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Orlando City

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

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4 years ago

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For the third consecutive game, Orlando City scored in second-half injury time to claim all three points, in a 3-2 win over the Seattle Sounders. However, this time the Lions came back from a two-goal deficit and it wasn’t Tesho Akindele scoring the winner. It’s the Lions’ fourth straight win, keeping them in fifth in the Eastern Conference.

Let’s take a look at the individual performances in this big win.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 5.5 — Gallese didn’t have a lot to do in this game, only facing three shots on target. He conceded two goals in the game, but came up with a huge one-handed save late in the second half that would’ve given the Sounders the lead. Gallese couldn’t do much about Albert Rusnak’s free kick, which went through the wall and was perfectly placed in the top corner, but he could have done better on Raul Ruidiaz’s near-post effort.

D, Joao Moutinho, 6.5 — Moutinho was the better of the two starting fullbacks in this game. The left back had two tackles and one clearance defensively, but his biggest impact was going forward. He completed 84.2% of his 38 passes, including four key passes, and an assist on Facundo Torres’ goal. Moutinho completed three of his seven crosses and one of his two long balls. Additionally, he took one shot on the rebound of Mauricio Pereyra’s poor penalty but what was a likely goal was blocked at the last second by Seattle’s Jackson Ragen.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 5.5 — Schlegel was good for most of the game. He ended the game with one tackle, two interceptions, and one clearance, but Jordan Morris blew by him on the second Seattle goal. Going forward, Schlegel completed 81.4% of his 43 passes, completed one of his two long balls, and took one off-target shot. His grade would be higher but his poor defending on Morris on the second goal was his biggest contribution.

D, Antonio Carlos, 6 — As expected, Carlos was the better of the two center backs for most of the game. The Brazilian had two tackles and three clearances defensively. He completed 88.9% of his 36 shots and five of his seven long balls. He also took one shot, which was on target. However, Carlos had a role in both Seattle goals. He committed the foul that led to the first goal and was at the near post on the second, although Ruan was the man covering Ruidiaz. Carlos also took an unnecessary yellow card arguing a foul call that went against him.

D, Ruan, 5 — Ruan was at fault for one of the Seattle goals but unlike Carlos, didn’t put up a strong display to overcome that mistake. He didn’t have any defensive statistics in this game. He completed 83.3% of his 24 passes and had two key passes, but he only had one cross attempt and it was incomplete. Ruan was at the near post on Seattle’s second goal but was unable to clear it. It’s fair to say that in a transition situation with three defenders back against two attackers, it’s probably not the best idea to leave the other team’s Designated Player striker 1-v-1 with the Brazilian right back. The inability to clear the ball allowed Rusnak to score the game’s opening goal.

MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 6 — Pereyra had a strong game on both sides. Offensively, he completed 94.6% of his 37 passes, including one key pass. He completed two of his four crosses and five of his six long balls. He took two shots and one of those was on target. Defensively, Pereyra had one tackle, one interceptions, and one blocked shot. Pereyra would’ve had a higher score, but he took a very poor penalty in the first half that was at the perfect position and height for Stefan Frei. Had the Lions not scored at the end, it could’ve cost the team two points.

MF, Cesar Araujo, 7 — Araujo has been one of Orlando City’s most consistent players and had another great performance in this game. Defensively, the central midfielder had four tackles and was instrumental when Oscar Pareja brought on Benji Michel for Ruan, going with three defenders. When in possession, he completed 90.2% of his 51 passes, had a key pass, and completed all five of his long balls. He also had one off-target shot but was fantastic in his role.

MF, Niko Gioacchini, 5 — This was Gioacchini’s first start for the senior team and a little rust was showing. Gioacchini’s had an early unlucky touch as he seemed about to break free for a scoring chance but lost the handle on the ball. He completed just 70.6% of his 17 passes, had one key pass, and one off-target shot. His biggest contributions of the game were drawing the penalty that Pereyra sent at the goalkeeper and nearly assisting a goal for Ivan Angulo had Frei not made a terrific save.

MF, Junior Urso, 5.5 — After arguably his best performance of the season, Urso saw a bit of a drop-off in this one. He completed 82.4% of his 34 passes and completed four of his six long balls. He didn’t get any shots off but did play Gioacchini into the box that resulted in the first penalty. Defensively, Urso had one tackle and two interceptions. It wasn’t one of Urso’s more impactful games, but it wasn’t a bad performance either.

