Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew: Player Grades

Thank God for Pedro Ribeiro. Orlando City controlled possession, peppered the Crew goal with shots and still needed the Brazilian’s blast in his first game since April 3 to rescue a point that should have come with two more attached to it.

City had everything going its way but still fumbled away chance after chance. I mean, you get points from us for creating chances but we also dock them for not finishing them. Here are tonight’s player ratings against Columbus Crew SC and our Man of the Match. Be sure to vote for yours below.

Player Grades

G, Tally Hall, 7.5 — Made the saves when he should have and really had little chance of stopping either goal, such was the placement of both headers. He pulled players aside and calmed them down when things got heated and after the match, spoke about judging himself harshly and wishing he could have done more.

D, Luke Boden, 6 — Was caught up and too far inside a few times and it cost Orlando, particularly on the first goal and on a good chance for Ethan Finlay. His crosses were fine and he had one corner that led to Michael Parkhurst’s sending off for handball.

D, Sean St. Ledger, 6.5 — Solid, if unspectacular performance. Attacked the ball in the air with gusto (sometimes too much) on corner kicks and did his job for the most part on defense. The two central defenders will be asked questions about Kei Kamara’s goal, as Adrian Heath felt the marking was not as good as it should have been.

D, Seb Hines, 6.5 — Like last week, Hines and St. Ledger were nearly interchangeable and therefore worthy of roughly the same grade. Hines didn’t get to as many balls on the offensive end, but he was solid in defense.

D, Rafael Ramos, 7 — Was turned inside out by Waylon Francis on Kamara’s goal, but gave his own team multiple opportunities to overcome the two goals allowed with outstanding crosses from the right wing. Gave Cyle Larin a sitter at the 18′ mark, but the Canadian couldn’t get it on frame.

MF, Darwin Ceren, 6 – Had a particularly forgettable first half with turnovers and committed a bad early foul to give up a free kick in a dangerous spot, but the Salvadorian settled down nicely after the break and was solid. Had a scorcher of a shot go just high with a chance to tie the game at the 78-minute mark.

MF, Cristian Higuita, 7 — Was again quiet but effective in breaking up play in the midfield and turning the attack the other way. While he did get called for the foul that started the play which turned into Kamara’s goal, that was a questionable call. Connected the back line to the attacking midfield well.

MF, Carlos Rivas, 6 — Starting in the midfield for the first time in MLS, the Colombian had a mixed performance. He got into some very dangerous spots and worked for coring chances, but his final ball was wanting several times and he shot when he should have passed at least twice.

MF, Kaká, 6.5 — Connected for his best-looking penalty to date, finding the back of the side netting, but he really had a mixed game. He was responsible for a turnover to Federico Higuain early on a promising build-up by holding the ball too long and had a few bad turnovers in the first half. Was more active after halftime and made better passes but passed on a chance to shoot when his team needed a goal, instead opting to send the ball to the end line to a teammate with a worse angle.

MF, Eric Avila, 8 — He had a man-of-the-match type first half, with some outstanding work to send Ramos down the right side a number of times. Avila’s hustle and crosses were outstanding and it was easily his best game as a Lion. His play wasn’t at the same level in the second half, when Orlando started to play more directly for Rivas and Larin and he missed a chance wide.

F, Cyle Larin, 6 — Had a similar game to Rivas in that he made himself dangerous all night but could not produce any quality with his final touch. Had two sitters and sent one wide and the second into goalkeeper Steve Clark. His worst moment came when he completely missed the ball with a dangerous chance in the box at the 59-minute mark. Kamara gave Columbus the lead two minutes later.

Substitutes

F, Martin Paterson (66′), 3 — Failed to make much of an impact on the game. A few folks seemed apoplectic that he dared commit a foul, but so did eight other Lions. His teammates couldn’t find him and were playing more direct balls anyway, which isn’t necessarily where Paterson is his best. He’s more dangerous on through balls, getting the ball on the run.

F, Pedro Ribeiro (72′), 8 — My Man of the Match, despite playing only 18 minutes plus stoppage. Ribeiro was dangerous from the moment he stepped onto the pitch. He provided good hold-up play to bring teammates into the attack, continued his good work with Kaká and may have scored the goal of the year for Orlando in the 89^th minute. Nearly stole a win for the Lions on his final shot.

F, Lewis Neal (72′), 5 — Made slightly more of an impact than Paterson with some combination play with Boden and one header chance that went straight at the keeper. Neal said after the game that headers aren’t his strong suit and the ball sailed a bit on him, but still would have liked to find better placement.

Polling Closed