Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Real Salt Lake: Player Grades and Man of the Match

It was a tale of two halves, as Orlando City lost Kaká to a red card near the close of the first half. Before the card, fans of both clubs were treated to two special goals, with the Lions striking first and early.
It looked like Real Salt Lake would score first, with Tally Hall turning back a close shot, only to see the Lions run and make a chance of their own a minute later. Kaká used perfect timing and a fantastic through ball from Pedro Riberio to lift all the fans back in Orlando looking for some fireworks on this Fourth of July match-up.
Real Salt Lake gave the 20,956 home fans something to cheer for with Tony Beltran’s well-placed pass across the box, finding Sebastián Jaime for a header to bury it past a very in form Tally Hall.
The game changed completely when Orlando talisman Kaká received his marching orders for what is being called a “serious foul” on Morales. Just the second time in his career that Kaká has seen a straight red, and just the third time he’s ever been sent off in his career. City fans will be curious to hear the thinking behind the sending off for sure. While he went in aggressively to take the ball back, the ill intentions of the stamp on Morales is very questionable.
Orlando came out aggressive in the second half, keeping Salt Lake on their toes and away from Tally Hall’s goal for most of the start of the first half. The second half became an operation of efficiency, as Orlando successfully killed off the game in the last 20 minutes to hold on for the draw. Most of the grades reflect a team that did its best to hold on to a draw, on the road, in front of an impressive home crowd, and while down a man. Despite any grade the players get in this one, a sincere round of applause for holding on to this one, boys.
Player Grades
G, Tally Hall, 8.5 (MOTM) — Unanimous choice among the people watching at my house, The Mane Land staff, and Real Salt Lake’s broadcast announcers (watching on MLSLive). Hall had huge save after huge save, while keeping his back line steady throughout an onslaught of late attacks and near misses from Real Salt Lake. Not a lot he could do on the goal against, either. Hall is in fantastic form right now going into a key stretch of the season.
D, Luke Boden, 6.5 — Good night for Boden without being a standout night. Thought for sure he would open his MLS scoring account in the second half, a goal that would only further endear the left back to the fans, but it took a deflection.
D, Sean St. Ledger, 7— A hard-hat shift for the Irish international tonight. Combined with Hall and Hines to form the bulwark that frustrated Salt Lake all night long. A couple of crucial tackles and good man marking helped the Lions bring home a valuable road point. A little casual stepping up to guard the entry pass that resulted in the goal, but he could have also played is a lot worse had he been too aggressive. Oh, and he nearly scored the winner in the 63rd minute.
D, Seb Hines, 7 — Really unlucky not to have hit the back of the net on beautiful header from a well placed Rivas corner. Active on defense, he and St. Ledger continue to find their chemistry. On the goal, his defense is hard to fault on a well placed header from a nice ball in. Once Collin comes back from injury, Orlando looks to have a potent three man rotation at the central back position.
D, Rafael Ramos, 6 — Honestly, I think the grade of a 6 is a bit harsh for a player that didn’t do too much wrong and helped the defense hold on for the road draw. Still, not much positive from Ramos tonight. His runs never seemed to materialize, while he looked desperate and lucky on defense. Still the youngster can be satisfied with his effort tonight.
MF, Lewis Neal, 5.5 — Quiet night for Neal. Did what he needed to do to help the team hold the draw but never looked to do more than the minimum.
MF, Cristian Higuita, 4 — Really rough night for Cristian. He earned his yellow card, and probably did enough over the course of the second half to earn another. Missed the ball and luckily the player in the box for what could have been lights out for Orlando on a wild sliding challenge. This will be a game to put behind him and hope he can call it a rough night and find the form he’s had in the past few weeks again.
MF, Carlos Rivas, 7– A solid performance from the speed merchant tonight. The complexity of the game after Orlando went a man down meant it would always be a challenging night for Rivas. Without his running mate Kaká in the second half he became the lone striker, swapping spots with Ribeiro. He fought hard and looked dangerous, but not as much as he has in the past few games. This game keeps his run of good form going, one that will need to continue with Kaká set to miss the next game through suspension.
MF, Kaká, 6 — A tale of extremes for the captain tonight. His goal during the opening stanzas of the match was as beautiful as they come. The red card, only the third of his career, was a bit of a shock. The ref went for yellow first it seemed but changed his thinking to red after his linesman made him aware of a stomp to Javi Morales. Not sure of the intention, but either way the Brazilian had a short shift tonight and left his teammates to fight on without him at the end of the first half.
