this time the Croatian hit his shot right at Burki for an easy save.

After that miss, St. Louis had a good attacking spell as the Lions struggled with some poor touches and passes against the press. Klauss created the first chance out of nowhere, but Gallese made a partial save and the ball hit off of Smith and deflected away. In the 13th minute, a poor giveaway allowed Marcel Hartel a shot, but the effort went over the crossbar.

Jansson had a good chance to clear in a cross, as he was positioned well and no one was in front of him, but he scuffed the clearance out for a corner. Timo Baumgartl bundled the service forward but right to Gallese. Klauss then got another opportunity, but the defense blocked his shot out for a corner.

The Lions finally took the pressure off with a counterattack and created another scoring chance in the 18th minute. Enrique was set up at the top of the box, but he sent his curling effort just outside the right post near the top corner. That led to another good spell for Orlando City, and moments later, Pasalic found Ojeda in a good position on the left but the ball skipped over the Argentine’s foot and out for a goal kick.

The Lions’ lead bulged to 3-0 just after the restart. Orlando forced a giveaway and Atuesta knocked the ball quickly to Enrique, who slammed the ball past Burki to make it 3-0 in the 22nd minute. It was Enrique’s fourth of the season.

“We saw in St. Louis a group that they aggressively want to play it out of the back, and especially their goalkeeper,” Pareja said. “We were sure that with the pressure that we were doing, we may have a chance on that phase of the game.”

“It’s another thing that we trained on this week, and it was something that we told ourselves that we could score from, because they had a lot of confidence in the way that they were building out,” Enrique said. “We worked with the high press and the back press as well. And, you know, we were able to take advantage of that tonight and get it high up the field, and then thankfully, I was able to score on the chance that we were able to turn over in that situation.”

The game slowed down for a bit leading up to the hydration break in the 33rd minute. The Lions then got exceedingly wasteful with their chances and a couple of defensive lapses allowed the hosts to climb right back into a game they were completely out of at the time.

Enrique had his first opportunity to complete his hat trick in the 36th minute on a great ball over the top. He was able to bring it down with Burki charging out, and as he tried to cut inside and fire it into the empty net, Burki got the slightest of touches on the ball to knock it away. By the time he regathered, the chance was gone.

Two minutes later, Enrique got his second chance to complete the hat trick on a nice diagonal ball to send him in behind. This time, the Argentine took an extra touch instead of shooting first-time, and Burki came out to smother it. Ojeda then fired a right-footed shot in the 39th minute from the left. The shot was right at Burki, who made the save. The rebound found its way to Thorhallsson on the right, but the Icelandic fullback made a mess of the shot, sending it high into the stands.

Those wasted opportunities allowed the hosts to pull one back in the 40th minute and get into the game. Becher got in behind Smith on a ball over the top. Jansson overran it as he cut back inside and slotted past Gallese to make it 3-1.

“I thought we had two very clear chances to put the game even further away from St Louis,” Pareja said. “We missed it, and in that moment, they reacted well. They scored that first goal and it seems like we lost a little bit of control of the ball.”

The goal galvanized St. Louis City. Klauss had a chance from the top of the box moments later but his shot deflected out for a corner. The Brazilian then headed over on the ensuing corner kick.

The Lions’ biggest mistake in the attack came in the 44th minute. Orlando broke 2-v-0 behind the defense with Angulo taking the ball up the left. Enrique was on Angulo’s right, hanging back to stay onside. Inexplicably, Angulo dribbled the ball straight to Burki before trying to lay it off and the goalkeeper got his foot on it to break up what should have been the easiest goal of the night and Enrique’s first career hat trick. Instead, the chance evaporated.

St. Louis City pulled a second goal back in the third minute of first-half stoppage time. Atuesta had a chance to clear it but he muffed his attempt and his distraction kept Brekalo from being able to clear. The ball ended up with Klauss, who slammed it into the net to make it 3-2.

“They scored that second goal with that mistake that we made,” Pareja said.

