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Orlando City vs. Inter Miami: Player Grades and Man of the Match

Here’s how your favorite Lions performed in Orlando City’s 4-3 road win at Miami.

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2 weeks ago

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Image of Martin Ojeda playing the ball against Inter Miami.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Tropic Thunder was everything we hoped it would be and more on Saturday night, as Orlando City reminded the soccer world that Florida is purple with a 4-3 comeback victory in Nu Stadium, the house that Lionel Messi built but has yet to win in. The first 30 minutes were rough for the Lions, but the last 60 were as enjoyable as any stretch this season, and Orlando City picked up its third victory of the MLS season and its first on the road.

I have my purple pen out and am ready to issue some grades, so here we go. Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated individually in their matchup with their downstate rival.

Starters

GK, Maxime Crépeau, 8 — Wow. Orlando City fans will revel in the glory of the second half, but the game would have been out of reach for the Lions if not for the Canadian’s heroics in the first half. Crépeau was officially credited with seven saves, but it felt like a dozen, especially in the opening minutes of the game when the Lions were under siege from Miami. At one point Crépeau made four saves on the same possession, looking more like an octopus than Pedro Gallese, as he seemed to have arms everywhere making saves. While he gave up three goals, it’s hard to fault him for them as one was a free header on a set piece, one was a point-blank redirect, and the other was perfectly placed by Messi. However, it is easy to give Crepeau the plaudits he deserves for keeping Miami to three, which allowed Orlando City to stay in the game and make the incredible comeback that it did. On any other day he almost certainly would have been the Man of the Match, but unfortunately for Crépeau, his teammate had a hat trick.

D, Adrián Marin, 6.5 — The Spaniard did not go forward often in this game, but he did midway through the second half and it led directly to Orlando City’s second goal. Marin juked his way up into the 18 and squared a pass to Martín Ojeda to cut the lead to 3-2 and earn himself his second assist for the season. Marin completed 73.3% of his passes, including the one key pass for his assist, and added one tackle, one block, and one clearance on the defensive side of the ball before coming off for David Brekalo in the game’s final minutes.

D, Robin Jansson, 6.5 — Jansson perhaps was inspired by fellow Inter&Co Stadium tenants the Orlando Storm, as after he was dispossessed while dribbling forward, he had to turn and and chase down Messi from behind and eventually tackled him like an American football player. Being that it was Messi in Miami, he was lucky he was not immediately suspended for the rest of the season and only received a yellow card. Perhaps the edge of playing with a yellow card sharpened his focus, because after that play Jansson was solid for the rest of the game. He led all players with nine defensive contributions, racking up three tackles, two interceptions, and four clearances, and he picked up a hockey assist with his header to Justin Ellis that led to Orlando City’s first goal. The Beefy Swede only completed 66.7% of his passes, but his assist was a big one, and he led the defense that clamped Miami down for the final 55 minutes.

D, Iago, 6 — The big man had a rough first half but was much better in the second, and showed once again how dangerous he is in the attack by winning the penalty kick that tied the game at 3-3. Just minutes before he played a great header back into the middle off of a free kick, though it turned out that he had been just inches offside when the ball was played. Iago seems completely settled now alongside Jansson, and though he still makes youthful mistakes, like the foul he committed right after Tyrese Spicer’s goal to give Messi a late free kick from a dangerous position, the positives outweighed the negatives for the Brazilian. He completed 73.3% of his passes, including a pass that started the sequence which gave Orlando City the lead, but more importantly, he finished with one interception, two blocked shots, three clearances, and four duels won.

