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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Chicago Fire: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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9 years ago

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Orlando City players can leave this game with their heads held high despite dropping two more points during this abysmal July-August stretch. For the first time since the win over Columbus on Aug. 1, the Lions were the better side and, aside from a few Chicago counters, completely controlled the match.

If not for some golden opportunities that went wanting, City would have grabbed all three points and stopped the bleeding with a victory on a night when it would have been far too easy to quit. Persistent rain, lightning delays and an early 1-0 deficit could not keep the Lions down, as Orlando battled for the full 90 minutes and always seemed the more likely team to score, save for a brief spell consisting of multiple Fire corner kicks.

Let’s get to our player grades and Man of the Match (and you can vote for your MotM in our poll below):

Starters

GK, Tally Hall, 6 – Perhaps could have done more on Accam’s goal in the 30th — getting beat at the near post from a severe angle — but made a diving one-handed stop to keep the game at 1-0 on Eric Gehrig’s header off a cheeky free kick play. Controlled his box well and made himself big when the speedy Chicago wingers and forwards beat their men wide.

D, Luke Boden, 6 – An uneven game for Bodz, who got forward more often than he has in recent matches, but wasn’t always sharp when doing so. In the 12th minute he sent a good ball forward for Rivas. Turned the ball over to Patrick Nyarko in the 32nd and then took a yellow card to thwart the counter. His corner kicks were only OK but he did have some good interchange with Carlos Rivas down the left.

D, Aurelien Collin, 6.5 – Badly missed a slide tackle, allowing a 2-on-1 early, but David Accam helped by losing the ball with no one around him. Busted up a Kennedy Igboananike rush and led the break late in the second half. Was strong in the air and finished with a team-high 84 touches, completing 81.8 percent of his passes.

D, David Mateos, 6 – A better outing than we’ve seen so far from the newcomer, although he fell asleep on a free kick and nearly let Gehrig score in the 34th minute. Won some important challenges when Chicago pushed forward but perhaps could have been better in the air on set pieces. A promising game, overall as he gets to know his teammates better.

D, Corey Ashe, 5.5 – Was abused in the 30th minute by Accam, giving up a goal from a seemingly harmless ball in the corner. Despite that tough moment, he rebounded to have a pretty good game, playing on the right instead of his favored left. Ashe’s crosses weren’t nearly as accurate coming off his right foot.

MF, Cristian Higuita, 7.5 (MOTM) – Was a force in the midfield much of the night, breaking up plays, and hustling all over the pitch. Had one of his strongest outings in a long time, avoiding rash challenges and getting involved in the offensive side, as well as picking out the right pass on most occasions. Completed 86.8 percent of his passes, won a game-high five tackles and won as many fouls as he conceded (two of each).

MF, Darwin Ceren, 5.5 – Started the match very slowly, giving the ball away in the fourth minute that led to a chance for Accam. Lost track of Gehrig on a free kick in the 15th minute, but luckily the defender headed it high. Generally passed poorly much of the game, however, he played much better in the final 30 minutes than in the first 60, including a late blast in stoppage time that forced a Sean Johnson save. Sent Rivas up the left side with a perfect long ball in the 57th for maybe his finest moment of the match.

MF, Carlos Rivas, 6.5 – Used his speed well in the first half. Drew a foul on a frustrated Gehrig in the 44th minute. Provided a great cross to set up Kaká all alone at the top of the box in the 57th, but the captain missed the shot. Worked some magic in the 70th to earn a corner, beating two Fire players with a move into the area. A positive outing that the young Colombian can build on, although he still misses too many shots high and he was given a brilliant chance late, only to knock it off the outside of the post.

MF, Kaká, 6 – The captain certainly worked as hard as we’ve seen but it didn’t translate into much in the way of chances. Missed a golden opportunity from the top of the box at 57′ off a beautiful feed from Carlos Rivas. Drew a free kick in a good spot in the 80th. Passing accuracy won’t reflect some of the runs he expected to be made, but weren’t. But he helped the club control the middle of the pitch, which led to Orlando’s 62.7 percent possession.

MF, Lewis Neal, 4 – Provided outstanding service on the own-goal in the 37th, but blew a golden chance in the 42nd minute when Larin gave him the ball on a platter — and he skied it over the bar. Overall, it was a tough night for Neal, who turned the ball over too cheaply with frequency. He did manage to draw a free kick and a yellow on Kennedy Ibgoananike in the 77th with a nice touch but it was certainly not Neal’s best outing.

