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Orlando City vs. LAFC: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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4 years ago

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Well, I don’t think that went the way any of us were hoping it would. Orlando City had an excellent first half but a lapse of concentration and house of horrors error saw the Lions fighting an uphill battle all night long. The question now is, how did the men in purple grade individually in Orlando City’s 4-2 home loss to LAFC?

Let’s have a look at my player grades and Man of the Match from a night to forget for the good guys.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 5 — It was a pretty quiet game from El Pulpo. Gallese passed at a 100% rate on his 13 attempts, which was good, but he was unable to do anything about any of the four LAFC goals, finishing with zero saves on LAFC’s four shots on target. The first two he was completely helpless on, and he might have gotten a bit stranded at his near post on Brian Rodriguez’s opener for the visitors, but it’s hard to be too picky considering the defensive breakdowns in other areas. He’ll have wished he did better on Ilie Sanchez’s go-ahead goal, since it went in fairly close to him, but he didn’t see it until late as it came through a mass of bodies. Overall, a tough night for Orlando City’s netminder.

D, Joao Moutinho, 7 — This was probably one of Moutinho’s better games of recent memory. He was menacing going forward and popped up in the attack often, usually to good effect. He completed a dribble, passed at a 77% rate, made two tackles, three interceptions, a clearance, a blocked shot, and won an aerial duel. His 92 touches led the team and he also did very well to move into unoccupied space at the back post and blast his shot low into the far corner for his goal. He loses points for failing to track Rodriguez into the box on the opening goal, but it was a mostly good night for him. He led the team in shots (4) and tied for the team’s most shots on target (2), creating one scoring chance.

D, Antonio Carlos, N/A — It was not good to see Carlos go down after only 15 minutes, and even worse to see him need a stretcher to be taken off the field. Hopefully the injury is nothing more than a nasty hyperextension but only time will tell. The Brazilian was playing pretty well up until he went down, and it might not be an accident that Orlando shipped an unusually high amount of goals in a game played mostly without him. Before going off, Carlos completed all 11 of his pass attempts.

D, Robin Jansson, 6 — It was a mixed bag from Jansson. He did some really good things like winning two aerial duels and recording one tackle, two interceptions, and a clearance, passing at a 91% clip, and getting forward into the attack a couple times. Nine of his 11 long balls were accurate. Unfortunately, he and Moutinho failed to communicate in time to track Rodriguez on the first goal. It wasn’t a bad game from the Swede, but it wasn’t his best either.

D, Ruan, 5 — The good things Ruan did were recording a tackle, an interception, and a clearance, and completing a dribble. The bad is the hesitation on Carlos Vela’s ball that led to the first goal and the monstrously ill-advised back pass that gifted LAFC its second goal. He seemed to be trying to head it back for Gallese to collect, but he was in traffic and it was horribly misjudged, and the visitors couldn’t have asked for anything easier. That he was subbed out in favor of Kyle Smith while Orlando City was chasing the game was likely half due to tired legs and half due to a performance that he’ll want to put in the rearview mirror.

MF, Cesar Araujo, 6 — At 89%, Araujo passed the ball well, creating two scoring chances and completing two of his four long balls, and defensively he also made two tackles. He picked up a completely needless fourth yellow card of the season for getting in Francisco Ginella’s face after he was deemed to have fouled his fellow Uruguayan, and he took umbrage with the decision. The youngster also had a couple of bad giveaways in the midfield on a night where LAFC looked dangerous on the counter to begin with.

MF, Junior Urso, 5.5 — This score maybe feels a little harsh, but the Bear’s influence on proceedings faded badly after halftime. He recorded a tackle and an interception and passed at 89% on the night. He also attempted one shot that didn’t hit the target and drew five opposition fouls, but his second half display contrasted badly with what he was able to do in the first period. Like the rest of Orlando City, he wasn’t able to get involved offensively as much during the second 45 minutes, and he also struggled to slow LAFC in transition moments.

MF, Facundo Torres, 6.5 — Torres looked lively out there, and was unlucky to not get an assist on an absolutely beautiful run of first-half play. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to hold or curl his run long enough to beat the offside trap. Still, he led the Lions with three successful dribbles, had one tackle and one interception, created two scoring chances, completed one of his two long balls, and passed at an 87% rate. He drew three fouls on LAFC with his quick movement, and all three could have been yellow cards. He looks more and more comfortable every week.

MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 7 — Pererya’s pass over the top to Ercan Kara for Orlando’s opening goal was perfection. The vision to see it, the weight and accuracy to put the ball exactly where it needed to be…chef’s kiss. He then did just as well to pick out Moutinho and deliver the ball to him for Orlando’s second goal, and he had a hugely influential first half. Like most everyone else, his second half was less effective but he still finished with four chances created, one dribble, two tackles, and two assists (one primary, one secondary). He was accurate on four of six long balls. The biggest knock on his performance is that he struggled to connect with teammates in the attacking half after halftime.

MF, Alexandre Pato, 7.5 (MotM) — Man, Pato is just different gravy. He looked dangerous from the moment the ball was kicked. He combined well with Torres and Kara on the goal that was chalked out for offside and he continues to see passing lanes and runs that no one else on the field does. His volleyed goal was supremely difficult to pull off, yet he made it look easy. He waited for the ball to drop, kept his knee over it without leaning back, and fired it low into the corner where Maxime Crepeau couldn’t reach it. He was heavily involved aside from his goal with two successful dribbles, two chances created, a tackle, and he even won an aerial duel. He maybe could have done better with a late header that he didn’t place far enough away from Crepeau late, and his passing rate of 53.9% needs to be better, but he was still the Lions’ best performer on the night.

F, Ercan Kara, 7 — It was a good night from Kara. He’s still yet to open his scoring account but his awareness to head the ball back across goal for Pato to volley home — for his second MLS assist — was excellent and the quality of the header itself was also top notch. His dummy for the offside goal was very clever, and he too looks to be meshing better in the attack with every passing game. He was unlucky not to grab a late equalizer for the Lions but he couldn’t generate enough power on a well-placed header and was unable to get it past Crepeau. He had the second-most shots on the team, with three (one on frame), created a scoring chance, and it feels like a matter of time before he gets off the mark. He chipped in a pair of defensive clearances as well.

Substitutes

D, Rodrigo Schlegel (18’), 5.5 — Schlegel had a difficult task on the night, as he came in completely cold for the injured Carlos and was asked to deal with the high octane LAFC attack. For the most part, he did well. The Argentine led the team in tackles with three, won one aerial duel, recorded two interceptions, two clearances, and a block, and passed at a 95% rate. However, he got caught well up the pitch on the first LAFC goal and he could maybe have smacked the ball clear before Sanchez scored, but he didn’t, and then got picked by an LAFC player and was unable to fight through and get his body in the way. All in all, it was a typical hard-working shift from him but one he’ll want to improve upon.

D, Kyle Smith (72’) 6 — Smith had an interception, a tackle, and won an aerial duel in a little over 15 minutes on the field. Overall, he didn’t impact the game much and he wasn’t able to add anything offensively, but the numbers back up that he was his usual solid self defensively.

F, Benji Michel (72’) 6 — Benji provided a bit more verticality to the Orlando attack after coming on, and was given long balls to run onto several times. He had a decent chance to shoot or pass on the left side of the goal shortly after coming on but a heavy touch meant that Orlando had to settle for a corner. He whistled a shot very close to the far post and made an absolutely lung-busting recovery run to make a slide tackle and prevent a chance for LAFC on the counter.

F, Tesho Akindele (83’) N/A — In a brief cameo, Tesho didn’t have a ton of influence on the game with only three touches of the ball. He did win an aerial duel and pressed hard from the front as usual.

F, Silvester van der Water (83’) N/A — Van der Water had 10 touches in his brief time on the field and his deflected cross very nearly resulted in a goal for Alexandre Pato.

That’s how we saw the individual performances in this one. Feel free to share your opinions down in the comments, and make sure to vote for the Man of the Match in the poll below.

Polling Closed

Player Votes
Joao Moutinho 12
Mauricio Pereyra 4
Ercan Kara 1
Alexandre Pato 39
Other (Shout them out in the comments) 0
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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. New England Revolution: Five Takeaways

Here’s what we learned from Orlando City’s 4-2 loss in New England.

Published

8 hours ago

on

September 20, 2026

By

Image of Marco Pasalic on the ball against New England.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City seemed in position to come away with a point on the road against a good New England squad, but the Lions fell apart in stoppage time, giving up two goals in the final minutes and losing 4-2.

Here are my five takeaways from the match.