D, Griffin Dorsey, 6 — Dorsey followed up his excellent U.S. Open Cup performance with another strong game on the right side. His heatmap was bright up the entire right side of the field, as he defended all the way down to his own goal line and then made several strong runs all the way up toward Miami’s goal line as well. Early in the game he made a great run up the right side but elected to keep the ball himself instead of finding an open Martin Ojeda at the top of the box, but after that play, he was unselfish for the rest of the game, looking for teammates on crosses or cutbacks. He completed 68% of his passes and also one nose-to-nose confrontation with Miami’s Telasco Segovia late in the game when both players stood almost directly at midfield and looked like Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots ready to throw down after bumping each other for much of the second half. Dorsey turned in a strong defensive game, with two tackles, one interception, and a game-high five clearances, and though he turned the ball over a little more than desired (13 possessions lost) he played a solid game out on the right side of Orlando’s flexible modified 4-4-2.

MF, Iván Angulo, 6.5 — The Colombian was not at his best, or even his normal, self in the first half, but like so many of his teammates, he was much better in the second half. Angulo completed 92.7% of his passes, including a team-high three key passes, but he started off ice cold and it was his poor pass that led directly to Miami’s second goal. After that play, he started to play a lot better, especially defensively, where he led all players with four tackles and tied for the game lead with 10 loose ball recoveries. Angulo’s speed was devastating on those recoveries, as he beat Miami players to the ball time after time to help frustrate its attacks. The last recovery helped run out the clock for Orlando City, as he won the ball and dribbled it about 60 yards up the field, leaving almost no time on the clock for Miami to try to get the equalizer. Absent the opening 20-25 minutes, Angulo was solid in this one and deserves credit for tracking back again and again to help hold Messi off from creating much of anything during the second half.

MF, Luis Otávio, 4.5 — The young Brazilian showed some feistiness in trying to get physical with Messi throughout the first half, but César Araújo he was not as Messi got the better of Otávio with his dribbling and passing. This is not something to be ashamed of, considering Messi’s abilities, but it was not a big surprise that there was a switch at halftime and Eduard Atuesta came on to replace Otávio. While he was on the field, he completed 86.7% of his passes, but he was far more involved on the defensive side of the field, making three tackles and adding two clearances, though he also was dribbled past three times.

MF, Braian Ojeda, 7 — Orlando City’s Iron Man went another full 90 on Saturday night, continuing his streak of playing every minute of every MLS game. Defensive Ojeda was on his game, contributing three tackles, one interception, one block, and one clearance, and he tied Angulo for the most loose-ball recoveries with 10. The Paraguayan also led the team with 39 completed passes at a 95.1% completion rate, and he assisted on the game-winning goal, hitting a long pass on the ground that put Spicer in on goal and the Orlando fans in Nu Stadium into delirium. On the whole, it was one of Braian Ojeda’s best performances in an Orlando City jersey, which rhymed nicely with the performance from Martín Ojeda, who also had one of his best games as well.

MF, Tiago, 4.5 — The fact that Tiago had more tackles (2) than completed passes (1) says everything about the Brazilian’s contribution to this game. He only had 11 touches and five pass attempts and was involved more on defense than offense during his 45 minutes. Miami dominated the ball, so perhaps it was a bit unfair that Tiago was removed at halftime for Spicer, as there was little that he could have done offensively with so few touches and very little service. But given Spicer’s impact on the game, it’s difficult to argue with the decision, too.

F, Martín Ojeda, 9 (MotM) — It was a big day for both of Orlando City’s Ojedas, but in particular for the man they call Tincho, who scored a hat trick to dig Orlando City out of a 3-0 deficit. Messi played well, but his fellow Argentine No. 10 played better, with two rockets during open play and an unstoppable penalty kick goal as well. After a slow start, Offensive Ojeda now has seven goals on the season and joins Cyle Larin as the only two Orlando City players with multiple hat tricks. I am not going to say should, but Ojeda could have become the first Lion to ever score four goals in a game as he had a great chance after cutting the ball back past Maxi Falcón, but his shot just was not quite high enough and bounced off of Dayne St. Clair’s head. Ojeda was outstanding in this game and was the Man of the Match, completing 74.1% of his passes, including two key passes, scoring the three goals, and hustling to block one shot on defense.

