The 2021 Orlando City SC season was the club's 11th season of existence in Orlando and seventh season as a Major League Soccer franchise, the top-flight league in the United States soccer league system. There was no U.S. Open Cup for the second consecutive year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but the team did take part in the Leagues Cup for the first time.
Season review
Pre-season Unlike previous seasons, Orlando had relatively little player turnover and instead focused on retaining the core of the squad following the club's first playoff appearance in 2020. Four permanent transfers were made in December 2020, all purchase options of players previously on loan with Orlando: Antônio Carlos, Rodrigo Schlegel, Andrés Perea and Alexander Alvarado. Six players did not have their options exercised and were released. Most notable of these was Designated Player Dom Dwyer who had been limited to two appearances in 2020 due to a knee injury. He had returned to Orlando in July 2017 for a then MLS-record $1.6 million in allocation money. The club also acquired two loan players to provide depth in key positions: goalkeeper Brandon Austin on loan from Tottenham Hotspur and left-back Jonathan Suárez from Querétaro although the latter was arrested and had his loan terminated prior to the start of preseason. Having released Dwyer and allowed Daryl Dike to join Barnsley initially on a short-term loan in January, Orlando reinforced their forward options by announcing the free agent signing of former Golden Boy winner and Brazil international Alexandre Pato on February 13, before also securing the signing of Dutch winger Silvester van der Water from Heracles Almelo, having unsuccessfully pursued him the previous September.
With the addition of Austin FC in 2021, MLS held an Expansion Draft on December 15, 2020. Orlando had 13 players exposed. Kamal Miller was selected by Austin who immediately traded him to the Montreal Impact in exchange for $225,000 in General Allocation Money and a first round pick (11th) in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft. It was the second time an Orlando player had been taken in an expansion draft after Mikey Ambrose was selected in 2016.
On January 21, Orlando made four selections in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft including three in the first round. Derek Dodson and Rio Hope-Gund were both signed but neither appeared during the season. Brandon Hackenberg returned to college to exhaust his eligibility before later signing with the relaunched Orlando City B in MLS Next Pro ahead of the 2022 season.
On February 5, MLS and the MLS Players Association agreed to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) through 2027 after extending the deadline by a day to avoid a lockout. The primary issues negotiated were increased player spending, expanded free agency, and more charter travel. The league had invoked a force majeure clause in late December 2020 to reopen negotiations over the current CBA, citing ongoing uncertainty because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the CBA's ratification, MLS announced it had pushed back the start of the regular season to April 17 due to the extended labor negotiations.
On March 23, Orlando were selected as one of four MLS teams to compete in the 2021 Leagues Cup as one of the top two teams from each conference not scheduled to take part in the Champions League. It will be the club's first time in the competition.
On April 5, U.S. Soccer and MLS announced it would be trialing the new IFAB approved concussion substitutes rule allowing for two additional substitutions in each match to be used for players with suspected concussions. The new rule was implemented on top of the increase from three to five "normal" substitutes carried over from the 2020 season.
April Orlando opened the season on April 17 at home to Atlanta United FC, notably missing starters Mauricio Pereyra through suspension, Robin Jansson and João Moutinho due to injury, and Daryl Dike still on loan. Marque offseason signing Alexandre Pato made his debut starting in the opener but was forced off injured in the 80th minute with Silvester van der Water debuting as a substitute in his place. A goalless draw preserved Orlando's unbeaten record on matchday one since joining MLS in 2015. Orlando's opening road game of the season was against Sporting Kansas City, one of only two scheduled Western Conference opponents of the regular season, on April 23. Having conceded first when Dániel Sallói caught Pedro Gallese playing out from the back before setting up Gianluca Busio to score on the stroke of halftime, the Lions battled back in the second half to tie courtesy of a Nani backheel goal. The game also saw both teams have goals correctly ruled out for offside following VAR reviews.
