Orlando City vs. New York Red Bulls: Five Takeaways

Orlando City opened the 2026 MLS campaign with a disappointing 2-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls. The Lions started the match just about as poorly as a team can but eventually found the ball to make the scoreline closer than it probably should have been.

Here is what I took away from the opening day loss.

New Back Line, Who Dis?

By “who dis?” I mean that the players on the back line looked like they all just met each other, like guys at a Sunday pickup match. It didn’t take long for them to give up a goal, conceding in the eighth minute. If not for badly missed chances by the Red Bulls and some saves by Maxime Crepeau, it might have been 4-0 by the 25th minute rather than 2-0. I expected this, but I was hopeful that it wouldn’t be as bad as it was. As individuals, and as a group, this back line was not good in the first half. Things got better but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.

Cartagena Injured Again

Wilder Cartagena missed all of last season due to an Achilles tendon injury suffered during the preseason. His return was big positive for the Orlando City defense after several departures. Unfortunately, another nightmare scenario unfolded as he pulled up with what appeared to be a hamstring injury in the 12th minute. He walked off under his own power, but he went straight into the tunnel. Colin Guske replaced him in the defensive midfield. It wasn’t a perfect night from Guske, but he had a good game after being forced into the match earlier than he might have expected. Hopefully, the knock won’t keep him out too long.

Shape Shifters

After that first half, Oscar Pareja needed to make some changes, and he did. He brought on Ivan Angulo, but for Marco Pasalic not Tyrese Spicer. He also changed the shape to a 4-2-2-2 with Spicer up top with Duncan McGuire, playing Angulo more centrally than usual. It worked. Orlando City was able to sustain possession, created chances, and generally made things difficult for New York. The other personnel changes also helped. Iago made way for rookie Nolan Miller, who acquitted himself well after coming on. As did Tiago when he came on for Spicer, including scoring his first goal for the Lions late in stoppage time to ruin Ethan Horvath’s clean sheet.

A Tale of Two Keepers

Horvath had a good second half for Red Bulls. I say second half, because he didn’t really need to do anything in the first half. Unfortunately, he stopped nearly everything the Lions put into the box in the second half. Several of them were definitely lucky, but that sometimes happens. All too often, Orlando City has difficulty finishing chances, which was the case against New York.

Thankfully, Crepeau did well in goal for Orlando City, despite giving up the two early goals. He left himself a little exposed coming off his line on the first goal, but wasn’t to blame for the second. After that, he settled in and stopped everything else that came his way. He had some truly excellent saves, racking up 11 in total. If not for Crepeau’s shot stopping, this match has a way uglier scoreline.

Thank you, Tiago

I mentioned that Orlando City did much better in the second half. By better, I mean the Lions took two shots in the first half and nine in the second half with most of those on target. Orlando City looked like a different team in the second half as the Lions tried to climb back into the match. As the seconds ticked away, it appeared that the aformentioned bad luck, coupled with a good night by Horvath, would keep the Lions off the scoreboard. Fortunately, Tiago scored a goal late in stoppage time. It wasn’t scored early enough to allow Orlando City to steal a point late like in the 2016 opening day match against Real Salt Lake, but at least the team wasn’t shut out. It was also good for Tiago to open his account as the Lions will need more goals from him as the season progresses. It was also good for Homegrown fullback Zakaria Taifi, who registered his first MLS goal contribution with an assist on the goal.

That is what I saw in Orlando City’s 2-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls. It was a tough way to start the season, but honestly it could have been so much worse. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.