F, Justin Ellis, 6.5 — Orlando City’s academy product had a goal contribution in his fourth consecutive game, as he assisted Martin Ojeda with his goal near the end of the first half. Ellis looked competent and comfortable with the starters and put in a solid shift during his 59 minutes. Orlando City did not have much of the ball, especially in the first half, but the Lions looked dangerous when Ellis was involved in the buildup. He completed 90% of his passes and put his one shot on target, but his big contribution was the assist to Ojeda before he came off for Duncan McGuire for the final third of the game.

Substitutes

MF, Eduard Atuesta, (46′), 6 — Saturday night was by far Atuesta’s best performance of the season, as his arrival in the midfield turned the game around for Orlando City. The Colombian only played 45 minutes but had the second-most defensive contributions, tallying three tackles, two interceptions, one block, and two clearances. Orlando struggled to hold the midfield in the first half but Atuesta and Braian Ojeda locked it down in the second half, changing the flow of the game. Atuesta completed 82.3% of his passes and probably should have had an assist after a deft touch set up Martín Ojeda for a shot, but Ojeda took an extra touch and was unable to put the shot away. Hopefully his health continues to improve and he can extend his minutes to even longer than 45 by next week, as the Lions could use more performances like that in their central midfield.

F, Tyrese Spicer, (46′), 6.5 — Spicer sealed the game with an incredible stoppage time winner, going five-hole to score Orlando City’s fourth goal. Orlando played much better after he entered the game as he contributed on offense and defense, completing six of his seven passes and defending well with two tackles, one block, and two loose-ball recoveries. The big moment was the final one though, as he timed his run perfectly onto Braian Ojeda’s through ball and took it directly to goal before putting the winner past St. Clair.

F, Duncan McGuire, (59′), 6 — Big Dunc made his first appearance after being injured for a few weeks and looked lively, though a little rusty. He put his one shot on target — an ambitious effort to sneak a shot in at the near post — and he looked fully healthy and raring to go during his 31 minutes. He completed six of his eight passes and picked up a secondary assist on the game-winning goal due to hustling to receive a pass from Iago and dropping it back to Braian Ojeda. With three games in a week starting next Saturday, it will be huge for the Lions to have him back on the field.

D, David Brekalo, (87′), N/A — The Slovenian came on for Marin with a few minutes remaining and completed two of his three passes and won his only aerial duel.

MF, Zakaria Taifi (90′), N/A — Taifi entered in stoppage time for Martín Ojeda and did not touch the ball, but he ran his tail off during his few minutes on the field.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s amazing 4-3 win over Miami. Let us know what you thought of the game in the comments below, and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.

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Lion Links: 5/20/26

Orlando City defeats Atlanta United, Anna Moorhouse called up, Arsenal wins EPL championship, and more.

Published

14 hours ago

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May 20, 2026

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Image of Griffin Dorsey preparing to shoot on a breakaway against Atlanta.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. I love the U.S. Open Cup. I love the history, the cupsets, and the magical moments. I especially love it when my team wins and wins big like Orlando City did Tuesday night. It was unexpected result but a very welcome one. Let’s get to the links.

Orlando City Advances to USOC Semifinals

Orlando City defeated rival Atlanta United 4-1 in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. The Lions unleashed an offensive firestorm in the first half against Atlanta United, scoring four goals before halftime. Frankly, it could have been more. The Lions were unable to add to the lead in the second half and conceded one goal to Atlanta, but it was more than enough to secure the victory.

Moorhouse Called Up

Anna Moorhouse has once again been called up by England for Women’s World Cup qualifiers against Spain and Ukraine. It is always an honor for a player to represent their country. We are happy that Moorhouse will have the opportunity.

World Cup News

We are only weeks away from the start of the World Cup and we know who most of the players representing their countries will be. For example, Granit Xhaka will captain Switzerland in the tournament. Most of us are primarily concerned with the USMNT and which players are in form for club and, hopefully, country.