Ojeda had one more decent opportunity late, but Burki saved it and the Lions went to the half nursing just a one-goal lead.

At the break, Orlando City had the advantage in possession (53%-47%), shots (12-11), shots on target (8-3), and passing accuracy (90.4%-87.1%). Both teams earned three corners.

“We scored three goals and we could have scored probably a couple more,” Pareja said. “But we ended up just conceding them two goals and made them believe in the game, so that became a challenge for the second half. We started the half more timid and they got some confidence, but at the same time, in that second half, we played very smart and we did what we needed. We moved the numerical superiority that they wanted to do, and in the moments that we arrived to the box, we were very dangerous.”

St. Louis City came out of the break as the much more confident team, keeping Orlando pinned deep for much of the first 10 minutes. Eventually, the Lions settled into the half and started generating chances, but not as clear-cut as in the first half.

Ojeda fired over the bar with his right foot off a deflected Atuesta cross that found him near the top of the area in the 48th minute.

St. Louis held possession for a spell but couldn’t create chances out of it. Orlando eventually went the other way and fashioned some promising attacks, but the Lions couldn’t pay them off. The first of those came in the 56th minute, when Pasalic laid the ball off for Atuesta outside the area, but the Colombian fired right at Burki. Seconds later, Angulo did well to cut in from left to right, but his shot was deflected out for a corner by Kyle Hiebert. The Lions couldn’t pay off the set piece.

Enrique again came close to his hat trick in the 59th minute, getting forward and trying an inside-out shot from near the top of the area. Burki made another diving save to keep it a one-goal game. On the ensuing corner, Atuesta did well to pick out Araujo near the left corner of the box. The Uruguayan again got his header on target but Burki fought it off at the near post in the 62nd minute. A minute later, Pasalic had his shot blocked out front by Hartel. Atuesta’s shot was blocked out front two minutes later. Pasalic then drew a foul just outside the area in the 67th minute, but Ojeda fired his free kick over the goal frame.

Klauss had a good opportunity to equalize off an attacking-third turnover by Atuesta in the 76th minute. A quick ball over the top found the Brazilian, who discarded Brekalo and then fired just wide.

Enrique’s final chance to complete his hat trick came in the 80th minute, when he made a great move to put himself in behind the defense at midfield. The Argentine had a long run with the ball from left to right to get himself clear to shoot and sent a shot toward the left post that beat Burki but slipped just inches wide of finding the net.

Two minutes later, it was Pasalic who put the game away. Jansson sent a ball forward to Atuesta near midfield. The Colombian chested it down and dished to Pasalic on the right. The Croatian cut inside, got his defender to open up, and fired a clinical incision of a shot through Jayden Reid’s legs, freezing Burki in place and making it 4-2 in the 82nd minute with his eighth goal of the season.

“The surprise is that the way (Pasalic) adjusted to the league, to the group, has been so fast, and I may say that he even improved our position in there,” Pareja said of the Croatian filling the hole left behind by the sale of Facundo Torres to Palmeiras. “So, with all what Facu has given us, too, and the love that we have for him, I think Marco is taking that position to the next level. His scoring talent, the way he grew with the group, socially he’s an incredible kid, too. So we’re so blessed to have him.”

The hosts kept coming in an effort to get something from the game. Klauss fired a header wide in the 89th minute as the Orlando defense did just enough to pressure him into the misfire. Gallese then made two big saves in stoppage time to preserve the lead. The first came off a flicked header on a long-range set piece in the third extra minute. Michael Wentzel got his head to the entry ball and flicked it into Gallese’s belly, but the Peruvian was able to catch it cleanly with St. Louis attackers closing on him. Shortly thereafter, substitute Brendan McSorley was left in too much space and sent a 25-yard shot just wide of the left post.

The last chance ended with Gallese’s biggest save of the match. McSorley did well to turn Smith and then beat him to the outside, smashing a shot on target. Gallese reacted quickly to knock the ball over the net with a good save.

