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Orlando City vs. New England Revolution: Final Score 2-1 as Lions Drop Fourth Straight

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When a team is struggling, every bounce matters and Orlando City isn’t getting any of them. The Lions (10-8-8, 38 points) scored their third own goal in the last five games and squandered yet another penalty kick in a 2-1 loss to the New England Revolution (19-4-5, 62 points) at Gillette Stadium. Adam Buksa’s early goal was canceled out by Daryl Dike, but a cross from Tajon Buchanan hit Rodrigo Schlegel’s leg and went in to provide the winning margin.

The Orlando losing streak grew to four straight matches and the Lions have still never won in New England (0-5-1). The loss could have become a draw had Nani scored on a penalty kick attempt late in the second half but he tried to go down the middle and Matt Turner was able to stop his movement to the right and get a shoulder on it.

“It’s painful to say that after playing a good game, we’re still leaving with disappointment in not getting the result,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “We did not want to come here and put eight or nine players in behind, but we wanted to come and fight our game.”

Pareja started Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of Joao Moutinho, Robin Jansson, Schlegel, and Ruan with Antonio Carlos suspended. Sebas Mendez returned to the central midfield alongside Junior Urso for the first time since July 17. Andres Perea and Mauricio Pereyra facilitated the attack forward to Benji Michel and Dike with team captain Nani on the bench.

It didn’t take long for New England to take the lead. After an opening spell of both teams playing it around the midfield, looking for an opening, the Revs struck first. A ball played down the left side found Gustavo Bou, who was left all alone when Ruan slipped on the artificial turf. Bou sent in a perfect cross for Buksa to tap home in the ninth minute to make it 1-0.

New England is lethal when scoring first and improved to 15-0-2 on the season when scoring the game’s first goal.

The Revs should have doubled the lead five minutes later. The ball came to DeJuan Jones down the left flank and Gallese came out of his goal to cut down his angle, but the New England fullback found Buksa in front with a quick pass and the forward skied his shot with the net completely empty.

Orlando withstood the Revs’ efforts at a second goal and equalized. Pereyra found Dike on the right. The Lions’ forward out-muscled his college teammate, Henry Kessler, then smashed a shot too hot for Matt Turner to handle, making it 1-1 in the 18th minute. It was Pereyra’s 10th assist on the season, tying a team single-season record shared by Nani, Yoshimar Yotún, and Kaká. As secondary assists are now counted, it’s important to note that seven of Pereyra’s 10 have been primary assists.

“It’s just like a position that I like to be in and, you know, Henry and I — obviously him and I are buddies and he’s a good defender,” Dike said. “For that moment I guess I just got the better of him and then I just kind of stick it in the back of the net. It was a good battle. I love competing with him. I think it’s always a pleasure and an honor to be able to fight against top players like that.”

The Lions had a couple of opportunities in the attack after that, with Dike trying to play in Pereyra first and then Michel, but neither teammate made a run, so those opportunities evaporated without incident. Dike also had a chance off a good cutback pass from Ruan in the 24th minute but he couldn’t hit the ball cleanly and it squirted well off to the right of goal. Three minutes later, Pereyra’s service on a set piece bounced to Perea, who sent a shot on target but Turner made a sprawling save to keep the game tied.

That was an important save, because the Revs regained the lead in the 35th minute. Buchanan made a couple of dazzling moves to free himself up on the right and sent in a cross that hit Schlegel and bounced in for an own goal. Buksa had given the Orlando defender two huge shoves just before the ball was crossed but those went uncalled and the hosts took a 2-1 lead.

That was the last good look for either side and the hosts took their one-goal lead to the locker room.

New England finished the half with more shots (5-3) but Orlando got more on target (2-1). The Revs held more possession (59.3%-40.7%) and were more accurate passers (84.1%-80.5%), while Orlando got the half’s only corner.