Crépeau Caught Out

Maxime Crépeau was beaten over his head for the only goal of the first half, and initially it looked like he had somehow been chipped from just outside of the box. The play-by-play announcer, who the less is said about the better, indicated that Carles Gil had scored a dipping wondergoal, but after watching the replay, the ball clearly deflected off of David Brekalo and wrong-footed Crépeau. The Canadian perhaps was a foot or two too far off his line regardless, but we will never know if he was well-positioned for the original attempt, since once the ball was deflected, everything changed. The Lions ended up shipping four goals to the Revolution, but of all four, this goal was the one that Crépeau could have done the least about, and it left the Lions down 1-0 for the second straight game.

Speed Kills

This axiom reared its ugly head once again, as New England’s Peyton Miller outran everyone wearing Orlando City gold to score two times on Saturday night. On the first goal, he burst down the left side of the field, and on the second, he went down the right side. On each shot, he beat Crépeau by keeping his shot low toward the opposite side of the goal, placing it well. Orlando City’s fullbacks have decent speed, but the center backs do not, and when the fullbacks get caught up the field, as Zakaria Taifi was on the first goal and Iván Angulo was on the second, the defense is often in serious trouble. Earlier in the game, Angulo was able to use his own speed to beat his man to a loose ball in the box and score in his third consecutive MLS game, but when stoppage time arrived, he looked exhausted and Miller did not, and without any other top-end speed on the field for the Lions, they were punished for their inability to recover quickly enough.

Hey, a Call Went Orlando’s Way

VAR is the name for the video assistant referee. It is also often a three-letter acronym that feels like a four-letter word when it comes to Orlando City, but a call actually went the Lions’ way against New England, even though there were no angles on the broadcast that seemed to show that the referee made a clear and obvious error. The call in question was a handball by Miller, and the referee had to determine whether it was actually a handball and if it was in the box. Surprisingly, the decision went Orlando City’s way on both counts, and at least the “in the box” part appeared correct from the replays shown. Martín Ojeda stepped up and scored his 12th goal in MLS play by converting the ensuing penalty kick. Ojeda is now four for four on penalties this season, and those four goals put him into a tie with Kaká for the second most converted penalties in a single season.by a Lion. It was Ojeda’s second game in a row with a goal in all competitions, so that’s at least a good sign that Orlando’s No. 10 is finding his form.

The Wing(er)s Were Clipped

Martín Perelman went with Marco Pašalić and Tyrese Spicer on the wings to start, and both were mostly anonymous.. The most noteworthy aspect of Spicer’s performance was that the announcer on the broadcast thought that Spicy T was Canadian instead of from Trinidad & Tobago. And, while Pašalić played better in the second half than the first, he just looked out of sorts and like he did not fit with the offense. Harvey Sarajian came on in the second half but did not contribute a ton, and both Angulo and Justin Ellis played some minutes on the wings as well, with only Angulo finding much success. Griffin Dorsey’s back injury forced Angulo to play a lot of minutes as a defender instead of winger and Spicer to start instead of coming off the bench, and that combination was not a good one for the Lions.

No Griezmann, Yes Problem

Orlando City clawed back into a 2-2 tie late in the game, but its two goals came on a pass that was deflected right into Angulo’s path and a penalty kick. The offense did not look good, generating only 1.40 expected goals, and that includes the penalty kick which accounted for 0.77 of that 1.40 (55%). During the rest of the game, the Lions rarely looked threatening, taking fewer than 10 shots, completing 78 fewer passes in the opposition half, garnering 10 fewer touches in the opposition’s box, and just mostly looking disjointed and without a conductor to lead the offensive orchestra. This performance came after a similarly poor one during the portion of the game after Antoine Griezmann was forced off with an injury against Columbus in the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, and if the Lions are to get back on a roll after consecutive losses, they need Griezmann to return to full health quickly.

Those are my takeaways from Orlando City’s 4-2 road loss to New England. The Lions fought back to even the game but collapsed in stoppage time and now have a week to recover before a massive six-pointer against a red-hot Philadelphia team next week.

Let us know your thoughts about the New England match in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City vs. New England Revolution: Final Score 4-2 as Lions Cough Up Two Goals Late in Loss

The Lions came back from 2-0 down to tie the game just before the end of normal time but melted down defensively in stoppage time to spill a point.

