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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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4 years ago

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It’s never easy with this team, is it? Orlando City SC is back in the MLS Cup playoffs for the third straight year, but had to do it the hard way in a 2-1 win over the Columbus Crew at Exploria Stadium on Decision Day. Junior Urso and Facundo Torres nullified Derrick Etienne’s goal, and the Lions will now face CF Montreal in the first round of the playoffs.

Here’s how I graded Orlando’s players in Sunday’s heart-pounding win.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 8 (MotM) — El Pulpo rebounded from the midweek loss to Miami in style. He made five saves on the day, several of which were seriously impressive. His first-half stonewalling of Cucho Hernandez nearly defied belief, as the Peruvian international got down low to his right to tip the ball onto the post and preserve a draw that wouldn’t last. It didn’t stop there though, as he made two late, great saves on Lucas Zelarayan to preserve Orlando’s slim lead and help put the Lions through to the playoffs. Gallese was successful on four of his seven long balls and completed 83.3% of his 18 passes. He takes the plaudits in this one.

D, Kyle Smith, 6 — Orlando Head Coach Oscar Pareja pulled a fast one in this game. It was expected that Smith would partner with Rodrigo Schlegel in central defense, only for him to be deployed at left back while Joao Moutinho was slotted inside. Despite the surprise, Smith had a solid game, notching two tackles, a clearance, a cross, and two accurate long balls while passing at a 77.8% clip. He also played roughly the last 20 minutes on a yellow card and was smart to avoid picking up another.

D, Joao Moutinho, 6 — I was originally quite fearful when I saw Moutinho at center back, as I had doubts about his ability to deal with some of the more physical aspects the position demands. As it turns out, I had no cause for concern, as he put in a steady performance in an unfamiliar role. His passing rate of 93.8% was excellent, and he also completed two long balls. Moutinho didn’t have any defensive stats, but he did have a shot that was off target. It will be nice to have Antonio Carlos back next week, but Joao did what he needed to do when it counted.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 7 — Schlegel put in a great showing against Columbus. He racked up three tackles, two interceptions, three clearances, a shot, a key pass, and drew a foul all while passing with 87.8% accuracy. His header back across the box late led to the Benji Michel shot that drew a penalty. The main black mark on his day was his positioning on Etienne’s goal, as he got sucked out too far from where he should have been by Lucas Zelarayan — leaving room behind him for Derrick Etienne to run into. Other than that, he was an immense figure in the back line in the most important league game of the season.

D, Ruan, 5.5— Ruan had a decent defensive showing in this one. He made three tackles and a clearance, and also won three fouls while passing at an 83.3% accuracy. He should have been quicker to tuck in and protect the space Schlegel vacated on Columbus’ goal, failing to track Etienne’s run. He also left Etienne too much space on the flank early for a cross that nearly gave Hernandez an early headed goal. Ruan couldn’t quite get going on the offensive side of things, and he’ll need to be more involved on that end if Orlando is going to advance past Montreal in the first round of the playoffs.

MF, Cesar Araujo, 6.5 — Araujo was his usual industrious self in the win. He did a ton of running in the Lions’ midfield and provided cover for when Mauricio Pereyra and Joao Moutinho ventured further forward. He chipped in with a tackle, an interception, two clearances, a block, a key pass, and a long ball. He also passed with 86.4% accuracy and did well to play over half an hour on a yellow card.

MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 7.5 — Like most of Orlando’s offensive players on the day, it took Pereyra time to get involved in the game. Once he did though, he was effective and finished with two key passes, an assist on Junior Urso’s goal, a cross, a long ball, a tackle, a clearance, and three fouls drawn. His passing accuracy of 83% on the day wasn’t his best, but he did well to bring the ball back out to find Urso with a good pass to his outside foot in order to give the Bear the chance to turn his man and get off a shot.

MF, Facundo Torres, 7 — Once Torres found his way into the game, he left his mark. He didn’t have a ton of shooting opportunities but helped affect the game with his passing, which he did with 93.3% accuracy while connecting on a cross and a key pass. He also had two shots, was fouled once, and most importantly, converted the penalty kick which sent Orlando City to the postseason for the third straight year. There was never really any doubt about the result when he set the ball down, and while goalkeepers seem to have figured out that he likes shooting to his right, when he puts the ball as far in the corner with as much power as he does, it’s tough to stop.

