Orlando City needed to win its Decision Day match against Toronto FC to avoid playing in the Wild Card game, but instead were outperformed at BMO Field. The Lions lost 4-2 to Toronto in the final game of the MLS regular season on Saturday night, setting up Orlando as the No. 9 seed heading into Wednesday’s Wild Card game on the road against the Chicago Fire. Toronto, which had nothing to play for after missing the playoffs for a fifth consecutive year, got the scoring underway early on. A strike from outside the box from Jonathan Osorio put TFC up 1-0 in the seventh minute. That was followed by a pair of goals from Djordje Mihailovic in the 34th and 48th minutes. David Brekalo put Orlando on the scoresheet after finishing a ball from Marco Pasalic in the 54th minute, but Toronto’s Deandre Kerr added a fourth goal in the 61st minute. Duncan McGuire added a second goal for Orlando in stoppage time. “The disappointment is obvious because the performance was not good at all,” said Orlando head coach Oscar Pareja. “We need to face the worst-case scenario that’s on paper, and we’re there and we will recover from this moment and will be ready for that game on Wednesday. It’s a tough night for sure.” The takeaway Defensively, Orlando City struggled with dealing with Toronto’s counter. With Alex Freeman playing higher up the field, it required Brekalo to cover much more space on the right side of the field. The lack of focus on closing in on spaces eventually hurt Orlando on the scoresheet. Offensively, the consistent failure to execute on the final ball continued to haunt the Lions. Nearly every shot was blocked by a defender or goalkeeper Sean Johnson. And with the result on Saturday, not only did it drop Orlando City to the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference standings, but it will now require the Lions to shake off the result ahead of Wednesday’s play-in game, having won only one of their last seven games. Up next Wednesday’s Wild Card game will take place at Soldier Field against the Chicago Fire. The exact time is unclear, but the match will stream live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Mike Gramajo is an Assignment Editor and Sportswriter at WESH 2, who has covered the Orlando soccer scene since 2012. You can follow his coverage over on X and Instagram.

Orlando City needed to win its Decision Day match against Toronto FC to avoid playing in the Wild Card game, but instead were outperformed at BMO Field.

The Lions lost 4-2 to Toronto in the final game of the MLS regular season on Saturday night, setting up Orlando as the No. 9 seed heading into Wednesday’s Wild Card game on the road against the Chicago Fire.

Toronto, which had nothing to play for after missing the playoffs for a fifth consecutive year, got the scoring underway early on. A strike from outside the box from Jonathan Osorio put TFC up 1-0 in the seventh minute. That was followed by a pair of goals from Djordje Mihailovic in the 34th and 48th minutes.

David Brekalo put Orlando on the scoresheet after finishing a ball from Marco Pasalic in the 54th minute, but Toronto’s Deandre Kerr added a fourth goal in the 61st minute.

Duncan McGuire added a second goal for Orlando in stoppage time.

“The disappointment is obvious because the performance was not good at all,” said Orlando head coach Oscar Pareja. “We need to face the worst-case scenario that’s on paper, and we’re there and we will recover from this moment and will be ready for that game on Wednesday. It’s a tough night for sure.”

The takeaway

Defensively, Orlando City struggled with dealing with Toronto’s counter. With Alex Freeman playing higher up the field, it required Brekalo to cover much more space on the right side of the field. The lack of focus on closing in on spaces eventually hurt Orlando on the scoresheet.

Offensively, the consistent failure to execute on the final ball continued to haunt the Lions. Nearly every shot was blocked by a defender or goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

And with the result on Saturday, not only did it drop Orlando City to the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference standings, but it will now require the Lions to shake off the result ahead of Wednesday’s play-in game, having won only one of their last seven games.

Up next

Wednesday’s Wild Card game will take place at Soldier Field against the Chicago Fire.

The exact time is unclear, but the match will stream live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

Mike Gramajo is an Assignment Editor and Sportswriter at WESH 2, who has covered the Orlando soccer scene since 2012. You can follow his coverage over on X and Instagram.