Premier League News

The 23-year wait is over as Arsenal won the English Premier League championship following a 1-1 draw between Bournemouth and Manchester City on Tuesday. It is all but certain that Pep Guardiola will leave Manchester City this summer. It’s not the ending that Guardiola wanted for his time at Manchester City, but he leaves the club in a good position. While the Gunners celebrate, Tottenham Hostpur is fighting relegation.

Free Kicks

That will do it for today. Check back later this week as we get you ready for the Orlando City and Orlando Pride matches this weekend. Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City vs. Atlanta United, 2026 U.S. Open Cup: Final Score 4-1 as Lions Maul Five Stripes

A big first half filled with breakaway opportunities helped Orlando City knock Atlanta out of the U.S. Open Cup.

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22 hours ago

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May 19, 2026

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Image of Tiago celebrating a goal with Justin Ellis against Atlanta.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Jeremy Reper

Orlando City ran wild over Atlanta United in the first half, building a huge advantage in what was ultimately a 4-1 victory over their Southeast rivals at Inter&Co Stadium in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals tonight. David Brekalo, Griffin Dorsey, and Tiago (twice) provided the fireworks in a wild first half that could have seen Orlando ahead by even more goals if not for the offside flag and good goalkeeping by Atlanta’s Jayden Hibbert.

“I’m happy, of course, for the result, as well for the performance. But more than anything, I’m happy first of all for our group of players, because they do a huge effort every day,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said after the game. “From the very beginning they have been fighting and I’m happy they were able to gift us a performance like this.”

Perelman’s lineup included Javier Otero in goal behind a back line of Adrian Marin, Robin Jansson, Brekalo, and Dorsey. Braian Ojeda and Eduard Atuesta started in central midfield between wingers Ivan Angulo and Tiago, with Martin Ojeda and Justin Ellis leading the attack up top.

The Lions decimated Atlanta in the opening 45 minutes to build a huge 4-0 halftime lead that could have been more if not for Tiago and Angulo being offside on breaks that they finished and a couple of huge saves by Hibbert. Orlando City ripped the Atlanta defense to shreds either by moving the ball quickly or simply placing perfect through balls or long balls into the gaps in the visitors’ three-man back line.

However, the first goal of the game came off a set piece. Atlanta cleared a corner kick in the fifth minute, but Braian Ojeda sent in a good ball on the recycle and Brekalo was able to sneak in behind by timing his run well, nodding home for his first goal of the year to get the scoring party started.

“I’m so relieved that it happened, and it happened in this kind of game, magnitude of importance, and I hope this is the first of many this season, because I know I’m capable of scoring more goals,” Brekalo said.

Three minutes after the opening goal, Dorsey came forward and beat Hibbert but the defense cleared the shot off the line.

Atlanta’s first good look at goal came in the 14th minute on across from the left that found Aleksey Miranchuk on the right. The Atlanta attacker sent his header just wide of the left post.

Tiago nearly got in behind in the 15th minute but the defense knocked the ball away for Hibbert to collect. Orlando scored a minute later anyway. Marin sent a good ball forward for Angulo to run onto. The Colombian got down the left and centered a pass for Dorsey to tap home to make it 2-0 in the 16th minute.

Ellis played Martin Ojeda in behind in the 20th minute. The Argentine put his shot on goal and Hibbert made a good save, but the flag came up for offside anyway, although that one looked clean to me.

Atlanta United could have cut the lead in half a minute later when Emmanuel Latte Lath caught Otero off his line but the chip shot hit the right post.

It was a costly miss for Latte Lath, because Tiago made it 3-0 in the 24th minute on a good hustle play. The Brazilian pressed high and blocked Hibbert’s pass attempt. Martin Ojeda was offside, so he let the ball go and Tiago recovered and fired past Hibbert to triple the lead.

Like Dorsey just did recently, Tiago celebrated with the traditional ball under the shirt to honor his pregnant wife.

“It was recent news that we found out my wife was pregnant, obviously very happy about it, and today we actually found out it’s a boy,” Tiago said. “So, that’s what kind of gave me extra motivation for the goals, for my wife and now my son. They’re the two most important people in my life.”

