Orlando City
Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Final Score 3-2 as Lions Win Fourth Straight
Dom Dwyer and Chris Mueller scored again.
Orlando City kept it rolling. A sellout crowd of 25,527 watched as the Lions climbed into a second-place tie (for the moment) in the Eastern Conference with a 3-2 win at Orlando City Stadium. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer each scored, and Yoshimar Yotun added two assists.
It was the first win in the series for either team, as Orlando City (4-2-1, 13 points) improved to 1-0-3 all time against the Earthquakes (1-3-2, 5 points). The win could have been more lopsided, with Orlando missing out on several good opportunities, and Justin Meram missing a penalty. The Lions led 3-0 in the second half before allowing a pair of goals off set pieces to Florian Jungwirth.
“Another night that I think the fans got their money’s worth. Another night that the coach gets a few more gray hairs,” Head Coach Jason Kreis said after the match. “But really, really pleased. Four wins in a row. Really, really pleased with three wins in a row at home. And I think we’re moving in a very positive direction. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we still have a way to go.”
Kreis stuck with the lineup that finished the Philadelphia game, a 4-2-3-1 with Will Johnson at right back, Cristian Higuita next to Yotun in central midfield, an attacking midfield line of Mueller, Kljestan, and Stefano Pinho, and Dwyer up top.
It took Orlando just over a minute to take the lead. A gorgeous long cross-field pass from Yotun found its way to Mueller, and the rookie shrugged off Shea Salinas, took the ball into the penalty area, and found the corner to make it 1-0. Mueller’s goal was his third in as many games and it was the fastest goal to start a game for Orlando City since the club joined MLS.
“(Yoshi) gets overlooked a lot, I feel like,” Mueller said. “He’s just unbelievable in the middle of the field. The balls that he’s finding me on is just next level, so my hat goes off to him. He had a great performance and it makes it easy when you’ve got guys like that giving you the ball.
“Chris made a fantastic individual effort,” Dwyer said of Mueller’s goal. “He’s coming on leaps and bounds every week so we’re very happy with him right now and very excited.”
Dwyer tried to double the lead 10 minutes later, getting into the box on the end of a long ball from Joe Bendik. Andrew Tarbell made a one-handed stop and it came off the woodwork. The rebound fell perfectly for Pinho but the Brazilian whiffed on the shot and the chance evaporated.
San Jose started seeing more of the possession for about the next 15 minutes and earning a series of corner kicks but the Lions were able to navigate those set-piece opportunities and retain the lead. Dwyer again nearly doubled the lead when he was sent into the box by Kljestan and fired a shot that deflected just inches wide of the far post in the 30th minute. Two minutes later, Pinho turned down a shot opportunity at the top of the box, worked in a bit deeper and got his shot blocked.
But three minutes later, Yotun sent another long ball that resulted in Orlando’s second goal. His ball found Mueller again on the right. The rookie waited until Tarbell committed and fed the ball toward goal, where Kljestan made a sliding effort to tap the ball in, putting the Lions up, 2-0 in the 35th minute. Mueller picked up his first MLS assist on the play.
“I heard (Kljestan),” Mueller said of his unselfish play. “It’s 100% a goal if you pass that ball. Probably could have scored it myself but the chance is slim. If I give that ball to Sacha, it’s a goal every time.”
“The key is Dom is able to bring down the first ball and hold off the center back and then I think he finds Yoshi, who finds Chris,” Kljestan said. “Chris looked up and saw me and I didn’t know if he was going to pass it or not. I think most young guys would take the shot themselves. But he knew if he laid it across in a good pass, it was an easy tap-in. He knows I would do the same for him and, yeah, I probably would have killed him if he would have shot and missed at that point, but unbelievable pass.”
The Quakes nearly pulled that goal right back. Danny Hoesen’s shot smashed off the woodwork a minute later and a second effort on goal was headed away by Amro Tarek. Four minutes later, Bendik made a save on a shot through traffic by Jungwirth. He spilled the save but was able to pounce on the ball before a San Jose player could arrive.
In the final minutes of the first half, the Lions missed out on a few great chances to put the game away. Pinho slipped trying to get onto a cross in front of an open net. Moments later, Yotun went in alone on a defender but tried to make one move too many and lost the ball.
Orlando held just 47% of the first-half possession, with both teams attempting five shots (Orlando had three on target to San Jose’s one). Both teams passed well, with the Lions connecting on 85% and the Quakes on 87%.
