Martin Ojeda scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season and visiting Orlando City earned a 1-0 victory over struggling Colorado Rapids on Saturday night.
Pedro Gallese made two saves for Orlando (8-4-6, 30 points) to keep his eighth clean sheet in league play. Five of those have come in the Lions’ last six away MLS fixtures, as they earned their third road victory of the season Saturday.
The result moved Orlando into fifth in the Eastern Conference, one point above Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, who are currently playing at the Club World Cup and have two matches in hand.
Colorado led Orlando 14-7 in overall shots but trailed 3-2 in efforts on targets, and rarely threatened to translate their superiority in shot attempts into a serious threat.
As a result, the Rapids (6-8-4, 22 points) fell to their third consecutive defeat and sixth of eight in MLS play dating back to the beginning of May.
They’ve scored just four times in that stretch, and have now lost consecutive home matches for the first time in 2025.
Ojeda put Orlando ahead in the 24th minute. Eduard Atuesta began the counterattack from his own half by dribbling toward the midfield circle, then finding Marko Pasalic wide on the right.
Pasalic went forward until he was near the top of the 18-yard box, then hit a low cross to Ojeda along the edge of the 18.
Diving goalkeeper Nico Hansen got a hand to Ojeda’s powerful low shot, but lacked the strength required to keep it from crossing the line.
Colorado had the majority of shots from that point forward, but Gallese’s two saves were fairly routine.
He stood tall to deny Rafael Navarro’s header in the 50th minute, and lunged to his left to push Djordje Mihailovic’s effort wide of the target in the 72nd.
Miihailovic looked like he might have one more promising look when he got inside the box in second-half stoppage time. But Navarro couldn’t connect solidly with Mihailovic’s lofted cross while closely marked and limped wide of the far post.
–Field Level Media