May Orlando's first win of the season came in gameweek three as FC Cincinnati visited Exploria Stadium. Tesho Akindele opened the scoring of a dominant 3–0 victory in a franchise record 31 seconds. In total, the Lions recorded 23 shots. The second goal of the game, scored by Nani chopping back on his left, sitting a defender down in the process and curling the ball into the top corner from 22 yards was voted MLS goal of the week. On May 8, Nani scored for the third consecutive game as Orlando City took the lead at home to New York City FC before João Moutinho, who had been called on as a halftime substitute to make his first appearance of the season following an injury to Ruan, conceded the game-tying penalty of a 1–1 draw. The club set a new record on May 16 with a 1–0 victory away to D.C. United as the five game unbeaten streak was the Lions' longest such run to start a season. Mauricio Pereyra scored the only goal of the game in the 7th minute. From then on Orlando defended deep, conceding shots but D.C. only registered one on target. Their frustrations eventually boiled over as home fans threw debris on to the field and players clashed in stoppage time. Hernán Losada was particularly embittered by Orlando's tactics stating: "The way where you dominate the whole game, the opponent doesn't know what else to do to neutralize the game, to waste time, to park the bus. They didn't want to play after they scored the goal." The result left Orlando as one of three remaining unbeaten teams in the league. Nani retrospectively received a two-game suspension following a review by the MLS Disciplinary Committee that deemed he had made "unwanted physical contact" with the referee while trying to prevent further clashing between the two sets of players in stoppage time. The MLS Players Association issued a rebuke condemning the decision for "lacking integrity." On May 17, it was announced Exploria Stadium would be open to full capacity in June 2021, the first time since the 2020 season opener on February 29. February signing Silvester van der Water made his first start in place of the suspended Nani on 22 May 2021. He provided his first MLS assist for Akindele on the only goal of the game and was named player of the match as Orlando beat Toronto FC 1–0 to extend their unbeaten start to the season to six. The unbeaten start to the season ended on May 29 with a 2–1 defeat on the road to New York Red Bulls. Despite the good form, Orlando struggled to hold possession and came under persistent pressure, conceding twice within an hour. The Lions looked a better goal threat following the introduction of van der Water who came off the bench to score his first goal in the 84th minute but missed a clear opportunity to equalize shortly after. The game was also notable for the senior debut of Michael Halliday who started the game, setting a new record as the youngest first-team player at 18 years, 127 days, beating Tommy Redding's record set in August 2015 by 70 days.
June Major League Soccer scheduled a three-week break at the start of June during the FIFA international window which included the 2021 CONCACAF Nations League Finals. Having returned from his loan spell at Barnsley, Daryl Dike was the only Orlando player involved in the competition. He attended the pre-tournament training camp for the United States and, although he did not make the final roster, continued to travel and train with the squad as the United States won the inaugural edition of the tournament. He scored his first international goal later in the international window on June 9, 2021, in a 4–0 friendly win over Costa Rica at Rio Tinto Stadium. Sebas Méndez and Pedro Gallese were both called up to Ecuador and Peru respectively for the 2021 Copa América contested in Brazil from June 13 to July 10, meaning they could both be absent for as many as five Orlando games. On June 15, Thomas Williams became the club's 11th homegrown signing and the youngest ever first-team signing at 16 years, 304 days, surpassing the record set by Tommy Redding in 2014. In the absence of Gallese, loanee Brandon Austin made his debut against Toronto FC on June 19, becoming the youngest goalkeeper to make an appearance for the club. Despite a fast start, with Akindele scoring in the opening minute for the second time in six games and Nani doubling the lead seven minutes later, the teams went in at the break level as Toronto, who were using Exploria Stadium as a temporary base as travel to and from Canada remained restricted, battled back through Ayo Akinola and Jonathan Osorio goals. Daryl Dike made his return as a second-half substitute before Júnior Urso sealed a late and emotional win for Orlando which the players and Óscar Pareja dedicated to teammate Rodrigo Schlegel who had returned to Argentina the previous month after his father had contracted COVID-19 and passed away the week prior. The game was played behind closed doors as a designated Toronto home game in attempt to protect homefield advantage. A midweek matchup three days later, delayed twice by lightning, saw Orlando equal their record margin of victory, a 5–0 victory against San Jose Earthquakes. Dike scored a brace on his first start of the season as did Benji Michel, the first multiple goal game of his professional career. Orlando's only other five goal winning margin to date had come in a 6–1 win over New England in September 2017. Orlando ended the month with their third game in seven days, a rivalry match against Inter Miami CF. Orlando came back from a Gonzalo Higuaín goal to win 2–1 as Chris Mueller volleyed in his first goal of the season to tie the game up before Nani struck the winner from distance in the 80th minute.
July