MF, Eric Avila, 7 — Good shift for the midfielder, looked active and energetic. Stayed engaged once the game shifted in Real Salt Lake’s favor. His play in the defensive end helped alleviate some of the constant pressure on the back line. He also can take some credit for the pass that set up the Riberio assist.
F, Pedro Ribeiro, 6.5 — Set up Kaká with the perfect through ball for the goal, but not much else worked for Riberio on the evening. The aggressiveness and creativity were there, but he seemed to lack a bit of luck. After Orlando went down to 10 men he seemed to disappear in a more defensive midfield role.
Substitutes
M, Amobi Okugo (90′), N/A — Heath kept an offensive set on the field despite the red card, meaning Okugo only saw minutes once the draw seemed the right result for the evening.
* * *
So there we have it. Your Lions remain in the playoff hunt, but face a number of challenging games in the coming weeks with Gold Cup call-ups, key injuries, and now Kaká’s red card. These will be the times that test this team the most.
Polling Closed
Player | Votes |
Tally Hall | 129 |
Sean St. Ledger | 5 |
Seb Hines | 1 |
Other (pleas specify in the comments) | 4 |
Lion Links
Lion Links: 2/19/25
Halliday and Lodeiro are out, Cartagena’s season is over, the SheBelieves Cup starts tomorrow, and more.

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers! Orlando City continues to see more departures than arrivals to the roster with the season opener looming this weekend. Sure would be cool if the Lions added an experienced MLS striker this week. Alas, I feel it’s not in the cards. I’m sure it’ll be fine.
In better news, it’s Marta’s 39th birthday! Happy nirthday to the captain from all of us here at The Mane Land. Let’s get to the links.
Lions Say Goodbye to Halliday, Lodeiro
Both Michael Halliday and Nico Lodeiro have departed Orlando City. Halliday was traded to the Houston Dynamo for a first-round pick in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft. With Dagur Dan Thorhallsson starting at right back and Alex Freeman moving into the number two spot behind him, it made sense for Halliday to try to get minutes elsewhere.
Nico Lodeiro mutually agreed to terminate his contract with the club. Lodeiro’s departure will free up $800,000 salary for the club and allow Lodeiro to pursue more playing time at another club. According to Tom Bogert, that club may also be the Houston Dynamo. Given Lodeiro’s role off the bench for Orlando City, this is a move that makes sense for both the player and the club.
Cartagena Out for the Season
While the news was expected, Orlando City officially placed Wilder Cartagena on the Season-Ending Injury list. The midfielder suffered the injury in the preseason match against Atletico Mineiro. The surgery on his left Achilles tendon was successful, but he will still be out for the remainder of the season. Fortunately, the Lions brought in Eduard Atuesta to shore up the midfield. While Orlando City may even be better with Atuesta on the pitch, losing Cartagena still hurts the team depth.
Orlando City in the Top 10?
The off-season was not as long as usual, thanks to Orlando City’s run to the Eastern Conference final. Despite the shorter time frame, I had forgotten how useless, dumb, and yet fun power rankings can be. I’d warn you against spoilers, but these rankings mean absolutely nothing — especially before a match has been played — so I’ll just tell you that the Lions came in at number nine. However, I won’t spoil why they made the top 10, nor which Ft. Lauderdale based club is in the top spot.
SheBelieves Cup Starts Thursday
The USWNT plays its first match of the 2025 SheBelieves Cup Thursday at 8 p.m. The match will take place at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston. Unless you plan on traveling to Texas, you’ll have to watch it on TV or streaming. The Orlando Pride’s Emily Sams is on the squad and will hopefully see some minutes for Emma Hayes.
Free Kicks
- The Philadelphia Union signed striker Bruno Damiani from Uruguayan club Nacional. At least one team playing at Inter&Co Stadium this weekend signed a striker.
- Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah are out of the UEFA Champions League thanks to AC Milan’s 2-1 aggregate loss to Feyenoord.
- In the “I can’t relate to that level of money but I still feel sorry for the guy” category, LAFC striker Olivier Giroud had approximately $500,000 worth of jewelry stolen when his Los Angeles home was burglarized.
