Lions leaned on young Brazilians in dominant 4-1 win over Charlotte Wednesday
Orlando City Soccer heads to the nation's capitol for a Saturday night showdown with D.C. United at 7:30 p.m. that you can watch on Apple TV.
Tonight follows an amazing effort Wednesday at Iner&Co Stadium. Depleted by injuries and desperate for a result, Orlando City SC turned to its academy and a trio of young Brazilians — and got a performance nobody saw coming — a dominant 4-1 dismantling of fifth-place Charlotte FC that snapped a three-game losing skid and offered the most unexpected kind of hope.
Martín Ojeda needed one good night. Orlando City SC needed one good result. On a midweek makeup date at Inter&Co Stadium, both got what they came for. Orlando had no choice but to go young. With Wilder Cartagena, Griffin Dorsey, Joran Gerbet, Duncan McGuire and Marco Pašalić all sidelined — and Eduard Atuesta and David Brekalo listed as questionable and ultimately unavailable — the Lions turned to the next group in line. The next group delivered
All three of Orlando's U22 Initiative Brazilians drew starting assignments. Luis Otávio, acquired from Internacional for a reported $3.5 million, started in midfield. Tiago Souza, signed from Bahia for a reported $6 million, lined up across the front. And Iago da Silva Nogueira — the former Flamengo defender and Brazil U-20 World Cup captain — anchored the back line. Roughly $11 million in young Brazilian investment took the field Tuesday night. None of them played like they had anything to prove. They played like they already knew.
Having Robin Jansson back helped. The veteran Swedish center back has been a steadying presence since returning from injury, and his experience alongside Iago gave Orlando's back line a composure it has lacked for much of the season. When Charlotte pressed, the defense held its shape. That's not a coincidence.
Justin Ellis made his first professional start and made it count. The midfielder, who took home MVP honors at last year's Generation Adidas Tournament, drew the assist on Ojeda's 49th-minute go-ahead goal and brought a maturity to the midfield that no one had the right to expect on a night like this. Ojeda, for his part, is more than Orlando's best player. He is its compass. On nights when the young lions look uncertain, they look to him. Wednesday, he gave them something to follow.
None of that makes the result expected. Charlotte FC came in fifth in the Eastern Conference. Orlando City came in 12th — second to last — outscored 25-6 through eight games. That's not a slump. That's a team in crisis. What happened at Inter&Co Stadium was not supposed to happen. And that's precisely what makes it worth remembering.
The Lions erased an early equalizer with three unanswered goals after halftime. It was the kind of performance the club's front office has been waiting to see — composed, physical when it needed to be, and clinical in the moments that mattered.
Ojeda was the architect. The Argentine winger scored twice — converting a free kick in the 61st minute with surgical precision to the bottom right corner, then finishing a left-footed strike to the top right in the 49th off an Ellis feed. Otávio opened the scoring in the 21st minute in the kind of way that doesn't make the highlight reel but absolutely counts on the table: Zakaria Taifi's shot missed its mark entirely, but Otávio was exactly where he needed to be, finishing right-footed into the bottom left corner. Credit Taifi with the assist. Credit Otávio with the instinct. Ignacio Gómez, on as a substitute, put the stamp on it in the 87th — latching onto an Iván Angulo through ball and slotting left-footed into the top left corner to close the book.
Charlotte had something to say about it in the 33rd minute. Morrison Agyemang, stationed on the left side of the six-yard box, met a Pep Biel delivery from a set piece and headed it into the top left corner to tie the game at one. It was a reminder that the visitors are not a side you can afford to give cheap set pieces to. Tiago Souza and Ojeda each picked up bookings in the first half for exactly that kind of sloppiness.
But Orlando came out of the locker room a different team. The Lions held just 43 percent of possession and conceded 15 shot attempts to Charlotte's 11 — numbers that, on most nights, spell trouble. Tuesday night they didn't. Maxime Crépeau made four saves, including a sharp stop in the 81st minute on Archie Goodwin from close range that kept the margin intact at 3-1. When Charlotte threw numbers forward late, Orlando hurt them on the counter.
The climb back to the playoff line remains steep, but Wednesday night at least put points on the board. And what's coming next won't be easy. All four of Orlando's next matches are on the road. The Lions travel to D.C. United on Saturday, then to New England for a U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 clash on April 29. From there it's Miami on May 2 and Montréal on May 9 — four straight against sides with more points, more experience and nothing to give away.
The schedule is brutal. The margin for error is gone. But for one night in Orlando, $11 million worth of young Brazilian talent — and a Generation Adidas MVP kid in his first professional start — played like a team that didn't know it wasn't supposed to win. Now comes the part where they have to learn what winning actually costs.
