Orlando City vs Seattle Sounders: Player Grades and Man of the Match

In a miserable result for Orlando City, to say the least, the Lions were dismantled by the Seattle Sounders, 4-0 in the Emerald City. It marked the third game in a row without a goal. Down a man and a goal after 40 minutes, the team looked completely outmatched at every turn and it was a blessing that they only lost by four.

So here’s our player grades and our Man of the Match from tonight’s game:

Starters

G, Tally Hall, 6.5 (MOTM)– Although he gave up four goals, which he could do little about, there wasn’t anyone else on the team deserving of man of the match other than Hall. Had a huge save in the 29th minute off of Martins’ penalty shot and the ensuing rebound. Made some good saves down the stretch, but Obafemi Martins made him look silly on his second goal.

D, Tyler Turner, 2.0 — Showed his youth and inexperience a lot during the game. Tons of indecision by the right back, both on the offensive and defensive ends. Was partly culpable on first Martins goal, took a silly challenge in the 22nd minute on Valdez, earning him a yellow card, then turned the ball over to Lamar Neagle and received a second yellow, subsequently ending his day. Put his team in a terrible position with his decision making.

D, David Mateos, 5.0 — All in all, had an alright debut for the Lions, despite the result. Considering he’s only been with the team for a week and hasn’t played in a competitive match since his European season ended, Mateos stepped in and did his best. Was playing pretty well until he got beat by Chad Marshall and pulled him down on a corner in the 28th minute, leading to a penalty, which was luckily saved by Tally Hall. Great challenge in the 24th minute, stopping a dangerous attack. Unlucky deflection on Martins’ second goal, but lots of his sliding challenges stopped good opportunities for the Sounders. Still, as a defender, he’s at fault for letting the opposition score four goals, but he will definitely will be a good asset for Orlando going forward.

D, Aurelien Collin, 4.0 — Did his best to help shut down Obafemi Martins, but was completely overmatched by Oba’s speed. Still was able to make some good defensive stops, but in a game letting up four goals, there’s got to be some accountability for the guys in the middle.

D, Luke Boden, 4.0 — A forgettable game for Bodz. Completely shut down in the attack on the left side and didn’t really make any standout plays defensively of note. Normally reliable on his crossing ability, Luke’s services were poor when he was actually able to get a ball in the box at all, including Orlando City’s sole corner kick.

MF, Cristian Higuita, 4.5 — Spent most of his day on the turf getting knocked off the ball a number of times. Showed good composure in the 36th minute shielding the ball, and had chances to get forward, but they were few and far between.

MF, Servando Carrasco, 3.5 — In his return to the city that drafted him, Carrasco played a subpar game. Lots of missed passes and sleeping on defense, especially Martins’ second goal. Tried to get the ball moving through the midfield, but usually ended up passing it to the team in rave green.

MF, Darwin Ceren, 3.5 — By far the worst game Ceren’s had in an Orlando City uniform. An uncharacteristically bad passing night for the midfielder. Tried to do too much in the 16th minute and turned the ball over, leading to Martins’ goal a few seconds later. Got caught ball watching on the Valdez goal. Almost gave up a goal to Neagle after turning the ball over in front of goal again. Earned a yellow card in the 60th minute after a silly challenge and was eventually subbed out in the 85th minute.

MF, Kaká, 4.0 — Honestly one of the worst games the captain has played this year. To Seattle’s credit, they did well to shut down any touches he got, but Kaká needed to work harder to get the offense going. Had a good counter in the eighth minute, and did a bit better in the second half, but still didn’t positively affect the game as much as needed. Subbed out for Lewis Neal in the 70th minute.

MF, Adrian Winter, 5.0 — Looked decent in his second game with the Lions. Tried his best to get some combination passing going in the first half, but nothing was working. Looked to have opportunities in the first half, but all of them went by the wayside. Forced into defense after Turner’s red card for the second half and didn’t have many more chances going forward in the attack.

F, Cyle Larin, 4.0 — Had almost no effect on the game in the attack. Mostly had his back to goal in the box and wasn’t able to turn and shoot the ball. Tried too much to rely on his strength, as he tends to do sometimes, but it was not effective for him today. This is part of the learning process for Larin, who has relied on his athleticism for so long leading up to this year. Fell asleep on the second goal, marking Valdez off the short corner and was subbed out for Rochez in the 67th minute.

Substitutes

MF, Lewis Neal (70′), 3.0 — Did his typical thing for the last 20 minutes of the game. Had some turnovers and bad passes, but neither resulted in anything extremely negative.

F, Bryan Rochez (67′), 3.0 — Hardly noticed him until his booking in the 77th minute.

F, Pedro Ribeiro (84′), N/A — Played for seven minutes and didn’t make an impact on the game.

Well, I tried my best to get a good reading of the performances, but it was a really bad one to grade and it’s difficult to judge when a team is playing down a man for 50 minutes on the road. As always, let us know who you think was the Man of the Match in our poll below

Polling Closed