That was the last good look and the Lions hung onto the two-goal lead to win their second straight on the road.

Orlando City finished with the advantage in possession (50.2%-49.8%), shots (24-16), shots on target (12-5), corners (6-5), and passing accuracy (88.3%-85%).

“Very happy tonight for the team, especially to get this win out here on the road and in the heat,” Enrique said. “You know, it’s a good three points for the team tonight, so I’m really happy and ready to go.”

Due to other results around the league, Orlando City remains fifth in the Eastern Conference, just a point behind the Columbus Crew.

Hopefully the Lions got a good, long rest after the Colorado match, because they have a short turnaround with FC Cincinnati visiting Inter&Co Stadium on Saturday.

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Orlando City vs. New England Revolution, 2026 U.S. Open Cup: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Lions head to Rhode Island looking to advance in the U.S. Open Cup against the Revs.

Published

5 hours ago

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April 29, 2026

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

Welcome to your match thread for a Wednesday night U.S. Open Cup matchup between Orlando City and the New England Revolution at Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket, RI (7:30 p.m., Paramount+). This is the first meeting between the two MLS Eastern Conference rivals this season, with two scheduled league matches still left to play in 2026.

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

History

The Lions are 6-7-8 in the regular-season series against New England and 7-8-8 in all competitions. On the road, Orlando City is just 2-6-2 against the Revs, with all of those prior meetings coming in the MLS regular season. Orlando City has faced the Revolution once before in U.S. Open Cup play, winning that prior meeting (more on that below).

The most recent meeting between the teams was also in New England, but it was at Gillette Stadium, the Revs’ usual home. Martin Ojeda’s brace led the Lions to a 2-1 victory on July 19, 2025 — just the team’s second road win in the series. Thomas Chancalay scored for New England.

The first match between the sides last year was a wild 3-3 draw in Orlando on May 10. The Lions squandered two leads in that match, including a 2-0 advantage. Ojeda scored Orlando’s first hat trick since 2015 in that game, but those three goals were offset by strikes by Alhassan Yusuf, Matt Polster, and Carles Gil. One of Ojeda’s goals and Gil’s strike were penalties.

Prior to that, the teams met on Sept. 14, 2024, with the Lions completing their first-ever sweep of the Revs with a 3-0 win. Rafael Santos, Facundo Torres (from the penalty spot), and Duncan McGuire provided the offense in a dominant performance. The teams also met on July 13 at Gillette Stadium that year, where the Lions won for the first time, handing the Revs a 3-1 home loss. Torres’ brace led the way to an Orlando comeback, with Ramiro Enrique also scoring to overturn an early 1-0 deficit provided by Giacomo Vrioni.

The teams met in Orlando on Oct. 7, 2023, with the Lions winning 3-2 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicates. Orlando City clinched second in the Eastern Conference as McGuire and Torres built a 2-0 lead. Pedro Gallese gave up a soft goal from distance to Gil, but Ivan Angulo pulled that one back three minutes later. Gil added a second goal deep in stoppage time to improve the result cosmetically.

New England got the better of the Lions in the previous matchup of the 2023 season, winning 3-1 at Gillette Stadium on June 17. After a scoreless first half, the Revs went up by two with goals from Emmanuel Boateng and Gustavo Bou 18 minutes apart. McGuire pulled one back late, but Gil scored the dagger five minutes later.

These teams met at Exploria Stadium on Aug. 6, 2022, and the previously struggling Revolution whipped Orlando City, 3-0. New England got goals from unlikely sources, as central midfielders Polster and Wilfrid Kaptoum and center back Henry Kessler provided the offense. The teams met at Gillette Stadium on June 15 of that year, and the Revs went ahead on a Gil goal, but the Lions pulled that back with a Robin Jansson strike en route to a 1-1 road draw.