F, Cyle Larin, 7 – Got into dangerous positions from the game’s first moments. He missed the net on a chance after a nice run in the sixth minute and his hustle in the 10th led to a corner. He got loose in the box in the 37th minute and his presence and positioning helped create Gehrig’s own-goal. The goal will be reviewed to see if Larin’s touch directed it on frame before it hit Gehrig’s shoulder, but even if he doesn’t get credit for it, he made it happen. Undressed Gehrig in the 81st with his final involvement of the game, and fed Rivas a sitter that the Colombian hit off the outside of the woodwork.

Substitutes

F, Pedro Ribeiro (82′), N/A – Had one nice interchange with Carlos Rivas in the late going but didn’t have a chance to impact the match with only three touches.

MF, Servando Carrasco (86′), N/A – Came on late for Cristian Higuita and touched the ball five times.

Polling Closed

Player Votes
Carlos Rivas 19
Aurelien Collin 4
Cyle Larin 30
Cristian Higuita 43
Luke Boden 2
Other (tell us who, in the comments) 3
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Lion Links

Lion Links: 12/25/24

Orlando Pride make everyone’s ‘nice’ list, the USMNT’s new attitude, Boxing Day matches, and more.

Published

23 hours ago

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December 25, 2024

By

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah, Mane Landers! One of the great things about soccer is that unlike other sports, there are matches being played somewhere nearly every day of the year. It truly is something for which I’m grateful. That also means there’s soccer news even on a big holiday, making my job here a bit easier. As such, let’s get to the links.

Orlando Pride Still Tops

It doesn’t matter what list you mention when it comes to women’s soccer, the Orlando Pride will be on it. If you follow women’s soccer — and I don’t know why you wouldn’t — 2024 brought plenty of gifts. Obviously, Marta lifting a pair of trophies was big news in the world of women’s soccer. The arrival of Barbra Banda and Temwa Chawinga to the NWSL was also pretty significant. Enjoy all of this as long as you can. I know I will.

USMNT Savageness

Weston McKennie is loving the attitude that Mauricio Pochettino is bringing to the USMNT. Some have felt that the U.S. has played too timidly before his arrival. Now, McKennie feels he’s bringing a savageness and a bit of South American attitude to the team. Previously, the USMNT was known for being physical if not technical. Perhaps McKennie and his generation can bring both to the table.

Premier League Holiday Cheer

Thursday is a big matchday in the English Premier League. If you’re lucky enough to not have to go to work, there will be plenty of Boxing Day matches to enjoy. Liverpool is top of the table this Christmas, in large part to the efforts of Mo Salah, who became the first player in Premier League history to reach double figures for goals and assists before Christmas.

Given it’s the holiday season, I’m certain that all the EPL clubs want something in their stockings. Of course, if you’re not adding pieces you might fall behind. There are players that each club could add to help in the pursuit of glory.

Rioters Sentenced

Five of the 60 people detained after riots outside the UEFA Europa League match between the Dutch side Ajax and Israel’s Maccabi Tel-Aviv in November have been sentenced by an Amsterdam District Court. The perpetrators’ punishment ran from community service to six months in prison. The altercation took place between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli football fans. Five people were sent to the hospital and 20 others sustained minor injuries. I truly wish this type of thing would stop at soccer matches — or anywhere for that matter.

Free Kicks

That will do it for today. If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you had a wonderful time giving and receiving gifts this morning. If Hanukkah is your thing, enjoy all eight days and nights. Kwanzaa? Enjoy every day from Thursday through Jan. 1. Festivus celebrators, you should already have done your feats of strength and airing of grievances. If you don’t celebrate any particular holidays, I hope you had a peaceful, relaxing morning. Just know that we here at The Mane Land are grateful for the gift of your readership.

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Orlando City

Top 10 Moments of 2024: Facundo Torres Breaks Lions’ All-Time Goal Record

In our No. 8 moment of the year, Facundo Torres sets a new Orlando City career record for goals scored.