Angulo got in behind and scored in the 33rd minute but the flag came up for offside again.

Miranchuk redirected a cross on goal in the 34th minute but sent his effort straight at Otero for a comfortable save.

The Lions then had more excellent chances to extend the lead just after Atlanta’s chance. Hibbert made an excellent save to deny Tiago in the 36th minute, getting his hand up just in time to keep it out of the net. Two minutes later, Dorsey bombed forward again on the break but the defense forced him wide. The fullback chipped it toward goal anyway and the defense cleared it off the line just before it could cross. In the 39th minute, Martin Ojeda got behind on a pass from Angulo but Hibbert made another solid save to keep the game at 3-0.

Brekalo got his head to the ensuing corner kick cross but the post denied the center back a brace in the 40th minute. A minute after that, Dorsey blasted a hard shot that Hibbert palmed over the crossbar.

Tiago thought he had his brace in the 44th minute, getting in behind and firing past Hibbert, but the flag came up once more.

Otero made a good save to stop Jay Fortune’s shot in the third minute of first-half stoppage time on one of Atlanta’s best chances of the game.

The Lions went the other way and made it 4-0. Braian Ojeda sent a good through ball to unlock Tiago. The Brazilian put the ball past Hibbert again to bag his first brace in an Orlando City uniform in the fifth minute of stoppage time on the last chance of the half.

“Extremely happy,” Tiago said of his brace. “I know the quality of the player that I am. I’ve spoken to Coach Martin (Perelman) during the week, and he told me the runs I should make, so naturally the goals came out of it.”

At the end of the first half, the Lions had the advantage in shots (11-7), shots on target (9-3), and corners (4-0). Atlanta led in possession (60%-40%) and passing accuracy (85%-80%).

“We were obviously extremely focused on the game,” Tiago said. “We know Atlanta is a tough team. We played them over the weekend, obviously we drew them, so we came into this game very focused, and we knew the quality of the group and knew we could advance.”

“I think I have to give credit to the coaching staff here, where they prepared the plan really well,” Brekalo said. “That was the main point: either take the ball super high or super low when we’re defending and counterattack them, so it worked exactly like the planned, and like we saw first half, I think many times, three or four times, that didn’t result in a goal, could be a goal, I think by a few inches or something. So, I would say that that was the whole plan, so it was either take it super low when in the our last third or super high up, and obviously the hard work of everybody, you know, defenders shifting, midfielders running like crazy. Everybody worked so hard today.”

Atlanta made four substitutions at the break and went to four at the back. This prevented Orlando City from getting the numerous breakaways the Lions enjoyed in the first half. Saba Lobjanidze’s introduction also gave the Five Stripes more bite in the attack.

The Five Stripes offense looked better right from the jump as the visitors looked to get something on the board to make a game of it. Matias Galarza fired just off target in the 49th minute on the good first look of the second half.

Orlando’s first look at goal came three minutes later, when Martin Ojeda fired a hard shot straight down the middle at Hibbert.

Lobjanidze just missed the left post from the right side in the 54th minute as Atlanta pressed numbers forward. Two minutes later, Lobjanidze dropped a cross onto Miranchuk’s head but the redirection went wide.

Tristan Muyumba volleyed a cleared corner kick toward goal in the 68th minute but missed the target badly.

“I think the challenge when we went out in the halftime, we imagined that they were going to make substitutions and strong players were going to come in, because they have a really good roster and talented players,” Perelman said. “And we knew the first 15 minutes were going to be very important. We tried to maintain the plan. I think we were able to do it, maybe not the first five minutes of the second half, but yes, we knew we needed to go over those first 15 minutes, and fortunately we could.”

Having weathered the early second-half storm, Orlando settled into protection mode, still looking to get forward when it could, but not taking many chances in possession. The Lions won a couple of corner kicks in the 72nd and 73rd minutes but couldn’t do anything with them.

