CINCINNATI (May 23, 2026) – Orlando City SC (4-9-2, 14 points) dropped a 6-2 result to FC Cincinnati (5-5-5, 20 points) on Saturday night at TQL Stadium in its final match before the MLS season pauses for the FIFA World Cup2026™.
The Lions opened the scoring in the 16th minute when midfielder Martín Ojeda converted from the penalty spot. The kick was awarded after Brazilian U22 Initiative forward Tiago drew a foul off a contested ball in the box against Cincinnati defender Kyle Smith.
FC Cincinnati leveled the match in the 42nd minute when Kenji Mboma Dem headed home a corner kick delivery from Evander. The hosts then took the lead in first-half stoppage time, with Evander finding the back of the net to make it 2-1 heading into the halftime break.
Orlando City responded shortly after the restart, as Ojeda curled a free kick into the upper-right corner in the 48th minute to bring the match level at 2-2 and record his third brace and fourth multi-goal performance of the 2026 campaign. The hosts answered quickly, reclaiming the lead in the 52nd minute through Kenji Mboma Dem before Evander added another in the 58th minute to extend the advantage to 4-2.
As the Lions pushed forward, Cincinnati added to their lead, with Kevin Denkey finding the back of the net in the 77th minute. Tom Barlow added a final goal in the first minute of second-half stoppage time to cap the scoring and secure the result.
Orlando City will now enter a two-month break as MLS pauses its season for the FIFA World Cup 2026™, with the Club’s next match taking place on July 22 against the San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park; the Lions will next be home on July 25 against Nashville SC.
Scoring Summary:
16’ Martín Ojeda (Penalty Kick) – ORL 1, CIN 0
42’ Kenji Mboma Dem (Evander) – ORL 1, CIN 1
45+3’ Evander (Pavel Bucha) – CIN 2, ORL 1
48’ Martín Ojeda – ORL 2, CIN 2
52’ Kenji Mboma Dem (Evander, Kévin Denkey) – CIN 3, ORL 2
58’ Evander (Matt Miazga, Obinna Nwobodo) – CIN 4, ORL 2
77’ Kevin Denkey (Evander, Bryan Ramírez) – CIN 5, ORL 2
90+1’ Tom Barlow (Ender Echenique, Pavel Bucha) – CIN 6, ORL 2
Interim Head Coach Martín Perelman:
“I think the scoreline doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s a heavy loss. We were winning until the first 42 minutes, playing well. Maybe we pay a little bit expensive the fatigue of the amount of games, or the semester in general, which wasn’t easy for us. It’s not the way we want to finish this semester. It’s true that we made some mistakes today, as well, we could have scored a lot of goals that we didn’t—maybe the score could have been 6-6, probably, it’s a crazy game. They have talented players. They took advantage of those mistakes we made... It’s not the way we want to go into this break, but overall, I think it’s a semester where everybody fought and we will take the break to recover energy. Now, finally, myself and the team, we will have time to prepare ourselves after the break, which is something we didn’t have, so that will be so useful for us, and we will become stronger to face the second part of the year.”
Match Notes
- Designated Player Martín Ojeda scored his 10th and 11th goals of the 2026 MLS season and his 43rd and 44th goals all-time across all competitions, bringing him level with Cyle Larin (44) for second on the Lions’ all-time scoring charts. His 11 goals in league play currently rank T-4th in the league, just two goals behind leader Hugo Cuypers.
- Ojeda’s brace marked his fourth multi-goal match in 2026, tying him with Nashville SC’s Sam Surridge as the most by any player in Major League Soccer this season.
- Interim head coach Martín Perelman made one change to the lineup following his team’s last match against Atlanta United FC, with Maxime Crépeau entering the starting XI.
- Midfielder Joran Gerbet (knee) missed the match due to injury.
