Orlando City and Inter Miami played to a scoreless draw in front of a sellout crowd of 25,046 at Inter&Co Stadium that looked every bit the part of two teams playing on short rest. Each side created only a couple of good looks at goal and the goalkeepers took center stage for the few chances that were generated, while the back lines of both teams cleaned up everything else.

Inter Miami (8-2-4, 28 points) has still never won a road game against Orlando City (3-5-4, 13 points), as the Lions are now 2-0-5 in the City Beautiful against their Tropic Thunder rivals. Lionel Messi, who was listed as questionable on the availability report, did not dress for the match and still hasn’t played in Orlando since coming to MLS.

“A very level game,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “I thought we found two teams that both had options. They could have scored at the beginning of the game, and then through the game we had our options too. We have the sensation that we could have walked off the field with three points, but we have to recognize that was a very tight game for both teams. The effort from the players was extraordinary and we keep on adapting to new things. I’m good with the performance of the team. I think we’re going in a good direction, I think we’re turning things around, and played against a good team who has good momentum. But today, as I say, we could have walked off with three points.”

Pareja went back to a 3-5-2 after it was successful in Philadelphia Saturday, with goalkeeper Pedro Gallese behind a back line of Rodrigo Schlegel, Wilder Cartagena, and David Brekalo. Ivan Angulo and Facundo Torres played wingbacks outside of a midfield group of Nico Lodeiro, Cesar Araujo, and Martin Ojeda, with Luis Muriel and Duncan McGuire up top.

Miami started by holding a lot of the early possession and quickly created a couple of excellent opportunities. Just moments after the opening kickoff, Luis Suarez got inside of Brekalo and fired a shot from the left toward the right post. Gallese went to ground and made a huge save to keep the game scoreless.

El Pulpo with an absolutely MASSIVE stop here early 🛑 @pedrogallese | #VamosOrlando pic.twitter.com/iBP8Qw4dcW

— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) May 15, 2024

Franco Negri then was able to sneak in behind the defense in the seventh minute down the left flank. He centered the ball for Robert Taylor, who fired with his first touch. Brekalo got in front of it to block it and Orlando was able to clear the danger.

“Honestly, I was anticipating that the pass was going to be cut back. I thought at that moment that it’s an offside — I still didn’t see that clip — so if it wasn’t, it was it was a good block and well done by me,” Brekalo said with a smile.

The Lions finally produced some chances starting in the 14th minute. Muriel took a free kick outside the penalty area on the left and sent it to McGuire at the near post. The flick was just wide of the upright and hit the outside netting. A minute later, Torres was able to get to the end line, but his cross for Angulo was caught by Drake Callender.

McGuire tried a volley shot off a high cross in the 17th minute but it was deflected out by the defense for an Orlando corner. The cross in from Lodeiro on the set piece was just over Torres’ head at the back post and went harmlessly out for a goal kick. Seconds after that, Orlando took possession and Torres had a go from the top of the area with his right foot but he just missed the top right corner.

Cartagena did well in the air to deny a ball into the box intended for Suarez, conceding a corner, but Miami could do nothing with it.

Orlando’s best chance of the first half came in the 32nd minute. Muriel threaded the needle at the top of the penalty area to send a ball in for Ojeda. The Argentine immediately turned and shot, but Callender did well to get down and make a diving, one-handed save.

DRAKE SAYS NO 🧤❌ pic.twitter.com/003O7CXffc

— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) May 16, 2024

A minute later, Callender made another huge save to deny a Muriel shot from the top of the box.

Matias Rojas went for goal in the 35th minute on a free kick conceded by Schlegel near the right corner of the box. Gallese tipped the shot over the bar, and Orlando was able to clear the subsequent corner.

The last look at goal in the first half came in the 41st minute when Marcelo Weigandt jumped into the play from his right back spot. He fired from the top of the area but missed the target badly to the left.

Orlando City finished the first half with the adantage in shots (8-4), corners (4-2), and passing accuracy (88.6%-88.2%). Miami had more possession (50.6%-49.4%) and shots on target (3-2).

Neither side generated much offense in the second half, and it got worse as the game progressed, as tired legs caught up to both teams after each played on the road Saturday.