MF, Junior Urso, 7 — Urso had a rocky start to life in the first half. Several bad touches and misplaced passes meant there were concerns about the Bear having a bad game when Orlando could least afford it, but he came up big when he was needed most in the second half. He did ever so well to shield and turn his defender, shape his body and pick out the far side-netting to give Orlando a foothold in the game, and things kicked off from there. He finished with two tackles, two shots, two long balls, and 48 passes at a 95.8% passing accuracy.

MF, Ivan Angulo, 6 — Angulo started on the left wing, but had one of his quieter games in purple against the Crew. He wasn’t bad, as he recorded two key passes and 31 passes at an 84% accuracy with two key passes, while also notching two tackles and an interception. But he wasn’t quite as involved in the attack as Orlando City needed for large parts of the game, although the same can be said about many of his fellow attacking players. Not a bad performance, but not his best either. He also picked up a weird yellow card when the refereeing crew botched his substitution off the field.

F, Ercan Kara, 5.5 — Kara was also quiet during this one, and struggled to get involved with play. Part of that can be attributed to Columbus being content to sit back when it didn’t have the ball, making it difficult for Orlando to get the ball up to the big Austrian. Part of it can also be attributed to his teammates not providing service. Still, one clearance, one block, two fouls drawn, and a 62.5% success rate on eight passes is likely less than what Orlando was hoping from him on the day. His 14 touches weren’t many, but his replacements combined for just four over the last 20 minutes, so regardless of who played up top, there weren’t many connections being made.

Substitutes

F/MF, Benji Michel (74’), 6 — Benji didn’t do a ton to light up the stat sheet, as he finished the game with a yellow card, three touches, one shot, and one completed pass for 100% accuracy. With that being said, the shot he did take hit Milos Degenek’s outstretched hand, giving OCSC the penalty kick that sent the team to the postseason. Right place, right time, and it was a shot that would have been on target had it not hit Degenek on the way through.

F, Tesho Akindele (89’), N/A — Akindele was brought on as a late sub with time running down. His only stats recorded were being caught offside once and misfiring on the lone pass he attempted, but he ran hard and pressed the Columbus back line while the Crew chased an equalizer.

MF, Andres Perea (89’), N/A — Another late substitution, Perea didn’t record any stats during his time on the field, but helped provide energy and fresh legs to get the game over the line.

MF, Wilder Cartagena (89’), N/A — There was a mess of miscommunication on the officiating crew’s part that occurred while Orlando tried to get Cartagena on the field. Once he was there, he connected on his lone pass and also picked up a yellow card while helping see out the game.

D. Mikey Halliday (95’), N/A — Halliday came on as the final time-killing substitute from Pareja and stayed mistake free as Orlando booked its third-straight postseason berth.

That’s how I saw the performances in yet another game with late heroics from the Cardiac Cats. It wasn’t perfect, and the first half was almost universally ugly and devoid of the necessary urgency, but the Lions managed to find the required gear and get themselves into the postseason yet again. Be sure to have your say on everyone’s performances and vote for your Man of the Match below.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Pedro Gallese26
Rodrigo Schlegel4
Junior Urso10
Mauricio Pereyra1
Facundo Torres8
Other (Tell us who in the comments)3

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Diego FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Lions welcome San Diego FC to Orlando for the first meeting ever between the two clubs.

Published

12 hours ago

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September 5, 2026

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Image of Joran Gerbet playing against Minnesota United.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match preview and live thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (7-11-4, 25 points) and San Diego FC (8-8-6, 30 points) at Inter.co Stadium in Orlando (7:30 p.m., Apple TV). It’s the first-ever meeting between these two teams from different conferences

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.

History

As mentioned above, tonight’s meeting between the Lions and San Diego is the first in the series history, so there is no history. The Lions are 2-2-1 against Western Conference teams this season, which means little to nothing in this particular match, and San Diego is going to be Orlando City’s final opponent from the opposite conference in MLS regular-season play this season.

Overview

The Lions are coming off a wild 3-3 road draw at Minnesota United a week ago, in which Daryl Dike and Antoine Griezmann scored on either side of halftime on Orlando’s first two shot attempts to put their team up 2-0 in the 64th minute. Minnesota stormed back with three goals off defensive errors in a four-minute span to take a late 3-2 lead. Just when the Loons appeared to be headed for all three points, Tyrese Spicer scored in stoppage time, forcing Minnesota to split the points. Orlando has a modest 1-0-1 unbeaten streak entering tonight, and the Lions are 5-4-2 at home in 2026.

