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Orlando City vs. LA Galaxy: Final Score 2-1 as Cyle Larin Scores In Stoppage Time

Will Johnson and Cyle Larin supplied the goals for the Lions as they improved to 4-0-0 at home.

Published

9 years ago

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Nick Leyva, The Mane Land

Orlando City became the first team in MLS history to open up a stadium 4-0-0 with a dramatic 2-1 victory, thanks to goals from Will Johnson in the first half and a stunning, 91st-minute winner from Cyle Larin off Johnson’s corner cross.

The LA Galaxy (2-4-0, 6 points) struggled through the first half with Orlando’s (4-1-0, 12 points) defense holding strong. The second half saw a much more open game between the two teams, but Orlando was able to pull away at the very end to salvage three points at home.

“It’s a lot of the same stuff,” Head Coach Jason Kreis said after the match. “Really really good, lot of positive things. Then some negative stuff that we have to improve on. I think we’re still a team that’s not quite figuring out how to manage a match and we need to do better with that. For me, a lot of that just comes with time together, a collective understanding, a little bit more communication, a little more urgency when we’re starting to give away chances, to recognize we’re in a bad moment and we need to do something to fix it.”

Orlando City once again came out in a 4-4-2 diamond after switching up the formation last match against New York. Antonio Nocerino was back from injury after straining a calf in the last match, while Giles Barnes came in for the suspended Matias Perez Garcia up top, beneath strikers Larin and Carlos Rivas.

The formation looked a bit more fluid in the early parts of the match, resulting in multiple chances for Orlando.

It began in the seventh minute, when Larin won a free kick from about 28 yards, Carlos Rivas whipped a ball into the box, taking a bounce and hitting the left post, then the right. The ball then leaked out to Giles Barnes in the box, but his shot was deflected away by the LA defense and out for a corner.

Just seconds later, off the ensuing cleared corner, Scott Sutter punted the ball back into the area while everyone was tracking back — all except Johnson. The captain worked hard to get back onside, managed to control Sutter’s long ball in the box off his chest and volleyed it into the back post corner of the net, for a beauty of a goal.

“When you take the set piece and the ball gets knocked out, a lot of time the guy who takes the set pieces isn’t accounted for,” Johnson said about his goal, “I just tried to time my run, stay onside and once it sat up on me from my first touch, I knew I could try to get it over him on the back post.”

Another good chance for Orlando to extend the lead came in the 14th minute, when Donny Toia played a ball down the line for Rivas, who crossed in a low ball for Larin in the box. Unfortunately, LA defender Jelle Van Damme was equal to it and managed to touch it out of play, almost putting it into his own net.

In the 18th minute, Rivas — celebrating his 23rd birthday — had the ball on the right wing. Cutting inside and on his preferred left foot, he curled a shot towards goal. LA keeper Clement Diop managed to get a fingertip to it and push it onto the post, where it pinged back out and away from goal.

The Galaxy had their best chance on goal in the first half in the 38th minute, when Ashley Cole served a ball into the box and met the head of Romain Alessandrini, but the ball sailed over Joe Bendik and out of play.

LA battled hard to get back into it, but always seemed just out of reach from equalizing. A lot of that comes due to Orlando’s defensive shape, shutting down passing lanes that the Galaxy like to utilize.

At the half, Orlando held 52% possession to LA’s 48%. The Galaxy had eight shots in the first half to the Lions’ three, but out of those eight, only two were on target. Orlando also managed two shots on target, with one obviously going in.

The game opened up to start the second half, with both teams getting some chances in the early part of the second period. Within two minutes of the restart, Rivas ran down a ball that looked to be going out of play, and crossed the ball in to a waiting Barnes, but the ensuing cross he put in was knocked out of play by the Galaxy defense.

One minute later, Rivas sent another cross into the box, but it was knocked out for a corner, which eventually was cleared away by Diop. Just a minute after that chance, Rivas was played in on goal by Nocerino and had a shot on target, but the shot was low and Diop was equal to it.

The game then calmed down a bit until the 52nd minute. Larin was sent by Sutter down the right wing and Van Damme came in with a challenge from behind, earning the Galaxy defender a yellow card.

In the 58th minute, an excellent individual effort from Rivas found him shrugging off four different defenders en route to a cross into the box, which was just out of reach for Larin to get a foot on.

Just two minutes later, LA had a chance of its own, with Alessandrini getting a deflection on his shot from just outside the box, which Bendik had to adjust to but was still able to get down to the ground and save it. On the ensuing attack on the other end, Rivas once again got into space and caused problems, meandering his way into the box and crossing a low ball in to Larin, which LA defender Daniel Steres was able to intercept and knock away.