Much of the second half was played between the two penalty areas, as Orlando looked to slow play down and take the air out of the ball. Each team squandered some early set pieces after the break.
San Jose got its best opportunity to pull within 2-1 when Hoesen spun inside of Tarek in the 67th minute but fired his shot over the crossbar. It was an expensive miss, as the Lions extended the lead to 3-0 just two minutes later.
Second-half substitute Meram split the defense with a pass for Dwyer, who took a touch to round Tarbell and fire his 100th professional goal into the empty net. It was Dom’s fifth goal in his four games played this season, extending his scoring streak.
“It was a fantastic pass. Justin’s a threat whether it’s scoring goals or setting up goals,” Dwyer said of the play that sent him through. “Once he can get this monkey off his back and get that first one, i think the floodgates will open for him. I think he’s a very, very talented player and there’s a lot more to come from him.”
Yotun unleashed Mueller again in the 74th minute and the rookie got into the box, but his cross was cut out by the defense. Shortly after that, San Jose found a way into the game.
A corner kick found Chris Wondolowski, who headed on goal. Bendik got a hand to it to push it off the goal frame, but it bounced perfectly for Jungwirth to finish, putting the Earthquakes on the board in the 78th minute.
The Lions kept coming, however. Johnson got forward from his right back spot and smashed a shot that Tarbell fought off in the 79th minute to keep his team in the match. Three minutes later, Kljestan sent his set piece attempt over the crossbar.
It looked like City would put the game away when Dwyer was taken down in the box by Anibal Godoy, earning a penalty. Meram was given the opportunity to score his first goal as a Lion and stepped up to the spot. He took a very short approach and fired, but he left his shot too close to Tarbell, who got a hand on it to keep it out in the 86th minute.
The Earthquakes, to their credit, kept pressing and eventually got another Jungwirth goal off a corner — this time on a header from Magnus Eriksson’s service in stoppage time.
“For me, defending dead-ball situations is a matter of commitment, organization and focus,” Kreis said. “And I would say to give up the number of dead ball goals we have this year, we’re extremely disappointed with that. But it’s not just the coaches. I just walked out of the locker room and we have some people in there that are very, very disappointed not to have obtained all of our objectives tonight. Clearly a shutout at home is one of the objectives that we’ve had and haven’t accomplished yet.”
That was as close as the Quakes could get, and after more than four minutes of injury time, the final whistle blew on Orlando’s fourth straight victory and third consecutive win at home.
Orlando finished with 51% of the possession and both teams fired 11 shots (Orlando with six on target to San Jose’s three). The Lions passed at an 84.4% clip to San Jose’s 85.5%.
“We were a little bit disappointed to concede,” Dwyer said. “It wasn’t quite the complete performance, but we got the job done. We got all three points.”
The Lions will be back in action next Sunday as they face the Rapids in Colorado at 4 p.m. ET.
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Inter Miami: Final Score 3-0 as Lions Romp in South Florida
The Lions finally got the better of Lionel Messi as Luis Muriel, Marco Pasalic, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, and Pedro Gallese led Orlando to an 11th consecutive league result.
The Lions finally got a win over a Lionel Messi-led Inter Miami side with a methodical 3-0 win at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. Luis Muriel, Marco Pasalic, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson scored for Orlando (6-2-6, 24 points), and Pedro Gallese came up big in goal the few times he was tested. If anything, the final score could have been more skewed in Orlando’s favor if not for a few big misses, but defensively and offensively, the Lions did enough to get a complete win over Inter Miami (6-3-4).
With the victory, the Lions have won two straight and extended their MLS unbeaten streak to 11 matches (5-0-6) and their overall unbeaten streak to 12 in all competitions (6-0-6).
“First (I want to) congratulate our players for such a performance,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “The discipline, the discipline with the game plan was enormous and they wanted so bad to give this game to the fans and the club, knowing the importance of it in this moment, and what I saw in the pitch was that commitment in every single moment they played, so they deserve all the highlights, the players today. They played a great game.”
Pareja’s lineup included Gallese in goal behind a back line of David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Alex Freeman. Cesar Araujo and Joran Gerbet started in central midfield with attackers Ivan Angulo and Pasalic, with Martin Ojeda and Muriel up top.
