Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Atlanta United, 2019 U.S. Open Cup: Final Score 2-0 as Lions Bow Out of Competition in Semifinals
The Lions just weren’t sharp either in front of goal or with the final pass all night.
It was billed as biggest game in Orlando City’s history, but the Lions didn’t play like it in a 2-0 U.S. Open Cup semifinal loss to Atlanta United at Exploria Stadium. A club record crowd for a U.S. Open Cup match (18,461) showed up to cheer on the Lions and see history made. But City gave the fans little to cheer about and what could have been a memorable night ended only in disappointment.
Orlando struggled to link up on several passes that could have had runners in behind the defense but they were underhit, overhit, or hit right at defenders instead of in between. When the Lions did get opportunities, they couldn’t hit the target.
With all of Atlanta’s firepower, it was Eric Remedi and Emerson Hyndman who produced the offense instead of the likes of Pity Martinez, Ezequiel Barco, or Justin Meram.
“Very disappointed to get beat,” said Head Coach James O’Connor after the match. “First half especially I thought we didn’t really play anywhere near like to our capacity. I think the occasion seemed to get to us. Second half our intent was a lot better. We were camped in their half. But we needed more quality. It was very evident.”
O’Connor sent out essentially a first-choice lineup. Quarterfinals star Adam Grinwis got the start in goal, with the back line full of regular starters, both Designated Players up top next to Tesho Akindele, and a midfield of Will Johnson, Sacha Kljestan, and Sebas Mendez.
Atlanta controlled the opening 15 minutes of the first half as the Lions struggled to get on the ball — or stay on it when they did get it. The visitors fashioned their first of six first-half corners within the first minute of the game.
Former Lion Meram and Miles Robinson each nodded off frame on set pieces in the opening minutes.
Dom Dwyer put the ball in the net in the fifth minute but he was correctly ruled offside on the play.
Martinez got in behind the defense in the 15th minute and fired into the outside netting.
Orlando’s first good chance came in the 18th minute when Nani fed a cross to Dwyer but his left-footed effort was blasted just over the bar. It was a great opportunity to take the early lead but the striker went for power and just couldn’t keep it down.
Orlando started to get more into the match after that for about the next 10 minutes. Joao Moutinho turned Atlanta over in the 21st minute and fed across for Akindele, who was bodied off the ball at the top of the area but no foul was given. Moments later, Nani appeared to get clipped by Julian Gressel, but again no foul was called.
Around the half-hour mark the visitors got back on the front foot. Remedi came up the middle and no one challenged him, so he fired a shot that forced a Grinwis save. Three minutes later, Barco scuffed a shot off a Gressel cross. Robinson sent another free header wide off a corner kick in the 34th minute.
Atlanta finally broke through in the 37th. Remedi forced a diving save from Grinwis, who knocked the ball out to his left. Gressel gathered it and sent it back in to Remedi, who had continued his run. The midfielder took the shot first time and scored.
Moutinho tried to pull the goal right back. He dispossessed Franco Escobar and fired a shot just wide of Brad Guzan’s goal in the 38th.
Johnson forced Guzan’s first save of the night in the 45th minute and after two minutes of stoppage time the teams headed to the locker rooms.
Atlanta took a 1-0 lead into the break, leading in shots (12-4), shots on target (5-1), possession (61%), and passing accuracy (85%-73%). It was the last stat that really hurt Orlando, as balls that were hit too hard or too softly in the middle of the pitch ruined several good opportunities at transition chances.
The Lions fashioned the first good chance of the second half. Ruan finally got forward and crossed a ball for Dwyer but Escobar got a foot in at the last second and deflected it out for a corner.
Five minutes later, Nani chipped a perfect back-door pass for Kljestan at the back post but the midfielder hit his shot over the bar.
“Clearly we didn’t have enough shots on target tonight to have Brad Guzan forced into saves,” Kljestan said. “That’s pretty much it. Not enough of us finished our plays on target.”
