Orlando City Beat CF Montréal 2-1 for First Win of 2026 Under Interim Coach Martín Perelman

Eighteen seconds. That is how long it took Orlando City to go from Javier Otero's feet to the back of CF Montréal's net in the 31st minute, according to the club, and it was the prettiest passage of Orlando's night.

It also won them the game. Orlando City beat CF Montréal 2-1 on Saturday night at Inter&Co Stadium for their first win of 2026, with Duncan McGuire and Martín Ojeda scoring in the first half and the defense spending the second half heading, blocking and clearing everything Montréal threw into the box. It came in a strange week: the club said longtime head coach Óscar Pareja mutually parted ways with Orlando earlier in the week, and Martín Perelman was named interim manager.

A Fast Start and a Lucky Bounce

Montréal fired the first warning shot in the opening minute, when Wiki Carmona tried his luck from more than 35 yards and Otero saved. Marco Pasalic answered with two efforts from outside the box for Orlando, one blocked and one just wide.

The opener in the 18th minute was pure chaos, the good kind. Pasalic cut in from the right and let fly from distance, and the shot was blocked. The loose ball found Iván Angulo, whose left-footed shot from the left side of the six-yard box cracked off the left post. McGuire was in exactly the right place, and he finished with his left foot into the middle of the goal. 1-0.

"As a forward, you can't ask for a better opportunity when it bounces off the post like that. So yeah, it was pretty simple, but it was a great team goal," McGuire said.

The club noted it was McGuire's 31st goal for Orlando, which tied former captain Nani for fourth all-time in Orlando City history, and that it came in his 101st match with the Lions.

Owusu Answers, Orlando Responds

Montréal needed only six minutes to level. Off a corner in the 24th, Carmona swung in a cross and Prince Owusu rose to head it from very close range into the top of the goal. 1-1, and Orlando's set-piece defending suddenly looked shaky.

The Turning Point: Eighteen Seconds of Belief

Seven minutes later, Orlando went the length of the field. The club said the move started with Otero, worked up to Angulo, survived a broken pass that bounced right back to the Colombian, and then picked up speed through a quick exchange with Pasalic. Angulo got into the box and, instead of shooting, slid a first-time pass to Martín Ojeda in the middle. Ojeda finished left-footed into the bottom right corner. 2-1 in the 31st minute, and that was the last time anyone scored.

"For the second one, with where I was in the box, I always try to find a teammate who's in a better position," Angulo said.

Montréal Keeps Knocking, Orlando Keeps Clearing

The rest of the night belonged to Montréal on the ball and to Orlando without it. The visitors made three substitutions by the 57th minute, bringing on Bode Hidalgo at halftime and Iván Jaime and Samuel Piette just before the hour. Jaime was busy, firing five shots off the bench. Otero saved one of them from outside the box in the 68th minute and then stopped Efraín Morales' header from a Jaime cross in the 83rd.

Orlando was still dangerous on the counter. Thomas Gillier saved from Ojeda in the 60th, from substitute Zakaria Taifi in the 62nd and from Tyrese Spicer in the 75th to keep Montréal within one. Back at the other end, Otero produced another stop on Olger Escobar's shot from distance in the 87th.

Montréal had one last look in the fourth minute of stoppage time, when Owusu met a Piette cross in the center of the box and dragged his shot wide to the left. Jaime was booked in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

Star Watch

Angulo was everywhere. ESPN credited him with the assist on Ojeda's winner, his shot off the post set up McGuire's opener, and the club said he played the full 90 minutes, covered almost seven miles and finished the match wearing the captain's armband.

McGuire scored on one of his two shots, both on target, before coming off in the 61st minute. Martín Ojeda put both of his attempts on target and scored the winner before making way in the 84th. Otero made four saves, and Gillier matched him at the other end.

For Perelman, the night was about everyone but himself. "To be honest with you, I only think about the players. I am happy for them; they deserve it," he said. McGuire made the dressing-room mood clear too: "We just said in the locker room that tonight's win was for Óscar."

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Montréal 65.3 percent, Orlando 34.7 percent.
• Shots: Montréal 18 with 6 on target; Orlando 15 with 6 on target.
• Clearances: Orlando 38, Montréal 8.
• Corners: Montréal 10, Orlando 4.
• Crosses: Montréal attempted 26 and completed 5.

What It Means

Orlando City is 1-0-3 with 3 points after losing its first three matches: 2-1 at home to Red Bull New York, 4-2 at home to Inter Miami and 5-0 at New York City FC. The club pointed out that Orlando's games this season have swung from one half to the other, and this one did too: attack first, then a resolute defensive second half. The Lions visit Nashville SC on Saturday, March 21, their last game before the international break.

Montréal also sits at 1-0-3 with 3 points, and all four of its games have come on the road: losses at San Diego and Chicago, a 3-0 win at Red Bull New York last weekend, and now this. The Montréal attack had the ball for most of the night and generated volume, but it took a set piece to beat Otero.

Closing Take

Every sports movie has the scene where the new coach walks into a locker room full of beaten-down players and something clicks. Orlando's version had one post, one perfect counter and a full second half of headers out of the box. It was not pretty in the second half. After the start the Lions had, nobody in purple cared.

"We respond to him, and he responds to us, so I think this is going to be the start of a great journey together," Angulo said of Perelman.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes and club notes from Orlando City SC (orlandocitysc.com).