Chance after chance came for Orlando but the Lions’ best opportunity of the half came in the 67th minute, when Rivas out-muscled Van Damme and broke with Barnes in front. A perfectly weighted through ball to Barnes found him one-on-one with Diop, who came up big with a save and also came away injured, staying down for a few minutes.

Subs then began to come into the game as Cristian Higuita made way for Luis Gil in the 72nd minute. Three minutes later, Rivas was subbed out after a fantastic outing, making way for Servando Carrasco and a more defensive mentality to close out the game.

After that, over the next six minutes, LA came knocking on the door a few times. In the 77th minute, LA earned a free kick as Toia stepped on Alessandrini’s foot. Gio Dos Santos took the free kick, trying to score it on the near post. The shot was palmed away for a moment by Bendik, then cleared off the line and out for a corner kick by Spector, after a secondary effort from Steres.

After coming so close, LA began to smell the equalizer. First, Alessandrini found himself free on the back post and 1-v-1 with Bendik, but he skied his effort over the bar. Bradford Jamieson tried a volley off a cross shortly thereafter, but his effort was just wide.

Then, in the 83rd minute, the dam finally broke. A through ball from Jermaine Jones to Alessandrini found him in the middle of the pitch, just at the top of the 18-yard box. He faked a shot, sending Spector past him, and drilled a goal with his right foot, barely beating Bendik and glancing it off the near post and in for the equalizer.

Orlando then tried to fight back into the lead. Off a throw-in with three minutes left, the ball got loose in the box and found Johnson’s foot, but his shot was weak and easily saved by Diop.

In the 89th minute, Barnes was subbed out for Hadji Barry to try to push for the winner.

As they pushed and pushed, the Lions finally found their winning goal in dramatic fashion. Off a corner in the 90th minute, Johnson served a ball into the box and Larin, who had struggled a lot of the game to make an impact, out-muscled Jones in the box and volleyed the ball into the top of the net to give Orlando the lead.

“I’ve been working the whole game and I was just waiting for my chance, for the ball to come to me, and I had a tough game,” Larin said. “Van Damme played very well against me and he’s a great defender and he was cutting a lot of passes and Carlos was trying to get me the ball. I was just happy. Happy I scored.”

With the goal, Larin has now become the all-time leading scorer in MLS history for a player under the age of 22, with his 35th goal in his career. His 22nd birthday is Monday.

Over the last few minutes of the game, LA pushed numbers forward to try for a last-gasp equalizer and, despite Orlando giving away some silly balls in the midfield, the Lions managed to hold on defensively for their fourth win at home.

“I think, for me, there are moments, tactical moments and things that you want to have happen to your team as you go through a season,” Kreis said, “One of them is to allow a goal late and see what the reaction is like. So, I’m really, really pleased, because if you went back and looked at it, immediately after they scored, we had a goal chance against them. So, that shows to me a really positive reaction and a belief within the team.”

LA finished with 50.9% possession and more shots (18-12), although Orlando had more shots on target (8-7). The Galaxy attempted 361 total passes to Orlando’s 345.

The Lions are back in action for their second away game on Sunday, April 23, in the Bronx against New York City FC at 1:30 p.m.

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Diego FC: Five Takeaways

Here’s what we learned from Orlando City’s 1-0 victory over San Diego FC.

Published

4 hours ago

on

September 6, 2026

By

Image of Maxime Crepeau looking for someone to pass to vs. San Diego.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City defeated San Diego FC 1-0 in the first-ever match between the two clubs at Inter.co Stadium Saturday night on Antoine Griezmann’s goal. Despite a bevy of chances, the Lions were only able to score the one goal. Thankfully, it was enough for Orlando City to earn all three points and to move up to eighth in the Eastern Conference standings.

Here are my five takeaways from the match.

Back-and-Forth First Half

Orlando City and San Diego played similar styles in the first half. It started with the Lions on the front foot, pressuring San Diego’s back line. When it went the other way, Orlando City had to absorb the pressure. It went back and forth through the entire first half with San Diego having the advantage in possession and Orlando City the advantage in shots and shots on target. It felt like either team could get the opening goal. Fortunately, it was Orlando City that struck first.

Grizi Strikes Again

Orlando City struck first (and last, as it turned out) with Antoine Griezmann finishing off a beautiful team goal for Orlando City in the 28th minute. It was his fourth goal in the last three matches. Robin Jansson sent one of his distinctively accurate long balls to Daryl Dike in the right side of the box. Dike turned and quickly laid it off to Justin Ellis, who deftly pushed it forward to the oncoming Griezmann. He took one touch with his left foot to settle it and then took the shot with his right foot, putting it into the bottom left corner of the goal. It is the type of goal that is becoming more common for Orlando City, thanks to the quality Griezmann brings to the attack.