Published

19 hours ago

on

September 19, 2026

By

Image of Ivan Angulo firing a shot for a goal against New England.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City was completely outclassed in the opening half at Gillette Stadium tonight but fought back from 2-0 down to pull level with a good second half. However, the pre-World Cup Lions showed up during the 10 added minutes, allowing the New England Revolution (14-8-4, 46 points) to score two late goals and win 4-2 on two wide-open shots.

The loss snapped a five-game unbeaten run in league play for the Lions (10-12-4, 34 points), who will feel they should have come home with at least a point after Ivan Angulo and Martin Ojeda — from the penalty spot — erased a 2-0 second-half deficit just before the end of normal time. But the same transition defense problems that have plagued the team all year showed up when Orlando should have been locking down a hard-fought road point.

Carles Gil and Peyton Miller each bagged a brace in the game to sink an Orlando side that has conceded 14 times in its last five away matches in all competitions.

“Very frustrated, of course, with the result,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said after the match. “There was a big challenge for us today, because we came here after the game on Wednesday, and facing a team who is doing well in the league — in their stadium — and they had rest during the week; they had a normal week. The context of the game was difficult. We knew that. And taking that into account, I thought we did a very big effort. We made some mistakes, especially in the first half, and then we were able to come back in the second half, compete, tie the game. And then, I think there we have some gaps to improve as a team. We need to close these kinds of games. So, that’s the frustration.”

Perelman’s lineup was without the injured Antoine Griezmann (thigh), with Maxime Crepeau starting in goal behind a back line of Bernardo Rhein, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, and Angulo, who ended up playing three different positions in the match. Joran Gerbet and Luis Otavio started in central midfield between wingers Tyrese Spicer and Marco Pasalic, with Justin Ellis and Ojeda up top.

Orlando City spent much of the first half on the back foot. New England did well to crowd Orlando’s outlet players and won the ball high with its pressure in the opening 45 minutes. The Lions, as a result, spent a lot of time trying to regain control of the ball and then often turned it over when trying to transition from defense to offense.

Ellis had Orlando’s first sight of goal in the ninth minute, but his shot was well off target from the left side, just outside the area.

Two minutes later, Miller tried a dipping, half-volley shot that didn’t miss by much, fizzing just over Crepeau’s crossbar.

Brooklyn Raines committed an ugly challenge on Ellis to break up a potential counter in the 14th minute, handing Orlando a long-range free kick. The service toward the back side was good, but the ball appeared to take a slight deflection before Jansson could bring it down and shoot on what would have been a wide-open chance. The ball got knocked to the top of the box and Rhein committed a foul to end the threat.

Just moments later, Gil opened the scoring. Gil worked his way from right to left just outside the area, but several Lions failed to close him down. He attempted a shot that deflected unkindly off Brekalo, looped just over Crepeau’s outstretched hand, and fell just under the bar to make it 1-0 in the 19th minute.

Ojeda found himself with an opportunity from the top of the area in the 22nd minute. Taking a layoff from Gerbet, the Argentine fired a shot over Matt Turner, who jumped up and tipped it over the crossbar. Not only did the Lions not pay off the ensuing corner, but Angulo had to hustle back to prevent Dor Turgeman from getting behind the defense for a transition chance.

The Lions had a couple of half chances in the 23rd and 24th minutes. Spicer got to the end line on the first and tried to pull a pass back for Ellis, but instead his attempt found the New England defense. A minute later, a blocked pass fell in the box for Ojeda, who headed it down in front of himself, but the ball bounced too far away on the artificial surface, allowing Turner to collect it.

The Revs took control for most of the rest of the half. Gil was again left unmarked outside the area just seconds after Ojeda’s half-chance, but the Spaniard fired just over the bar.

Orlando worked the ball deep in the 28th minute on the left, with Pasalic trying a low-percentage, tight-angle shot from near the end line, but Turner had no issues with the save.

Turgeman should have doubled the lead in the 35th minute. A cross in from the left went through Brekalo’s legs to a wide-open Turgeman, with Jansson too deep to stop the cross and Rhein struggling to catch up from behind. However, the Revs’ forward sent his shot just wide of the right post.

The Lions quickly turned it over off the ensuing goal kick and Jackson Yueill found Gil, whose shot deflected just wide for the first corner in a series of them as New England kept Orlando penned in its own end.

