Orlando City

Orlando City vs Toronto FC: Player Grades and Man of the Match

Published

10 years ago

August 5, 2015

Orlando City snapped its meager one-game winning “streak” in absolutely horrific fashion, being taken to the woodshed by an under-powered Toronto FC. The Lions are now 0-2 against Toronto and get one more chance in two weeks’ time to avenge both upsetting defeats.

In a game like this there can’t be too much said that would come in the way of positives. There was a lack of energy, a lack of form and, below all else, a lack of fight.

Here are our player grades and our Man of the Match from tonight’s game:

Starters

G, Tally Hall, 6.0 — It is hard to blame Tally for all that transpired tonight when a team lets 21 shots fly. We can pick and choose and say he should have come out quicker on Giovinco’s last goal or maybe positioned the wall better on his free kick, but what can you do when your team is trampled all night?

D, Corey Ashe, 6.5 — Corey played well for his time on the pitch, being subbed in the 62nd. He took space when it was there and his through ball early in the first sent Cyle Larin running in on Toronto’s keeper all alone. There was a slight injury scare to his hand and we are hopeful that all is right in that realm as nobody wants Orlando to lose another player to injury.

D, Seb Hines, 5.0 — Not much can be said about a center back tandem that was thoroughly thrashed all night, except our team was beat 57-38 on duels. Hines started off the night early with a well deserved yellow card and played hesitant the rest of the night while the “Atomic Ant” was all over the back line and could have possibly had four or five goals. Can anyone say “David Mateos?”

D, Aurelien Collin, 6.0 — If Hines played hesitant after his deserved yellow, Collin was the complete opposite after giving up the penalty. I was surprised to see him get away card free with the challenge on Giovinco, who went down with a foot drag, but he continued to get into the mix all night. Now, do not take that as he was getting into the mix and doing a good job of it — he was continually making bad passes and had some bad giveaways that could have led to more goals.

D, Tyler Turner, 5.5 — The problem with Turner is that he is just too young, he plays like he is waiting for something to happen rather than being proactive and making things happen. He was beat on the flank by Giovinco all night, but so was everyone else. It was always going to be a tough task for a 19-year-old, and he proved his age continually tonight. His youthful giveaway up field led to Toronto’s counter that resulted in the penalty to open the scoring. He also turned the ball to concede possession just prior to the second goal.

MF, Cristian Higuita, 6.0 — Higuita was not himself tonight. Even though he covered ground well, his passes were off the mark and the midfield was dominated from the start. A positive, he had the assist on Luke Boden’s wonderfully taken goal.

MF, Darwin Ceren, 5.5 — When people ask who the unsung hero of Orlando has been all year I always fall back on Ceren. He has probably been the most consistent performer for the Lions all year. Well, tonight was not the case. His constant buzzing and strong tackles, especially the one on Giovinco in the first half showed his fight, but I felt like he was the only one out there willing to put it all on the line. His passing didn’t play up to his motor, as he was continually off the mark. His foul early in the second half drew a yellow card and led to Giovinco’s free kick goal.

MF, Servando Carrasco, 4.5 — It is really hard to rate a player that you only saw a few times throughout the entire 90 minutes. Honestly, did Carrasco play tonight or was Alex Morgan somewhere in the stands? Maybe they were engaged in a good conversation. After showing signs of being a good addition against Columbus, where he moved the ball from side to side so well, Carrasco was a shadow of that player tonight. Seriously, I think his shadow was playing tonight.

MF, Luke Boden, 7.0 (Man of the Match)— Somebody has to get it right, so why not the guy with the only goal? Boden has been a bright spot over the past two matches and tonight, even though all of Orlando may not have gotten off the plane to play in Toronto, Luke was there and had a decent go at it. Congrats Luke, you got Man of the Match with a well struck goal.

MF, Eric Avila, 5.0 — Eric was not playing soccer (or football) tonight. Oh, you wanted analysis; giveaway, giveaway, giveaway, not covering the back post…

F, Cyle Larin, 6.0 — With a chance to break the MLS rookie record tonight of 11 goals in a season, Cyle is leaving Canada with “only” scoring five goals in the past three games. He had a few good chances and kept making nice runs until the 70th minute, when he seemed to tire. His first look may have been the only one he should have put in the back of the net, but I can’t blame a guy who has been so “en fuego” that we stopped really shopping for forwards…or did we?

Substitutes

F, Pedro Ribeiro (62′), 6.0 — Didn’t do much. Showed nice touch, that he can play with his back to the goal, and that he is slower than a…well, OK, he just isn’t fast.

MF, Lewis Neal (62′), 6.0 — Lewis made his return from a nagging Achilles injury tonight — that is a good sign. His play however was always a bit off. He seemed to miss his touch tonight with the other nine field players (two being shadows) running around and he may need some extra time to get back into the swing of things.

Vote in our poll below and let us know who your Man of the Match was. This might be the least competitive poll we’ve had for MotM all season.

Polling Closed

Player	Votes
Cyle Larin	3
Darwin Ceren	10
Luke Boden	83
Corey Ashe	5
Cristian Higuita	0
Other (please let us know who in the comments section)	5

Related Topics:Player Grades SBN_migrated

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. St. Louis City: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Lions make their first trip to St. Louis looking to build on their win at Colorado.

