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Orlando City vs. Chicago Fire: Player Grades and Man of the Match from Week 2

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10 years ago

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Orlando City came out looking for three points and got only one for the second time in a week and the Lions have no one to blame but themselves. Even with Chicago down to 10 men, poor touches in the final third and shockingly bad service from out wide doomed City to just a 1-1 draw at the Citrus Bowl against a feisty Fire club.

The less said about the result against a 10-man team that gave up four goals last week, the better. Here are my player grades from the match.

Starters

GK, Joe Bendik, 6 — In fairness, there wasn’t much for Bendik to do. He couldn’t do much with Accam’s breakaway and other than that he didn’t have much to do. He faced two shots on target and stopped one.

D, Brek Shea, 5.5 — Aside from a few good crosses and a good run or two, there wasn’t much quality from Brek. He had a few unsure moments in the back, but did well for the most part to keep crosses from out wide from getting into the box, aside from a few early ones.

D, Seb Hines, 5 — Mixed bag from Seb, who got absolutely toasted by David Accam on the goal, but that’s not really his fault. Goossens played a terrific long ball and Hines (and pretty much anyone else) is no match for Accam’s pace. Could have taken a card perhaps to keep from giving up the chance. Had a few nervy moments in defense and wasn’t as dominant as usual in the air. Did make one saving tackle to prevent an Accam breakaway after the speedy forward got past Tommy Redding.

D, Tommy Redding, 5.5 — Did a bit better handling Igboananike than Hines perhaps, and made a few desperate challenges to break up some attacks at the last minute, including a saving touch on a cross that was labeled for Igboananike. The touch was just enough to send it off the Fire player and out for a goal kick. Still, there were a few too many nervy moments.

D, Rafael Ramos, 4.5 — A few too many uncharacteristically heavy touches and some really rough crosses for the Portuguese youth international. Ramos created space out on the right but did precious little with it and was hesitant to challenge defenders to the end line. Had a step a few times and still got his cross blocked by hesitating.

MF, Servando Carrasco, 4.5 — Sat behind his two defensive midfield teammates and mostly did OK breaking up plays but his passing wasn’t as sharp as it was Sunday and his long balls were just a touch long a few times. Took a needless yellow card on a silly challenge that gave Chicago a free kick in a good spot. He finished with a good passing rating but won only one tackle and conceded three fouls.

MF, Cristian Higuita, 4 — Miserable night for Higuita in his first game of the season in terms of heavy touches and poor passes in the attacking half. Ruined a number of promising attacks with a poor pass that was left far too close to a defender, particularly when City was up a man. Was again a bit reckless in his challenges and too hotheaded and confrontational, but he mostly did a good job in the defensive half and will likely be better with a game under his belt.

MF, Antonio Nocerino, 5 — I’ll give the newcomer a neutral grade for his first competitive match since August. Early on he was a factor in the attack, working well with his teammates on the left side. As he tired, teammates bypassed him or couldn’t find him. Lost the ball that led to Chicago’s goal, but he lost it at the top of the Fire box, so it’s hard to blame him for the longball counter. Looks much better than most of his teammates at controlling the ball at his feet in traffic. I look forward to seeing more of the Italian.

MF, Kevin Molino, 6 — Again the Trinidadian was dangerous but his final product left a lot to be desired, completing only 76% of his passes but still created a game-high four chances. He got too cute in the attacking third on multiple occasions. Did well to set up Larin for the Orlando City goal, nearly had one of his own with a shot that forced a diving save from Matt Lampson and came close to sending in Larin, Winter and Hadji Barry. Unfortunately, for every one of those, there were two or three balls off the legs of the defender in front of him, or an attempt to thread a perfect ball through traffic, when a safer option was available. Earned a late free kick with a nifty run.

MF, Adrian Winter, 5.5 — The Energizer Bunny is less effective over a full 90 minutes than he is in a super sub role. Winter was perhaps the best player in purple in the first 45 minutes but he completely disappeared after the break. In the opening half, he worked well to send Ramos forward out wide to the right, and yet was still dangerous in the middle of the pitch, working with Molino and Larin.

F, Cyle Larin, 6 (Man of the Match) — Opened the scoring with a good goal and his movement early in the game was a real problem for Chicago. Nearly scored the winner late but hit the post and also was pulled down in the box in the dying moments but was never going to get a penalty call up a man at home like that. Had some issues in hold-up play at times on the night but continues to be a danger man on a weekly basis.