O’Connor tried subbing on fresh reinforcements in the 58th minute to get after the game, bringing on Chris Mueller and Benji Michel for Dwyer and Kljestan. It didn’t provide much help. Both players were certainly active, but the same things plagued the team after the substitutions as before — general lack of sharpness with the final ball, a hesitancy to take quick, positive actions, and just not being on the same page.
A good example of that came in the 71st minute when Michel broke down the left side and into the area. He had room and time to pick out a pass but sent a mostly hopeful cross to the top of the area, where it took a deflection and then fell between two players. Nani eventually got onto it and shot but the delay allowed Atlanta to block his shot.
Atlanta defended well all night and was content to concede possession in the game’s later stages but Orlando couldn’t take advantage. Akindele found himself with space at the top of the area in the 74th minute but fired well over the bar.
O’Connor was forced to sub off Moutinho in the 78th minute for what he said after the game was a tight hamstring. Alex De John came on, and the shape of the team changed, which may have led to the game’s second goal.
Just seconds after the sub, the visitors got forward and scored their second. Remedi played the ball to Escobar on the left, who lost Ruan and slid the ball into the middle for an onrushing Hyndman, who beat Lamine Sané and slotted home. Orlando seemed a bit out of sorts defensively just after the substitution and Atlanta pounced on that immediately to put the game away.
“They had one real chance second half and it’s a goal,” O’Connor said.
From that point on, it was a matter of watching a few more breakdowns in the final third and a weak dribbler on goal from Mueller to account for City’s second shot on target all night. Seven minutes of stoppage time produced nothing of note other than Mueller’s grass cutter and the final whistle ended Orlando’s Open Cup run.
Atlanta out-shot the Lions 15-12 (7-2 on target), held 51% of the final possession and out-passed Orlando (79%-77%).
“I don’t know if it was nerves or it was just a little bit of general tiredness. We just looked a little bit sluggish,” O’Connor said. “I don’t know whether that was just the emotion of the occasion seemed to get to us. We just looked a yard off — especially first half. We had big moments in the game. We haven’t capitalized…you can’t do that against a team like Atlanta.”
The coach got a bit agitated when it was pointed out that the Lions had yet to beat Atlanta, stating he doesn’t care about what happened before he became coach and that the team just needs to be mentally stronger to beat their neighbors to the north.
“I’m not interested in that. It’s all mentality,” he said. “We were beaten tonight because we weren’t good enough.”
Kljestan said the team can take some positives from a deep Cup run into the rest of the MLS season.
“I think we dug deep on a few of these games,” Kljestan said. “When we played NYCFC, that was a gut punch to give up a goal in the last second but we reacted well and ended up winning the game in penalties. The game against New England also an overtime game. So, it was a good journey for us and I think we learned a lot about ourselves. And also we used some rotation in those games and a lot of guys who maybe aren’t regular performers ended up being big players in the Open Cup for us. So, I think we’ve got to draw confidence from that and we’ve got to know that this cannot derail our season.”
The Lions will need to shake off the disappointment quickly, as they return to MLS action on Saturday night when they travel to Canada to take on Toronto FC at 7:30 p.m. at BMO Field.
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. D.C. United: Five Takeaways
What did we learn from a goal-heavy win at the purple palace on Saturday night?
Orlando City rebounded from a disappointing midweek draw in style on Saturday night, as the team put four goals past D.C. United at home in a 4-1 win. The result means the Lions maintain five points of distance between themselves and the playoff line, while another five points separate them and the Philadelphia Union in sixth place. Here are my takeaways from the goalfest.
Makeshift Back Line Holds
Orlando was missing three starters on the back line for this one, with Robin Jansson out for the season, Griffin Dorsey still battling a back injury (for long enough that it’s starting to get legitimately concerning), and Vinicius Nogueira out with a shoulder issue he picked up on Friday. Add in the fact that Bernardo Rhein picked up a late knock, and the back line became a patchwork combination of Zakaria Taifi, Iago, David Brekalo, and Ivan Angulo. Thankfully, the defense got the job done, although there were some shaky moments at the beginning of both halves, which probably isn’t a coincidence. Once they got into a rhythm and settled down, they largely managed to limit D.C.’s danger, and it was quite refreshing to not watch OCSC ship multiple goals.