Galarza again fired over the bar in the 75th minute, and Lobjanidze missed on a good opportunity in the 83rd minute as the visitors kept coming. A minute later, Latte Lath spoiled the shutout by volleying a beautiful shot just under the crossbar from the top of the box to make it 4-1.

Angulo got forward and fired over the bar in the 88th minute in the first good look for Orlando in quite some time. Two minutes later, the Lions broke forward and Braian Ojeda looked for a passing route, but the defense kept the channels blocked, so the midfielder went for goal himself. It was a good effort, but Hibbert made a nice save to push it wide. The corner kick was cleared out to second-half sub Wilder Cartagena in space. The Peruvian fired from outside the box but sent it right at Hibbert at the near post.

The match ended without another look at goal for either team and the Lions advanced past their rivals.

Atlanta’s second-half surge allowed the visitors to finish with the advantage in possession (59.5%-40.5%), shots (16-13), and passing accuracy (84.7%-79.4%). The Lions finished with more shots on target (10-4) and corners (6-1). Most importantly, Orlando won on the scoreboard by a wide margin.

“I’m happy to move forward in this competition, to put the team in a semifinal, which is important for us, for our club,” Perelman said. “I’m happy for our fans, because they deserve it. They support us always in the good ones and in those ones that are not that good ones. And of course, I’m happy for the entire club, managers, owner, Ricardo (Moreira), everybody here. We work really hard, so I think today is a good day for us and I’m happy for us.”

“I’m so happy that we advanced to the semifinals,” Brekalo said. “The team performed really well. We know we played against the same opponent, a tough game three days ago, so it was not easy, like energy-wise. And yeah, I’m so happy and proud of this team.”

The Lions advance to play the winner of tomorrow’s match between New York City FC and the Columbus Crew on the road on Sept. 15 or 16. Orlando City returns to league action Saturday on the road against FC Cincinnati. After that, the team is off for the World Cup break until late July.

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

The Lions look to bounce back after conceding late Saturday in their draw vs. Atlanta in tonight’s knockout game against the Five Stripes.

Published

1 day ago

on

May 19, 2026

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Image of Justin Ellis driving at Atlanta defenders.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match thread for a Tuesday night U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal matchup between Orlando City and Atlanta United at Inter&Co Stadium (7:30 p.m., Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network). It’s the second of three scheduled meetings between the Eastern Conference rivals — the second in three days — with the Lions scheduled to make the return trip to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Sept. 9 in MLS play.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of tonight’s match.

History

The Lions are 5-11-8 in the all-time series against Atlanta in league play and 3-6-4 at home. Orlando City is 6-12-8 against tonight’s visitors in all competitions (regular season, playoffs, and U.S. Open Cup), 4-7-4 at home in all games played, and 0-1-0 in the U.S. Open Cup against the Five Stripes.

Orlando City and Atlanta United met just three nights ago on Saturday, playing to a 1-1 draw. Griffin Dorsey gave Orlando the lead early but the Lions squandered chances to extend the lead, allowing Jay Fortune’s late goal to steal a point for the visitors.

The Lions led 2-1 in Atlanta on May 28, 2025, on goals by Cesar Araujo and Ramiro Enrique to more than offset Alexey Miranchuk’s goal. However, Araujo foolishly got himself sent off. The Five Stripes turned the game around on Bartosz Slisz’s goal with seven minutes remaining in normal time and Jamal Thiare’s winner deep in stoppage time in a 3-2 victory for Atlanta. The teams just met in Orlando a month earlier on April 26. The Lions prevailed 3-0 on goals by Luis Muriel (from the penalty spot), Alex Freeman, and Marco Pasalic.

The rivals met in the 2024 Eastern Conference semifinals, with the Lions eking out a 1-0 home victory on Nov. 24, 2024. Enrique provided the game’s only goal, and the Orlando defense was dominant, allowing the visitors just seven total shot attempts — none on target. That win pushed the Lions into their first-ever conference final.