The hosts held much of the possession, and the Herons looked threatening throughout, but Orlando’s back line and central midfield kept the middle clogged up and forced Miami to either send the ball in from wide areas or look for Messi to work his way through numbers at the top of the box. Whenever Orlando was able to take the ball away, the Lions looked for quick transition outlets to take advantage of Miami’s high line and willingness to throw everyone into the attacking half. It worked to the point Orlando could have won this game by five goals, but in the end, the Lions will take the 3-0 win over their southern rivals.
The Lions generated a chance in the first minute. Alex Freeman split two defenders and sent Pasalic down the right. The Croatian picked out Muriel in the box, but the Colombian couldnt’ make clean contact with the ball, letting Miami off the hook. Moments later, Angulo won a free kick on a foul by Ian Fray. Ojeda took the long-range set piece and his cross found Freeman, but the young fullback wasn’t able to direct his header anywhere close to goal.
Miami’s first look came in the sixth minute from just outside the box. Gerbet was unable to cleanly clear a ball in the box, and Miami shifted it quickly from right to left, where Noah Allen blasted a shot over the bar. Two minutes later, Jordi Alba was able to sneak past Freeman but he was unable to catch up to Messi’s pass, which Gallese covered.
Jansson did well to block a Messi shot in the ninth minute, and then knocked the ball out of play for a Miami corner. The Herons took the set piece short but ended up knocking it out for a goal kick.
In the 11th minute, Messi dribbled through the heart of Orlando’s defense before dropping a pass out wide to Fray on the right. The fullback smashed a shot across the face of goal that went out of play.
The Lions looked for opportunities to counter and nearly got one seconds later. Pasalic was on the break when Allen pulled him down to earn the game’s first yellow card.
Pasalic made a nice move in the 15th minute to cut through traffic and get into the top of the area. Allen was there to block his shot at the last second, and the Lions could not pay off the ensuing corner.
Orlando cleared a corner kick as Miami continued hunting for the opener. Messi sent a right-footed effort toward the back post in the 19th minute that had Gallese scrambling over, but it went out of play just wide of the left post.
The Lions broke the other way in transition in the 21st minute with a nice play to send Muriel into the box on the left. Muriel, however, scuffed his shot and hit it weakly at Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari. Seconds later, Luis Suarez was left alone in the box and fired Tadeo Allende’s cross wide with his first touch.
Messi came close in the 22nd minute, but Gallese did well to stretch out and get a hand on it to keep the game scoreless with a vital save. It was the best of his four saves on the night.
The Lions should have scored in the 24th minute as Angulo was unlocked over the top down the left. The Colombian entered the box with a defender on him, and much like Ramiro Enrique on Wednesday, Angulo cut back to his right and fired. Unlike Enrique, Angulo left his shot on the ground and too close to the goalkeeper, who was able to get a foot on it to keep it out.
Ojeda should have been sent in behind three minutes later, but his first touch was ultra heavy, and the ball bounced harmlessly to Ustari.
The Lions survived a couple of half chances for Miami before Orlando City broke the deadlock late in the first half on a transition opportunity. The Lions defended a Miami throw-in, with Angulo knocking the ball away for Brekalo to clear. Brekalo let the ball go through for Gallese, who scooped it up and booted it deep down the field. Muriel’s first touch was exquisite to bring it in, and the Colombian dribbled into the box and fired just inside the left post to open the scoring in the 43rd minute. Muriel set a new single-season personal mark with his sixth goal of the season.
“I just saw a lot of space out there. There was a lot of space, especially on that play,” Muriel said. “I was open, but Pedro hit a fantastic pass to me to be able to get it to me. And thankfully, I had the capacity to control the ball, because it’s not easy in that way. And then, after I controlled it, the only thing left to do was to finish.”
Inter Miami couldn’t produce anything with a late corner kick, and the Lions took their slim advantage into the break.
At the break, Inter Miami had the advantage in possession (59.6%-40.4%), corners (5-2), and passing accuracy (86.2%-81%). The Lions attempted more shots (10-8) and put more shots on target (4-1).
The Herons started where they left off after the restart, keeping possession and working it inside and out to try to find space. Angulo left Fray a bit too much room in the 47th minute, and the fullback sent a dangerous cross right across the face of goal that Schlegel knocked out for a corner. Not only did Orlando City deal with the corner, the Lions should have scored off of it. The ball was cleared out of the box where Angulo picked it up and sent Ojeda all alone in on goal. With a defender closing from behind, Ojeda got to the top of the box and went for power instead of placement, blasting his shot well over the crossbar on a wasteful opportunity.