The teams traded a couple of half-chances in the opening minutes of the second half and Orlando fashioned the first good look. Moutinho sent in a great cross into the area for Perea, who had a free header but he missed badly and sent it well off target in the 63rd minute. Six minutes later, Urso had his shot from the top of the area deflected by a defender. It fell for Moutinho but the Portuguese left back badly misfired and sent a weak shot well wide of the target.

Pareja sent Nani, Silvester van der Water, and Tesho Akindele on to try to go for the equalizer and the opportunity came when Dike was fouled in the area by Andrew Farrell with a quarter of an hour to go. Nani took the spot kick and tried to go down the middle. Turner started to dive to his right but stopped himself, and was crouched on the ground. He managed to throw a shoulder up to deflect the penalty out of harm’s way. The Lions continue to fail miserably from the spot, regardless of who takes them.

Whether it’s been Nani, Pereyra, or Akindele, penalties have not been a good source of offense for the Lions in 2021.

“It is my responsibility,” Pareja said after the match about who can take penalties. “(The players) work (at penalties) because it’s part of our training. And then that selection is my responsibility. I’m the head coach and I take that.”

Van der Water had a late chance blocked by a defender and nobody could get on a set piece pinging around in the area late, allowing the Revs to hang on for the 2-1 win.

Shots finished even at 13-13 but Orlando got more on target (3-1) and ended up as the more accurate passing team (83.8%-83.5%). The Revs held more possession (54.1%-45.9%) and won more corners (4-3).

“We’ve got to look at ourselves,” Dike said. “Obviously, we don’t want to concede. Obviously, we don’t want to give them chances. We’ve got to look at the chances we created for ourselves. Are we playing our principles? Are we playing the way Oscar wants us to play and enjoying our freedom? I think at some points in the game we were able to do that. We were able to be the imposing factor and play our game, and impose ourselves on the other team.

“I think, in other games recently, we might not have been able to, and it’s just another step in the right direction. I think, even though we lost, even though we want a better result, I think it’s a step that we need to do.”


The Lions’ schedule becomes more congested now with a trip to Nashville coming up on Wednesday and a visit from D.C. United to Exploria Stadium next Saturday. Orlando City will be without Robin Jansson Wednesday due to a suspension for yellow card accumulation after he took one tonight.

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Atletico de San Luis, Leagues Cup: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Lions host Atletico de San Luis in their final match of the Leagues Cup’s first phase.

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Image of Daryl Dike playing against Club Leon.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread for a Wednesday night Leagues Cup matchup between Orlando City (1-1-0, 3 points) and Atletico de San Luis (0-0-2, 0 points) at Inter.co Stadium (7:30 p.m., Apple TV). It’s the final match of the first phase of the competition for both teams, and tonight’s game marks the second meeting between the two teams — both in Leagues Cup action.

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

History

The Lions are 0-0-1 against Atletico de San Luis, having drawn 1-1 on Aug. 4, 2024, but that was a great result for Orlando City, which was down a man for well over half the game after Kyle Smith was sent off for denial of a goal-scoring opportunity. The Lions then won the postgame penalty shootout 5-4 to claim the extra point in a wild affair. Ramiro Enrique put the Lions ahead 1-0 in first-half stoppage time after being the first to get to a headed down cross from Facundo Torres. Rodrigo Dourado tied the match in the 71st minute, but Orlando held firm to see out the draw. In the shootout, all five Orlando shooters scored — Nico Lodeiro, Duncan McGuire, Wilder Cartagena, Rafael Santos, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson. Pedro Gallese stopped Leo Bonatini in the fourth round to help Orlando win the extra point.

Orlando City is 4-3-7 in competitive matches against Liga MX teams in club history.

Match Overview

Orlando City followed a 2-1 win over CF Monterrey a week ago with a 2-1 home loss to Club Leon on Saturday. Orlando City entered the week needing a win and lots of help to reach the knockout rounds. Tuesday’s matches were still underway as of this writing, but the chances were low of the Lions getting through after landing in 15th place among the MLS teams after two rounds. Tyrese Spicer has shone brightly in this competition with a goal and an assist in the opener and an assist on Marco Pasalic’s goal in the Club Leon loss.