Each team won an early corner in the second half but couldn’t do anything with it as the game settled into a chess match between the penalty areas. Gallese had a scary moment near the hour mark when going high to catch an entry ball from Rojas. Suarez hit the keeper while he was vulnerable and Gallese went down hard and needed the trainers to come on. After a delay, he was able to continue.

Orlando had some of the best transition chances of the second half but could not execute in and around the box. Ojeda failed to get a cross through in the 69th minute on the first of those promising attacks. Muriel started multiple attacks with his footwork, drawing a yellow card on Taylor after dispossessing the Miami winger and being pulled back by his shirt. Later, he took the ball from Sergio Busquets. It looked clean, but the referee called a foul on the Colombian and he was booked after kicking the ball away, angry about the whistle.

Miami’s best chance for a second-half goal came in the 74th minute when a ball from the visitors’ left was sent in front by second-half substitute Jordi Alba. If the pass had reached fellow sub Leonardo Campana, Miami would almost certainly have scored and probably would have won the match, however, Cartagena did well to clear the danger before it could get through.

Wild man, Wilder stop 🛑 @wicarta19 | #VamosOrlando pic.twitter.com/O590anxHCR

— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) May 16, 2024

A minute later, Muriel sent Angulo down the right channel, but the speedy wingback sent his cross straight at Callender, wasting the opportunity. Two minutes later, the Lions broke with numbers. Torres picked out Muriel, but the pass allowed the defense to recover somewhat and when the striker tried to put a move on to free up a shot, he lost control of it and the chance evaporated. Muriel then sent a shot just wide in the 79th minute.

Second-half sub Dagur Dan Thorhallsson marauded down the right flank in the 88th minute but sent his cross/shot into the outside netting.

During the six minutes of injury time, Yutaro Tsukada, one of the team’s 2024 MLS SuperDraft picks, made his MLS debut, coming on for Torres. Tsukada had the chance to play the role of the unlikely hero late, as a ball in the air fell for him in the box. He fired, but hit his shot into the ground and it missed the target on what was the last kick of the ball.

Orlando City finished with the advantage in shots (14-7) and corners (8-4), while Miami held more possession (58.7%-41.3%) and passed more accurately (90.0%-86.6%). Each team officially put three shots on target.

First-place Inter Miami didn’t have Messi, but that takes nothing away from a strong defensive performance by Orlando City. It was just the second time all season the Herons have been shut out, and tonight’s match snapped a run of five consecutive games in which Miami had scored three or more goals.

“Keeping our goals (against) at zero today was a great positive thing for us,” Pareja said. “Again, adapting players to different movements and absences of players who have been regulars…we looked good. That part is positive.”

One of the key reasons for the clean sheet was the play of Cartagena, who may have been the team’s best center back on this night.

“It was a difficult game,” Cartagena said. “Obviously to mark a player like Suarez is very difficult, very complicated, especially with the player that he is and the way that he likes to move, but I think as a group we did a great job defensively. With Rodri, with David, we were really solid and compact. Obviously, we’d love to take a win from today, but I think overall, taking that draw, we feel good about tonight.”

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The Lions have another quick turnaround with a match on the other side of the continent Saturday night when they visit the San Jose Earthquakes at 10:30 p.m.

Welcome to your match thread for a Wednesday night Tropic Thunder matchup between Orlando City (3-5-3, 12 points) and the team’s Publix Enemies, Inter Miami CF (8-2-3, 27 points) at Inter&Co Stadium (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+). It’s the second of the two scheduled meetings between the sides this season and the only scheduled meeting in Orlando.

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

History

Orlando City is 5-5-4 in the series in all competitions, 5-4-3 in MLS play, 2-0-3 at home in league games, and 2-0-4 in all Orlando meetings against the Herons.

The most recent meeting was the most forgettable of all, a 5-0 loss for the Lions at Chase Stadium on March 2. Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi scored braces and Robert Taylor chipped in a goal in a match Orlando City was never in, as it was already 2-0 just 11 minutes after kickoff.

The last time the teams met in Orlando, the final result was a 1-1 draw on Sept. 24, 2023. Duncan McGuire brought Orlando back from a 1-0 deficit after David Ruiz had given the Herons a 1-0 lead early in the second half.