MF, Ivan Angulo, 6 — Angulo was in the starting lineup for the first time in this game and had another strong performance. He completed 88.2% of his 17 passes, had one incomplete cross, and completed his only long ball. He took two shots in the game, both of which were on target and chipped in two tackles on defense. While he wasn’t as good as the game against New York City FC Sunday night, he’s been better than Jake Mulraney and Gioacchini and has probably cemented his spot in the starting lineup for the upcoming games.

F, Tesho Akindele, 5.5 — After scoring game-winning goals in the two most recent games, Akindele earned himself a spot in the starting lineup against Seattle. In 63 minutes, the forward completed 53.3% of his 15 passes, completed one long ball, won four aerials, and took two off-target shots, one of which was blocked by a defender from point-blank range in his last action before being subbed off.

Substitutes

MF, Facundo Torres (46’), 7 (MotM) — After starting 14 of the last 15 games, Torres was given a rest for the first half against Seattle. However, Pareja said after the game that he wanted the star midfielder’s left-footed option in the second half, and he came on at halftime for Gioacchini. He made an immediate impact, scoring Orlando City’s first goal in the 53rd minute and assisting the winning goal in injury time. He completed 90% of his 20 passes with two key passes, one of his two crosses, and his one long ball. He had two shots in the game, with one going in.

F, Ercan Kara (64’), 6 — Similar to Torres, Kara came on in the second half and made an immediate impact. The striker replaced Akindele with Orlando City down a goal. In the 68th minute, he stepped up for the team’s second penalty of the night after a handball in the box. Unlike the first, Kara put his attempt into the corner, evening the game at 2-2. In addition to the goal, Kara completed one of his three passes and took two other shots, but both were officially recorded as off target — although one was a header that Frei made an excellent save to keep out, so there’s no telling what the official scorer saw on that play. The actual off-target shot was a header that missed by about a foot or less on a good corner kick cross from Torres. He was brought on to bring the Lions back even and did his job.

MF, Benji Michel (64’), 5.5 — Pareja made an aggressive move by bringing Michel on for Ruan in the 64th minute. He played in the midfield in this game, spending most of his time out wide in a bit of a wingback role to start before moving to the attacking midfield when Kyle Smith came on. He completed eight of his 10 passes, had one incomplete cross, and one incomplete long ball. He took one shot, which was on target, but didn’t make a big impact on the game.

D, Kyle Smith (76’), 7 — Smith came on for Pereyra in the 76th minute as the Lions went back to a traditional back four. It looked as though he wouldn’t have a big impact, but he did late. In the 89th minute, he nearly assisted the winner on a fantastic ball that landed on the head of Andres Perea, but Frei made a great save. A minute into injury time, Smith scored the game-winning goal. It took a deflection off Ragen’s body, but Smith was awarded the goal due to the original effort being judged on target, lifting the Lions to a 3-2 win. In the end, Smith completed all five of his passes, his lone cross, both of his long balls, and scored on his only shot. Can’t do much better than that.

MF, Andres Perea (76’), 6 — Perea came on in the 76th minute with Smith, replacing Angulo. He completed four of his five passes and nearly scored the winner in the 89th minute. Perea attacked the ball, beating the defenders to the ball on Smith’s cross but hit his shot right at Frei.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in this game. Let us know how you saw it and vote on the Man of the Match below.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Facundo Torres55
Cesar Araujo3
Kyle Smith9
Joao Moutinho2
Mauricio Pereyra0
Other (let us know in the comments)0

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 5/1/26

Orlando City will host Atlanta United in USOC, Lions prepare for Inter Miami, Pride play the Spirit on Saturday, and more.

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2 hours ago

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May 1, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to May, Mane Landers! April flew by in the blink of an eye for me and I’m hoping May goes a little slower so that I can enjoy being outside before the Florida heat really sets in. Then again, I can’t wait until the World Cup arrives in June. But for now, let’s dive into today’s links from around the soccer world.

Orlando City Will Host Atlanta United in U.S. Open Cup

The draw for the rest of the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is complete and Orlando City is set to host Atlanta United in the quarterfinals on either May 19 or 20. That match will take place just a few days after the two rivals square off in Orlando in league play on May 16. Hopefully the Lions can get the job done against an Atlanta side that has also struggled this season.

At home for the Quarterfinals 🏆

— Orlando City SC (@orlandocitysc.com) 2026-04-30T13:51:51.159Z

Should the Lions advance to the semifinals, they’ll go on the road to face the winner between the Columbus Crew and New York City FC. Whichever team wins that semifinal would have hosting rights in the final. On the other side of the bracket, the Houston Dynamo will play St. Louis City while the Colorado Rapids will host the San Jose Earthquakes.

