It was a tumultuous week for Orlando City players, coaches, fans, and the front office, but a workmanlike effort and goals by Duncan McGuire and Martin Ojeda led the Lions to their first win of the season tonight at Inter&Co Stadium. All of the scoring happened in the first half as Orlando City (1-3-0, 3 points) defeated CF Montreal (1-3-0, 3 points) 2-1 in front of an announced crowd of 18,035.
Prince Owusu scored the only goal for the visitors off a set piece, but the energy and work rate by the Lions won the day as Orlando picked up a victory in the club’s first match since parting ways with longtime head coach Oscar Pareja in the midweek.
“This game belonged to the players. And the players did an amazing effort,” said Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman after the match. “This is only because of them. They are the protagonists. They did it.”
Perelman’s first lineup in charge for what ultimately became his first MLS win featured Javier Otero in goal for the suspended Maxime Crepeau, playing behind a back line of Adrian Marin, Iago, David Brekalo, and Griffin Dorsey. Braian Ojeda and Eduard Atuesta started in the central midfield between wingers Ivan Angulo and Marco Pasalic, with Martin Ojeda and McGuire as the forwards.
Montreal tried to play route one soccer over the top and often ceded possession to set up the press. Orlando didn’t create much in the opening minutes of the match but controlled more of the ball, looking to work it up the flanks with diagonal balls over the first line of press when in possession.
Pasalic found some space for the game’s first shot in the fifth minute, but it deflected out for a corner off a defender. Nothing came from the set piece, but two minutes later Pasalic was set up by Martin Ojeda and fired just wide of the right post.
Montreal put together a couple of corners in the 16th and 17th minutes, but the visitors couldn’t make them pay off. That allowed Orlando to strike first a minute later.
Pasalic again shook free outside the area and blasted a shot through the traffic. The ball pinged around off multiple Montreal players and Angulo got to it first. The Colombian slipped it past goalkeeper Thomas Gillier but hit the left post. McGuire was first to the rebound, slotting home his first goal of the season in the 18th minute. It was the striker’s 31st career goal in all competitions, tying Nani for fourth on the club’s all-time list.
“I saw where Marco was, saw that he had the ball. And obviously, we all know his ability to hit the ball with with a lot of power,” Angulo said. “And so I tried to be aware of that and be in a good spot in case there was a rebound, and there was, and it fell to me. So I shot it, and unfortunately hit the post. But Duncan was there to pick up that rebound and score it.”
“Marco did a great job to cut in and draw some defenders, and then Ivan was very smart to follow the shot,” McGuire said. “And then, I mean, as a forward, you can’t ask for a better opportunity when it just bounced off the post right to you. So yeah, it was pretty simple, but it was a great team goal.”
Just minutes after the restart, Montreal won a corner and pulled the goal right back. Wikelman Carmona sent a good ball in toward the back post. Marin was knocked down in the scrum but no foul was given and Owusu slammed a free header past Otero to tie the game in the 24th minute.
“It’s definitely hard when you score a goal, and then shortly after you get scored on,” McGuire said. “You can either put your head up or down, and the boys stayed positive. And once we conceded the goal, we all talked, and we knew we were okay, and we knew we were getting the better of them. So we stayed positive. We knew we could hurt them in behind and and we were able to do that.”
The back-and-forth play continued, with Montreal winning another corner in the 30th minute but Otero caught it. The Lions went the other way with Angulo turning his man and slipping a through ball to McGuire but it was a bit soft and the defense arrived. The ball deflected back to Angulo, who continued his run to the top of the box before dishing off to Pasalic and running onto a return ball. This time Angulo fed Ojeda, who smashed it inside the right post to make it 2-1 in the 31st minute.
“With where I was in the box, I always try to potentially find a teammate that’s in a better position there, just because it was a difficult spot,” Angulo said. “And ‘Tincho’ (Ojeda) was the one that was in the better position. And so I was able to lay it off to him for the goal, but just very happy to be able to help the team.”