Recovery Defense

San Diego typically enjoys having the ball, and the visitors held 54% of the possession in the match, but it wasn’t enough. Orlando City did a good job of disrupting San Diego in the midfield, and often in San Diego’s half. The Lions were quick to recover whenever the ball was turned over. It was that tenacity that kept San Diego from being able to keep the ball for extended periods of time and limited their opportunities to create chances.

Darn Duah

There were many opportunities that went wanting for the Lions, including Wilder Cartagena’s shot in the 89th minute that hit the crossbar and went straight down but didn’t cross the line for a goal. However, if it wasn’t for San Diego’s Manu Duah, Orlando City may have scored five or more goals. The young defender finished with two tackles, four interceptions, three clearances, and one blocked shot. Even though I know it wasn’t the case, it felt like every one of those interventions came during a potential scoring opportunity for Orlando City. Thankfully, the Lions didn’t need a second goal to take all three points.

A Clean Sheet

Orlando City did just enough on defense to earn the first clean sheet since the 1-0 win over Nashville on July 25. Maxime Crepeau didn’t have too much to do as San Diego only managed seven shots, with only two of those on target, but he kept them all out of the back of the net. It was an emotional night for Crepeau who lost his father Rémi Crepeau earlier in the week. There was a moment of silence for his father before the match, and the team wore black armbands during the match to honor him. I’m always happy when Orlando City manages a clean sheet, but I’m very glad that Crepeau was able to earn one on this night in particular.

That is what I saw in Orlando City’s 1-0 victory over San Diego FC. It was a valuable three points as the club tries to overcome the pre-World Cup hole the Lions dug to start the season. Let us know your thoughts about the San Diego match in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City vs. San Diego FC: Final Score 1-0 as Griezmann’s Goal Enough for Lions Win

Antoine Griezmann’s first-half goal and a stout defensive effort lifted the Lions to a hard-fought home win.

Published

14 hours ago

on

September 5, 2026

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Image of Maxime Crepeau giving his team instructions.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Antoine Griezmann’s first-half goal was all that separated Orlando City and San Diego FC in their first-ever meeting. The French superstar’s teammates had numerous chances to double the lead for Orlando (8-11-4, 28 points), coming within inches at times, but that one strike was enough for a victory over San Diego (8-9-6, 30 points) at Inter.co Stadium.

Orlando City goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau, who lost his father just days ago, made two saves, and a defense that has struggled at times, held firm against San Diego to keep a clean sheet. The club held a moment of silence for Crepeau’s father before the match started.

“My respect for (Crepeau), for his family. We are proud of him in the way he faced this situation, and we support him like the family we are,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said after the match. “We should finish the game earlier. We couldn’t, but we defended. We fight. The players did an amazing effort, and now we’re thinking of the next (game).”

Perelman’s lineup featured Crepeau in goal behind a back line of Bernardo Rhein, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, and Griffin Dorsey. Joran Gerbet and Eduard Atuesta started in central midfield between wingers Ivan Angulo and Justin Ellis with Griezmann and Daryl Dike leading the attack.

The Lions started brightly, creating the first chance just a few minutes after kickoff. Griezmann found Ellis with a nice ball forward. The young attacker got to the ball first but misfired on his initial shot. Ellis eventually regathered and shot but sent his effort wide in the fourth minute. Three minutes later, Griezmann fired from the right channel, but San Diego goalkeeper CJ dos Santos made a good diving save, getting his right hand on it to keep the game scoreless.

Referee Joe Dickerson let the game get physical, ignoring Atuesta getting upended at midfield and a ball that might have had Dike in behind the defense had he not been grabbed and clipped. The big striker didn’t get a clean look at goal as a result of the no calls.

San Diego started to settle into the game as it reached the quarter-hour mark, seeing more of the possession and starting to build some looks at goal. The visitors had the ball in the net off a recycled corner kick in the 13th minute but the play was offside.

A free header by Onni Valakari went wide in the 17th minute as San Diego continued to gain rhythm and look for openings in the Orlando defense.

The Lions started looking more for transition opportunities with San Diego pressing high. One such play nearly came off in the 18th minute. Dorsey sent a ball to the back post on the counter with perhaps better options trailing. Angulo collected it on the left and sent it back in for Griezmann, who tried a bicycle kick but just missed getting onto it. The ball fell to Dorsey for a shot that deflected to Dike. The striker stuck a toe out and made contact with it but couldn’t direct it on frame.