Published

6 hours ago

June 25, 2025

Michael Citro

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread and preview for a Wednesday night matchup between Orlando City (8-4-6, 30 points) and St. Louis City SC (3-9-6, 15 points) at Energizer Park in St. Louis, MO (8:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). This is the second meeting ever between the two sides, the first in St. Louis, and the only one on the 2025 regular-season schedule.

Here’s what you need to know about the match.

History

These teams have met just once before. Orlando City won that match 2-1 on Aug. 26 at Exploria Stadium on Facundo Torres’ penalty in the first minute of stoppage time. Torres completed his brace after a handball in the box by Anthony Markanich stopped a shot by Rafael Santos. Torres opened the scoring in the second half, but Rasmus Alm equalized, with his goal being awarded after video review revealed the referee’s assistant should not have raised their flag for the ball going out of play prior to the critical pass that led to the goal. Jake Nerwinsky was sent off late in that game for a foul denying Ramiro Enrique a goal-scoring opportunity.

Overview

The Lions are 3-2-4 on the road this season after coming off a tightly contested 1-0 road win at Colorado on June 14, snapping a two-match losing streak that ended a busy May schedule. Orlando has been off since beating the Rapids but will try to continue building momentum as the month of June comes to a close. The Lions have six matches against Eastern Conference competition after visiting tonight’s Western Conference opponents in the leadup to the 2025 Leagues Cup at the end of July.

Orlando City center back Rodrigo Schlegel will serve his one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation tonight, and with Alex Freeman away with the USMNT, the Lions will be missing half of their starters on the back line for this match as the entire right half will be out. Look for David Brekalo to move to right center back. Dagur Dan Thorhallsson is the most likely candidate to take the right back spot, with either Kyle Smith or Santos slotting in at left back.

St. Louis City is 2-3-4 at home this season and is coming off a wild 3-3 home draw against the LA Galaxy on June 14. Joao Klauss scored a hat trick in the match, putting his third goal of the game in the net in the fifth minute of stoppage time to steal a point against the defending champions. Tonight’s hosts are 0-1-1 in their last two matches, but they’ve been playing better lately, with five consecutive games either decided by a single goal or finishing in a draw.

Klauss may have gotten three of his five goals this season in the last game, but he can be one of the league’s most lethal finishers. It’s not the best night for Orlando to be missing half of its back line with the Brazilian rounding into form. On the other end, Roman Burki is one of the best goalkeepers in the league, so Orlando City will need to be clinical to finish chances — something that the team has struggled with at times.

“St. Louis is a team we don’t regularly play, but we’ve followed them over the last three or four games,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “They’ve changed coaches, even though it’s someone who has been within the system. We try to capture what their current modes are — how they’re structured, how they’re playing — and then merge that into our game plan. We don’t have as much context of a rivalry as we usually do, since it’s a team we don’t know very well. But we keep preparing in our way and keep insisting that imposing our style on the game is what we’re looking for.”

In addition to Schlegel (suspension) and Freeman (international duty) the Lions will be without Duncan McGuire (shoulder), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee), while Joran Gerbet (thigh) is listed as questionable. St. Louis City will be without Alm (hip), Chris Durkin (knee), Henry Kessler (hamstring), Eduard Löwen (hamstring), Joakim Nilsson (knee), and Tomáš Ostrák (lower body).

Match Content

The most recent epsiode of the PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match.

Projected Lineups

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Cesar Araujo, Eduard Atuesta, Marco Pasalic.

Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Luis Muriel.

St. Louis City SC (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Roman Burki.

Defenders: Jayden Reid, Timo Baumgartl, Kyle Hiebert, Tomas Totland.

Midfielders: Alfredo Morales Simon Becher, Akil Watts.

Forwards: Celio Pompeu, Joao Klauss, Marcel Hartel.

Referees

REF: Guido Gonzales, Jr.
AR1: Ryan Graves.
AR2: Walt Heatherly.
4TH: Matt Thompson.
VAR: Kevin Terry, Jr.
AVAR: TBA.

How to Watch

Match Time: 8:30 p.m.

Venue: Energizer Park — St. Louis, MO.

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the game. Go City!

Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/25/25

Orlando City and OCB play tonight, the Club World Cup continues, and more.

Published

10 hours ago

June 25, 2025

David Rohe

Image courtesy of Victor Tan / New Day

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. It is a busy week here at The Mane Land. Orlando City and Orlando City B play tonight, there are FIFA Club World Cup matches, Concacaf Gold Cup, and USWNT friendlies. It’s a lot, but it also means there’s a ton of soccer to watch, which is a good thing. Let’s get to the links.

Go West, Orlando City

Orlando City heads to Missouri to take on St. Louis City FC tonight. The Lions will be without Alex Freeman (international duty) and Rodrigo Schlegel (yellow card accumulation). Orlando City will need to deal with St. Louis City striker Joao Klauss while finding goals on the road. This is a must-watch midweek match. We will have a preview later today, and you should also listen to The Mane Land PawedCast to prepare.