Neat Interplay Pays Dividends
For the most part, the Lions did well connecting and exchanging passes in tight spaces, particularly in the first half. There were moments of miscommunication, but Orlando’s movement and interplay in the final third gave D.C. some serious fits in the first half. Daryl Dike, Martin Ojeda, and Antoine Griezmann combined beautifully for the Frenchman’s first goal of the night, and if the visitors looked like they were chasing shadows, it’s because they were. At times, Orlando is guilty of trying to play too many passes once it gets to the edge of the box or even inside it, but the Lions did well to play through D.C., and got their just rewards for doing so. Speaking of…
Magic from Martin
My god. It would be a felony to not devote a full section to Martin Ojeda’s goal. The team’s all-time leading scorer has perhaps never bagged a better one for the Lions. A flying, half-scorpion kick backheel: it sounds ludicrous even typing those words out in the same sentence. This scored a goal:
First, the vision and execution from Griezmann to dink the ball over the top of the defense, and then the audacity and invention from Ojeda to flick his foot at it while moving the other direction and falling away. The ball actually started outside the far post, with the spin taking it just inside and into the side netting. I had quite literally a perfect view of the sequence from my spot behind the goal in The Wall, and still can’t believe it. Transcendent.
A Needless Penalty
The first half ended on a sour note, as D.C. was awarded a penalty kick, which Tai Baribo converted with aplomb. It was an extremely deserved penalty too, because Wilder Cartagena decided to bear hug his man during a corner for some reason, even after referee Pierre Luc-Lauziere looked to have given him a warning about doing so before the set piece was taken. It was a mind-boggling decision from one of OCSC’s usually reliable veterans, and it gave D.C. a foothold in the game right before halftime. On another night, against a better team, it could have proved much more costly, and hopefully that’s the last we see of those sorts of decisions this season.
Subs Slam the Door
I wasn’t happy with Martin Perelman’s substitution choices during Wednesday’s draw, but I’m happy to give credit where it’s due, and his changes were effective during this game. For one thing, he actually used all five subs (praise be), and the changes made sense within the flow of the game. Joran Gerbet entered for Cartagena at halftime and provided more vertical passing and creativity in the midfield as the Lions looked for another goal. Adrian Marin and Braian Ojeda provided extra security in midfield and the back line, respectively, while Justin Ellis made sure things didn’t get too defensive, and Marco Pasalic gave Martin Ojeda some much-needed rest. That’s not all either, because Ellis and Pasalic linked up supremely well to grab a fourth goal and put the game on ice for Orlando. It was especially good to see Marco back among the goals in a season that hasn’t been the easiest for him, and the Lions are going to need him if they’re want to hang onto a playoff place, much less make a run.
All in all, you couldn’t have asked for much more after a disappointing midweek result. It didn’t come against the strongest opposition, but you can only beat who’s in front of you, and at the end of the day, the Lions secured a valuable three points. They now get a precious week of rest before trying to avenge the 5-0 hammering New York City FC gave them on the baseball diamond earlier this year. What were your thoughts on this game? Be sure to let us know down in the comments. Vamos Orlando!
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. D.C. United: Final Score 4-1 as Griezmann Leads Lions to Win
Antoine Griezmann scored two goals and assisted on another as the Lions picked up three valuable points at home.
Antoine Griezmann was transcendant scoring two goals and setting up a goal-of-the-year candidate for Martin Ojeda as Orlando City defeated D.C. United 4-1 tonight at Inter.co Stadium. Marco Pasalic added a late insurance goal as the Lions (12-13-5, 41 points) responded well to conceding late in Wednesday’s 3-3 draw at Toronto by avenging their loss earlier in the year to D.C. (7-10-12, 33 points).