San Diego is coming off a 3-1 home win over the LA Galaxy despite having Jeppe Tverskov sent off. Tonight’s visitors have won two straight games, but both were at home. They lost their last home game 3-1 at Portland on Aug. 19 and are 2-5-3 away from home this season.

The key for Orlando City tonight will be to mark Anders Dreyer, which is far easier said than done, as he has emerged as one of the league’s best playmakers. His eight goals and 11 assists give him 19 total goal contributions to lead his team. Marcus Ingvartsen is Dreyer’s favorite teammate to combine with, as the Danish forward has converted 11 times, leading San Diego in goals, and has added five assists. However, Ingvartsen is listed as out with a lower body injury. Midfielder Onni Valakari has chipped in four goals and seven assists.

“We respect San Diego, but as well we prepare our game,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said ahead of the match. “We know how strong we are, especially at home, so now we go.”

Orlando City will be without Braian Ojeda (foot) and Adrian Marin (thigh), while Bernardo Rhein (thigh), has been upgraded to questionable. San Diego will be without the aforementioned Ingvartsen (lower body) and Tverskov (suspension).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Bernardo Rhein, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Joran Gerbet, Eduard Atuesta, Justin Ellis.

Forwards: Antoine Griezmann, Daryl Dike.

Bench: Javier Otero, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Tiago, Marco Pasalic, Martin Ojeda, Tyrese Spicer.

San Diego FC (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: C.J. dos Santos.

Defenders: Kieran Sargeant, Ian Murphy, Manu Duah, Oscar Verhoeven.

Midfielders: Gabriel Pirani, Anibal Godoy, Alejandro Alvarado.

Forwards: Elias Achouri, Onni Valakari, Anders Dreyer.

Bench: Duran Ferree, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Christopher McVey, Bryan Zamble, David Vazquez, Ian Pilcher, Alex Mighten, Bryce Duke, Amahl Pellegrino.

Referees:

REF: Joe Dickerson.
AR1: Corey Parker.
AR2: Justin Howard.
4TH: Rodrigo Albuquerque.
VAR: Daniel Radford.
AVAR: Jeff Muschik.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Inter.co Stadium — Orlando.

TV/Streaming: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

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 match. Go City!

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Diego FC: Three Keys to Victory

Here’s what Orlando needs to do in order to return to winning ways against San Diego.

Published

1 day ago

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September 4, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

After the disappointment of two dropped points against Minnesota on Saturday, Orlando City is back home with an opportunity to get things back on track. The Lions need to keep picking up points if they want to keep pace in an increasingly crowded Eastern Conference, and Saturday’s game is a good chance to start September off on the right note. San Diego FC stands in the way of that good start, and what follows are three things that I believe Orlando needs to do in order to emerge victorious from this game.

Stay Strong on the Left

The left side of the defense has been a question mark for the Lions for much of the year. Adrian Marin, Bernardo Rhein, and Zakaria Taifi have all spent time at left back lately and have done so with varying degrees of success. Regardless of who suits up there on Saturday, that area of the field will be under scrutiny once again, since they’ll be tasked with stopping San Diego right winger Anders Dreyer. He has eight goals and 11 assists in 21 appearances this year, has played 60 key passes during that time, and is generally the lynchpin through which the San Diego offense operates. He hasn’t quite been on the same pace that saw him bag 19 goals and 19 assists in the regular season last year, but with four goal contributions in his last three MLS appearances, he’s extremely capable of wreaking havoc from the wing. A lot of the goals OCSC has conceded lately have come down the left side of the defense, and if that area of the field can’t be taken care of better, the Lions will likely be in for a difficult night.

Do Damage in Transition

Orlando’s current style of positionless, fluid, attacking soccer is at its best when it comes up against teams that want to come out and play. It struggles mightily against defensive bunkers but shines when the Lions can get out and run, target open spaces, and combine with teammates in unexpected areas. Fortunately for OCSC (in theory), San Diego is a team that likes to have the ball, as it has the highest average possession in the league. That means the Lions will have opportunities to force turnovers and break the other way at pace. In order to make that happen though, OCSC will need to be both disciplined and effective when it comes to applying its press. Then, if/when the Lions win the ball, correct decision-making and clinical execution in the final third will be key to avoid letting any chances slip through their fingers (paws?).