When the Lions finally got a chance to break in transition again in the 38th minute, Angulo made a mess of trying to switch play, sending his pass right to Turner.

The Revolution went back on the attack and Miller tried an audacious shot from a tight angle on the right. Crepeau got his right hand on it to knock it away. Moments later, Matt Polster tried to carry the ball into Orlando’s box but Gerbet did well to beat him to the spot in the box, where Polster bundled him over, allowing the Lions to take the pressure off with a free kick.

New England kept coming, with Turgeman sending a soft shot at Crepeau and Yueill firing over the bar down the stretch. Brekalo was also forced into some emergency defending, knocking a cross out for a corner and then heading away the ensuing cross on the set piece.

That was the last meaningful action of the half.

New England dominated the stat sheet at halftime, holding the edge in possession (62.2%-37.8%), shots (9-3), shots on target (3-2), passing accuracy (90.3%-84.5%), and corners (6-1). The Lions were fortunate to only be down one goal.

“We tried to improve in terms of using the half space more direct, not committing too much,” Perelman said of his halftime adjustments. “We tried to adjust some defensive things in the low block and in the press, so we adjusted a bunch of things in the half, not only one.

Zakaria Taifi and Eduard Atuesta subbed on for Spicer and Otavio before the restart, moving Angulo to left wing, while the midfield saw a like-for-like change.

It took New England just 25 seconds to win another corner kick in the second half, but Brekalo and Jansson combined to clear the danger.

Taifi tried to make his mark on the game in the ensuing moments, drawing a foul and a yellow card on Will Sands after making a nice hesitation move. The Homegrown fullback then tried to pick out Ojeda in the box but the Argentine was defended well and couldn’t control it in traffic.

The Lions got what they were looking for in the 50th minute but squandered it. Taking the ball away, Orlando had a two-on-one break developing with Angulo and Ojeda. The Colombian, however, muffed his pass and sent it straight to New England’s defender rather than hitting Ojeda with a diagonal that would have seen him in on Turner alone.

Brekalo went on the attack in the 53rd minute when nobody closed him down. The Slovenian center back got to within about eight yards of the 18-yard box and had a go, but he sent his shot fizzing over Turner’s crossbar. A minute later, the Lions forced a quick turnover with numbers forward. Pasalic had the ball on his foot, but he was too indecisive at first and ended up taking a shot that deflected onto the roof of Turner’s net. The ensuing set piece fell to Pasalic in the box, but this time Raines cut out his pass and cleared the danger.

New England doubled the lead in the 59th minute when Angulo lost the ball in the attacking third. Despite appearing to be held, there was no call and the Revs broke the other way in transition. Turgeman turned and sent a ball to Miller, who was blazing down the left channel. Jansson had no chance to catch up to the speedy Miller, who slotted past Crepeau to make it 2-0.

Despite that bad break in what was otherwise a positive spell for Orlando City, the Lions got right back into the attack. Atuesta found space outside the box in the 61st minute and decided to have a go. His rocket had little chance of beating Turner to the near post, but the USMNT goalkeeper couldn’t handle it cleanly, fighting it off with two hands.

A minute later, the Lions cut the lead in half with a well-worked goal. Jansson played the ball to Atuesta near midfield, and the Colombian sent a straight ball to Ojeda ahead of him. Ojeda laid it off for Ellis and continued his run forward. Ellis turned and sent a gorgeous return pass through three defenders to Ojeda, who sent it left off a defender’s foot into Angulo’s path on the left. Angulo fired home to put Orlando on the board in the 62nd minute.

“Very happy with that part and for this run of scoring that I’ve been on,” Angulo said, after scoring in his third consecutive league game. “I’ve been working the same way that I’ve been working before, just getting a little bit more opportunity and getting the ball towards goal a little bit more. So, that’s great. But the thing to do is continue working, continue trying to do my absolute best out on the field every single time, and working together to fix the errors as a team that we committed today, so that way we can go out and get the victory next time out.”

The Revs tried to respond quickly, winning another pair of corners. Brekalo defended the second, which fell outside to New England center back Mamadou Fofana, who sent a shot nowhere near Crepeau’s goal.

Orlando went through another few minutes of continuously turning the ball over in its own end.

Ilay Feingold found Turgeman in front of goal in the 73rd minute but the Israel international could only stab at it and sent it over the goal. Miller’s shot from the right deflected out for yet another New England corner but the Lions handled their business. Crepeau then did well to save Feingold’s shot in the 78th minute and the Revs were offside when recycling the attack.