Orlando City B Returns Home vs. Toronto FC II

Orlando City B hosts Toronto FC II at Osceola County Stadium tonight. Like the first team, we will have coverage for you. The Young Lions are coming off a two-week break after a loss to Carolina Core FC. It will be interesting to see which OCB shows up for the match. You can watch the match on mlsnextpro.com.

Club World Cup, Orlando-Style

There might not be as many people in the seats at the Club World Cup as FIFA would like, but Orlando is still a big part of it. The group stage finishes this week as the competition heads into the Round of 16. There’s a ton of prize money up for all the competitors no matter where they are currently in the standings. Our Michael Citro was at Camping World Stadium last night to cover LAFC vs. Flamengo in Group D.

USMNT News

The USMNT will face Costa Rica Sunday in a Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinal match in Minneapolis. Malik Tillman has been a bright spot on the roster, though Orlando City fans will be watching Freeman. The perpetual search for a consistent striker continues for the USMNT, though Patrick Agyemang may be the answer — at least for now.

Free Kicks

The Pride managed to maintain the Number 2 spot in SI.com’s Power Rankings despite the loss to Racing Louisville.
So, the 2025 MLS All-Star jersey has arrived. Thoughts?

✨✨✨

The 2025 MLS All-Star jersey is here: https://t.co/WNUrUwxRYJ pic.twitter.com/Dq0UHFhSjP
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 24, 2025

There’s nothing quite like having your number retired after playing for a team for two whole years after playing for another club for six years. It is especially special when the new club has been in existence for a whole four years. Congratulations to former Orlando Pride forward Alex Morgan.

There will never be another.

AM13 ∞ pic.twitter.com/GhG4f1Xqyc
— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) June 24, 2025

Lyon has been relegated to Ligue 2 due to the club’s financial problems.
Paul Mullin is headed to Wigan on a season long loan from the recently promoted Wrexham AFC. That’s probably a spoiler for a future episode of Welcome to Wrexham.
Concacaf has cleared Jesse Marsh of allegations that he disregarded the competition’s rules regarding suspended match officials.

After the Gold Cup, Agyemang may be making the move from Charlotte FC to Derby County.

You may have seen that the USWNT is celebrating Pride month with rainbow numbers on the team jerseys. I am a supporter and ally, but it means even more to the players.

That will do it for today. Make sure you check back later for our match coverage. You can also follow our live coverage on Bluesky. Vamos Orlando!

Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/24/25

Orlando City’s upward aspirations, Tim Weah reportedly set for transfer, Club World Cup roundup, and more.

Published

1 day ago

June 24, 2025

Ben Miller

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Happy Tuesday, everyone. We’ve got a busy week ahead of us with the Club World Cup approaching the end of the group stage, OCB at home on Wednesday, and Orlando City back in action with a pair of games. That means we have plenty to talk about, so let’s get straight into today’s links.

Orlando City’s Lofty Goals

Kyle Smith took some time after training on Monday to speak to the media and shed some light on where OCSC is at right now. The utility player was candid in saying he believes this year’s team is the best one he’s seen since he’s been with the club, and that’s saying something considering he’s the longest-tenured player on the team. Smith said the team is focused on climbing higher in the standings and that the two recent breaks will help the team do just that. He emphasized the importance of handling extra time off between games the right way by making sure the players are taking care of their bodies, getting in the gym, and recovering afterwards. That sort of professionalism paid off in the 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids, so hopefully the same is true of Wednesday’s game against St. Louis City.

Tim Weah Reportedly on the Move

Nottingham Forest has reportedly agreed a deal with Juventus to sign Tim Weah and fellow Juve player Samuel Mbangula for roughly €22 million. That being said, personal terms have not yet been agreed upon with Weah, and that will likely take some time, since he’s playing for them at the Club World Cup, and the Italian side is probably keen to minimize outside distractions. Weah broke out with Lille during a four-season spell with the French side, earning a move to Juventus in 2023 as a result.

Club World Cup Roundup

The Club World Cup continues to roll on, as the tournament entered its final round of group stage games on Monday. Atletico Madrid became the first big name to exit the competition, as it beat Botafogo 1-0 to finish level with the Brazilians on six points but will be going home due to having worse goal difference. Atletico needed to win by at least three in order to overtake Botafogo in the standings and might have managed it if not for some poor finishing. In Group B’s other game, Paris Saint-Germain took down the Seattle Sounders 2-0 to finish top of the group. Seattle was given a brutal draw and accounted itself as well as can be expected, but ultimately, the Sounders exit the competition without picking up a point.

Club World Cup Takeaways

Speaking of the Club World Cup, what are some of the impressions so far of the expanded tournament? There have been plenty of good things, as teams have been taking it seriously with strong lineups, and barring the outlier that is Auckland City, no one team has been consistently getting shelled. On the other hand, making the jump from six teams to 32 simply feels like too much too soon, and that’s probably contributed to fluctuating levels of interest from local fans. High ticket prices and games starting in the heat of the day haven’t helped much either, as weather conditions have been a recurring concern among both fans and players. The competition is still a net positive overall, but there are certainly some things to learn from and improve upon next time around.