Designated Players scored all four goals in the match. It was the first time all three Orlando City DPs scored in the same game since Orlando’s home win over Inter Miami on Aug. 10, 2025 — also a 4-1 victory. Tai Baribo scored from the spot late in the first half for D.C. United’s only goal.
“Today was a tough game,” Orlando City interim coach Martin Perelman said after the game. “We had to to battle, to fight, and play when we could. Fortunately, we won, which is very important at home. And now thinking (about) the next one.”
Perelman started Maxime Crepeau in goal behind a back line of Zakaria Taifi, Iago, David Brekalo, and Ivan Angulo. Wilder Cartagena and Luis Otavio started in central midfield between Martin Ojeda and Eduard Atuesta, with Daryl Dike and Antoine Griezmann up top.
The Lions looked to get into the flow early and created a shot for Ojeda outside the area just 30 seconds in. Ojeda had a good look and hit his shot hard, but it fizzed over the crossbar. Three minutes later, Angulo got an open look on the right from the top of the box but hit it right at D.C. goalkeeper Sean Johnson.
D.C. started to settle into the match a bit after that, beating Iago over the top with a long ball in the seventh minute. Tai Baribo tried to shoot on the half volley but couldn’t direct his shot near the target. A minute later, Crepeau was called on to make a pair of huge saves to deny Joao Peglow from point-blank range and Silvan Hefti’s follow-up from near the top of the box on a play that started with a long throw-in by United. D.C. coudn’t pay off a couple of corner kicks in quick succession, with Kye Rowles sending a header wide on the second.
Orlando won a free kick from long range in the 12th minute and tried something off the training ground but it didn’t come off as Brekalo tried an overhead kick that came off his own arm.
Griezmann put the Lions ahead in the 15th minute, finishing a brilliant team goal that started with Cartagena heading down an aerial ball on a D.C. clearance attempt. Griezmann got there first and knocked it to Dike, who gave it right back to the Frenchman, who sent it toward Ojeda in the middle. Ojeda knocked it right back into Griezmann’s path and he slotted home to make it 1-0 in the 15th minute.
D.C. tried to get right back in the game by attacking immediately and winning a set piece, but Rowles again headed off target in the 19th minute.
If Orlando’s first team goal was beautiful, the second put it to shame. The play started on Orlando City’s attacking right and found Atuesta in the middle. Atuesta picked out Ojeda, who found Taifi near the right corner of the box. Taifi sent it to Griezmann, who sent a first-touch cross into the middle. It was behind Ojeda, so he backheeled it just inside the left post to make it 2-0 in the 22nd minute.
“I think Grizi, Martín, they have a big talent, and they make everybody better,” Perelman said. “So, I think for us it’s about help them, work to support them, and they do what they do because they are top players. My reaction (to Ojeda’s goal) was ‘Que golazo!'”
“”It was a crazy goal,” Pasalic added. “I have to say to Tincho congratulations, it was nice. But yeah, these goals you don’t see every weekend or every game, so I think this is something you have to watch like 100 times, maybe not like 10 times like my goal. (laughs)”
D.C. again tried to come right back down to pull the goal back, moving quickly and winning a corner off an Iago turnover. Moments later, a cross into the area found Baribo, but his header skipped wide.
Otavio picked up a yellow card in the 38th minute and will miss the next game due to accumulation.
The Lions got sloppy down the final stretch of the first half and it was costly. The warning shot came in the 40th minute when Baribo was left alone in front, but he mistimed his volley attempt and missed the ball completely as the cross came in.
Four minutes later, Atuesta blocked a cross but conceded a corner and it threw D.C. a lifeline. Cartagena wrapped up his man as the cross came in and was immediately called for a foul in the box, conceding a D.C. penalty. Baribo took the kick and fired toward the left post. Crepeau guessed correctly and had a shot of stopping it but couldn’t keep it out. He was visibly frustrated with it after the shot.
That was it for the scoring chances in the first half and the Lions took a one-goal edge into halftime.
At the break, Orlando City held the advantage in possession (58.7%-41.3%), and passing accuracy (85.7%-80.4%). D.C. led in shots (10-5) and corners (5-0), with both teams putting three shots on target.