- U.S. Soccer has reached an agreement with Westwood One Sports for the network to serve as their new domestic English-language audio partner.
- In the “isn’t that mildly interesting” category, Pete Mangione will appear for FC Cincinnati.
- When Chase Adams scored 10 goals in the U-17 USMNT’s 22-0 victory over the U.S. Virgin Islands in the 2025 Concacaf U-17 qualifiers, he broke Erling Haaland’s international goal-scoring record. That’s just icing on the top of the 22-goal cake.
That will do it for today. Check back everyday as we get you ready for the season opener on Saturday. Vamos Orlando!
Orlando City
Orlando City, Nico Lodeiro Mutually Agree to Terminate Contract
The club is off the hook for an $800,000 salary and the Uruguayan midfielder is free to pursue other opportunities.

Veteran midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro’s days as a Lion are over. Orlando City announced that the club and player have mutually agreed to terminate Lodeiro’s contract, allowing him to become a free agent. Per the club, Orlando City has utilized one of its two buyouts for 2025 in this transaction.
Tom Bogert reported Monday that a deal was in the works for Lodeiro to join the Houston Dynamo, and this move paves the way for that to happen. As he was going to be out of contract after the season anyway, the Lions had limited options to sell the midfielder and in the end opted to free up room under the cap, allowing the player to move on to a situation where he could get more minutes.
“This was certainly a difficult decision as Nico has been a great addition to the team since joining us at the beginning of last season,” Orlando City Executive Vice President of Soccer Operations and General Manager Luiz Muzzi said in a club press release. “Ultimately, we feel this is the best move for both the team and Nico at this time. Nico has integrated in such a seamless way that it feels like he’s been part of our club for much longer than just one season. On top of being a tremendous player and teammate, Nico is a fantastic human being. Our doors will always be open to Nico, and we hope he can one day rejoin us and be an integral part of the Club’s future.”
Orlando City signed Lodeiro as a free agent on Jan. 4, 2024, after his stellar eight-year run with the Seattle Sounders. The hope was that he would step in and elevate a position that had been occupied by previous captain Mauricio Pereyra. Lodeiro managed 16 starts and played in all 34 regular-season matches for the Lions in 2024, but he was displaced in the starting lineup by Martin Ojeda. That relegated Lodeiro to coming off the bench in the second half in most of his appearances from August onward. His final start in the regular season came July 20, 2024, vs. New York City FC, and his last start in any competition was July 26 in Leagues Cup play against CF Montreal.
The 35-year-old leaves Orlando after 34 regular-season appearances (16 starts). He logged 1,697 minutes in the regular season, scoring one goal and contributing 11 assists, which matched his third-highest total in MLS. He attempted 36 shots and put 10 of them on target. Lodeiro completed 87.5% of his passes, which was his best-ever completion percentage in an MLS season, as he delivered 1,215 of 1,389 accurately. He also recorded 46 key passes, 20 completed long balls, and 20 successful crosses. On defense, he notched 36 tackles, 14 interceptions, eight clearances, and three blocks.
In addition to appearing in every regular-season match, Lodeiro saw the field in each of Orlando’s five postseason games — all as a substitute — and played 58 minutes. He did not record any goal contributions or shots, although he had the assist on a would-be Facundo Torres winner in Game 2 against Charlotte FC which was ultimately ruled offside. He completed 77.4% of his passes and accurately delivered two key passes, two crosses, and two long balls. Defensively, he made three tackles and chipped in with a clearance.
Nico appeared in all four of OCSC’s Concacaf Champions Cup matches, starting both games against Tigres and coming on as a sub in both legs against Cavalry FC for a total of 270 minutes. He took four shots (one on target), and provided a goal and an assist in the home game against Cavalry. He completed 86% of his passes and provided one key pass and the aforementioned assist. Defensively, he contributed two tackles and one clearance.
He also started one of the Lions’ Leagues Cup matches and came on as a substitute in the other two, for three total appearances, amassing 83 minutes. He did not score on his four shots (one on target), but he provided an assist in the 4-1 win over CF Montreal. He passed with 81.5% accuracy, completed one cross, and provided three key passes.