Both teams failed to pay off some dangerous free kicks late in the half and the Lions took their one-goal lead into the break.
At the break, Montreal held the advantage in possession (56.9%-43.1%), corners (5-2), and passing accuracy (89%-81.9%). The Lions attempted more shot (9-6) and put more on target (3-2).
Montreal created something immediately after the restart, with Hennadii Synchuk finding a pocket of space outside the area and blazing a shot over the crossbar in the 46th minute. The game settled down for a bit after that early chance, but eventually Montreal started putting on pressure. Former Lion Luca Petrasso shook free on the left but fired well wide of the left post in the 57th minute.
Orlando started generating some counter opportunities as Montreal pressed for a tying goal. A simple ball over the top sprung Martin Ojeda down the left in the 60th minute but he left his shot too close to Gillier, who made the save. A minute later, substitute Zakaria Taifi, who had just entered the game, was sent to the right by Angulo and fired a shot but it was right at the goalkeeper in the 62nd minute.
Synchuk was able to sneak in behind the back line in the 63rd minute but Marin madea great desperation tackle from behind to knock it out for a corner. The Lions cleared the danger but Ivan Jaime freed himself for a hard shot from the left five minutes later, with Otero punching it awaay
Tyrese Spicer, who subbed on for Pasalic, should have put the game away in the 75th minute, blazing behind the Montreal defense, but the Trinidadian could not beat the visiting goalkeeper, who made the save but conceded a corner. The ensuing set piece fell in the box for Braiain Ojeda, who could not steer his shot on frame.
Those could have been costly missed opportunities in another game, but in this one, Montreal couldn’t take advantage despite pressing the attack down the stretch. The visitors won multiple corners as the time wound down and nearly paid one off in the 83rd minute, when Efrain Morales got a header on frame. Otero spilled it but was fouled by Samuel Piette, ending the danger.
Perelman turned to youngsters Tahir Reid-Brown and Pedro Leao to help see out the game, subbing on the youngsters for Dorsey and Martin Ojeda. The Lions played five across the back, looking to stay compact and organized, but they sometimes weren’t.
Leao won a free kick with one of his first touches. It was a good spot for a set piece, dead center and about 25 yards out, but Spicer hit his shot attempt into Montreal’s defensive wall.
The visitors came close to equalizing in the third minute of stoppage time. Jaime got into the box and cut inside before sending a shot on goal that Taifi blocked. Brekalo’s clearance attempt on the wild goal-mouth scramble hit an opposing player and stayed in the danger area, but Iago was able to clear.
That was the last gasp for Montreal, with the Lions holding on for their first win of 2026.
As a result of pushing for an equalizer, Montreal managed to stuff the stat sheet, finishing with the advantage in possession (60.8%-39.2%), shots (22-16), corners (10-4), and passing accuracy (88.3%-77.3%). The Lions put more shots on target (6-5).
“Very difficult game. You know, it was difficult, but we’re very happy for getting the win tonight, and really happy that the team was up for it and went out there on a high,” Angulo said.
“I mean, in 48 hours, you have not much time to put a lot of information on the players, but the truth is that at the end of the day, it was more than 48 hours,” Perelman said. “We have been working hard, and we try to be pragmatic, we try to be versatile. We try to put a lot of energy in a difficult context to bring some happiness to our people. This is what the players did. This is how we embrace the situation and fight.”
“Definitely a difficult week,” McGuire said. “You know, all of us were very sad to see Oscar go. Luckily, you know, Martin is someone that we’re very comfortable with, have a relationship with, so it definitely helped this week with making it more of a smooth transition. We just said in the locker room, that tonight’s win was for Oscar, and I love the fight that we saw from the boys tonight from the first minute til the end. I think we gave it our all, and hopefully it’s the first many (wins).”
The Lions are back on the road a week from tonight to try to make it two in a row at Nashville SC.