On Aug. 2 of last year, the teams met in Leagues Cup action. The Herons were fortunate to not see Messi sent off with a second yellow late in the first half and even more fortunate to get a soft penalty call on Antonio Carlos as they won, 3-1. Messi opened the scoring after being ignored in the box early. Cesar Araujo made up for his uncharacteristic defensive lapse by scoring 10 minutes later. Josef Martinez put Miami back on top with the Downy-soft penalty just after halftime and Messi sunk in the dagger in the final 20 minutes.

The teams also met in Fort Lauderdale in MLS play on May 20, 2023, with Orlando City winning, 3-1. Ercan Kara’s early goal was canceled out by Leonardo Campana shortly before the hour mark, but Martin Ojeda and Rafael Santos found the net in the second half to power the Lions to victory.

Inter Miami won at home, 4-1, on Oct. 5, 2022. Campana scored in the game’s first minute and Orlando City never settled in. Gonzalo Higuain added two goals — one from the spot — and Ariel Lassiter also scored before Kara pulled one back to spoil the shutout.

The first regular-season meeting of 2022 resulted in a 1-0 Orlando City win at Exploria Stadium on July 9, as a stoppage-time own goal by Damion Lowe was the difference between the Lions earning just one point or all three. The ball was sent into the box by Jake Mulraney.

The teams also met at Exploria Stadium on May 25, 2022 in U.S. Open Cup action, with the two sides needing extra time after a scoreless 90 minutes. In extra time, Miami got a goal from Jean Mota against the run of play, but Facundo Torres quickly equalized for Orlando. The match ended 1-1 and Orlando won the ensuing penalty shootout, 4-2. Bryce Duke was denied by Mason Stajduhar and DeAndre Yedlin missed the net during the spot kicks, while all four Orlando shooters scored.

The intrastate rivals played to a scoreless draw in Orlando on Aug. 27, 2021. Tesho Akindele missed a penalty in the match, but the Lions had several other good opportunities to score (but didn’t) in a wasteful performance. Orlando and Miami battled to a 1-1 draw at Exploria Stadium on Aug. 4, 2021. Carlos scored in first-half stoppage time but was knocked into concussion protocol on the play by Kelvin Leerdam. Kieran Gibbs equalized in the 66th minute on a header in front of a less-than-attentive Ruan. Akindele had a goal called back after video review for being offside and the teams split the points. Earlier in the season, the Lions came from behind in Fort Lauderdale to win 2-1 on a pair of brilliant goals by Chris Mueller and Nani on June 25, 2021.

In the final meeting of 2020, the Lions saw their 12-match unbeaten streak end on Oct. 24 in a 2-1 road loss in Fort Lauderdale. Miami defender Leandro Gonzalez Pirez’s header in the 89th minute was the difference after a Daryl Dike goal and an own goal off Robin Jansson saw the game tied up at halftime. The teams met in Orlando on Sept. 12, 2020 with Orlando battling to a 2-1 win on Mauricio Pereyra’s goal. The Lions had taken the lead on an own goal by Andres Reyes. Former Lion Brek Shea tied things up in the 65th, before Pereyra answered with a nice goal off the left post in the 69th minute.

The first meeting in Fort Lauderdale opened Phase 1 of Major League Soccer’s return to regular-season play after the MLS is Back Tournament. That one was an uncharacteristically sloppy match for the Lions, who fell 3-2 in Inter Miami’s first-ever home match. It was Miami’s first franchise win after an 0-5-0 start. Orlando trailed by more than one goal for the first time all season in that game. Dike and Nani provided the offense for Orlando, but Julian Carranza’s brace and Rodolfo Pizarro’s insurance goal were enough to lift the Herons.

The first Tropic Thunder match went Orlando City’s way, with Nani scoring late to lift the Lions to a 2-1 win over the upstarts from South Florida in the opening match of the MLS is Back Tournament. Despite it being a tournament match, it was also a league game. Juan Agudelo opened the scoring for the Herons, but Mueller equalized, setting the stage for Nani’s 97th-minute winner.

Overview

The Lions are coming off a 3-2 win on the road over the Philadelphia Union on Saturday. Mikael Uhre opened the scoring for the Union, but McGuire pulled the Lions level and Luis Muriel scored his first two MLS goals, lifting Orlando to a 3-1 lead. Timothy Ford awarded Philadelphia two penalties — one legit and one softer than Eiderdown. Daniel Gazdag took both, scoring on the first but getting denied by Pedro Gallese late in the game on the second. That snapped the Lions’ two-game losing streak and a three-match winless run.

