Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew: Final Score 3-1 as Lions Claim Road Victory in Columbus
After a lackluster first 66 minutes, the Lions dominated the final 30 minutes to erase a 1-0 deficit and beat the Crew on the road.
Orlando City was dominated by the Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field for more than an hour, but after falling behind, the Lions owned the final 30 minutes. Lion killer Diego Rossi spotted the hosts a 1-0 lead with a penalty kick goal, but Ramiro Enrique’s brace and Martin Ojeda’s insurance goal turned the game on its head late in a 3-1 OCSC road victory. Orlando City (11-6-8, 41 points) handed the Crew (12-5-8, 44 points) their second loss of the year as the home team and their first defeat of 2025 at Lower.com Field. The Crew had previously only lost as the “home” team in Cleveland.
Orlando won its second straight match — both on the road — on the heels of a four-game winless streak.
“Congratulations to the players for such an effort tonight,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “The discipline, the willingness to do the task on the pitch, the tactical respect that they have for the game for the whole 90-plus minutes — almost 100 — was something that we were insisting during the week, and they won a very important game and very well deserved, too. So, again, congratulations to the players for such an important victory.”
Pareja’s lineup featured Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Alex Freeman. Cesar Araujo and Eduard Atuesta started in central midfield between wingers Ivan Angulo and Marco Pasalic, with Ojeda and Luis Muriel up top.
The match was delayed about an hour due to storms in Columbus, and when things finally got underway, the hosts immediately got on the front foot. Rossi headed wide 12 seconds into the game and then fired a shot that Gallese had to save in the second minute. Nagbe saw his shot blocked in the eighth minute after a careless layoff by Muriel to nobody in the defensive third. Moments later, Jacen Russell-Rowe fired wide in transition.
Orlando struggled to maintain any pressure in the attacking third in the game’s first 10-15 minutes. The Lions finally got a shot off in the 21st minute when Pasalic did well to split defenders and fire, but his effort was blocked. The rebound caromed straight to Muriel with only Patrick Schulte to beat, but the Colombian couldn’t do it, leaving his shot close enough to the middle for the goalkeeper to save.
After that miss, the Crew had a shooting gallery for awhile, as the Lions refused to stop giving the ball away cheaply.
Daniel Gazdag headed just wide in the 23rd minute. Columbus did nothing with the ensuing corner, but the hosts kept the pressure on. Russell-Rowe sent a one-time shot off a Steven Moreira pass just wide of the left post in the 25th minute. Moments later, Angulo got torched by Ibrahim Aliyu, who found Russell-Rowe on the right. The forward fired a shot but Gallese was able to make a big save.
The Lions finally got another sight of goal at the half-hour mark, with Pasalic splitting defenders just outside the box and sending a shot on frame. Schulte made the save, but couldn’t control the rebound, which looked like it would fall for Muriel, but the Colombian was offside.
Three minutes after Pasalic’s half-chance, the Crew again got forward. Max Arfsten cut inside of Freeman and Schlegel overplayed his help defense. That allowed the fullback to get an open look at goal, but Arfsten sent his shot fizzing just wide of the right post. Orlando gave the ball right back after the goal kick and Dylan Chambost sent a shot right at Gallese from distance.
Brekalo sent a cross into the box for Ojeda in the 38th minute, but there wasn’t much on it and the Lions’ No. 10 tried heading a hopeful ball into space for a runner that never arrived. The best Orlando attacking buildup of the half ended up on Ojeda’s foot at the top of the box in the 45th minute, but the shot sailed wastefully over the bar.
Neither side could do much in the three added minutes and the teams went into halftime scoreless.
Columbus held the halftime advantage in possession (61.9%-38.1%), shots (10-4), shots on target (3-2), corners (4-0), and passing accuracy (89.4%-81%). Despite the Crew’s domination, the half ended with the same score as when the game began.
“We couldn’t retain the ball in the first half,” Pareja said. “Our sequences were very short. We didn’t find the spaces to provide a little bit of peace to our team. And Columbus, they know how to use the spaces, and they were creating a lot of trouble, especially on our left, despite the job that Ivan (Angulo) and Brekalo, and Robin (Jansson), and Cesar (Araujo) — they tried to stop them. But I have to admit that they have very good system and very good players on that side. We couldn’t stop it. But the worst thing for us was that we couldn’t retain the ball, because we couldn’t compete for the ball a little better.”