Prior to their postseason meeting, these two teams met on Decision Day 2024, with Atlanta scoring two early goals and holding on for a 2-1 win on Oct. 9. Saba Lobjanidze and Thiare gave the visitors an early lead. Martin Ojeda pulled one back and Duncan McGuire appeared to tie the game late, but the latter goal was overturned on video review for a handball. The teams also met at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on March 17, 2024, when Orlando City fell 2-0 on goals by Lobjanidze and Giorgos Giakoumakis.

The last meeting of 2023 took place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with Orlando City capturing a 2-1 away win. Atlanta took the lead through Caleb Wiley, but Antonio Carlos and McGuire scored to lead the Lions’ comeback. The southeast rivals also met in Orlando on May 27, 2023, at Exploria Stadium and played to a 1-1 draw. It was a heartbreaking dropped two points for the Lions, who took the lead through Kyle Smith at the half-hour mark and held that advantage until four minutes from full time, when Tyler Wolff pounced on a fortunate rebound in the box and equalized.

Atlanta went 1-0-1 in the season series in 2022. On Sept. 14 at Exploria Stadium the Five Stripes won 1-0 on a Thiago Almada goal despite the Lions out-shooting Atlanta 20-10. The sides played to a 1-1 draw in their first meeting of that year on July 22 in Atlanta. Mauricio Pereyra staked the Lions to an early 1-0 lead on a beautiful free kick. Juan Jose Purata equalized in the second half, but Atlanta bombarded Orlando the majority of the game and completely controlled the midfield, outshooting the Lions 18-3 in the match.

Orlando had a six-match unbeaten streak in the series (3-0-3) snapped on Sept. 10, 2021, as the Five Stripes won 3-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. George Campbell and Ezequiel Barco scored for Atlanta, sandwiched around a Daryl Dike own goal to hand Gonzalo Pineda his first win as manager for United.

The second of three 2021 meetings took place July 30 at Exploria Stadium, with the Five Stripes taking the lead twice on goals by Josef Martinez and Marcelino Moreno, but the Lions not only fought back twice on strikes by Smith and Silvester van der Water, but Nani scored a late game winner by heading in VDW’s cross in Orlando City’s 3-2 win. The first meeting of that season between the two rivals came on opening day — April 17 — and they played to a 0-0 draw.

The final meeting of 2020 came on Oct. 28, when Orlando City ran away with a 4-1 win over Atlanta at Exploria Stadium. Dike, Chris Mueller, Tesho Akindele, and Matheus Aias scored the goals for the Lions, with Cubo Torres preventing a shutout with a late goal for the visitors. Prior to that, the teams met in Atlanta on Oct. 7, 2020 and played to a 0-0 draw. Robinho and Nani each hit the woodwork and Brad Guzan stood on his head to prevent Orlando from taking a deserved three points in that one, while Brian Rowe held down the fort at the other end to earn a shutout in Pedro Gallese’s absence.

Back on Sept. 5, 2020, a late, unforced turnover by Kamal Miller led to Adam Jahn’s 92nd-minute tying goal that offset a Benji Michel strike in a 1-1 draw at Exploria Stadium. Orlando City finally got on the board in the series against Atlanta United with a 3-1 win on the road on Aug. 29, 2020. Junior Urso, Mueller, and Nani supplied the offense to more than counter a Brooks Lennon headed goal. That three-goal explosion snapped a three-match scoreless streak against the Five Stripes for Orlando.

Orlando City created an incredible 17 scoring chances on Aug. 23, 2019, yet finished none of them in a 1-0 home loss. Martinez scored the game’s only goal in the second half. Only 17 days earlier at Exploria Stadium, Orlando also failed to score and lost 2-0 to Atlanta, getting bounced from the U.S. Open Cup semifinals. On Mother’s Day of 2019, Atlanta United claimed a 1-0 win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Pity Martinez scored the goal.