Orlando City is just 1-3-2 at home this season, has lost its last two games at Inter&Co Stadium, and has gone unbeaten in its last three matches on its home patch.

Inter Miami is coming off a 3-2 road win at CF Montreal Saturday after falling behind 2-0 in the opening 32 minutes. Montreal conceded twice on the brink of halftime and Miami carried that momentum to a win. The Herons are 4-1-1 on the road in 2024 and have won three straight away from home since a 4-0 beatdown they suffered at New York Red Bulls on March 23.

Miami is one of the heavy favorites in 2024 to win MLS Cup. That’s not surprising, given the influx of former Barcelona stars. If we’re being honest with ourselves, Messi is playing in a league multiple levels below the talent of a guy widely considered the greatest of all time and who is still producing, so anything he accomplishes shouldn’t be terribly surprising. It’s like putting LeBron James on a team in the sixth-best basketball league and letting him bring some of his NBA teammates with him, who somehow don’t quite count as much as they should against the salary cap, but I digress…

The Lions must do what they can to limit Messi’s involvement as much as possible, while keeping a defender glued to Suarez whenever he arrives near the penalty area. Miami’s attack is formidable enough that it helps the team’s defense, as it is often difficult to dispossess the Herons and maintain extended spells of possession long enough to get at Inter Miami’s back line. Orlando should look to get forward quickly in transition as it did in Philadelphia. That’s what the Lions will have to do to have a shot at a victory.

It’s a rivalry game, so anything can happen.

“There’s always a way to prepare the games. Normally, we just make more relevancy in the way we think and how we can affect them,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “Obviously, we have to have references on the other teams and how, with our strategy, do we decide to impose our model or try and control them? In this case with Miami, we have a game that we played. We’ll try to make less mistakes than we did that day.”

The Lions will be without Ramiro Enrique (ankle), Michael Halliday (knee), Robin Jansson (ankle), and Tahir Reid-Brown (thigh), while Rafael Santos (shoulder) is questionable. As of this writing, the most recent availability report for Miami (dated last Friday) has the following players out: Jordi Alba (hamstring), Shanyder Borgelin (hamstring), Facundo Farias (knee), Ian Fray (knee), Diego Gomez (ankle), Federico Redondo (knee), and Robbie Robinson (knee).

Match Content

• The most recent episode of the PawedCast includes our key matchups and predictions for tonight’s match.

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Official Lineups:

Orlando City (3-5-2)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Rodrigo Schlegel, Wilder Cartagena, David Brekalo.

Midfielders: Cesar Araujo, Wilder Cartagena.

Attacking Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Nico Lodeiro, Cesar Araujo, Martin Ojeda, Facundo Torres.

Forwards: Luis Muriel, Duncan McGuire.

Bench: Mason Stajduhar, Rafael Santos, Kyle Smith, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Abdi Salim, Felipe, Jeorgio Kocevski, Yutaro Tsukada, Jack Lynn.

Inter Miami (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Drake Callender.

Defenders: Franco Negri, Nicolas Freire, Tomas Aviles, Marcelo Weigandt.

Midfielders: Benjamin Cremaschi, Sergio Busquets, Julian Gressel.

Forwards: Robert Taylor, Luis Suarez, Matias Rojas.

Bench: CJ dos Santos, Jordi Alba, Noah Allen, Sergii Kryvtsov, Yannick Bright, David Ruiz, Lawson Sunderland, Leo Afonso, Leonardo Campana.

Referees:

REF: Rosendo Mendoza.
AR1: Chris Elliott.
AR2: Jeffrey Greeson.
4TH: Elvis Osmanovic.
VAR: Fotis Bazakos.
AVAR: Tom Supple.

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How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.

TV/Live Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.

Radio: FM 96.9 The Game (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).

Twitter: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow along at @TheManeLand, as well as Orlando City’s official Twitter feed (@OrlandoCitySC).

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Enjoy the game. Go City!

