Orlando City vs. Minnesota United: Five Takeaways

Orlando City had a chance to grab a big road victory but had to settle for a draw, as the Lions blew a 2-0 lead but were able to score a stoppage-time goal to draw 3-3 with Minnesota. Other results in the Eastern Conference went their way, so they still sit in ninth place, but had they won, they would have jumped to eighth and built some momentum after the win last week against Real Salt Lake.

Here are my five takeaways from the match.

When Dike Starts, He Finishes

Daryl Dike made his first MLS start since Nov. 23, 2021, and just as he did in two of his previous three starts in 2026, he scored a goal as a starter. One of those was with West Brom in England and the other was with Orlando City during Leagues Cup. The man from Oklahoma made it a hat trick of competitions with his goal Saturday night. Dike was excellent during his shift, drawing attention with his runs and shrugging off multiple players to score a difficult goal from an extremely tight angle. He seems to be fully fit now, and that is bad news for opposing defenses in the upcoming weeks.

Playing From Ahead Went Wrong

After allowing their opponents to score the opening goal in four straight MLS matches, the Lions finally broke that streak, scoring the opening goal in the first half and then doubling their lead early in the second half. The old adage of 2-0 being the most dangerous lead in soccer reared its ugly head, however, as Orlando City was unable to hold that lead, just as it was unable to the last time the team held a 2-0 lead — in Leagues Cup against Atlético de San Luis. Minnesota stormed back to take the lead in a four-minute span that featured the back line getting out of shape on the first goal, poor set-piece defending on the second, and a counterattack fueled by a poor Robin Jansson pass on the third. The Lions eventually salvaged a point, but they could, and probably should, have come home with three, and in a tight Eastern Conference, those dropped two points may come back to bite them at the end of the season.

Griezmann with Ease, Man

A wise man once wrote that sometimes the solution is just to sign Antoine Griezmann, and Orlando City can thank the World Cup winner for its point on the road as he followed up his two-goal performance last week against Real Salt Lake with a two-goal-contribution performance against Minnesota (he was also heavily involved in the buildup to the first goal but did not score it or assist on it). In the second half, Griezmann picked up a loose ball dislodged from Michael Boxall by Harvey Sarajian and centered it to Justin Ellis, who made a driving run down the field. Griezmann timed his run perfectly to get on the end of Ellis’ return pass, and then made the game look so simple by casually placing the ball into the far corner while running at full speed, putting the Lions up 2-0. Then, after the Lions had blown that lead and were getting desperate in stoppage time, Griezmann put the team on his back by playing a gorgeous curling ball over the top to Tyrese Spicer, and Spicy T did what he does best by contributing yet another goal off the bench. Griezmann likely will not win back-to-back Player of the Matchday awards, but he was better against Minnesota than he was against Real Salt Lake, and he is now up to eight goal contributions in his first 10 games with Orlando City.

Total Collapse of the Back Line

If not for the heroics of Maxime Crépeau, the Lions would have been tied or even behind at halftime, as Minnesota outshot Orlando City 10-1 and had several great chances, but the Canadian was on his game and kept the Loons off the scoreboard. Crépeau could not wear the cape all game long, however, as eventually the defensive lapses led to a goal. And then another goal three minutes later. And a third two minutes after that. David Brekalo got caught ball watching on the first goal after Zakaria Taifi was nowhere to be found when Minnesota played a ball into his area. Brekalo was beaten in the air for the second goal before Jansson’s turnover led directly to the third goal. It was a wretched four-minute stretch of defending, possibly the worst of the season, which is saying something for a team that has now given up 63 goals. New signing Vinícius Nogueira will hopefully help, but there are still big issues across the entire back line.

Spicy T Does It Again

It was another second-half appearance off the bench and another goal for the Trinidad & Tobago international, as Spicer scored his fifth goal as a sub, keeping pace with Tom Barlow of Cincinnati for the league lead in that category. This goal was in the same minute as his goal against Miami earlier this season, and while that goal was a game-winner, this one felt almost as big, considering that Orlando City had blown a 2-0 lead and was about to fly home from the game with nothing. Griezmann’s pass was outstanding, but so was Spicer’s run to get onto the ball, and he smashed the ball into the upper corner, leaving no chance for Alec Smir to keep it out of the net. Spicer is now up to 1.06 goals per 90 minutes when he comes in as a sub in 2026, which leads all of MLS.

Those are my takeaways from Orlando City’s 3-3 draw on the road at Minnesota. Points on the road are always tough to come by, so at least it was one, but it probably should have been three. Orlando City will try to get all three on Saturday when the Lions host San Diego in what will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

Let us know your thoughts about the Minnesota match in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!