New England went unbeaten in the 2021 season series. The teams played to a 2-2 draw at Exploria Stadium on Oct. 24, 2021. The Lions built a 2-0 lead through goals by Nani and Daryl Dike, but two late Adam Buksa goals allowed the Revs to steal a point. The teams met at Gillette Stadium just over a month prior to that draw in Orlando, with Nani’s missed penalty a costly one in a 2-1 Revs home win. The Revolution jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a goal by Buksa and an own goal off of Rodrigo Schlegel. Dike pulled one back for the Lions and later won a penalty, but Nani’s attempt to go down the middle was read at the last second by Matt Turner, who got his shoulder to it to preserve the lead.

The Revolution ended the Lions’ season at Exploria Stadium in the 2020 playoffs, knocking Orlando City out of MLS Cup contention in the conference semifinal round on Nov. 29, 2020. That 3-1 win by the Revs was the first road win for either side in the series in any competition. Gil put the Revs up early from the penalty spot after a call against Uri Rosell, and Bou doubled the lead eight minutes later, finishing a play that started with a Nani turnover. Junior Urso pulled a goal back before the halftime whistle, but Mauricio Pereyra was sent off for a studs-up challenge on Polster at the hour mark. Still, Nani had a chance to equalize from the spot, but a poor penalty was saved by Turner. Bou added a late insurance goal.

In the final year of the pre-pandemic times, the Revs went 1-0-1 in the season series. The Lions and Revolution met at Exploria Stadium on Sept. 14, 2019, with Orlando overcoming a Tesho Akindele own goal and two deficits — the second by two goals — and rallying for a 3-3 draw. Shortly after Akindele’s own goal opened the scoring, Nani tied things up. Cristian Penilla and Bou scored goals five minutes apart just before halftime to seemingly give the visitors control. But Dom Dwyer pulled one back after the restart and Nani tied it up.

The teams also met at Gillette Stadium in 2019 on July 27, and the Revs put the Lions on full blast, 4-1. Bou scored within the first two minutes of the game, and the Revolution got goals from Penilla, Gil, and Diego Fagundez. Akindele scored to avoid the shutout.

The teams also met at Exploria Stadium in U.S. Open Cup action that year on June 19, with the Lions scoring twice in a 30-minute extra time session and holding on for a 2-1 victory. Benji Michel and Akindele staked Orlando to a 2-0 lead before Justin Rennicks pulled one back off a Gil back-post cross. City was able to see the game out.

The last meeting of 2018 saw the Revs top a depleted Orlando side, 2-0 in Gillette Stadium on Oct. 13. In the first matchup of 2018, the teams combined for six goals in a 3-3 draw at Orlando City Stadium on Aug. 4.

Orlando City and New England split the season series in 2017. City completed a 6-1 demolition of 10-man New England at home Sept. 27, 2017. New England won at Gillette Stadium that year by a 4-0 count.

The Lions went 1-0-2 in the series in 2016, winning 3-1 at home on July 31. The teams played a controversial 2-2 draw in Orlando on April 17, 2016. The second 2016 meeting reached the same final score on April 30 in New England.

The teams met twice in 2015, with Orlando City rallying from a 2-0 deficit in the final 17 minutes to draw 2-2 at the Citrus Bowl in April. The Sept. 5 rematch at Gillette Stadium didn’t go as well, with New England taking a 3-0 win. Fagundez, Agudelo and Chris Tierney scored for the Revolution.

Overview

Orlando City is coming off a road loss at D.C. United on Saturday. The Lions came from behind to take a 2-1 second-half lead, but then Orlando melted down in the final six minutes, allowing two goals to throw away all three points. City’s only win away from home this season came in the team’s 1-0 round-of-32 U.S. Open Cup match at FC Naples on April 15, but that was far from easy as the USL League One side dominated the game’s final 30 minutes.

The Lions are 19-11-5 all-time in the U.S. Open Cup, 11-7-5 since becoming an MLS side. Away from Orlando, the Lions are 8-6-2 in the U.S. Open Cup, 5-2-2 since joining Major League Soccer.

