ORLANDO, Fla. (March 9, 2024) – Orlando City SC (0-2-1, 1 point) was defeated by Minnesota United FC (2-0-1, 7 points) on Saturday night at INTER&Co Stadium. Duncan McGuire earned a brace on the night, scoring the fastest goal in Club history just 13 seconds into the match and finding his second in the 83rd minute.
McGuire scored his first two regular-season goals of the year and his third across all competitions on the night. The opening goal broke the previous record set by former forward Tesho Akindele, who scored at :31 on May 1, 2021, against FC Cincinnati. It also tied for the fifth-fastest goal in MLS history.
Rafael Santos provided the helper on McGuire’s first goal, serving as his first of the year and his seventh across all competitions since joining the Lions. Martín Ojeda collected his second assist of the year across all competitions with Saturday’s serving as his first of the 2024 regular season.
The Lions will next travel to Monterrey, Mexico, for the second leg of its Round of 16 match up with Tigres UANL in Concacaf Champions Cup. The Lions will face off with Tigres at Estadio Universitario, also known as El Volcán, on Tuesday, March 12, with kick off set for 10:30 p.m. ET. That match will be televised on FS1.
Scoring Summary:
1’ Duncan McGuire (Rafael Santos) – ORL 1, MIN 0
The Lions opened up the scoring just 13 seconds into the game, when Rafael Santos picked off a Minnesota pass in the midfield and immediately went on the attack. He slid the ball to Duncan McGuire in the box, who took one touch before slotting it past Dayne St. Clair for the fastest goal in Club history.
4’ Teemu Pukki – ORL 1, MIN 1
The visitors equalized just three minutes later when Teemu Pukki blocked a clearance from goalkeeper Pedro Gallese. Pukki took a few touches to control the ball before angling it into the open net.
38’ Teemu Pukki (Robin Lod) – MIN 2, ORL 1
Minnesota took the lead late into the first half with Teemu Pukki finding the back of the net for the second time on the night. Pukki let a shot rip after Robin Lod slipped the ball forward to him, bouncing it in front of Pedro Gallese and off the post for his second tally.
83’ Duncan McGuire (Martín Ojeda) – ORL 2, MIN 2
City leveled the match with Martín Ojeda springing McGuire out into space down the right side of the field. McGuire let the ball roll and struck a rocket of a shot with his right foot finding the bottom left corner of the goal.
90+5’ Bongokuhle Hlongwane (Tani Oluwaseyi) – MIN 3, ORL 2
The Loons found the winner in second-half extra time with Tani Oluwaseyi finding Bongokuhle Hlongwane in behind the backline with Hlongwane able to get the ball past Lions’ Pedro Gallese.
Head Coach Oscar Pareja:
“We are trying to calm down from a game that brought us a lot of emotions and with the disappointment of not getting the result. It is hard for me to talk about who deserved to win the game and I don’t want to face that. I want to just accept that they scored three goals, and we couldn’t score more than two. We lost the game that surely will create pain for us. We have to bounce back immediately because we have no time. Despite all the things that happened we have to stand up and face the next game because we have a short period to recover.”
Match Notes
- Duncan McGuire recorded his first two regular-season goals of the MLS campaign and his third of the season across all competitions.
- McGuire’s opening goal set the record for fastest goal in Club history, crossing the line at :13. The goal broke the previous record set by former forward Tesho Akindele, who scored at :31 on May 1, 2021, against FC Cincinnati. The team has scored three goals in the opening minute in its 10 MLS seasons, with Akindele having the third.
- McGuire’s first goal also tied Colorado Rapid’s Deshorn Brown (Oct. 5, 2013) for the fifth-fastest goal in MLS history.
- Rafael Santos provided his first assist of the 2024 campaign on McGuire’s first-minute goal, his seventh all-time for the Lions.
- Martín Ojeda earned his first regular season assist of the year and his second across all competitions in 2024.
- Head Coach Oscar Pareja made six changes to his starting lineup from his side’s last match against Tigres UANL, with Ramiro Enrique, Felipe, Duncan McGuire, Martín Ojeda, Rafael Santos and Rodrigo Schlegel all getting the start.
