PHOTO BY MARK THOR VIA ORLANDO CITY SC
Orlando City SC advanced to the semifinals of the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup after defeating Atlanta United FC 4-1 tonight at Inter&Co Stadium, and now the Lions will face the winner of Wednesday’s matchup between the Columbus Crew and New York City FC in the semifinals this September.
Defender David Brekalo opened the scoring early in the fifth minute with an assist from Braian Ojeda. Eleven minutes later, Orlando City doubled their lead when my boyfriend Robin Jansson played a ball over the backline to Iván Angulo, who drove into the box before squaring a pass across goal to Griffin “Horsie Hair” Dorsey, who scored.
Orlando City added two more goals before halftime, both from Tiago.
Atlanta pulled one back late as Emmanuel Latte Lath (amazing name) volleyed a lucky right-footed shot off a cross in the box from Saba Lobjanidze in the 84th minute. But, whatever. The game was clinched at that point. Not that you could tell Sergio “Hulk Smash” Santos that. The Atlanta player had an escalating anger problem the whole game, which culminated in a moment where he almost swung at multiple Orlando City players near the end of the gam, and he should have gotten a red, but the ref seemed to be too shocked to do anything but wag his finger at him like he’d stolen a cookie.
The victory marked the fifth time in Orlando City’s past eight games across all competitions that the team has scored four or more goals.
Orlando now returns to the 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.