The Revolution are coming off a 1-1 draw at Inter Miami over the weekend, with Gil scoring for New England. The Revs are 4-0-2 in their last six matches in all competitions and reached this round of the U.S. Open Cup by outlasting USL Championship side Rhode Island FC in penalties after a 1-1 draw on April 14. Fagundez scored shortly after halftime, but Rhode Island’s J.J. Williams equalized in the 11th minute of stoppage time to send the match to extra time and, ultimately, spot kicks.

It seems a bit of a flex for the Revs to return to Rhode Island FC’s stadium to host its round-of-16 match, but they earned the right, so fair play to New England.

“Of course it’s different playing in the U.S. Open Cup, or in every match that is do or die, win or go home,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said ahead of the match. “It’s a different context that changes the game, but we have experience in these kinds of competitions and we’re ready for it. We like to compete, we are competitors, so we’re happy and excited.”

Match Content

Projected Lineups

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Javier Otero.

Defenders: Adrian Marin, Robin Jansson, Iago, Zakaria Taifi.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Colin Guske, Braian Ojeda, Tiago.

Forwards: Tyrese Spicer, Justin Ellis.

New England Revolution (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Matt Turner.

Defenders: Will Sands, Mamadou Fofana, Ethan Kohler, Ilay Feingold.

Midfielders: Alhassan Yusuf, Carles Gil, Brooklyn Raines.

Forwards: Peyton Miller, Dor Turgeman, Griffin Yow.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Centreville Bank Stadium — Pawtucket, RI.

TV/Live Stream: Paramount+.

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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Lion Links

Lion Links: 4/29/26

Orlando City plays New England tonight, the Orlando Pride are recognized, USMNT news, and more.

Published

9 hours ago

on

April 29, 2026

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. It’s match day with Orlando City taking on the New England Revolution in the U.S. Open Cup tonight. The fixture congestion is real as this is the third match for the Lions in just eight days. I’m sure that it will be fine since Orlando City doesn’t have any injury or depth issues…err…let’s get to the links.

Orlando City’s Open Cup Continues

Orlando City is in Rhode Island to take on the New England Revolution in the next round of the U.S. Open Cup. As always, it will be interesting to see which regular starters play and which youngsters get the start, though the difference between those two is not as stark as in the past. The Lions also have a trip to play Inter Miami this weekend to consider. I don’t think it will happen, but I say go all in on the Open Cup and play Orlando City B against Miami.

Orlando Pride Earns Recognition

Zara Chavoshi is the Orlando Pride’s nominee for the Lauren Holiday Impact Award for 2026. Chavoshi’s chosen community partner is Habitat for Humanity Seminole-Apopka. Each of the 16 NWSL teams are represented with a panel of judges, including Holiday, determining the winner. In other news, the Pride are still in the top three of SI.com’s NWSL power rankings. Shockingly — I say with tongue planted firmly in cheek — Barbra Banda didn’t make CBSsports.com’s NWSL Team of the Week despite scoring a brace.

Griezmann Continues Champions League Chase

Orlando City’s next Designated Player, Antoine Griezmann, has unfinished business with current club Atletico Madrid. Griezmann and Atletico face Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League semifinals this afternoon. As much as I’m looking forward to Griezmann’s arrival in Orlando, I am also all for him winning hardware before he leaves Atletico.

USMNT News

The World Cup is just around the corner, and there are many players in MLS who will be representing their respective countries. Matt Turner is making an excellent case that he should be the first-choice keeper for the USMNT. Stepping outside of MLS, is Weston McKennie the player who the U.S. can least afford to lose heading into the World Cup? McKennie has been playing well this year for club and country. Meanwhile, Christian Pulisic has been in a bit of a slump. Hopefully, he can turn it around before the World Cup.

Free Kicks

  • Rodrigo Schlegel visited Orlando City’s training this week. I’m not saying I want him to start, but a short-term contract for depth might be nice.

