Orlando City SC scores 1st goal of season in record setting fashion, but fall to Minnesota United FC at home

Orlando, FL – On a night where Orlando City SC celebrated their 10th MLS season, the fans wanted a reason to cheer (not that The Wall needs one). However, this turned out to be one of those “trust the process” matches for Orlando as Duncan McGuire scores their 1st 2024 MLS goal in record fashion, but the Lions, once again, fail to earn the W (and three points) at home vs Minnesota.

Sandwiched in between the 1st and 2nd leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup – Round of 16 matchup vs Tigres UANL, Orlando hosted Minnesota United FC for their third MLS regular season match. We already know Coach Oscar Pareja believes in load management due to the large volume of matches in a limited time frame. Therefore, I highly anticipated that today’s lineup would look different from the one’s we’ve seen thus far. Orlando had plenty of opportunities to put the lineup narrative to rest, but nevertheless it lingers as they fell to Minnesota, 3-2. That being said, Orlando went into this match still looking for their 1st MLS regular season goal of their 2024 campaign. Duncan McGuire made sure we wouldn’t repeat that sentence.

Snap the cold streak, quickly

Orlando finally scored their 1st MLS regular season goal of the 2024 season, and what a goal it was… Duncan McGuire scored the fastest goal in Orlando City SC history… 13 seconds while wearing number 13. The former record holder was Tesho Akindele, who scored in 31 seconds vs FC Cincinnati back on May 1st, 2021. He also wore #13.

DUNCAN!
#13 scores in 13sec…
That’s the fastest goal in #OrlandoCity history!#MLS | #VamosOrlando | #HonorThyHistorypic.twitter.com/un4fTEhF5H

— Gustavo Chacon (@onaPSIh) March 10, 2024

The Struggle Bus

Not to be outdone, three minutes later, Pedro Gallese got a little too “dribble happy” for a keeper and gave the ball away with no help in the back after getting pressured by Minnesota’s Teemu Pukki. The Loons sent it back to the drawing board, taking away the reason to cheer. That would become a common theme in tonight’s match.

Another passenger in the struggle bus was Orlando’s inability to shoot on target. Orlando took 22 shots. Six were on target and seven were classified as “big chances”. That means the other 15 were botched. Also, 14 of those shots were from inside the penalty area. That’s insane considering they only scored two goals on that many attempts.

The starting lineup and where to go

The lineup was a brand new mix of players compared what we saw in the 1st five matches. We didn’t see Facundo Torres, Wilder Cartagena, Nico Lodeiro, or Luis Muriel in the starting lineup. Instead, we saw Ramiro Enrique, Felipe Martins, Martin Ojeda, and Duncan McGuire all get the starting nod. Today, it didn’t to be an issue, as Orlando was mostly unlucky when it came to scoring. Also, the first Minnesota goal was completely on Gallese. Orlando should’ve easily won 5-2.

Things are looking dire in #OrlandoCity as they’ve yet to win a MLS match in the still young 2024 season, losing tonight 3-2 to #LegionOfLoons. #MLS | #VamosOrlando pic.twitter.com/WimVVP1aK2

— Lemon City Live (@LemonCityLive) March 10, 2024

A win on Tuesday, or a goal-scored draw, that sees Orlando advancing into the quarterfinal of the Concacaf Champions Cup, might allow fans to forgive the bad MLS regular season start. It’ll at least give Pareja a slightly longer leash. Fans haven’t been too happy with the load management philosophy thus far. Who can blame them? The results up to this point speak for themselves.

Takeaways

Be that as it may, Coach Pareja and the boys seemed optimistic, given their performance, that they’ll turn it around. If they can continue creating chances anywhere near the rate of today’s match, the odds will even out in Orlando’s favor. There was a lot of creativity in the offense that, unfortunately, did not culminate in goals today.

In my opinion, this is as bad a start to the season as anyone could’ve imagined. If they get eliminated from the Champions Cup on Tuesday, and don’t immediately begin to produce in MLS, Coach Pareja might see himself on a shorter leash than anyone could’ve anticipated. Orlando spent money this off-season to win big trophies. Last year’s season was the best ever for the club, but the standards have risen, and a repeat of that won’t be acceptable, I’m afraid.

Next up, Orlando City travel to Monterrey to take on los Tigres UANL. It’s the 2nd leg of the round of 16 of the Concacaf Champions Cup on Tuesday, 10:30PM EST.