Published

2 days ago

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December 24, 2024

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

As we count down to the new year of 2025 — which will be Orlando City’s 11th in MLS, the Orlando Pride’s 10th in the NWSL, and OCB’s third in MLS NEXT Pro — and say goodbye to 2024, it’s time to look back at the club’s 10 best moments of the year as selected by The Mane Land staff via vote.

The 2024 season will always be a bittersweet one when it comes to remembering the contributions of Uruguayan winger Facundo Torres. He once again started the season slowly before locking in over the summer and dazzling crowds, befuddling opponents, and doing impressive things with a soccer ball on behalf of Orlando City SC.

He helped the team get to the second round of the Concacaf Champions League/Cup and to the Eastern Conference final — the first time the club accomplished either achievement. Then he left, transferring to Palmeiras just days before Christmas. He may be gone, but the transfer funds and open Designated Player slot the sale brought the club may yet make for even more success on the field in the seasons to come.

Torres put together another brilliant season, starting by scoring a brace in the team’s Champions Cup opener against Cavalry FC on Feb. 21. Here’s the first of those goals:

He added a nice header later to put the game away. The brace had many fans dreaming that he wouldn’t take until the summer to get into a groove during his third year in Orlando like he did in his first two seasons. But then he didn’t score again in the run of play until the fourth minute of a May 29 road game against the Chicago Fire. That isn’t to say he didn’t find the net in March or April. He scored from the penalty spot once in each of those months — at Tigres March 12 and at Montreal April 20 — but it wasn’t the hot start fans were hoping for.

Torres did, however, settle in eventually and had himself a season. In fact, he broke Cyle Larin’s club record for most goals in a season across all competitions, by hitting the net 20 times in 2024. He scored 14 times in the regular season, twice in the MLS Cup playoffs, three times in Champions Cup play, and once in Leagues Cup. That doesn’t even count his made penalties in the postgame shootouts against Cruz Azul or Charlotte FC (in Game 3).

As usual, he did most of his damage in the second half of the year, when he helped the club put together a remarkable run of form that lifted the Lions from near the bottom of the conference to fourth place by season’s end. During the team’s final 17 games, Torres scored 11 of his 14 regular-season goals and posted three braces. The light switch seemed to be flipped in the first game of the second half of Orlando City’s 2024 season. After just three goals in the first 17 games — one in the run of play and two from the penalty spot (he also missed a penalty for the first time in his career in Game 17 against LAFC) — Torres scored three goals in the next two matches, helping the Lions to a comeback draw at Charlotte and a 4-2 home win over the Chicago Fire, setting the tone for an 11-4-2 run in the second half.

His torrid run of form had him climbing the club’s scoring list all summer and that culminated in reaching the pinnacle of the team’s MLS era on Oct. 2, when he did this in the 57th minute at home against the Philadelphia Union:

As Torres goals go, it wasn’t one of his prettiest or most impressive, but it was his 45th as a Lion across all competitions, passing Larin’s career mark for Orlando City’s MLS era. It also helped propel the Lions to a 2-1 win over the Union, putting the team on the cusp of clinching home field in the first round of the playoffs. It was also Torres’ last regular-season goal with Orlando City. Bittersweet.

However, the Las Piedras, Uruguay, native wasn’t finished scoring in 2024. He notched the first goal of Orlando’s postseason run in the 32nd minute against Charlotte FC at home on Oct. 27 in a 2-0 win. Torres placed himself in the right spot at the right time, taking advantage of a deflected Rafael Santos cross that fell in front of him in the box. The winger blasted it off the underside of the crossbar and into the back of the net to open the scoring.

The goal drew him level with Dom Dwyer for the club’s all-time career goals mark when combining Orlando City’s USL and MLS eras.

He should have claimed that record for himself in Game 2 of the Charlotte series when he fired home in stoppage time on the road, but the flag came up for Nico Lodeiro being offside in the buildup — incorrectly, per the offside modeling Twitter account.

While the offside modeling site is hardly official, it illustrates how close the play was. Many teams tend to get the benefit of those types of calls and the flags stay down, but Orlando is generally not one of those teams.

However, he took sole possession of the record one match later, breaking the tie with Dwyer in the 12th minute of stoppage time of Game 3. The Lions trailed 1-0 and the season was on the brink when Duncan McGuire was pulled down in the box on a late set piece, injuring himself to the point he had off-season surgery to repair the labrum and rotator cuff in his shoulder. Torres took the ball and stepped to the spot to face one of the best goalkeepers in MLS, Kristijan Kahlina. The Croatian read Torres well and made the stop, but he couldn’t control the rebound. Torres got to it quickly, kept his composure, and fired it home to level the match.