In the 52nd minute, the Lions wasted another chance to double the lead, with Freeman getting sent in behind on the right. With Ojeda to his left, the right back opted to shoot, but he hit his effort right at Ustari, who made the save. The rebound went right back to Freeman. This time he squared it across to Ojeda, but the ball was hard to handle and the Lions’ No. 10 needed to take a touch before shooting. That allowed the defense to close and get a piece of his shot, sending it wide for a corner.
Seconds later, Orlando scored anyway. Muriel made a nice move before dropping the ball to Schlegel, who sent Ojeda down the right inside the box on the recycle. Ojeda squared it through traffic to Pasalic, who smashed a shot that hit defender Maximiliano Falcon and still had enough pace on it to squirt through Ustari. Pasalic’s sixth of the season pushed Orlando’s lead to 2-0 in the 53rd minute.
The Lions continued to play solid team defense and threaten in transition. Muriel nearly had Ojeda in behind the back line in the 57th minute, but the pass was inches too far out in front and all the Argentine could do was get a toe on it to send it meekly at Ustari.
Trailing by two, the hosts started subbing off defenders for more attack-minded players, but not much changed about the way the game was going. Messi and his teammates looked to find link-up play through Orlando’s lines and used any space they had to try a shot. Orlando put together three good blocks in the 62nd minute to preserve the two-goal advantage.
The wall in front of Gallese started the block party by getting in front of Messi’s shot on a free kick. The ball then was sent left to right to Messi in the box, and Gallese made a good save from a tight angle on the right. Schlegel then blocked a Sergio Busquets shot at the top of the box. Freeman followed with a block on Allende’s shot moments later.
Pareja sent Thorhallsson and Enrique on for Muriel and Pasalic, the two goal scorers. Miami continued to hunt for a way back into the game, and Messi had an opportunity with a free kick in the 76th minute. He went low, under the wall, this time, but he didn’t get a lot on his shot and it drifted wide of the right post.
Enrique nearly got in behind two minutes later, but his first touch was far too heavy, allowing Ustari to reach it first. Miami came the other way, and Suarez tried to catch Gallese out of his net, but El Pulpo was able to get back into position to make a comfortable stop.
The Lions nearly put the game to bed in the 88th minute, with Freeman and Enrique going on the break together. Freeman found Enrique, but Ustari got a piece of the Argentine’s shot, which appeared to hit the left post.
Fafa Picault got his head to a Messi free kick delivery in the 90th minute after a handball outside the box by Freeman. The header was always going over. Brekalo blocked a Messi shot two minutes later, as the hosts kept the pressure on.
Thorhallsson put the game to rest in the fourth added minute. Orlando broke in transition down the left, with second-half sub Duncan McGuire getting on the ball and squaring it across for the Icelandic midfielder to finish. Thorhallsson’s second goal of the season equaled his full season total from each of his first two years in Orlando.
“It’s important just feeling that we are being more diverse on scoring goals,” Pareja said. “Today Dagur came from the bench and scored. Marco was present and scored today. I’m so happy to see Luis committed with the group this much and scoring also.”
The Lions saw out the final minute without conceding, earning a huge three points on the road. According to Opta, it was the first time Lionel Messi played in a home game for his club and it lost by three goals.
Inter Miami dominated possession (62.3%-37.7%) and finished with the advantage in shots (21-17), corners (9-3), and passing accuracy (88.2%-78.3%). The Lions put more shots on target (8-4). More importantly, Orlando put the only three goals on the board, improving to 6-4-4 in regular-season play against Miami and 6-5-5 in all competitions.
“Very happy tonight for the result,” Muriel said. “A good goal tonight, but more important, the victory for the team. We’re in a really good run of form right now, and a really good mode. So, just very happy tonight to get the win in the derby.”
“We remarked in our preparation the discipline that these games require,” Pareja said of keeping Messi quiet. “Playing against the best player in the world is not an easy task, even if we don’t want to mention that, but we know that he makes big differences in shorter spaces, so we consider the discipline of the team the primary principle of the game. And we knew that after doing that, we’re going to have spaces, that we were going to have opportunities. and we were patient for those opportunities to appear, and then we were, as well, very effective when they came. We could have been probably more (clinical), because really, we had much more in front of the goal. But today, we feel the job is well done.”
The Lions have another quick turnaround, as Orlando City will host Nashville SC Wednesday in U.S. Open Cup action.