🚨 Jose Mourinho preferred candidate of Florentino Perez to become next Real Madrid head coach. Support not universal inside #RMFC but president driving process so 63yo strong contender. Time-sensitive ~€3m break clause in Benfica contract 🚨@theathleticfc.bsky.socialwww.nytimes.com/athletic/723…

— David Ornstein (@david-ornstein.bsky.social) 2026-04-28T11:49:11.588Z
  • Sometimes there’s a light of hope in the dark forest that we’re travelling through. Believe.

That will do it for today. Check back for our coverage of Orlando City’s match tonight. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 4/28/26

Takeaways from MLS matchday 10, Americans in midweek action, Vancouver Whitecaps may be relocated, and more.

Published

1 day ago

on

April 28, 2026

By

Image of Martin Ojeda with the ball against Nashville.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Good morning, everyone. It was a mixed bag for Orlando’s soccer teams over the weekend, as Orlando City B was the only one of the three sides to get a result. We’ve got another busy week ahead of us as Orlando City will be in action twice, the Orlando Pride face the Washington Spirit on Saturday, and OCB takes on Crown Legacy to round off the week on Sunday. We’ve got plenty to discuss today, so let’s jump into the links.

MLS Matchday 10 Lessons

Matchday 10 is officially in the books for Major League Soccer, so what did we learn from the weekend’s action? For one thing, the Vancouver Whitecaps seem to have done a very good job of reloading from the off-season losses of Ali Ahmed and Jayden Nelson. New faces Cheikh Sabaly and Bruno Caicedo have been finding their feet and both had goal involvements in Vancouver’s 3-1 win over the Colorado Rapids. Matt Turner looks to be rediscovering some of his best form as he made nine saves in the New England Revolution’s 1-1 draw with Inter Miami. New York City FC’s Matt Freese has been the frontrunner to start in goal for the United States Men’s National Team at the World Cup this summer, but based on his league performances, Turner could make a late charge.

Americans in Midweek Action

Plenty of Americans will be taking part in games during the working week, so let’s have a look at the schedule. Things get started Wednesday, when Tim Ream, Luca de la Torre, and Charlotte FC play Atlanta United in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16. Wednesday has Johnny Cardoso and Atletico Madrid hosting Arsenal in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinals. On Thursday, Chris Richards and Crystal Palace will travel to Shakhtar Donetsk for the first leg of a UEFA Conference League semifinal. The action wraps up on Friday when Brenden Aaronson and Leeds United host Burnley in a Premier League tilt.

Relocation Possible for Vancouver Whitecaps

A special committee of MLS owners reportedly met earlier in April to discuss the potential relocation of the Vancouver Whitecaps. Specifically, Las Vegas is said to have been the primary relocation option discussed at the meeting. It’s been two decades since a team was relocated, as the last franchise to move were the San Jose Earthquakes, who went to Houston and became the Dynamo before being replaced with another San Jose expansion team two years later. Other cities said to be interested in landing a team include Phoenix, Indianapolis, and Sacramento, with Phoenix reportedly one of the main candidates being considered for relocation alongside Vegas. In the meantime, the Whitecaps remain up for sale while the team tries to find an in-market stadium solution, as the team’s lease with BC Place expires at the end of the year.

High Profile Injuries Continue

The 2025-2026 European season has seen a number of high profile injuries, and that’s a trend that unfortunately continued over the weekend. Xavi Simons suffered a torn ACL in his right knee during Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, and he will undergo surgery that will sideline him for a significant amount of time. Real Madrid confirmed on Monday that Kylian Mbappe has a left hamstring injury, and he could reportedly miss the May 10 Clasico match against Barcelona as well as the rest of the La Liga season. AC Milan midfielder Luka Modric fractured his left cheekbone in the team’s 0-0 draw with Juventus on Sunday and had surgery to repair the damage. His club season is over, but Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic is confident that he will be healthy in time for the World Cup.

Free Kicks

  • FIFA will reportedly increase the number of times that yellow cards are wiped away at this summer’s World Cup.

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

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