Miller blasted a shot on goal a minute after that chance but Crepeau made the save.

Orlando then calmed things down and got forward again. Taifi tried to pick out second-half sub Daryl Dike in the box in the 81st minute and nearly connected, but the big striker was trying to fight off a center back and couldn’t control it. A minute later, Gerbet found space just outside the box and fired a shot that Miller blocked. Gerbet and other Lions nearby appealed for a handball, but the initial decision was a free kick just outside the area. The video assistant referee instructed match referee Sergii Boiko to go to the monitor. Boiko ruled the contact with Miller’s arm happened just inside the top of the box and awarded a late penalty.

Ojeda took the spot kick, hesitating just before he got to the ball. That forced Turner to commit first, and the Argentine calmly slotted home to tie the game at 2-2 in the 88th minute.

A match that had started so poorly was improbably tied as stoppage time began. A seemingly generous 10 minutes were added on, but the Lions had been producing the better play down the stretch.

But the roof caved in on the Lions in injury time. The first was a seemingly innocuous play that turned into a breakaway for Miller. Gerbet could have committed a foul to end it before it got going, but he had no way of knowing how much chaos would ensue behind him.

A simple pass to the right ended up as a diagonal ball to Miller, who cut left to right between three Orlando defenders. Jansson made a desperate lunge to get a toe on it but it was out of his reach. Miller slotted past Crepeau for the second time in the 93rd minute to restore New England’s lead.

Chasing the game once again, Orlando got hit again by Gil in the sixth added minute. Raines blazed down the left channel, but Taifi did well to catch up and force him wide. What started as a four-on-three opportunity seemed to evaporate as the Lions started catching up. However, Raines passed into the box on the left to Turgeman, who had both Brekalo and Angulo on him. That left no one on Gil, who was behind Atuesta. A quick square ball from Turgeman to Gil and it was all over.

There weren’t any clear-cut chances for Orlando to try to pull one back, but the match was done and dusted by then anyway.

New England finished with the advantage in possession (53%-47%), shots (16-9), shots on target (7-5), corners (10-3), and passing accuracy (88.4%-85.6%).

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t keep the point,” Perelman said.

I think at this moment we’re left with some conclusions, obviously frustration for the way the game ended,” Angulo said. “It was a tough game, but we knew that it was going to be that way. And you know, at the end, the tie we let escape from us, and it leaves us with a more sour taste in our mouth than we were hoping for.”

The late collapse was reminiscent of the pre-World Cup play by the Lions, who were conceding goals at a record pace before the break due to negligent defending in transition and turnovers in dangerous areas of the pitch.

Orlando City has a normal match week ahead as the Lions’ next match is on the road at Philadelphia a week from tonight. There is an international window during that weekend, so both teams will be missing some key players. Ellis, for example, will be with the USMNT in Orlando on that day.

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Orlando City vs. New England Revolution: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Lions head to New England on short rest with a tough task against the Revs…possibly without Antoine Griezmann.

Published

1 day ago

on

September 19, 2026

By

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Welcome to your match preview and live thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (10-11-4, 34 points) and the New England Revolution (13-8-4, 43 points) at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA (7:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the second meeting between the two MLS Eastern Conference rivals this season, and the first of the two league matches in 2026. The Revs are scheduled to make the return trip to Orlando on Decision Day, Nov. 7.

Here’s what you need to know for the match.

History

The Lions are 6-7-8 in the regular-season series against New England and 8-8-8 in all competitions. On the road, Orlando City is just 2-6-2 against the Revs in the MLS regular season and 3-6-2 in all away matches.

The most recent meeting between the teams took place in U.S. Open Cup play on April 29 at Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket, RI, with Orlando City coming from behind three times and eventually winning 4-3. It barely counts as a game against the Revs, who rotated heavily and played a lot of prospects in the match, not even dressing several of the team’s top players. Malcolm Fry, Andrew Farrell, and Marcos Zambrano each gave New England the lead in the game, but the Lions fought back on strikes from Iago, Griffin Dorsey, and Justin Ellis. Zakaria Taifi scored the winner in stoppage time.

The two clubs’ last meeting in the regular season also took place in New England, but it was at Gillette Stadium, the Revs’ usual home. Martin Ojeda’s brace led the Lions to a 2-1 victory on July 19, 2025 — just the team’s second road win in the series. Thomas Chancalay scored for New England.