Orlando City
Orlando City SC vs. Inter Miami: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions and Herons are set to begin the 2025 Tropic Thunder series in Fort Lauderdale.
Welcome to your match thread for a Sunday night Tropic Thunder matchup between Orlando City (5-2-6, 21 points) and the team’s Publix Enemies, Inter Miami CF (6-2-4, 22 points) at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale (7 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). It’s the first of the two scheduled meetings between the sides this season with the Herons scheduled to make the return trip to Orlando on Aug. 10.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.
History
Orlando City is 5-5-5 in the series in all competitions, 5-4-4 in MLS play, and 2-4-0 on the road in league games.
The most recent meeting came just a couple of days more than one year ago on May 15, 2024, when the teams played to a scoreless draw at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando. It was the last 0-0 draw in the regular season for the Lions prior to the four the team has already played to this season.
This fixture a year ago resulted in a forgettable 5-0 loss for the Lions at Chase Stadium on March 2. Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi scored braces and Robert Taylor added a goal in a match Orlando City was never in, as it was already 2-0 just 11 minutes after kickoff.
The previous meeting 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 on the first goal 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 comfortable 3-0 home win over Charlotte FC on Wednesday, extending the club’s unbeaten run to 10 games in MLS (4-0-6) and 11 in all competitions (5-0-6). that streak includes a mark of 1-0-4 on the road in league play and 2-0-4 away in all competitions. The Lions are 1-1-4 in road games in the regular season and 2-1-4 in all competitive matches away from home in 2025.
Ojeda has been red hot for Orlando City, scoring four goals in the last two matches, including a hat trick against the New England Revolution. Beyond those goals, he’s also generating scoring chances and getting more shots of late.
Inter Miami is coming off a 3-3 road draw against the Earthquakes in San Jose in the midweek. The Herons have just one win in their last six games in all competitions (1-4-1), but they are unbeaten (1-0-2) in the last three league meetings and four games in all competitions (2-0-2) in this in-state rivalry series.
The Lions must do what they can to limit Messi’s involvement as much as possible, while keeping a defender glued to Suarez (if he plays — he’s missed the last few games but returned to full training earlier this week) 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 tonight to take advantage of the Herons pushing up in support of the attack.
It’s a rivalry game, so anything can happen.
“I’m expecting a game with character. The rivalry is growing very genuinely,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “I’m expecting an intense game with the protagonists of both teams that know what it means to play in this derby. For us, we are coming from a positive result and some very good performances lately. We have confidence to go in there and try to win that game. It would be very important, so that’s the game mode that we are in now.”
The Lions will be without Eduard Atuesta (neck), Nico Rodriguez (thigh), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee). Inter Miami will be without Drake Callender (sports hernia), Baltasar Rodríguez (hamstring), and David Ruiz (hamstring).
Match Content
- Our David Rohe provides his three keys to an Orlando City victory in tonight’s match.
- The most recent episode of the PawedCast includes our key matchups and predictions for tonight’s match.
Official Lineups:
Orlando City (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.
Defenders: David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Alex Freeman.
Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Cesar Araujo, Joran Gerbet, Marco Pasalic.
Forwards: Luis Muriel, Martin Ojeda.
Bench: Javier Otero, Zakaria Taifi, Rafael Santos, Kyle Smith, Colin Guske, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Favian Loyola, Ramiro Enrique, Duncan McGuire.
Inter Miami (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Oscar Ustari.
Defenders: Noah Allen, Maximiliano Falcon, Gonzalo Lujan, Ian Fray.
Defensive Midfielders: Sergio Busquets, Yannick Bright.
Attacking Midfielders: Jordi Alba, Lionel Messi, Tadeo Allende.
Forward: Luis Suarez.
Bench: Rocco Rios Novo, Marcelo Weigandt, Tomas Aviles, Federico Redondo, Benjamin Cremaschi, Telasco Segovia, Fafa Picault, David Martinez, Allen Obando.
Referees:
Ref: Guido Gonzales Jr.
AR1: Jeremy Kieso.
AR2: Chris Elliott.
4th: Marcos DeOliveira.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: Tom Supple.
How to Watch
Match Time: 7 p.m.
Venue: Chase Stadium — Fort Lauderdale.
TV/Live Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).
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 game. Go City!
Orlando City
Orlando City Showing Signs of Adjusting to Eduard Atuesta’s Absence
The Lions have looked much better on offense the last two games, and there’s a couple of reasons why.