Welcome to Wednesday Mane Landers. The next installment of the Tropic Thunder rivalry between the good guys (Orlando City) and the bad guys (Inter Miami) is tonight. I hope you can make it out to the match since there will probably be a bunch of Lionel Messi fans there and more purple in the stands is needed. To get ready for the match, you can listen to the latest edition of The Mane Land PawedCast, and check out our match preview later today . For now, let’s get to the links.

Lions Host Tropic Thunder Tonight

I don’t know why others insist on calling matches between Orlando City and Inter Miami the “Florida Derby.” Our name for the match — Tropic Thunder — is just so much better. Regardless, the Lions host the Herons tonight at Inter&Co Stadium looking to avenge the 5-0 loss from earlier in the season. The spotlight might be on Miami, but the pressure is on Orlando City. The Lions surprised me with their win over the Philadelphia Union on Saturday. Let’s hope the club can keep the momentum going.

Miami May Be Without Messi Today

While I never want anyone to get seriously injured, I’m not sorry to hear that there is a chance Messi will be unavailable for tonight’s match. It seems that Miami’s magician picked up a minor knee injury in the match against CF Montreal on Saturday. Say what you want, but he is a competitor and could still take the field tonight. Hopefully, he remembers the welcome Cesar Araujo and Wilder Cartagena gave him when he joined the league and decides it’s not worth aggravating the knee.

OCB Back in Action On the Road

The senior squad isn’t the only team playing today as Orlando City B is in Ohio to take on Columbus Crew II at Lower.com Field. You’ll need to take a long lunch to watch this one because kickoff is set for noon. There will be plenty to watch since the two clubs are only separated by one point in the standings, with OCB sitting in sixth place (3-2-3, 13 points) and Crew II in eighth place (3-3-2, 12 points).

Keeping Up With Americans Abroad

Most of us know that Christian Pulisic had a great season with AC Milan after moving to the Serie A club from Chelsea. What I did not know is that Pulisic is the first AC Milan midfielder to score more than 10 goals in a season since former Orlando City star Kaká did it when he was there.

Things are not as bright for Giovanni Reyna at Nottingham Forest. He hasn’t played a ton of minutes for the Premier League side and hasn’t done much when he has played. It was a loan without a purchase option, but Forest is reportedly not interested in making an offer for him regardless.

Free Kicks

• Let’s all give a big congratulations to Orlando City Vice President of Soccer Operations and Technical Director Ricardo Moreira. He was accepted into the third edition of the FIFA Diploma in Club Management.

I want to proudly share that I have been accepted into the 3rd edition of the #FIFADIPLOMAINCLUBMANAGEMENT, a prestigious and exclusive course for club executives worldwide where close to 500 applicants went down to approximately 35 students in a thorough process that (…) pic.twitter.com/tqDiKIXSiS

— Ricardo Moreira (@9ricardomoreira) May 14, 2024

• We believe once a Lion, always a Lion, but I didn’t know MLS thought the same thing. Richie Laryea getting the biggest suspension is on brand for anyone related to Orlando City.

Sources: MLS discipline committee recommends following suspensions for Toronto & NYCFC:

– Richie Laryea TFC, 3 games
– Prince Owusu TFC, 2
– Strahinja Tanasijević NYC, 2
– Sean Johnson TFC, 1
– John Herdman TFC, 1

Multi-game suspensions can be appealed https://t.co/Kno97f7Wl0

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) May 14, 2024

• MLSsoccer.com decided that the Lions should be 22nd in its latest power rankings after a road win against the Philadelphia Union. Power rankings are dumb.
• Olivier Giroud has officially signed with LAFC, where he will join former France teammate Hugo Lloris. Perhaps some current Orlando City players could convince their international teammates to come to the City Beautiful. I’m just saying, Facundo Torres plays with Darwin Núñez.
• Wrexham AFC’s men’s and women’s squads are coming to America for the “Wrex Coast Tour” this summer. It’s the women’s team’s first trip to the U.S. Of course, if you want to see either of the teams, you will need to travel to the West Coast to do so.

The rumors are true. We’ve decided to make history. Wrex Coast Tour tickets are on sale now.https://t.co/0w2cC0hn1L 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/6PSEOcQYgS

— Rob McElhenney (@RMcElhenney) May 14, 2024

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That will do it for today. Let’s hope that the Lions can get a second win in a row. Vamos Orlando!