The first match between the sides last year was a wild 3-3 draw in Orlando on May 10. The Lions squandered two leads in that match, including a 2-0 advantage. Ojeda scored Orlando’s first hat trick since 2015 in that game, but those three goals were offset by strikes by Alhassan Yusuf, Matt Polster, and Carles Gil. One of Ojeda’s goals and Gil’s strike were penalties.

Prior to that, the teams met on Sept. 14, 2024, with the Lions completing their first-ever sweep of the Revs with a 3-0 win. Rafael Santos, Facundo Torres (from the penalty spot), and Duncan McGuire provided the offense in a dominant performance. The teams also met on July 13 at Gillette Stadium that year, where the Lions won for the first time, handing the Revs a 3-1 home loss. Torres’ brace led the way to an Orlando comeback, with Ramiro Enrique also scoring to overturn an early 1-0 deficit provided by Giacomo Vrioni.

The teams met in Orlando on Oct. 7, 2023, with the Lions winning 3-2 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicates. Orlando City clinched second in the Eastern Conference as McGuire and Torres built a 2-0 lead. Pedro Gallese gave up a soft goal from distance to Gil, but Ivan Angulo pulled that one back three minutes later. Gil added a second goal deep in stoppage time to provide a cosmetic improvement to the result for the Revs.

New England got the better of the Lions in the previous matchup of the 2023 season, winning 3-1 at Gillette Stadium on June 17. After a scoreless first half, the Revs went up by two with goals from Emmanuel Boateng and Gustavo Bou 18 minutes apart. McGuire pulled one back late, but Gil scored the dagger five minutes later.

These teams met at Exploria Stadium on Aug. 6, 2022, and the previously struggling Revolution whipped Orlando City, 3-0. New England got goals from unlikely sources, as central midfielders Polster and Wilfrid Kaptoum and center back Henry Kessler provided the offense. The teams met at Gillette Stadium on June 15 of that year, and the Revs went ahead on a Gil goal, but the Lions pulled that back with a Robin Jansson strike en route to a 1-1 road draw.

New England went unbeaten in the 2021 season series. The teams played to a 2-2 draw at Exploria Stadium on Oct. 24, 2021. The Lions built a 2-0 lead through goals by Nani and Daryl Dike, but two late Adam Buksa goals allowed the Revs to steal a point. The teams met at Gillette Stadium just over a month prior to that draw in Orlando, with Nani’s missed penalty a costly one in a 2-1 Revs home win. The Revolution jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a goal by Buksa and an own goal off of Rodrigo Schlegel. Dike pulled one back for the Lions and later won a penalty, but Matt Turner read Nani’s attempt to go down the middle at the last second and got his shoulder to it to preserve the lead.

The Revolution ended the Lions’ season at Exploria Stadium in the 2020 playoffs, knocking Orlando City out of MLS Cup contention in the conference semifinal round on Nov. 29, 2020. That 3-1 win by the Revs was the first road win for either side in the series in any competition. Gil put the Revs up early from the penalty spot after a call against Uri Rosell, and Bou doubled the lead eight minutes later, finishing a play that started with a Nani turnover. Junior Urso pulled a goal back before the halftime whistle, but Mauricio Pereyra was sent off for a studs-up challenge on Polster at the hour mark. Still, Nani had a chance to equalize from the spot, but Turner saved his poor penalty. Bou added a late insurance goal.

In the final year of the pre-pandemic times, the Revs went 1-0-1 in the season series. The Lions and Revolution met at Exploria Stadium on Sept. 14, 2019, with Orlando overcoming a Tesho Akindele own goal and two deficits — the second by two goals — and rallying for a 3-3 draw. Shortly after Akindele’s own goal opened the scoring, Nani tied things up. Cristian Penilla and Bou scored goals five minutes apart just before halftime to seemingly give the visitors control. But Dom Dwyer pulled one back after the restart and Nani tied it up.

The teams also met at Gillette Stadium in 2019 on July 27, and the Revs put the Lions on full blast, 4-1. Bou scored within the first two minutes of the game, and the Revolution got goals from Penilla, Gil, and Diego Fagundez. Akindele scored to avoid the shutout.