D.C. put the ball in the net moments after the restart but the play was obviously offside. Despite that, there was a lengthy video review before the call was confirmed and play resumed.
Three minutes later, Orlando nearly scored in transition, but Dike hit his shot poorly, sending it wide. Ojeda started the play with a gorgeous curling long ball to send Griezmann down the left. He sent it into the area, where Angulo got a flicked touch that may have thrown Dike off. Regardless, the Lions added a goal seconds later.
Rowles sent a poor ball out of the back straight at Griezmann, who slotted it just inside the right post to make it 3-1 in the 50th minute with his third goal contribution of the night.
United kept coming, and when no one closed down Jackson Hopkins in transition in the 54th minute, he fired from distance but hit his shot badly wide to the right.
Two minutes later, Dike got down the right channel but couldn’t get around his cross attempt and hit it into the outside nettting. The Lions could have put it to bed in the 59th minute when a great Atuesta ball across set up Angulo, but his shot was blocked. The ensuing corner was sent between Iago and Brekalo who came together and sent it wide off one of them.
Griezmann’s best attempt to complete a hat trick came in the 77th minute. Second-half sub Justin Ellis picked out the Frenchman, who inside-outed his shot, which was heading toward the top left corner, but it didn’t have enough power on it to beat Johnson from the top of the area.
United threw numbers into the attack to try to climb back into the game, while Orlando looked dangerous on the counter but struggled to create a clear-cut chance. Angulo was pulled back in transition, leading to Kimito Nono picking up a yellow card. Ojeda was a bit too selfless in the final third and tried to set up a teammate on another opportunity. Ellis got his shirt pulled for a good 10 yards after a D.C. corner in the 81st minute, and just as he released a pass that would have sent sub Braian Ojeda in alone on goal, the referee blew the whistle and booked Hopkins for the foul, despite Orlando having a clear advantage.
United kept creating set pieces in the final minutes, but the Lions continued to defend them. D.C.’s best chance came on a Baribo shot from the top of the area after Joran Gerbet’s clearance attempt hit a D.C. player out top. The striker sent his effort over the crossbar in the third minute of stoppage.
Moments later, Pasalic put the game away. Brekalo knocked the ball forward to Ellis, who sent a great diagonal ball to put the Croatian behind the defense on the left. Pasalic approached the net in the clear and blasted a shot past Johnson and in to make it 4-1 with nearly the last kick of the game.
“I’m happy that the guys did well today, and even happier that I could help the team and did my part when I came in and scored the goal,” Pasalic said. “And I think it’s really important for the team now. It’s a nice feeling.”
At full time, Orlando City held the edge in possession (58.6%-41.4%), passing accuracy (87.7%-83.1%), and shots on target (7-4). D.C. attempted more total shots (16-14) and won more corners (8-1).
“It was important,” Pasalic said about the result. “We saw that we struggled in the last game with the draw, and it was unfortunate that we don’t win the game (Wednesday). And the game before, the Columbus game, was important, so I think every win now is important in this period of time in the qualification for the playoffs. So, I think we can be happy about the three points.”
The Lions have a week to prepare for New York City FC, which visits Orlando a week from tonight.
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. D.C. United: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions find themselves shorthanded at the back again as D.C. United visits in a critical home match for Orlando.
Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (11-13-5, 38 points) and D.C. United (7-9-12, 33 points) at Inter.co Stadium (7:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the second of the two scheduled MLS matches this season between the Lions and the Black and Red.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.
History
The Lions are 9-10-3 against D.C. in the all-time league series since the club joined MLS, and 9-10-4 in all competitions. Orlando is 6-4-1 at home in MLS games against D.C. and 3-5-3 away in all competitions against United.
The most recent meeting between the sides took place on D.C. United’s home grounds back on April 25, when the hosts beat the Lions 3-2. Jackson Hopkins’ early goal put D.C. up 1-0 at the break, but Justin Ellis and Tyrese Spicer scored after halftime to put the Lions out front. However, the team’s leaky defense couldn’t hold the advantage, giving up goals to Louis Munteanu and Kye Rowles in the final six minutes of normal time to hand D.C. the win.
