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Orlando City vs. D.C. United: Final Score 1-1 as Lions Open Road Schedule with a Draw

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3 years ago

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The good news was that Orlando City finally scored a goal from open play. The bad news is that the Lions finally conceded a goal on the season as they left Audi Field with a 1-1 draw against D.C. United. Rookie Duncan McGuire put Orlando City (1-0-2, 5 points) on the board in the second half but an inch-perfect shot by Chris Durkin enabled United (1-1-1, 4 points) to claim a point.

“In the first half today, we didn’t look like us,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “I don’t blame the players. I just think that they did great trying to adjust. The intensity was good. We would like to play much better, obviously, but they’re always good (in terms of intensity and discipline).”

Pareja rotated his squad from Tuesday night’s match in Mexico. Pedro Gallese again started in goal but his defense was a three/five depending on whether Orlando had the ball or not. Rookie Abdi Salim, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Kyle Smith got the start, with Rafael Santos getting his first start at left wingback and Ivan Angulo playing wide right, with Wilder Cartagena and Mauricio Pereyra in central midfield. The attacking line featured Dagur Dan Thorhallsson and Facundo Torres on the wings underneath McGuire, who got his first start up top.

As has been the case throughout this young season, the Lions provided little to no danger in the attack in the opening half, while Gallese bailed the team out multiple times to keep the game scoreless through the first 45 minutes.

The hosts started to cause trouble early when former Orlando fullback Ruan sent in a good cross (I know!) in the sixth minute. Gallese came off his line to get a hand to it. The ball fell to Theodore Ku-Dipietro, who had his shot blocked in front.

Orlando City’s first shot attempt came from Wilder Cartagena in the 17th minute. He was way outside the box and obviously not in as much space as he thought because he got his shot blocked and it didn’t even make it inside the penalty area.

Gallese made a couple of tame stops early but in the 28th minute, the ball ended up with Christian Benteke all alone in front of goal when Salim missed getting his head to a cross. Benteke’s shot was good but Gallese’s save was better.

In the 34th minute, Gallese robbed Ku-Dipietro with a big stop and then Benteke nodded off target on the recyle attempt.

The Lions nearly got their first quality look of the game in the 41st when Pereyra sent a ball in for Torres. The younger Uruguayan’s first touch was a bit heavy though, and Tyler Miller scrambled off his line to smother it. It was practically Miller’s only activity in the opening 45.

Gallese had no trouble collecting Pedro Santos’ shot from distance in the 42nd minute, taking it on the first hop. Benteke fired wide of goal off Miller’s long free kick deep in first-half stoppage time as D.C. continued to present threats to the Orlando City goal.

The Lions had maybe their best attacking movement of the half deep in stoppage time when Torres sent a headed pass in behind down the left. McGuire ran onto it but could only win a corner kick.

D.C. held wide margins in possession (57.2%-42.8%), passing accuracy (85.2%-77.1%), shots (8-3), and shots on target (4-0). Orlando City had the first half’s only corner kick attempt deep in stoppage time but provided no threat from it.

If not for Gallese, the score could have been much different at the break.

Pareja changed shape and personnel at the break, sending Robin Jansson on for Salim and Martin Ojeda on for Torres. The Lions went to a four-man back line with Smith on the right, pushing Angulo up to the wing.

The move opened the game up a bit and the Lions were able to get on the ball more but also allowed D.C. to advance more easily as well, at times.

“We did expect the game in the second half we could have more volume and more actions up front,” Pareja said. “We knew the defensive five in the first half would probably reduce our possibilties because we were playing with one more defender and one less attacker. But we wanted to have solidness and try to see if we can create some more sequences around, in the flanks, and I think we did but not with so much consistency. Second half when we made the change of the model and the change of the personnel, we knew that this was going to surprise D.C. at some point and that we would add one more forward, and that happened.”

Thorhallsson finally gave the Lions a shot on goal in the 48th minute, sending a shot from distance directly in at Miller, who had no trouble catching it. In the 52nd minute, Ojeda sent a ball straight to Miller that may have been a weak shot or an attempted through ball for McGuire that didn’t work out.

But a minute later, the Lions found their breakthrough.

Smith got the ball on the right side from Angulo and sent a cross to the back post. Thorhallsson was there and nodded it back across the front of goal. McGuire arrived to bundle the ball in despite a challenge from Steve Birnbaum and the ball finally found the inside of the net for Orlando. A check for offside confirmed the goal — McGuire’s first as a professional and on Thorhallsson’s first MLS assist.