Atlanta won at Orlando City Stadium on Aug. 24, 2018 by a 2-1 final score. Leandro Gonzalez Pirez bundled home a rebound off Joe Bendik, who misplayed Barco’s free kick to open the scoring just 21 minutes in. Scott Sutter tied the game just before the half, but Josef Martinez broke the deadlock in the second half, with only 16 minutes remaining in normal time.

Atlanta easily claimed the June 30, 2018 meeting at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, 4-0. Josef Martinez and Barco each scored a goal and Miguel Almiron added a brace. Orlando lost the first matchup of 2018, 2-1, on May 13. An early penalty on a Cristian Higuita foul gave the visitors a leg up on a Josef Martinez goal from the spot and Barco doubled the lead before halftime. Justin Meram scored his first goal as a Lion to pull one back, but Orlando could get no closer. The unfortunate ending included a shower of debris coming out of the stands due to dissatisfaction with referee Alan Kelly’s decisions that night.

Hector Villalba’s two late goals in the first two meetings turned what could have been an Orlando draw and a win into a loss and a draw. The two teams kicked off their series with Orlando suffering a late 1-0 loss at home on July 21, 2017. Villalba found the net late. He then scored a stoppage-time tally to rescue a 1-1 draw for Atlanta in the second meeting on July 29, 2017. Kaká scored one of his best goals as a Lion in that match to provide Orlando’s lone score.

Orlando City became the first visiting team to take any points out of Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a 3-3 draw in Atlanta that September. Dom Dwyer scored his first brace as a Lion (in MLS, anyway) and also assisted on Cyle Larin’s goal. Josef Martinez’s hat trick spoiled Orlando’s bid to take all three points.

Overview

The Lions and Atlanta obviously played just a few days ago and walked away splitting the points, but not all draws are created equal. The Five Stripes rotated more than Orlando City did, which should position them better for tonight. They were already better rested than the Lions and all Orlando did was add more miles to legs that have logged a lot of them this month. To make matters worse, captain Robin Jansson left with a knock at halftime on Saturday.

Orlando got to this point in the tournament by squeaking past two opponents it should have overpowered. The Lions were fortunate to get a 1-0 road win at FC Naples on April 15, with a Nolan Miller goal-line clearance that was perhaps fortunate to not have to stand up to video review. Naples outplayed Orlando City by a wide margin in the game, especially in the second half, but the Lions got the game’s only goal.

In the Round of 16, Orlando went north to face New England and was met by a youthful Revolution side made up almost entirely of prospects. The Revs didn’t even dress stars like Carles Gil and Matt Turner. City fell behind that makeshift lineup three times but fought back to ultimately win it 4-3 on April 29.

Atlanta is 3-0-1 in its last four road games in all competitions (two U.S. Open Cup, two MLS). The Five Stripes got to this point in the competition by beating Chattanooga FC 3-1 in the Round of 32 and Charlotte FC 2-0 in the Round of 16.

Orlando City’s defense will have to keep tabs on Lobjanidze and Miranchuk in particular, but the Lions can’t switch off in their own end regardless of who is on the pitch and what the score is. OCSC has been fragile with late leads and even bringing on defense-for-offense substitutions has not helped. If they again don’t rotate much, the Lions will also need to conserve energy and pick their spots to make long runs as they are playing in their third match in seven days.

Match Content

Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Javier Otero.

Defenders: Adrian Marin, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Tiago.

Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Justin Ellis.

Bench: Maxime Crepeau, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Marco Pasalic, Duncan McGuire.

Atlanta United (4-4-1-1)

Goalkeeper: Jayden Hibbert.

Defenders: Elias Baez, Stian Gregersen, Pedro Amador, Ronald Hernandez.

Midfielders: Cooper Sanchez, Jay Fortune, Will Reilly, Matthew Edwards.

Attacking Midfielder: Aleksey Miranchuk.

Forward: Emmanuel Latte Lath.

Bench: Lucas Hoyos, Juan Berrocal, Tomas Jacob, Tristan Muyumba, Matias Galarza, Sergio Santos, Saba Lobjanidze.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.

TV/Live Stream: Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network.

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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