Crepeau made a big save at the near post to deny Anders Dreyer in the 22nd minute, blocking it behind for a corner. Orlando dealt with the set piece and broke the other way. Dorsey had options in transition but he tried to pick out Griezmann and San Diego’s defense headed it behind for an Orlando corner. The ball pinged around off of various heads on the ensuing set piece until Dike was called for a foul on Oscar Verhoeven on an aerial duel.

The Lions broke the scoreless deadlock in the 28th minute. Jansson sent a great long ball over the top for Dike, who turned on the jets and got to it first on the right side of the penalty area. Dike slipped the ball past a defender to Ellis, who turned and found Griezmann. The Frenchman fired a right-footed shot from the right side that found the inside of the left post to make it 1-0. Ellis and Dike picked up assists on Griezmann’s fifth MLS goal in just eight matches.

“I think we just noticed that they’re playing this high line, even when there was no pressure on the ball,” Ellis said. “And when we have center backs like this on the ball, like Robin, David, when you give them time and space, it’s an opportunity, you know. And then (Jansson) puts a nice ball to Daryl — and adding Daryl to the squad and to the team is crucial, you know, because we didn’t really have that threat in behind. But me and Grizi (Griezmann), we like the ball at our feet, but Daryl has like this physical presence, and you know, he got in behind and kept calm, played me, and then I just checked my my shoulder, saw Grizi, and then…I mean every single time I pass him the ball, I have a feeling like he can do something. So that’s why I’m always looking for him. And it was a nice finish.”

The teams paused for a hydration break moments after the goal, and the action slowed as time wound down on the first half. San Diego fired into the side netting in the 38th minute but the play was offside anyway. Orlando’s best opportunity came when Ellis made a good run through traffic a minute later, but the play broke down when he unselfishly tried to slip the ball through traffic to Griezmann and the defense knocked it away.

That was it for the big moments in the opening period and after four minutes of added time, Dickerson blew the halftime whistle.

At the break, San Diego held the advantage in possession (55.6%-44.4%), passing accuracy (92.9%-90.1%), and corners (2-1). The Lions attempted more shots (6-3) and put more on target (2-1).

The teams opened the second half cautiously, with San Diego continuing to press high in the attacking end. Perelman made his first substitution in the 51st minute, sending Martin Ojeda in for Rhein, who played well in his return from a thigh injury.

Ellis made a good move to lead Orlando on the break in the 53rd minute. Dike fired from the right but Ian Murphy deflected it wide for a corner, but the Lions didn’t threaten from the set piece.

Ojeda worked himself free for an open shot just outside the box in the 59th minute but dos Santos went down to make a diving stop.

Atuesta won a corner on the recycled attack but again Orlando couldn’t pay it off.

Gabriel Pirani shot wide of the right post from the left for San Diego in the 69th minute on a shot that had little on it. Crepeau simply watched it roll gently out for a goal kick.

The Lions should have doubled the lead in the 72nd minute. Ojeda found Angulo in transition, putting the speedy attacker in on goal. Angulo rounded dos Santos despite a heavy touch and had a wide-open net. He went down from a light tug on the shoulder as he shot but got nothing on his effort, which Kieran Sargeant blocked on the line. Angulo wanted a penalty but it wasn’t much of a tug and he still should have scored. A yellow card was shown to the Orlando bench at the next stoppage for dissent.

Orlando had a couple of other near misses down the stretch. Ojeda showed he isn’t quite game sharp yet, as he and Griezmann nearly connected in the 84th minute. The Lions managed to win a corner off of it but couldn’t connect on the set piece. Substitute Luis Otavio picked up a yellow card to break up a potential counter off of the corner.

Substitute Tyrese Spicer got down the left flank in the 87th minute and sent a tantalizing low cross that somehow failed to find Ojeda or Marco Pasalic in the middle. Griezmann picked it up on the far right but dos Santos blocked his shot behind for another corner.

Midfielder Wilder Cartagena thought he’d scored on the ensuing set piece. The ball fell for him near the top of the area and he fired it toward goal. The ball looked like it hit the crossbar and then came off Manu Duah’s rear end and fell at the goal line. Part of the ball was across, but not the whole ball, and the spin carried it back out for San Diego to clear.

Nine minutes of stoppage time seemed like a lot, but there was little of note in those added minutes. San Diego’s best chance at an equalizer fell to Dreyer just outside the area right in the middle. The Designated Player fired a shot that hit the right post and stayed out, skipping out of play for a goal kick. After a late set piece, the match was over.