The clubs met at Exploria Stadium in U.S. Open Cup action that year on June 19, with the Lions scoring twice in a 30-minute extra time session and holding on for a 2-1 victory. Benji Michel and Akindele staked Orlando to a 2-0 lead before Justin Rennicks pulled one back off a Gil back-post cross. City was able to see the game out.

The last meeting of 2018 saw the Revs top a depleted Orlando side, 2-0 in Gillette Stadium on Oct. 13. In the first matchup of 2018, the teams combined for six goals in a 3-3 draw at Orlando City Stadium on Aug. 4.

Orlando City and New England split the season series in 2017. City completed a 6-1 demolition of 10-man New England at home Sept. 27, 2017. New England won at Gillette Stadium that year by a 4-0 count.

The Lions went 1-0-2 in the series in 2016, winning 3-1 at home on July 31. The teams played a controversial 2-2 draw in Orlando on April 17, 2016. The second 2016 meeting reached the same final score on April 30 in New England.

The teams met twice in 2015, with Orlando City rallying from a 2-0 deficit in the final 17 minutes to draw 2-2 at the Citrus Bowl in April. The Sept. 5 rematch at Gillette Stadium didn’t go as well, with New England taking a 3-0 win. Fagundez, Agudelo and Chris Tierney scored for the Revolution.

Overview

Orlando City is coming off a 2-1 road loss in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals Wednesday at Columbus. The Lions fell behind early, equalized before the half, but conceded again moments after Antoine Griezmann sustained a knock, and Orlando never seriously challenged when the Frenchman left the game after the goal. With a first-choice squad used in the midweek, the Lions are on short rest and must either rotate or play the starters on artificial turf on the road with only a couple of days of recovery.

The Lions have won their last two games in New England, but those are exceptions to what has been the rule since they joined Major League Soccer. Orlando is just 3-7-2 away from home in league play and struggled in all three road matches it played in the U.S. Open Cup (two one-goal wins against lineups the Lions should have handled easily and the loss to the Crew). City has conceded 10 goals in its last four matches on the road in all competitions.

Making matters worse is Griezmann’s knock makes him questionable and the Designated Player is the hottest player in MLS, having scored in five consecutive matches.

The Revolution, on the other hand, are 8-2-2 at home in 2026 and are are coming off consecutive 2-1 road wins over the Chicago Fire and New York City FC. However, the Revs are 0-1-1 in their last two at Gillette Stadium after their hot start.

Orlando City will have to find Gil wherever he goes and keep him marked, otherwise it could be a big night for New England. The Spaniard leads MLS in key passes (69) and leads his club in goals (10), assists (8), and total goal contributions (18). Israeli forward Dor Turgeman, just 22 years old, has also been a weapon for the Revolution, scoring seven goals and adding five assists. Peyton Miller has chipped in five goals and four assists. Oh, and Lion killer Daniel Gazdag has joined the Revs recently, too.

The Lions will be without Braian Ojeda (foot) and Iago (suspension), while Griezmann (thigh) and Griffin Dorsey (back) are questionable. New England will be missing Leo Campana (lower body), Jack Harrison (quad), and Alhassan Yusuf (hamstring), while Luca Langoni (thigh) is questionable. 

Match Content

Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Bernardo Rhein, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Ivan Angulo.

Midfielders: Tyrese Spicer, Joran Gerbet, Luis Otavio, Marco Pasalic.

Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Justin Ellis.

Bench: Javier Otero, Vinicius Nogueira, Zakaria Taifi, Adrian Marin, Wilder Cartagena, Eduard Atuesta, Tiago, Harvey Sarajian, Daryl Dike.

New England Revolution (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Matt Turner.

Defenders: Will Sands, Mamadou Fofana, Ethan Kohler, Matt Polster.

Midfielders: Jackson Yueill, Brooklyn Raines, Carles Gil.

Forwards: Daniel Gazdag, Dor Turgeman, Peyton Miller.

Bench: JD Gunn, Tanner Beason, Ilay Feingold, Joshua Wynder, Cody Baker, Diego Fagundez, Wilson Harris, Marcos Zambrano, Judah Siqueira.

Referees

REF: Sergii Boiko.
AR1: Lyes Arfa.
AR2: Mike Nickerson.
4TH: Brad Jensen.
VAR: David Barrie.
AVAR: Craig Lowry.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Gillette Stadium — Foxborough, MA.

TV/Live Stream: 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 match. Go City!

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