The rookie celebrated his goal with a celebratory flip.

“It was a great team buildup. Great cross,” McGuire said. “I thought I could get my head onto (the initial cross from Smith). I turned, and Dagur played a great ball across the face of goal — made the goalie out of the play — and then it was a simple tap-in. Dagur could not have made it easier for me.”

“It’s a dream for him,” Pareja said of his rookie’s goal. “I’m very pleased because he’s a young kid and very committed with the group, and an American player that came from the college system, which is fantastic. And he’s proven already in his first game that he belongs. We’re very happy for him.”

The game had hardly restarted when it seemed D.C. would equalize. A shot that was blocked riccocheted off the arm of Wilder Cartagena and the referee immediately pointed to the spot. But Cartagena’s arm was not only tucked in, but his entire forearm was behind his back. That, added to the close proximity and sudden change of direction made the decision a harsh one, and the video assistant referee, Jorge Gonzalez, suggested that referee Jon Freemon have another look. Freemon went to the monitor and quickly overturned his initial call.

Pereyra turned down an opportunity to shoot from the top of the box in the 61st minute, and instead tried to thread a ball through the defense to Ojeda, who appeared to be offside anyway. Ojeda re-established himself and Pereyra played it to his left. Ojeda tried to turn and shoot in a single motion but couldn’t get squared all the way around and left his shot wide.

Seconds later, at the other end, Smith did well to erase a good cross from his former teammate, Ruan.

The Lions dealt with a series of corner kicks shortly after that but D.C. couldn’t pay them off. The best look for the hosts was a shot through traffic by fullback Mohanad Jeahze, but it was well wide of the goal in the 73rd minute.

Ojeda put a shot on target in the 79th but it was from distance and right at Miller.

A minute later, Durkin equalized. Smith and Schlegel were unable to gain control in the corner and the ball was sent to Durkin at the top of the area. He faked a shot on his right and pulled the ball back onto his left as second-half sub Cesar Araujo went for the block. Durkin then fired an unstoppable shot just inside the far post that Gallese somehow almost got to.

It was Durkin’s third career MLS goal and his second against Orlando City. Both cost the Lions points at Audi Field.

Ruan fired a shot well up into the crowd in the 86th after an initial clearance of a D.C. corner kick.

The final seconds of stoppage time produced a set piece for the Lions near the left corner, won by substitute Gaston Gonzalez. Ojeda played the ball to the penalty spot for Jansson, who had peeled away from goal. The Beefy Swede was open for the shot but mishit it badly and it went nowhere near the goal frame.

Orlando survived a quick D.C. push up the pitch and the final whistle brought the proceedings to an end.

D.C.’s advantage in possession dipped a little in the second half, but the hosts still finished with a comfortable advantage in that stat (56.7%-43.3%). United also led in passing accuracy (81.1%-75.5%), shots (16-9), shots on target (5-4), and corners (5-2).

“I thought we looked much, much better,” Pareja said of the second half. “I think we had a couple actions. I think we had a goal. And we accomplished that objective.”

Orlando City has made it through three of the five matches in 15 days and will return home to face Tigres in the second leg of Concacaf Champions league play in the Round of 16 Wednesday night at Exploria Stadium. The next league game for the Lions is set for next Saturday night at home against Charlotte.

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Orlando City restarts its 2026 MLS campaign late tonight out west at San Jose.

Published

3 weeks ago

on

July 22, 2026

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Image of Braian Ojeda taking a shot in a friendly against FC Dallas.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match thread for a late night midweek matchup tonight between Orlando City (4-9-2, 14 points) and the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-2, 32 points) at PayPal Park (10:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams in 2026 and the first time the teams have met since 2024.

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

History

Orlando City is 3-1-3 in the previous seven MLS meetings with the Quakes since the club joined Major League Soccer in 2015. The Lions got their only away win in the series in the last meeting and enter tonight 1-1-2 on the road against San Jose.

The teams last met on May 18, 2024, with Jack Lynn coming off the bench to score the game’s only goal. Lynn’s strike in the 89th minute broke the scoreless deadlock and lifted the Lions to a 1-0 victory.

The teams met in Orlando most recently way back on June 22, 2021, with the Lions beating the Quakes down, 5-0. Orlando got things started with an early penalty kick goal by Nani, followed by braces from Benji Michel and Daryl Dike to easily put the game away. The lasting memory from the game is Michel’s celebratory dance wearing a cowboy hat that came out of the stands.