At full time, San Diego held the advantage in possession (54.2%-45.8%) and passing accuracy (91.5%-88.3%). Orlando City finished with more shots (15-7), shots on target (5-2), and corner, kicks (6-4).

“The win was very important,” Crepeau said. “We started the game confidently with the ball. Obviously, we were able to to hit them when their line was high sometimes, and then they were dangerous in transition in a couple of those moments, but we were able to shut the dangerous plays, and then the second half it was about finishing the game strong.”

It was obviously an emotional shutout win for the Canadian goalkeeper, which was visible when the final whistle blew.

“I’m grateful to be in a place where I’ve had so much support and love from my teammates, the staff, everybody in the organization, the city of Orlando,” Crepeau said. “I’ve had so many messages from all around the world, former teammates, even guys that I’ve played against, from Canada to the U.S., coast to coast. I’ve received so many messages. So, thank you to every single one of of the people that reached out. It’s something that I’m grateful (for), and I don’t take that support for granted.”

The Lions have a short turnaround with a road match Wednesday night in Atlanta.

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

The Lions welcome San Diego FC to Orlando for the first meeting ever between the two clubs.

Published

1 day ago

on

September 5, 2026

By

Image of Joran Gerbet playing against Minnesota United.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match preview and live thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (7-11-4, 25 points) and San Diego FC (8-8-6, 30 points) at Inter.co Stadium in Orlando (7:30 p.m., Apple TV). It’s the first-ever meeting between these two teams from different conferences

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

History

As mentioned above, tonight’s meeting between the Lions and San Diego is the first in the series history, so there is no history. The Lions are 2-2-1 against Western Conference teams this season, which means little to nothing in this particular match, and San Diego is going to be Orlando City’s final opponent from the opposite conference in MLS regular-season play this season.

Overview

The Lions are coming off a wild 3-3 road draw at Minnesota United a week ago, in which Daryl Dike and Antoine Griezmann scored on either side of halftime on Orlando’s first two shot attempts to put their team up 2-0 in the 64th minute. Minnesota stormed back with three goals off defensive errors in a four-minute span to take a late 3-2 lead. Just when the Loons appeared to be headed for all three points, Tyrese Spicer scored in stoppage time, forcing Minnesota to split the points. Orlando has a modest 1-0-1 unbeaten streak entering tonight, and the Lions are 5-4-2 at home in 2026.

San Diego is coming off a 3-1 home win over the LA Galaxy despite having Jeppe Tverskov sent off. Tonight’s visitors have won two straight games, but both were at home. They lost their last home game 3-1 at Portland on Aug. 19 and are 2-5-3 away from home this season.

The key for Orlando City tonight will be to mark Anders Dreyer, which is far easier said than done, as he has emerged as one of the league’s best playmakers. His eight goals and 11 assists give him 19 total goal contributions to lead his team. Marcus Ingvartsen is Dreyer’s favorite teammate to combine with, as the Danish forward has converted 11 times, leading San Diego in goals, and has added five assists. However, Ingvartsen is listed as out with a lower body injury. Midfielder Onni Valakari has chipped in four goals and seven assists.

“We respect San Diego, but as well we prepare our game,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said ahead of the match. “We know how strong we are, especially at home, so now we go.”

Orlando City will be without Braian Ojeda (foot) and Adrian Marin (thigh), while Bernardo Rhein (thigh), has been upgraded to questionable. San Diego will be without the aforementioned Ingvartsen (lower body) and Tverskov (suspension).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Bernardo Rhein, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Joran Gerbet, Eduard Atuesta, Justin Ellis.

Forwards: Antoine Griezmann, Daryl Dike.

Bench: Javier Otero, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Tiago, Marco Pasalic, Martin Ojeda, Tyrese Spicer.

San Diego FC (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: C.J. dos Santos.

Defenders: Kieran Sargeant, Ian Murphy, Manu Duah, Oscar Verhoeven.

Midfielders: Gabriel Pirani, Anibal Godoy, Alejandro Alvarado.

Forwards: Elias Achouri, Onni Valakari, Anders Dreyer.

Bench: Duran Ferree, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Christopher McVey, Bryan Zamble, David Vazquez, Ian Pilcher, Alex Mighten, Bryce Duke, Amahl Pellegrino.

Referees:

REF: Joe Dickerson.
AR1: Corey Parker.
AR2: Justin Howard.
4TH: Rodrigo Albuquerque.
VAR: Daniel Radford.
AVAR: Jeff Muschik.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Inter.co Stadium — Orlando.

TV/Streaming: 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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