Lions Prepare for Tropic Thunder Match

Orlando City will play against Inter Miami on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. in the first Tropic Thunder match at Nu Stadium. It’s already the second meeting between the two rivals this season, with Orlando falling 4-2 at home to Miami on March 1. Hopefully having Robin Jansson available this time around will help keep Miami’s offense in check, although the Lions are still struggling to reach full health. Although Orlando has yet to win a road game in MLS play this season, Miami has yet to win at home, so we’ll see if either trend comes to an end or if a draw is in store for us on Saturday.

Orlando Pride Host Washington Spirit Saturday

The Orlando Pride will also be in action on Saturday when they play the Washington Spirit at 4 p.m. at Inter&Co Stadium. The Spirit are coming off of a 1-0 win at home against Racing Louisville on Wednesday, while the Pride haven’t played since losing 3-2 on the road to Louisville last Friday. While I think it’s a bit of a stretch to call these two teams rivals, they’ve played some notable games against each other in recent years and it should be a great game. Head Coach Seb Hines and midfielder Summer Yates both spoke on the matchup against one of the league’s top teams.

Las Vegas Group Bids On Vancouver Whitecaps

An investor group by Grant Gustavson made an offer to buy the Vancouver Whitecaps and move the team to Las Vegas. Gustavson, who is the grandson of the founder of Public Storage, is a Vegas resident and the offer includes a plan to build a stadium. The club has been up for sale since December of 2024 and the club released a statement on Monday that there has not been a viable offer that would keep the team in Vancouver despite talks with over 100 interested parties. Any offer would need to be accepted by the owners and approved by the MLS Board of Governors. Hopefully a better solution than moving the team to the middle of the desert presents itself.

Free Kicks

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

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. New England Revolution, U.S. Open Cup: Five Takeaways

Here’s what we learned from the Lions’ exciting U.S. Open Cup victory.

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22 hours ago

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April 30, 2026

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Image of Tiago and Zakaria Taifi celebrating Tiago's first MLS goal vs. the Red Bulls.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City defeated the New England Revolution 4-3 to advance to the quarterfinal round of the U.S. Open Cup. Both teams played a lot of younger players, but Orlando City showed a lot of maturity coming back three times in the match before finally taking the lead in second-half stoppage time. Here are my five takeaways from a pleasantly surprising result in the midweek match.

Welcome Back, Griffin Dorsey

When Alex Freeman left, there was a sense of dread given the options available to replace him. That dread faded when Orlando City brought in MLS veteran right back Griffin Dorsey. The former Houston Dynamo fullback recently came back from injury and got the start in Wednesday’s match. He played well throughout the game, but his best moment came in the 40th minute. Dorsey combined with Justin Ellis on a nifty give-and-go before smashing the ball into the back of the net to draw the Lions even a second time in the match.

Defense? Never Heard of It.

What happens when you have Colin Guske start at center back? You give up three goals. To be clear, I’m not solely blaming Guske, especially since he is less of a center back than Kyle Smith was in his time with Orlando City. Any time a team gives up three goals you have to assume the defense was not up to par, and that was the case against a New England squad that played even more youngsters than Orlando City. Luckily, it didn’t matter in the end since, it was mostly Orlando’s kids that won the match.

Take a Bow, Justin Ellis

The lack of veteran depth, combined with various injuries, has provided the opportunity for youngsters to get some minutes. No player has made more of that opportunity than Justin Ellis. The striker had an assist and a goal in the previous two MLS matches, and matched that output against New England. He was a part of the pretty give-and-go on Dorsey’s goal, and then scored a poacher’s goal to draw Orlando even for the third time in the match. It really should have been two goals, as Ellis put the ball in the net again a few minutes after the one that counted, but either Tyrese Spicer or Ellis was called offside when neither was offside.

Spicer was Spicy

Tyrese Spicer was a literal game changer in this match. He set up two of the four goals on the night, and as I mentioned above, it should have been three if not for the ridiculously bad offside call. He was a holy terror on the left side of the attack and may have actually injured a defender’s ankles with some of his moves. He wasn’t able to score a goal himself, but he was a crucial part of Orlando City’s ability to keep coming back and ultimately win the match.

