Orlando City SC v CF Montreal: Pareja hoping lessons have been learned

Pareja watched on as his side found themselves 2-0 down at the Bank of America Stadium, but clawed themselves back into the game to rescue a point.

It was a game that Orlando dominated, registering an expected goals (xG) total of 2.35 from their 15 shots to Charlotte's 0.81 from their 11 attempts.

Pareja bemoaned his side's lack of concentration in the game, but believes the point could be crucial as they prepare to face CF Montreal at home this weekend.

"The feeling is that we could have, or we should have, got the three points here in Charlotte," Pareja said.

"We paid the price for our distractions on those two goals, and there was much more on our responsibilities than a couple of duties there that we had to control.

"Then, we needed to push in many different ways to find that equaliser and try to get the winning goal, but it was not enough.

"I thought we accomplished the fact that we tied the game in a very difficult scenario for us, losing 2-0 away. Credit to the players that never gave up on that intention.

"We take a point, there are some things that we still should have done better, but it will tell us in the next two games, if we get those results, that this point will be valuable."

Always building pic.twitter.com/dQXvlkPISo

— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) July 9, 2025

Montreal, meanwhile, were unable to build on their win over New York City FC after they were thrashed 4-1 by Inter Miami in their last MLS fixture.

Prince Owusu had given Montreal an early lead, but Javier Mascherano's side hit their stride, with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez starring for the Herons.

It was a result that left Montreal bottom of the Eastern Conference and three points behind Toronto FC, with their fortunes not changing in midweek.

They were knocked out of the Canadian Championship quarter-finals by Forge FC Hamilton, with interim head coach Marco Donadel seeking a response.

"We played our game. We didn't take advantage of the 1-0 lead and the difference is their quality. It's not enough for this club," Donadel said after their defeat to Miami.

"In general, we are happy, because we played openly against this team, and we created the same number of chances and shots on target.

"But on the other hand, we know that we could show more desire to win and that we could do more."

Ojeda has contributed to at least one goal in five straight regular-season matches for Orlando, including assisting both goals on Saturday against Charlotte.

He is already one of four Orlando City players with a club-record six-game streak with a goal contribution, having also done so in 2024.

Owusu has scored eight of Montreal's 18 goals in the 2025 regular season, including a second-minute goal against Inter Miami on Saturday.

He has scored four of Montreal's six goals since the beginning of June and will be looking to continue his rich run of form against Orlando.

The 26 all-time meetings between Orlando and Montreal have been split evenly, with each side winning 10 times (six draws). Both teams have scored 37 times over those 26 games.

But it is Orlando who are favoured by the pre-match simulations here, despite losing three of their last four home matches, including two in a row, after losing only three of their previous 22 at Inter&Co Stadium in all competitions.

Orlando have not lost three straight home matches in all competitions since between March and April 2023, but that could change given Montreal's recent away run.

Indeed, Montreal have won two of their last three on the road, including a 3-1 victory at Houston in their last away match. Montreal have won consecutive road league matches once since the start of the 2023 season, with wins in Texas (FC Dallas) and Florida (Inter Miami) in March 2024.

Orlando City – 62.5%

Draw – 19.9%