The final meeting of last season also took place at Audi Field on Sept. 13, 2025. Hopkins and Alex Freeman exchanged goals on either side of halftime but the Lions could not take advantage of 33 minutes with a man advantage after Lukas MacNaughton was sent off and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
The other meeting last season took place in Orlando on March 22. All three of Orlando City’s Designated Players — Luis Muriel, Martin Ojeda, and Marco Pasalic — scored goals, as did Freeman, and Javier Otero won 4-1 in his first MLS start. However, a MacNaughton goal in stoppage time spoiled Otero’s shutout bid.
Orlando City swept the season series in 2024. The teams met on July 6 in Orlando, with the Lions running roughshod over visiting United in a 5-0 win on the night when Kaká became the first player inducted into the Legends Terrace at Inter&Co Stadium. Ojeda, Robin Jansson, Ivan Angulo, Facundo Torres, and Ramiro Enrique all got on the scoresheet, with three of those goals coming before United center back Lucas Bartlett was sent off for denying Angulo a goal-scoring opportunity late in the first half.
The Lions visited Audi Field on April 13, 2024. United went ahead twice in the match on goals by Christian Benteke and Gabriel Pirani and led the game late. Dagur Dan Thorhallsson equalized in the first half, and David Brekalo made it 2-2. Duncan McGuire’s well-timed breakaway goal in stoppage time lifted Orlando to a 3-2 road win.
Prior to Orlando’s 2024 sweep, the Black and Red had managed four consecutive results in the series (3-0-1). The last meeting in 2023 took place in Orlando on April 22, 2023, with D.C. scoring twice in the second half to snap a 1-1 deadlock and win, 3-1. Taxiarchis Fountas, Donovan Pines, and Benteke scored for D.C. to more than offset McGuire’s strike.
These teams squared off just a few weeks before that in D.C., splitting the points in a 1-1 draw on March 11. McGuire scored his first MLS goal but Chis Durkin leveled things late in a match that was sandwiched between Orlando City’s two legs of Concacaf Champions League play against Tigres UANL.
D.C. swept the season series in 2022, despite being a terrible team that “won” the league’s Wooden Spoon by no small margin. The meeting in D.C. that year took place July 31 and saw Orlando City dominate the first half but miss multiple chances to put the game away early. The Lions were wasteful, taking only a 1-0 lead into stoppage time thanks to Junior Urso’s first-half goal, only to fall 2-1 on stoppage-time strikes by Durkin and Fountas.
The teams also met on Independence Day at Exploria Stadium that season, with D.C. putting together a performance out of nowhere in a 5-3 road win. Fountas netted his first MLS hat trick and Kimarni Smith and Nigel Robertha added their first goals. Torres, Ercan Kara, and Alexandre Pato scored for Orlando, threatening to bring the Lions back, but Orlando could never get on level terms.
The teams met twice in 2021, including Oct. 2 at Exploria Stadium. Daryl Dike scored deep in stoppage to lift the Lions to a 2-1 home victory. Jansson scored a first-half goal off a corner kick scramble to offset an early Julian Gressel strike. The first match of 2021 took place on May 16 in D.C., with the Lions winning 1-0 on an early Mauricio Pereyra goal. That win snapped United’s 3-0-1 streak in the series in league play and 3-0-2 in all competitions dating back to City’s previous most recent win over D.C. back in 2017.
The teams did not meet in what was an odd 2020 season.
D.C. United swept the season series in 2019, winning 1-0 at Audi Field back on June 26, 2019. Wayne Rooney’s wondergoal from his own half of the pitch caught Brian Rowe napping. The Lions fell 2-1 at home on March 31, 2019, with set pieces ruining the night for Orlando. You might recall the controversy that surrounded the winning goal, with then-coach James O’Connor visibly upset after the match. Steve Birnbaum scored the first on a set piece and Rooney scored the second on a free kick that he took from wherever the hell he wanted rather than where the foul occurred. Frederic Brillant bulldozed Rowe on the play as the ball sailed into the net.