Prior to that Orlando City romp, the last time the teams met was on Aug. 31, 2019 when the Lions got freight trained 3-0 at Avaya Stadium, giving the Quakes their first win in the series. San Jose’s offense came via a Chris Wondolowski brace and an early opening goal by Magnus Eriksson. Orlando looked flat and weary out of the gate.

The Lions were victorious in Exploria Stadium in the 2018 meeting on April 21, a 3-2 Orlando win. It was the first win in the series for either side after three straight draws. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer gave the Lions a 3-0 lead before Florian Jungwirth pulled two back in the game’s late stages.

The Lions led all of the first three matches in the second half only to see San Jose pull level, with two of those tying goals coming late. In the 2017 meeting, Carlos Rivas finally broke the scoreless tie and gave Orlando City the lead in the 81st minute, but Wondolowski spoiled the Lions’ night with an equalizer two minutes later as the teams drew at Avaya Stadium, 1-1.

In 2016, the Lions were gut-punched in the 94th minute in an emotional match that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the first home match following the Pulse nightclub tragedy and what appeared to be a storybook ending to a cathartic win turned sour on a last-gasp equalizer by Shea Salinas. Seb Hines — now the Orlando Pride’s head coach — opened the scoring for Orlando, only to see Chad Barrett tie it up. Julio Baptista restored the lead in stoppage time, but Salinas ruined everything.

The two teams also drew in the first meeting, a 1-1 affair at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Lions down to 10 men after Brek Shea was sent off in the first half. Kaká and Wondolowski each scored from the penalty spot four minutes apart in that initial meeting.

Overview

The teams meet tonight to get their post-World Cup portion of the season started. Orlando City has been terrible on the road all season long, keeping only one MLS opponent under two goals all year away from home and allowing five goals twice (at New York City FC and Nashville) and six goals twice (at LAFC and in the team’s most recent match away at FC Cincinnati just before the break).

Orlando City is a putrid 1-6-1 on the road this season, and now the Lions must face the Western Conference co-leaders tonight before coming home to face Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC at home on Saturday. They’ll have to play at least tonight’s game without Martin Ojeda, who is out with a thigh injury sustained some time between his first-half goal a week ago in a friendly against FC Dallas and the time the availability report dropped on Tuesday.

But it isn’t all bad news for the Lions, who should have both Antoine Griezmann and Dike in the lineup. Griezmann was the club’s highly prized and widely publicized summer Designated Player signing, while Dike’s return to Orlando came together more recently, following his departure from West Bromwich Albion. They’ll help the club’s offense, but the attack hasn’t been the issue in 2026 — it’s been the historically porous defense, which is on pace to shatter the MLS record for goals conceded.

Meanwhile, San Jose is one of the first half of the season’s biggest surprises, as the Quakes have been outstanding in 2026. Scoring 34 goals while conceding just 15, San Jose is among the league leaders in goals scored (tied for third), goals conceded (third), and goal differential (+19, third).

The Earthquakes are 4-2-1 at home and are coming off a 3-1 road win at Portland in their last game prior to the World Cup break. San Jose boasts Golden Boot challenger Preston Judd, who leads the Quakes with 11 goals, adding two assists in his 15 appearances. Ousseni Bouda has chipped in five goals and three assists. Niko Tsakiris leads the team with seven assists to go along with his two goals, but he’s still recovering from a lower body injury and is not available tonight. However, the arrival of Timo Werner (four goals and five assists in just seven games) has truly elevated Bruce Arena’s Quakes, and he’ll need to be one of the main focal points for the Orlando defense.

To have any shot at taking something from this game, the Lions will need to play better road defense than they have all season. Orlando can score goals, but with Ojeda out, Griezmann will need to adapt quickly, and someone other than the team’s leading scorer will need to find the net.

The Lions will play without Ojeda (thigh), Joran Gerbet (knee), Nolan Miller (knee), Colin Guske (international duty), and Clovis Archage (international duty). In addition, Marco Pasalic may or may not have returned to the team after the World Cup. He was not in training Monday, although interim head coach Martin Perelman said he expected the Croatian back soon. The Earthquakes will be without Nonso Adimabua (lower body), former Lion Earl Edwards Jr. (lower body), DeJuan Jones (lower body), and Tsakiris (you guessed it, lower body…come on, San Jose).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

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

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

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Antoine Griezmann.

