When I sat down to watch this game, late on a crisp autumnal evening here in England, I was braced for a wild ride. After all, Orlando don't do things the easy way... Generally speaking. In the end, it was probably the easiest 1-0 win Orlando has ever experienced. That being said, with the start Orlando made to this game, neutral bystanders would be hard pressed to argue that Orlando didn't deserve more than the Wilder Cartagena wondergoal that their first half efforts surely deserved. A clutch of goal scoring opportunities were squandered by the likes of Duncan McGuire, Facundo Torres, Cesar ..read more

OK, so this piece is going to look a little different to the usual format. I wasn't sure how to frame this analysis, heading into the match, as I knew it would be particularly difficult to glean anything of note having seen our line-up. When you make so many changes and bring in players who have barely kicked a ball in anger for the last few months, you're going to get disjointed play. https://youtu.be/3CrgesrzkLY?si=RyNP6wneMyAzohsg It was a turgid first 45 minutes from Orlando City, which confirmed my initial feelings. Even from the second half, I don't think there's an awful lot to mull ove ..read more

Decision day was never going to be anything but incredibly stressful. That first half was fraught, frenetic and just downright chaotic at times. The second? Frustrating and rather depressing. The Pride probably had the better of the half, but the Dash had the two best opportunities with Nichelle Prince firing straight at the nervy Anna Moorhouse and Andressa Alves clipping the post with arguably the chance of the game, right on the stroke of half-time. The second half was poor, however. It was very flat until the final ten minutes or so, but, by that point, they had a mountain to climb. Angel ..read more

Orlando City can now put their feet up and relax for a bit on decision day. I mean, they won't. They'll want to go to Toronto and win; keep this momentum going into the play-offs. That being said it'll be nice to just be able to enjoy decision day, and not have to stress too much. Orlando City have sealed second place in both the Eastern Conference and Supporters Shield and thus, a place in next season's CONCACAF Champions *Cup. *Formerly League. https://youtu.be/ZqFIJppPXT4?si=5IfXbGEIRPYXE-9D With all the division amongst the fanbase, amidst a sluggish start to the season, no one could have ..read more

Make no mistake about it, this was a huge win for the Orlando Pride. Absolutely massive. It's a win that moves the team within touching distance of the play-off places. There's only 2 games to go, and only one way out of our play-off wilderness. One way out. One way out... Let's just hope we can swim at the end of it. https://youtu.be/wriTKFY8l0Y?si=WYZAdkhmAXmE-jx1 A deserved triumph It was a game the Pride deserved to win as well. The statistics may lie in the home team's favour (figure 1), but they only tell half a story. By and large the Pride limited Angel City to potshots and half chance ..read more

At a time when the Ahsoka series has reignited my love for The Ghost, Hera Syndulla's reliable ship from Star Wars Rebels, it's good to see that the Orlando Pride haven't given up the ghost in terms of their NWSL Championship play-off hunt. Some favourable results elsewhere, combined with this win, mean that Orlando have closed the gap to just a point with 3 games to go. They'll need one or two favours to get it done, with all 3 remaining games against clubs below the line. But they have given themselves a shot. https://youtu.be/nxuKPeThu9Y?si=vCMOu1keoGBkULh5 And that's really all they could ..read more

Wow! This certainly wasn't a game for those of a nervous disposition. It was probably one of the most memorable, thrilling and pulsating victories in Orlando City history. The sort of win that makes you believe a team is destined for great things in a season. A 4-3 win was probably the last thing anyone of a purple persuasion expected as Columbus raced into a 3-1 lead after the interval. As a footballing contest this was a game that had everything. Defensively speaking it was one of Orlando's worst performances of the season. Weirdly, it wasn't one of their best attacking performances either ..read more

I think, under the circumstances, the Pride did well to escape Lumen Field with a 1-0 defeat. They would have headed to Washington, looking to get back to winning ways, after their recent defeat to San Diego Wave. Had they had XI players on the field for entirety of the game, they may well have been able to do something. However, that's not what happened. A, frankly, foolish challenge from Anna Moorhouse in the third minute gave referee Ricardo Fierro no choice but to brandish the red card. I feared the worst at that point, as I couldn't see any other result than an emphatic OL Reign win. To b ..read more

We may have benefitted hugely from that very fortunate late penalty call, as well as when St. Louis hit the post late on, but nobody could argue that Oscar Pareja's team didn't deserve the victory. Because they did. That's 3 straight victories, amidst a run of 5 wins in 6. It's a run that has propelled Orlando City to the forefront of the home play-off reckoning. The Lions now head into a favourable run, where we play many of the teams around us down the stretch. Whilst these might be tougher games on paper, they represent an opportunity to create gaps to our opponents. https://youtu.be/BBGP1b ..read more

"I like firsts. Good or bad, they're always memorable". Ahsoka Tano, The Mandalorian, season 2. In this case, the first was definitely a bad one on Star Wars night at Exploria Stadium. This was the San Diego Wave's first ever win over Orlando Pride. We've typically had their number. Not so on Friday night, however. A win would have been enough to lift the Pride into the top 6, for the night at least. It wasn't meant to be. A generally positive performance in possession was undermined by sloppy defending and, to be honest, even worse goalkeeping. As a result, the Pride remain below the line, wh ..read more