D.C. was 1-0-2 in three total meetings (two in league play) in 2018. Orlando swept the two league meetings in 2017, the teams split two lopsided games in 2016 — with each team winning at home — and the Black and Red went 2-1-0 in the first three meetings back in 2015.
Overview
Orlando City is coming off a disappointing 3-3 road draw at Toronto FC on Wednesday. A win was moments away after the Lions came back from two deficits on goals by Martin Ojeda (from the spot) and Antoine Griezmann, and a late goal by Dike seemed like it might lift the Lions to a rare road win. However, Orlando conceded late, as it has done so many times, allowing Matheus Pereira an easy rebound goal on the cusp of stoppage time. It was a costly two dropped points, as the Lions had a chance to further distance themselves from the teams below the line and didn’t use all available subs despite playing the second of three games in eight days.
Orlando is 8-4-2 at home, having won its last four in the purple palace, and the Lions will need the home crowd support tonight as they try to go eight points clear of 12th-place D.C. and keep pace with the teams chasing them for the last spot in the top seven — the playoff places that avoid the MLS Wild Card play-in game.
D.C. enters tonight off a 2-1 home win over the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday despite playing the final 22 minutes down a man after Lucas Bartlett picked up his second yellow card. Tai Baribo scored early from the spot and Silvan Hefti struck deep in first-half stoppage time to snap D.C.’s four-game winless skid (0-2-2). United enters just 2-4-7 on the road and 0-3-4 in the last seven matches away from home. However, the lack of wins on the road draws attention away from the fact that teams have often been held to a single point in their own building against tonight’s opponent.
Baribo is by far D.C.’s biggest weapon with 15 goals and an assist on the season, and he’s had success previously against Orlando while with the Philadelphia Union. Orlando will have to do a better job of tracking runners than it has in several recent games or Baribo will eat alive a back line that will be missing Jansson (foot surgery), Griffin Dorsey (back), and Vinicius Nogueira (shoulder). Whoever plays at the back will need to be calm and decisive on the ball and pass accurately against D.C.’s press and must transition to defensive responsibilities quickly if the ball turns over.
The Lions will be without the aforementioned Jansson (foot), Dorsey (back), and Nogueira (shoulder) in addition to Spicer (foot). D.C. will be without Bartlett (suspension), Munteanu (lower body), Hosei Kijima (lower body), and Gabe Segal (lower body).
Match Content
- Our most recent episode of The Mane Land PawedCast includes our match preview, key matchups, and predictions for the game.
Official Lineups
Orlando City (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.
Defenders: Zakaria Taifi, Iago, David Brekalo, Ivan Angulo.
Midfielders: Martin Ojeda, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Eduard Atuesta.
Forwards: Antoine Griezmann, Daryl Dike.
Bench: Javier Otero, Adrian Marin, Nolan Miller, Braian Ojeda, Joran Gerbet, Tiago, Harvey Sarajian, Marco Pasalic, Justin Ellis.
D.C. United (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Sean Johnson.
Defenders: Keisuke Kurokawa, Kye Rowles, Sean Nealis, Silvan Hefti.
Midfielders: Joao Peglow, Andre Dozzell, Kimito Nono, Jared Stroud.
Forwards: Tai Baribo, Brandon Servania.
Bench: Alex Bono, Matti Peltola, Nikola Markovic, Kamil Castillo, Gavin Turner, Conner Antley, Nathan Ordaz, Jackson Hopkins, Oscar Avilez.
Referees
REF: Pierre-Luc Lauziere.
AR1: Jeremy Kieso.
AR2: Justin Howard.
4TH: Chris Penso.
VAR: Younes Marrakchi.
AVAR: Kathryn Nesbitt.
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 along at our Bluesky Social account (@themaneland.bsky.social), as well as Orlando City’s official Twitter feed (@OrlandoCitySC).
Enjoy the match. Go City!
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