Bench: Javier Otero, Bernardo Rhein, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer

San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn.

Defenders: Jamar Ricketts, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benjamin Kikanovic.

Defensive Midfielders: Beau Lerouox, Ronaldo Vieira.

Attacking Midfielders: Timo Werner, Nick Fernandez, Ousseni Bouda.

Forwards: Preston Judd.

Bench: Jonathan Gonzalez, Dave Romney, Paul Marie, Jack Skahan, Jack Jasinski, Ian Harkes, Francesco Montali, Max Floriani, Darius Johnson.

Referees

REF: Elijio Arreguin.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Mike Nickerson.
4TH: Timothy Ford.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30 p.m.

Venue: PayPal Park — San Jose, CA.

TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

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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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 542: Tampa Bay Friendly, McGuire Traded, OCB Beats Cincinnati, and More

Lions maul the Rowdies in friendly action, OCB wins on the road, and it’s transfer season.

Published

4 weeks ago

on

July 14, 2026

By

Image of Antoine Griezmann and Ivan Angulo celebrating a goal in a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City welcomed I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay to Inter&Co Stadium for a friendly match on Wednesday and then proceeded to bludgeon the Rowdies with a couple of hammers named Antoine Griezmann and Justin Ellis. The two attackers combined for a goal and four assists in a 6-0 beatdown of the team from the Gulf Coast, with five different Lions scoring and Griffin Dorsey forcing an own goal. We discuss Griezmann’s first minutes with Orlando City, what the team showed in its formation, and how good Justin Ellis’ vision is.

Oh, and it’s also transfer season now. Duncan McGuire is on his way out and Marco Pasalic reportedly will follow soon, while a new left back may be headed from Spain to Orlando.

Following all of that, we discuss Maxime Crepeau being added to the MLS All-Star Team and the announcement that he’ll participate in the 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Our mailbagbox asked us about which World Cup semifinalist players we’d want to join Orlando this season (if we could only pick one), and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 2-1 road win at FC Cincinnati 2. It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Young Lions, but they managed to do enough to earn three points on the road, where they’ll stay to face Chattanooga on Saturday. We briefly preview that game.

Finally, Orlando City will be in Dallas Wednesday for the second of two friendlies leading up to the restart of the MLS season. It’s unlikely we’ll get a lot of details about that one, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the FC Dallas folks will help us out.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 542 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City crushed the Rowdies, the transfer season is in full swing, plus: hey now, Crepeau’s an all-star.

28:50 – The mailbagbox is always good for a hypothetical scenario.

36:54 – The Young Lions slipped past Cincy and head to Chattanooga, while the senior Lions head to Dallas.

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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 119: International Break, USWNT, Louisville Preview, and More

The Pride return from a long international break looking to get their first-ever road win against Racing Louisville.

Published

4 months ago

on

April 22, 2026

By

Image of Haley McCutcheon scoring the opening goal in Orlando's home playoff win over Seattle.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

It feels like months since the Orlando Pride last took the field, but the calendar says otherwise. If you believe calendars, it’s only been a little less than three weeks, but time moves strangely in the post-pandemic apocalyptic world.

Anyway, we don’t have a match to recap, so we touched on a couple of Pride players putting the ball in the net during the international break and chat a bit about the United States Women’s National Team’s three-game friendly series against Japan. Emma Hayes used a lot of players, and the team looked solid for two of the three matches, but the rotated middle game seemed a bit disjointed. Hayes has greatly expanded the player pool and will have plenty of options when the World Cup approaches.

Our mailbagbox had questions about a potential change in the NWSL schedule, as the league explores adopting the fall-to-spring slate, and opposition own goals. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we turned our attention toward Friday’s late afternoon tussle with Racing Louisville in Kentucky. The Pride have never won on the road against Louisville, and it’s about high time they did. This match begins a congested push to the June World Cup break, and although Friday’s hosts aren’t high in the table, the Pride must be at their best to get a road result in this fixture. We look back at the series history, compare the two sides, provide our key matchups in the game, and make our final score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 119 went down:

0:15 – We open the show with a little banter about the Pride in the international break and the USWNT’s series vs. Japan.

9:03 – The mailbagbox features questions via both eletronic mail and social media. We welcome all modes of delivery.

19:59 – The Pride travel to Louisville to face Racing. They’ve never won in Kentucky, but we inform them how to do so.

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