MATCH REPORT: ORLANDO CITY SC ADVANCE TO .U.S. OPEN CUP SEMIFINALS

 

ORLANDO, Fla. (May 19, 2026) – Orlando City SC advanced to the semifinals of the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup after defeating Atlanta United FC 4-1 on Tuesday night at Inter&Co Stadium. The Lions will face the winner of Wednesday’s matchup between the Columbus Crew and New York City FC in the semifinals, which will be held in September.

Defender David Brekalo opened the scoring in the fifth minute in the aftermath of a corner kick. Braian Ojeda collected the rebound before sending a second cross into the box that Brekalo headed home. Eleven minutes later, the Lions doubled their lead when Adrián Marín played a ball over the backline to Iván Angulo. The Colombian drove into the box before squaring off a pass across goal to a streaking Griffin Dorsey, who scored his third goal in as many matches.

Orlando City added two more goals before halftime, both from Brazilian U-22 Initiative forward Tiago. He struck in the 24th minute after intercepting a pass from Atlanta goalkeeper Jayden Hibbert and lifting the ball over him. Tiago then completed his brace in first-half stoppage time, finishing a pass from Braian Ojeda, who recorded his second assist of the match.

Atlanta pulled one back late as Emmanuel Latte Lath volleyed a right-footed effort off a cross in the box from Saba Lobjanidze.

Orlando returns to MLS regular-season play with its final match before the league pauses for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, traveling to TQL Stadium to face FC Cincinnati on Saturday, May 23. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, with coverage on Apple TV.

Scoring Summary:

5’ David Brekalo (Braian Ojeda) – ORL 1, ATL 0

16’ Griffin Dorsey (Iván Angulo) – ORL 2, ATL 0

24’ Tiago – ORL 3, ATL 0

45+5’ Tiago (Braian Ojeda) – ORL 4, ATL 0

84’ Emmanuel Latte Lath (Saba Lobjanidze) – ORL 4, ATL 1

Interim Head Coach Martín Perelman:

“I’m happy, of course, with the result but also with the performance. More than anything, I’m happy for our group of players because they put in a huge effort every day. Not just now, from the very beginning, they have been fighting and I’m glad they were able to deliver a performance like this. I’m happy to move forward in this competition and to put the team in the semifinals, which is important for us and for the club. I’m happy for our fans because they deserve it. They support us always, in good moments and in difficult ones. And of course, I’m happy for the entire club, the managers, the owners, Ricardo [Moreira], everyone here. We work hard, and today was a good day for us.”

Match Notes

• Orlando City scored four goals in a match for the fifth time in its past eight games across all competitions.

• With his goal in the fifth minute, defender David Brekalo recorded his first goal of the 2026 season and the third of his Orlando City career across all competitions. He last scored on Oct. 18, 2025, at Toronto FC.

• With assists on the Dorsey and Tiago goals, midfielder Braian Ojeda recorded his third and fourth assists across all competitions in 2026, marking his first career multi-assist match.

• Defender Griffin Dorsey continued his strong form, recording his fourth goal across all competitions this season and scoring in a third consecutive match.

• Forward Iván Angulo assisted on Griffin Dorsey’s goal for his eighth assist across all competitions this season, bringing his Orlando City career total to 39 assists across all competitions.

• With two goals Tuesday night, forward Tiago recorded his second and third goals across all competitions for Orlando City, marking his first career brace.

• Interim head coach Martín Perelman made two changes to the starting lineup from the team’s previous match against Atlanta United FC, with Javier Otero and Tiago entering the starting XI.
• Midfielder Joran Gerbet (knee) and forward Tyrese Spicer (ankle) missed the match due to injury.

- Orlando City Communications

LIONEL MESSI'S INTER MIAMI ELIMINATED FROM MLS CUP PLAYOFFS IN FIRST ROUND

The MLS Cup title dreams of Lionel Messi came to an abrupt end on Saturday with his Inter Miami suffering a shock first-round elimination from the playoffs after a 3-2 home defeat to Atlanta United.

Miami had won the regular season campaign with a record points total but after losing twice in the best-of-three series, the MLS Cup favourites and their eight-times Ballon d’Or winner are out.

All the accolades Miami received for their regular season ‘Supporters’ Shield’ triumph count for little after an Atlanta team which finished ninth in the Eastern Conference pulled off a stunning upset.

Inter took the lead in the 17th minute when Messi was denied by a diving save from Atlanta keeper Brad Guzan but Matias Rojas followed in to slot home the loose ball.

Just two minutes later though the visitors, who only secured a wildcard spot on the final day of the season, levelled when a deflected pass from Dax McCarty fell to Jamal Thiare who confidently fired home with a sweet strike.

Miami were stunned when moments later Thiare struck again — the 37-year-old McCarty lifted the ball forward to Russian Aleksei Miranchuk who slipped the ball inside to the Senegalese striker who blasted home to make it 2-1.

Diego Gomez thought he had brought Miami level in the 23rd minute but his effort was ruled out for offside and Miami continued to look vulnerable against Atlanta’s swift breaks.

After the break, the 40-year-old former USA and Aston Villa keeper Guzan was in inspired form as he frustrated Miami’s search for an equalizer.

Inter Miami, with the injured Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets on the bench, lacked fluency in midfield and neither Messi nor his former Barcelona strike partners Luis Suarez were at their best as they struggled to conjure up opportunities from limited service.

But it was Lionel Messi who finally broke through in the 65th minute, meeting a Marcelo Weigandt cross from the right with a thundering header.

"Miami pushed forward in search of the winner but instead, they were caught out once again with Pedro Amador’s cross from the left headed home at the back post by Polish midfielder Bartosz Slisz.

Inter Miami players were furious that the referee had allowed play to continue while their defender Tomas Aviles lay injured on the floor but their frustration was in vain.

The final whistle brought a deflated silence over Chase Stadium as Miami’s season, which so many had expected would end with their first MLS Cup title, concluded with the sight of Guzan and his Atlanta team-mates celebrating.

For Miami head coach Gerardo Martino, who won MLS Cup with Atlanta in 2018, an inquest is sure to follow but he tried to put a brave face on the loss.

“This season has had good and bad things. If you think about where we were in November last year, there has obviously been progress in terms of the club, not just the team. If you think about the expectations we had for this playoffs, obviously we came up a little short,” said the Argentine.

Martino said there was a despondent mood in the dressing room.

“The players are sad, as they should be when there are so many expectations and the team can’t fulfil them. In this final part of the year we got used to achieving the objectives but we couldn’t achieve the most important one,” he said.

Former Spain full-back Jordi Alba questioned whether the playoff format was the right approach for MLS.

I think this format is a bit unfair. It’s been done for many years but I think it should be the champion of one conference against the champion of the other, to make it as fair as possible,” said the former Barcelona wing-back.

Atlanta will now face Orlando in the Eastern Conference semi-finals with New York Red Bulls and New York City clashing in the other conference semi.

 - AFP

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MESSI SCORES TWICE AS INTER MILAN THRASH ATLANTA 4-0

Reuters 

Lionel Messi scored two first half goals and assisted on another in the second to lead Inter Miami to a 4-0 dismantling of Atlanta United and advance to the knockout stage of the Leagues Cup on Tuesday.

After coming off the bench to score a dramatic game winner in his debut on Friday night, the World Cup champion from Argentina wasted no time in his first start with the MLS side.