San Luis is out of contention after falling 4-2 to Inter Miami and 4-1 to Nashville in the first two match days of the competition. Being outscored 8-3 is not a recipe for success, but San Luis could put the final fork in Orlando City with a win tonight. Rafael Llorente has two of the three goals for San Luis in the tournament, so he’ll be the man to watch for the Lions.

“When we play at home and when we compete we want to do our best to win, so we will try that as always,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said ahead of the match. “We will prepare the game and we will be ready to compete and again to try to win. Despite the probabilities, this club that we represent is huge, and we know our commitment and our responsibility as professionals is always play. We take this game as a very, very good opportunity for us to continue growing as a team.”


Projected Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

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

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Joran Gerbet, Luis Otavio, Tyrese Spicer.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Antoine Griezmann.

Atletico San Luis (5-4-1)

Goalkeeper: Andres Sanchez.

Defenders: Lucas Esteves, Eduardo Aguila, Miguel Garcia, Benjamin Galindo, Roman Torres.

Midfielders: Rafa Llorente, Oscar Macias, Sebastien Salles-Lamonge, David Rodriguez.

Forward: Felipe Mora.

Referees:

REF: Katia Mendoza.
AR1: Sandra Aleman.
AR2: Karen Medina.
4TH: Jesus Valle.
VAR: Marianela Cruz.


How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Inter.co Stadium — Orlando.

TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.

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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Lion Links: 8/12/26

Orlando City’s Leagues Cup continues, Orlando Pride head to Portland, OCB defeated again, and more.

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Image of Robin Jansson, Tyrese Spicer, and Ivan Angulo celebrating Spicer's goal against Nashville.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. It’s Leagues Cup match day, and I’m sure you’re as excited as I am, right? Right?!? Despite it being a money grab of a tournament in which the Lions are unlikely to advance, it is at least an opportunity to watch the team we support, and as such, I will be watching. Let’s get to the links.

Orlando City Hosts San Luis to Close First Leagues Cup Phase

Orlando City faces Atlético de San Luis tonight at Inter.co Stadium in the team’s third Leagues Cup match. If the Lions are to advance, the team will need to win the match and get some help from other teams in the tournament if they are to advance. As I said on The Mane Land PawedCast, I hope Orlando City smartly focuses on the upcoming regular-season match against FC Cincinnati. Sadly, I believe that won’t be the case, so you can expect the team to play a mixture of starters and subs.

Pride Proceed to Portland’s Providence Park

The Orlando Pride travel across the country to take on the Portland Thorns Saturday evening. The Pride are coming off a 3-1 loss to Racing Louisville, and let’s just say that the metrics were not good. As if bad form and traveling across the nation were not enough, the Thorns will be holding a celebration for former Portland and USWNT defender Meghan Klingenberg prior to the match. I don’t think the Thorns needed any extra motivation, but there it is.

Orlando City B Defeated…Again

Orlando City B continued its slide down the MLS NEXT Pro table after losing 3-0 to New York City FC II. With so many Young Lions covering for injuries with the first team, OCB Head Coach Eddie Wilding made five changes to the starting lineup. There were also four academy players who made their professional debuts. NYCFC II scored two goals in the the first 13 minutes and added a third in the second half. OCB will face Chicago Fire FC II on the road Saturday.

NWSL Accolades

If you didn’t watch other NWSL matches after being demoralized by how the Pride played Friday, I won’t blame you. That being said, there were matches played and things happened in those matches. I believe that Kerry Abello should have been up for Goal of the Week, but alas she wasn’t and instead the honor went to Ashley Sanchez from the North Carolina Courage. Don’t get me wrong it was a good goal, but Abello’s shot was better.