Clean Up the Self-Inflicted Errors

Orlando has dealt with more than its fair share of general defensive struggles this year, but avoidable errors have been a particular problem in recent weeks. Whether it’s been an ill-advised challenge, passing to the opposition in the defensive third, or leaving men unmarked in the box, unnecessary mistakes have cost OCSC points time and again. Against lesser opposition it hasn’t always mattered, as the Lions were able to rescue three points against Real Salt Lake, but if Orlando wants to make a playoff push, it needs to make a habit of playing cleaner games, plain and simple. San Diego is a good team with dangerous offensive players, and Saturday’s visitors will very likely take advantage of any opportunities that the Lions gift-wrap for them. Keeping things mistake-free will go a long way.

We’ve got ample proof this season that nothing is guaranteed, but if the Lions can lock down the left side of the defense, make hay in transition moments, and limit unforced errors, then they should be in a good position to take all three points from Saturday’s game. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 9/4/26

Martin Ojeda details his recovery from injury, Anna Moorhouse loaned to Manchester City, Orlando City’s U.S. Open Cup journey, and more.

Published

2 days ago

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September 4, 2026

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Image of Martin Ojeda celebrating a goal against New England.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Three straight days of Orlando soccer starts tonight with Orlando City B’s road match against Inter Miami II at 7 p.m. Hopefully, Orlando’s teams do well over the next few days as crunch time is upon us when it comes to making the playoffs, especially for MLS NEXT Pro. For now though, let’s jump right into today’s links from around the soccer world!

Orlando City Prepares for San Diego FC

Orlando City will take on San Diego FC on Saturday in the first-ever game between the two clubs, and one of the storylines to keep an eye on is how much Martin Ojeda plays as he works his way back from injury. The Designated Player came off the bench late in Orlando’s 3-3 draw against Minnesota United in his first appearance since May 23. Not often injured, Ojeda spoke on how being off the field for over a month has shifted his perspective while training to return.

“You learn to value the moment much more. You learn to value every training session because, when you’re training on your own and you’re not available to your teammates, you feel uncomfortable,” Ojeda said. “You value being healthy more. It’s like everything in life. When you feel good, you live life almost on autopilot, so to speak. You go to work, you go home, you come back, you sleep. However, when you or someone close to you goes through an illness or something like that, you value the moment much more and become more conscious of what you’re experiencing.”

Pride Loan Anna Moorhouse to Manchester City

The Orlando Pride loaned goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse to Manchester City through January of 2027. Moorhouse joined the Pride prior to the 2022 season and helped the club win both the NWSL Championship and Shield in 2024. However, she has struggled this year alongside the rest of the Pride’s defense. Moorhouse hasn’t played in the past two games for the Pride, with Cosette Morche starting in her place. Her current contract with the Pride lasts through the 2027 NWSL season, so we’ll have to wait and see what her future with the club is when the loan ends.

Orlando City’s U.S. Open Cup Journey

Between the World Cup, regular season, and Leagues Cup this summer, it can be easy to forget that Orlando City is still in contention to win this year’s U.S. Open Cup. The Lions are in the semifinals of the tournament after crushing Atlanta United 4-1 in the quarterfinals back on May 19. The Lions won much tighter affairs prior to that win, with Javier Otero coming up with seven saves in a 1-0 win over FC Naples and Zakaria Taifi scoring in stoppage time to beat the New England Revolution 4-3 in the following match. Orlando will be on the road for its semifinal match against the Columbus Crew on Sept. 16, but the offense has received a boost due to the arrivals of Antoine Griezmann and Daryl Dike this summer.

MLS Transfer News Roundup

MLS signings continue to pour in as teams look to improve their squads for the rest of this season and beyond. The Colorado Rapids signed Ghanaian winger Ibrahim Sadiq from AZ Alkmaar, where he recorded 18 goals and seven assists in 85 appearances across three seasons with the Dutch club. San Diego also added an attacker by signing forward Cedric Bakambu, who joins as a free agent after playing at Real Betis. As for other notable moves from across the league, Real Salt Lake signed winger Dusan Zagar as an MLS U22 Initiative player, forward Lyle Foster joined the Houston Dynamo on loan, and the Columbus Crew continued to improve on offense by signing Moroccan winger Anass Zaroury on loan from Panathinaikos.

Free Kicks

  • Former Orlando Pride player Christina Burkenroad is retiring from professional soccer and Monterrey will have Saturday’s game against Toluca be a send-off match for her.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!

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