What It Means for Orlando City
Lodeiro’s departure after just one season in Orlando clears an $800,000 salary from the books, which is too sizable a contract for a player who would have been a bench player when the team had its full complement of starting players. Lodeiro is still a useful player, as evidenced by his double-digit assist totals a year ago, but he has clearly lost some pace and some of his effectiveness in the box. His goal-scoring has dropped off dramatically in recent years, although he is still a threat on set pieces, as shown by his free kick goal late in the CF Montreal preseason match on Feb. 8.
Ultimately, Lodeiro helped the Lions bridge the gap at the No. 10 spot between Pereyra and Ojeda claiming the job. Ojeda continues to show growth in that position and is coming off a one-goal, one-assist performance Friday against Inter Miami in preseason action. His departure will mean there isn’t an ideal backup for Ojeda on the current squad, although that role could be filled by Luis Muriel or Eduard Atuesta if need be.
If Houston completes the signing of Lodeiro, it would put the Uruguayan on a team that isn’t scheduled to face Orlando City this season.
Orlando City
Orlando City Trades Homegrown Right Back Michael Halliday to the Houston Dynamo
Orlando City has acquired a first-round draft pick in 2026 for fullback Michael Halliday.

Orlando City announced today that the club has traded Homegrown right back Michael Halliday to the Houston Dynamo for the club’s natural first-round pick in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft. The move ends the Apopka native’s stay with his hometown club, which started in 2016 when he joined the academy. It’s the second time this year that the club has traded away a long-serving Homegrown player, having sent backup goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar to Real Salt Lake on Jan. 15.
Tom Bogert first broke the news Monday that a deal for Halliday was in the works between Orlando and Houston, and now it has been completed. The club will also retain a sell-on percentage in the event Houston transfers Halliday to another club.
The 22-year-old defender signed as the club’s eighth-ever Homegrown Player on July 15, 2020, coming out of the academy. At the time of his signing, he was the youngest player to sign for the club since Tommy Redding in 2014 at 17 years, five months, and 23 days.
He initially joined the club in 2016, playing for the U-13 side and made his way up the academy ranks, eventually reaching the U-19 team before making his professional debut for OCB on Aug. 1, 2020. He made seven appearances for the Young Lions that year with six starts and 561 minutes, recording an assist. He was an unused substitute three times for the first team in 2020.
Halliday’s first appearance for the first team came on May 29, 2021 in a 2-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena. He bounced between the first and second teams over the next four years, making 12 total appearances for OCB with 11 starts and 966 minutes, recording just the one assist. He made 43 appearances for the MLS side with 18 starts, recording 1,841 minutes with two assists.
The right back recently signed a new contract with the club on Jan. 16, 2024. It was a two-year deal that was to keep him in town through the 2025 season with club options for 2026 and 2027.
However, the Apopka native saw a significant decrease in playing time in 2024. After appearing 21 times with 12 starts in 2023, he only made seven appearances with one start in all competitions last season.
Halliday received his first season grade by The Mane Land in 2023, reaching the threshold with 1,109 minutes of action. After getting a 5.5 out of 10 for the season, he didn’t play enough to receive a grade in 2024.
In addition to his club play, Halliday has found a place with the U.S. Men’s National Team youth setup. He began playing with the U-20 national team in 2022, was a member of the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship team, and played four games at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
What It Means for Orlando City
Halliday was primarily a right back for Oscar Pareja’s side. He started the 2023 season on the right with Luca Petrasso on the left. However, both were soon supplanted. Dagur Dan Thorhallsson took over for Halliday and Rafael Santos took over for Petrasso. The left back also left the club following the 2024 season.
This trade might say more about another player than it does about Halliday. The club signed 20-year-old right back Alex Freeman to a Homegrown deal on Feb. 15, 2022. The defender has been playing with OCB for the last couple of years but saw significant minutes this preseason. The club might see more possibilities with the younger right back moving forward. Halliday had seemingly slipped to fourth on the depth chart at right back behind Thorhallsson, Kyle Smith, and Freeman.
After the club traded Stajduhar, Halliday became the longest-tenured Homegrown player at the club. With his departure, that designation now belongs to center back Thomas Williams, who signed a Homegrown contract on June 15, 2021, and a new two-year contract earlier this offseason.
This move gives Halliday an opportunity to compete for more minutes to further his professional development. The full value of the trade for Orlando remains to be seen and will depend on how the club uses the draft pick and whether a future Halliday transfer brings any cash back to OCSC.
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