Goals on Goals

I have not yet mentioned Orlando City’s first or fourth goal. Center back Iago flew above everyone on the pitch to put a beautiful header in the back of the goal. It was the type of goal we were told to expect from the young defender, and all I can say is “thank you sir, may we have another?” The winning goal came once again from a Spicer cross, which second-half sub Zakaria Taifi finished. Taifi made a well-timed back-post run to beat his defender and score the go-ahead goal. I don’t think anyone had the Lions scoring four goals to advance, with three of those goals coming from the back line.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I did not expect Orlando City to win this match, let alone score four goals while doing so. As such, I’m happy that this was able to be a positive article. Now, the Lions turn their attention to an MLS away match against rival Inter Miami. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 4/30/26

Orlando City advances in U.S. Open Cup, Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines earns praise, NWSL sticks with current calendar, and more.

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1 day ago

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April 30, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

For the third Thursday morning in a row, we are all basking in the triumph of a midweek win by Orlando City. It feels good, to say the least, and I’m a bit sad that there’s not another Wednesday match next week. Regardless, there’s plenty of Orlando soccer ahead this weekend to look forward to. Now that we have a little optimism to get us through the rest of the week, let’s get to the links!

Orlando City Wins U.S. Open Cup Thriller

Orlando City has reached the quarterfinals of the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup after winning 4-3 on the road against the New England Revolution in the round of 16. It was truly a back-and-forth affair and Orlando didn’t have the lead at any point of the match until scoring the winner in stoppage time. Just like in the previous round against FC Naples, it wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but all that matters is advancing, and the Lions are through to the quarterfinals. The draw for the rest of the bracket will take place this morning starting at 9:30 a.m.

Seb Hines Receives High Praise

Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines placed eighth in ESPN‘s rankings of the top 20 women’s club soccer coaches in the world. Orlando’s transformation with him at the helm has been historic, as he coached the Pride to winning both the NWSL Championship and the Shield in 2024. The only other current NWSL coaches above him on the list are Angel City FC’s Alex Straus and Gotham FC’s Juan Carlos Amoros. Jonatan Giraldez, who left the Washington Spirit for OL Lyonnes last summer, tops the list, while former Pride head coach Marc Skinner missed the cut.

NWSL Will Stick With Current Calendar For Now

In a league statement, the National Women’s Soccer League announced that it will continue with its spring-to-fall schedule through 2030. This news comes after evaluation by the league of making a similar move as MLS and switching to a calendar that aligns with European leagues.

An update from the NWSL on the competition calendar.

— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 2026-04-29T15:01:48.017Z

This should give all parties a decent amount of time to explore long-term options. It also means we will get to enjoy domestic soccer all year long for at least a couple of years once MLS makes the switch in 2027. We’ll see what happens in the NWSL in 2031, which is also when the U.S. will cohost the Women’s World Cup that summer.

Keeping Up With Americans Abroad

European soccer is winding down and many American players will aim to finish strongly after struggling a bit this season. Fulham defender Antonee Robinson only has one assist this season, while Christian Pulisic has recorded just one goal contribution in 2026. In more positive news, former Lion Alex Freeman played every minute of Villarreal’s 2-1 win over Celta Vigo and hopefully more minutes are ahead of him to close out the season. Forward Folarin Balogun was named AS Monaco’s Player of the Month after scoring in three of his four appearances this month. Another star-spangled storyline to keep an eye on is in the EFL Championship as Aidan Morris and Middlesbrough fight for promotion.

Free Kicks

  • New York City FC’s Maxi Moralez had three assists in his team’s 3-1 win against the New York Red Bulls in the U.S. Open Cup, with all three of NYCFC’s goals coming from corner kicks.
  • Nashville SC forward Ahmed Qasam won MLS Goal of the Matchday for his strike against Charlotte FC. I’m still not sure how Tyrese Spicer’s goal wasn’t nominated.
  • Atletico Madrid and Arsenal each scored a penalty in a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal matchup. Antoine Griezmann, who will join Orlando this summer, hit the crossbar in what was likely his final Champions League game at the Metropolitano.
  • Afghan Women United, a women’s soccer team of Afghan refugees, has been allowed by FIFA to take part in international competitions.
  • FIFA is in talks over implementing a rule that would require soccer teams to field a young Homegrown player during games. The idea would make more sense to me if players didn’t already have options available to get playing time through loans or tournaments outside of league play.
  • English defender Millie Bright announced her retirement from professional soccer. The 32-year-old has played for Chelsea since 2014, but injuries have plagued her over the years and she will continue to be part of the club in the future.
  • Paris Saint-Germain right back Achraf Hakimi is out for the next few weeks due to a thigh injury sustained in the club’s wild 5-4 win over Bayern Munich in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinals.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!

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