Anna Moorhouse was never in the discussion for Save of the Week. Instead it was won by Portland’s Mackenzie Arnold.

Arnold also won Assist of the Week on Pietra Tordin’s second goal.

Finally, Tordin won Player of the Week for her hat trick against Boston Legacy FC. She gets to face the Pride’s defense and Moorhouse on Saturday night.

Leaving her mark ⭐️Pietra Tordin is your Player of the Week presented by AT&T!

NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 2026-08-11T17:33:02.135Z

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That will do it for today. You can follow The Mane Land on Bluesky for match updates and we will also have a recap of the match. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 8/11/26

Leagues Cup preview, Americans in midweek action, open letter addressing Gianni Infantino, and more.

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Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Good morning, everyone. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant weekend for Orlando’s soccer teams, but fortunately, opportunities to change the vibes are right around the corner. Orlando City B plays NYCFC II in a few hours, Orlando City plays San Luis tomorrow and FC Cincinnati on Saturday, and the Orlando Pride are in action against the Portland Thorns on Saturday night as well. We’ve got lots to talk over this morning, so let’s get into it.

Leagues Cup Preview

Leagues Cup will begin its final round of group stage games later today, and there are several storylines to keep an eye on. Most prominent among them is the match between Austin FC and Club America, as each team currently sits first in its respective table. Myrto Uzuni’s hat trick helped Austin bury Puebla in its second match, and the Verde and Black are now in great position to advance. Before we get to that match on Thursday though, FC Cincinnati plays Atlas this evening to kick off the last round of games. Cincy sits fourth in the MLS table and therefore has plenty to play for, while Atlas has no points and has already been eliminated from contention. With Cincy visiting the City Beautiful on Saturday, Orlando fans should be hoping for FCC’s key players to rack up a lot of minutes tonight.

Americans in Midweek Action

Plenty of Americans will be taking part in matches during the working week, so make sure you’ve got everything noted down on your calendar. Tanner Tessmann and Lyon kick things off later today as they try to overturn a 2-1 first leg deficit against Sparta Prague in UEFA Champions Leauge qualifying. Things continue with Brenden Aaronson and Leeds playing Manchester United in a friendly on Wednesday, while Malik Tillman and Bayer Leverkusen have a friendly of their own against Nottingham Forest. Things wrap up with some American-on-American violence on Friday, as Johnny Cardoso and Atletico Madrid play Marseille in a friendly, while Folarin Balogun and Monaco face Haji Wright and Coventry in a tune-up game.

Confederations Write Letter Criticizing Gianni Infantino

Concacaf, UEFA, and AFC have written a joint open letter soccer as a whole, in which they accuse FIFA president Gianni Infantino of betraying the trust of the confederations and engaging in deceptive practices. They condemned the plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors, and called both FIFA’s integrity and Infantino’s running of the organization into question. U.S. Soccer put out its own statement on Sunday in support of Concacaf’s stance. The letter also urged FIFA to conduct an independent review of the proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup, while calling for accountability and openness among Infantino and the rest of FIFA’s leadership.

Transfer Rumor Roundup

There are plenty of transfer rumors to catch up on this morning, so let’s get straight into it. We start in England, where Crystal Palace is reportedly finalizing the signing of Zavier Gozo from Real Salt Lake. In Spain, Atletico Madrid has reportedly submitted an offer in the area of €35 million to Lille for winger Matias Fernandez-Pardo. Meanwhile, Endrick will supposedly be staying at Real Madrid this season following discussions between himself, the club, and Head Coach Jose Mourinho. Barcelona ha reportedly rejected a €50 million offer for Ferran Torres from Paris Saint-Germain, as the Catalonian club wants the fee to be structured differently than PSG’s initial proposal. Finally, in a rather unexpected bit of news, Tom Bogert reports that CF Montreal is signing Alexis Sanchez as a Designated Player.

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That’s all I’ve got for you this morning. Vamos Orlando!

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