Much has been made of Orlando City’s difficulties in creating chances and scoring goals when Eduard Atuesta has been unavailable due to injury. It’s not hard to understand why either. The Colombian was unavailable for three of Orlando’s four scoreless draws this year, and he only played nine minutes as a substitute in the stalemate against the New York Red Bulls on April 12.
When he was healthy and got the start against Atlanta United two games later, the Lions won 3-0 and he created the most chances of anyone in the game with three. Orlando then promptly reverted to being offensively stunted in the following game against the Chicago Fire, and was only able to manage its fourth scoreless draw of the year, despite playing over a half the game with a man advantage.
There certainly seemed to be plenty of evidence pointing towards Atuesta being the missing cog in Orlando City’s offense. While he only has two assists in eight games, he does a ton of work in linking the defense to the attack and is great at finding attacking players in dangerous areas, as evidenced by his 17 key passes. In the 0-0 draws with the Philadelphia Union, CF Montreal, and the Fire, Orlando just didn’t look right without him, although the Red Bulls game was a much better performance that was ultimately derailed by Rodrigo Schlegel’s sending off.
While he hasn’t played in either of Orlando’s last two league matches, a 3-3 draw against the New England Revolution, and a 3-1 win against Charlotte FC, the offense clearly hasn’t had any problem creating chances. If anything, the Lions should have scored more goals if not for a couple instances of less-than-crisp finishing in each match.
So, why the sudden change?
Well for one thing, the Designated Players are firing on all cylinders again. Martin Ojeda scored a hat trick against New England, and he and Luis Muriel scored Orlando’s first two goals against Charlotte. Ojeda didn’t start either of the two games against Atlanta and Chicago because he was dealing with a minor injury, but now that it’s in the rearview mirror, he’s been a man possessed. Muriel probably should have had at least one goal of his own against the Revs but seemed oddly reluctant to shoot, although he still completed three dribbles and delivered three key passes. The Charlotte game was then his turn to come out of the gate swinging, as he narrowly had a goal ruled out for offside just two minutes in, before hammering a venomous shot from distance just six minutes later that gave Kristijan Kahlina all sorts of trouble and opened the scoring.
It isn’t just getting contributions from the big guns though, because we need to acknowledge the play of rookie Joran Gerbet in these last two games. He’s the man who’s been asked to fill in for Atuesta next to Cesar Araujo, and he’s getting more and more comfortable in that role. Against the Revs he had an interception, a key pass and an assist, and completed a long ball and a through ball while recording a passing accuracy of 86.5%. Against Charlotte, he recorded an interception, three clearances, a completed dribble, and two successful long balls, and he had an outstanding passing accuracy of 98%. They weren’t all simply backwards or sideways passes either. There were plenty of times when he progressed the ball upfield to an attacking player and helped keep the Lions moving forward, and that’s exactly what you want out of the guy playing that position.
He still has a way to go before reaching Atuesta’s level, but that’s to be expected for a guy that’s playing the first professional season of his career. What’s most important is that he’s getting more comfortable, contributing, and proving that he can be a legitimate option to rotate into the starting XI when Atuesta is unavailable or when fixture congestion dictates changes to the lineup.
It’s worth mentioning the caveat that the last two games haven’t been against the strongest opposition the league has to offer. The Revs were on a four-game winning streak before playing Orlando, but three of those four wins were against weak or shaky teams in Atlanta, Toronto FC, and Charlotte, while the fourth team (NYCFC) has been difficult to get a read on. I’m not saying the Revs are a paper tiger, but it’s tough to know how good they really are despite a good run of recent form. Then you have Charlotte, which was above the playoff line but also on a three-game losing streak coming into the match that has now been convincingly extended to four.
At the end of the day, you can only beat who’s in front of you, but I’d encourage us all to not get too carried away until we see the same results against sterner opposition. For better or worse, that’s exactly what we’ll get in the Lions’ next three matches, which will be against a capable, albeit flawed, Inter Miami side on the road, at home in the U.S. Open Cup against a Nashville SC team that’s fourth in the East, and at home against the Portland Timbers, who are currently fourth in the West.
Ultimately, we can only judge this team on what we’ve seen from it, and over the last two games we’ve seen a side that’s had no trouble creating chances. Despite the continued absence of the important Atuesta, the Lions are adjusting thanks to contributions from their heavy hitters and the improving play of the rookie Gerbet. Only time will tell if those improvements are sustainable, but for now its a hell of a lot of fun to enjoy.
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