It was not only an important strike, but it was also his 47th and final goal for Orlando City across all competitions, although he also calmly scored his penalty in the ensuing shootout to help send the Lions through to the conference semifinals against Atlanta United.

It’s fitting that Torres’ final Orlando City goal was such an important one, as he’s been such a big part of the team’s success over the past three seasons. He departed the club officially on Dec. 20 for a club-record transfer fee after scoring a total of 47 goals across all competitions. He added 25 assists in his time in purple, amassing a club-record 72 career goal contributions.

In a three-year Orlando career that was filled with highlight-reel plays, Torres brought a lot of joy to the club’s fans during his stay. His ascendance to the top of the club’s MLS and combined scoring lists is worthy of inclusion as one of our top moments of the season.

Come back through New Year’s Eve as we count down the remainder of the top 10 moments of 2024 for Orlando City, the Orlando Pride, and OCB.

Previous Top Moments of 2024

10. Orlando City’s massive second-half surge clinches top-four spot in Eastern Conference.

9. The Orlando Pride sign Zambian international striker Barbra Banda ahead of the 2024 season.

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 12/24/24

MLS transfer roundup, Americans in midweek action, NWSL news galore, and more.

Published

2 days ago

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December 24, 2024

By

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Happy Tuesday and merry Christmas Eve, everyone! I hope you’re all having a good start to your week and have some fun stuff planned for the upcoming holidays.

Before we get started with today’s links, we here at The Mane Land want to give a special shout out to Joe (a.k.a. fldatadude) for signing up for a Homegrown Player-level membership on our Buy Me a Coffee page. By signing up at one of our three levels of support, our readers and podcast listeners can enjoy added benefits in addition to keeping our bills paid so we can continue doing what we do.

Now we do have plenty of items to get to today, so let’s get into today’s news.

MLS Transfer News Roundup

Several MLS teams have been busy at work in the transfer market, so let’s break down the recent moves. LAFC signed free agent forward Jeremy Ebobisse to a three-year deal with an additional option year, adding more firepower to an already strong squad. The Portland Timbers also got some business done via free agency, as they signed winger Ariel Lassiter. FC Dallas acquired forward Anderson Julio from Real Salt Lake, with defender Sam Junqua and up to $500,000 in General Allocation Money going to RSL in exchange. Finally, Lorenzo Insigne has teased on his Instagram that he will play another season for Toronto FC in 2025.

Americans in Midweek Action

There are a number of Americans playing this week, so get everything marked down and enjoy some festive footy. Thursday’s Boxing Day slate features Americans heavily, with Chris Richards, Matt Turner, and Crystal Palace traveling to take on Tyler Adams and Bournemouth in Premier League play. Antonee Robinson and Fulham will play Chelsea that same day, while Brenden Aaronson and Leeds United face an unenviable trip to Stoke City to round things off on Thursday.

Keeping Up With NWSL Happenings

Let’s start our NWSL roundup with the San Diego Wave, which have reportedly hired Jonas Eidevall as their new head coach. The Swede most recently spent time coaching Arsenal and has reportedly been the Wave’s top choice for several weeks. We now move to the realm of fact, where Angel City FC has signed midfielder Macey Hodge to a two-year deal with an option for the 2027 season. Finally, expansion team BOS Nation FC agreed a lease with Boston Public Schools and the City of Boston that will allow the team to use White Stadium as its home ground starting in 2026.

European Transfer Rumor Mill

Europe’s club teams can’t do business quite yet, but rumors are flying thick and fast with January just around the corner. First up, Manchester United is said to be exploring a deal to sign Victor Osimhen in January, particularly with Marcus Rashford indicating that he wants out of the club. Staying in the Premier League, Christopher Nkunku’s agent has reportedly offered the forward’s services to Barcelona, as he hasn’t been starting for the Blues and wants a larger role. Finally, Bayern Munich is said to be closely monitoring Borussia Dortmund’s Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, which would add him to a long list of Dortmund players snapped up by the Bundesliga giants.

Free Kicks

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a very merry Christmas Eve!

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