Not much changed at the break. Columbus continued to see way more of the ball and Orlando kept turning the ball over when the defense was able to snuff out attacks. The first came in the 46th minute when Atuesta was pulled down with no call from referee Timothy Ford, igniting the counter. Rossi fired just wide of the left post in transition.
Jansson’s poor clearance in the 52nd minute found Russell-Rowe at the top of the box. The Crew forward fired on target but Gallese made a big stop. Columbus then won a series of set pieces in the attacking third but could do nothing with them.
Orlando got a rare shot in the 60th minute when Muriel tried his luck from extreme range. The shot sailed well over the crossbar.
The Crew took the lead in the 66th minute. Pasalic somehow ended up on the opposite side of the pitch and a cross into the box grazed his hand. The ball didn’t change trajectory and came from close range, Ford went to the monitor and awarded a penalty for handball. Rossi sent Gallese the wrong way and scored.
Enrique replaced Muriel after the penalty.
Orlando had its own shout for a penalty in the 72nd minute. Angulo split two defenders to get into the box and Moreira grabbed him and pulled the arm. The Colombian went down but there was no call and the video assistant referee did not send Ford to the monitor.
“When Moreira grabbed his hand, it was so clear, and we couldn’t explain ourselves on the bench how that could not be (overturned),” Pareja said.
The Lions struck four minutes later anyway. Angulo beat Arfsten — who switched sides when Lassi Lappalainen came on for Russell-Rowe — down the left side and lifted a cross into the middle. Enrique was passively marked and took advantage, flicking a header inside the right post to tie the match in the 76th minute.
“Ramiro coming into the game really helped us a lot, because he came in with so much energy,” Angulo said. “And, you know, I think everybody just really pushed ahead. And of course, it changed the game.”
The same players hooked up three minutes later. Ojeda sent a great through ball on the left for Angulo to run onto. The Colombian winger sent a good centering pass across the top of the six and Enrique tapped it home to complete his brace with his seventh goal of the season in the 79th minute.
“It’s just a good example of his professionalism, his dedication, his patience,” Pareja said of Enrique. “The energy that he brought us today and not just the two goals that he scored, obviously are the most important, but I think the sensibility that he showed today with his group, coming from the bench and giving us the best. Again, big, big game for us and Ramiro did a phenomenal job today.”
Enrique now has five goals and an assist in five career matches against Columbus, starting only one of those games. With his second assist of the night, Angulo has three in the past two matches.
As time wound down, Zakaria Taifi and Kyle Smith replaced Pasalic and Angulo. Orlando had to face quite a bit of pressure and several Crew corners. Aliyu sent a shot on frame from the right in the 87th minute but it didn’t trouble Gallese.
It seemed excessive when the fourth official put 10 minutes on his board.
Aliyu was left unmarked in the second minute of stoppage time, but he sent a volley shot over the bar. Orlando then had to deal with a couple of corners as the Crew pushed for an equalizer.
Ojeda put the match away in the sixth minute of added time. Freeman broke in transition and cut inside in the attacking half. The fullback sent a good diagonal ball for Ojeda to run onto in stride, and the Argentine smashed a shot just inside the near post past Schulte to seal the win.
“We depend a lot on that different talent that the DPs (Designated Players) have, and Martin, what he has done over the year, he has proven himself, and has proven to everyone how important and how good he is,” Pareja said. “What I have to remark is that with Martin Ojeda, you warrant effort, talent, sacrifice, discipline. He’s not the one who needs the lights and attention. He just does the job the best he can for his team.”
With his 13th goal of the season and a secondary assist on each of Enrique’s goals, Ojeda now has a goal contribution in 10 straight matches. He also moved past Nani into sole possession for the most goal contributions in a season for the Lions, with 25.
Before the final whistle blew, Gallese made one more save on Rossi, and Ford brought the match to a close.
Columbus finished with the statistical advantage in possession (60.8%-39.2%), shots (18-10), shots on target (7-6), corners (9-1), and passing accuracy (88.4%-82.3%). However, the Lions were the more clinical team and their play over the final 30 minutes was the difference between a meek road loss and a vital three points against one of the conference’s best teams.
“It was a tough game, and we knew that it was going to be like that,” Angulo said. “Columbus is a great team, and they like to have the ball for a majority of the match. The first half, we suffered a lot because of that. But in the second half, we turned it around. We stuck with it, and we showed a lot of character to pull out the win tonight.”
MLS now breaks for Leagues Cup. The Lions will be back in action at home Wednesday night against Liga MX side Pumas.