Substitutes

MF, Pedro Ribeiro (63′), 4.5 — Fired a stunning laser that got the woodwork in the late going but other than that he was poor off the bench, completing just 68.8% of his passes. Had two tackles and drew a foul but not the best of nights for Ribeiro.

F, Hadji Barry (73′), 3 — He’s fast, but what else does Barry do well at this point? He had just seven touches in his 21 or so minutes and didn’t attempt a pass. Was slotted in by Molino and just tried to shoot immediately when a chip would have netted a game winner. It’s unfair to expect such a savvy play from a rookie, perhaps, but that was an opportunity to shine. Did not officially get a shot for that chance and did not create a chance or win a foul.

* * *

So, those are my grades and I’m sure you’ll waste no time telling me how wrong they are. Feel free to vent below in the comments section and don’t forget to vote for Man of the Match.

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/15/26

OCB beats Huntsville City, OCB signs Parker Amoo-Mensah, USMNT defeats Paraguay in World Cup, and more.

Published

9 hours ago

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June 15, 2026

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Image of Matthew Belgodere of OCB against Huntsville City.
Image courtesy of Orlando City B

Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been keeping myself busy at work but tried to catch as many World Cup matches as possible. I did get to check out the Mumford & Sons and Rufus Du Sol concerts at Wrigley Field up here in Chicago. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.

OCB Defeats Huntsville City FC on the Road

Orlando City B completed the comeback, overturning a 1-0 deficit to beat Huntsville City FC 2-1 at Wicks Family Field Saturday. Huntsville struck first to take a 1-0 lead into halftime. In the second half, Matthew Belgodere buried the equalizer for the Young Lions. Jacob Ramirez scored the final goal of the match for OCB to seal the win on the road and extend its winning streak to four games. That result lifts the Young Lions to third in the MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference table with 28 points. OCB will return home to face Philadelphia Union II Sunday at Osceola County Stadium.

OCB Signs Parker Amoo-Mensah

Orlando City B has signed academy defender Parker Amoo-Mensah to an MLS NEXT Pro contract. The club announced the signing Friday with the deal running through the 2028 season. Amoo-Mensah has made 12 appearances for the Young Lions during the 2026 MLS NEXT Pro season, starting eight matches, and has one assist.

USMNT Defeats Paraguay in World Cup Opener

The U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Paraguay 4-1 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA, to win its opening match in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Former Lion Alex Freeman played a full 90 minutes and recorded an assist in the match, while Orlando City midfielder Braian Ojeda was on Paraguay’s bench but did not play. The USMNT’s opening goal was an own goal from Paraguay midfielder Damian Bobadilla to give the Yanks the lead in the first half. Falorin Balogun scored twice for the U.S to take a 3-0 lead into halftime. In the second half, Paraguay pulled one back, but Gio Reyna added the insurance goal. The USMNT will face Australia in its second group stage match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Lumen Field in Seattle on Friday.

2026 FIFA World Cup Recap

On Friday, Canada drew Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-1. Orlando City goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau started the match and had two clutch saves while former Lions Cyle Larin and Richie Laryea were also in action. Larin scored the equalizer for the Canadian Men’s National Team, securing a draw and earning its first-ever point in a World Cup match. On Saturday, Qatar and Switzerland played to a 1-1 draw, Brazil and Morocco settled for a 1-1 draw, Scotland secured its first World Cup win in 36 years with a 1-0 victory over Haiti, and Australia defeated Turkey 2-0. On Sunday, Kai Havertz scored twice for Germany in a 7-1 win over Curacao, Japan trailed twice and fought back for a 2-2 draw against the Netherlands, Amad Diallo scored a late winner for Ivory Coast in a 1-0 win over Ecuador, and Sweden and Tunisia kicked off late. Today’s matches will feature Spain facing Cape Verde, Belgium taking on Egypt, Saudi Arabia facing Uruguay, and Iran taking on New Zealand.

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That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday, and I’ll see you next time.

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Orlando City

Flashback Friday: June 10, 2023 vs. Colorado Rapids

Let’s take a trip down memory lane to a booking-laden match at home that took place a little less than three years ago.

Published

3 days ago

on

June 12, 2026

By

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

The World Cup is now officially underway, and while that means Orlando City is on break, we can’t have you forgetting about the Lions while all the international action is taking place. That means its time for another edition of Flashback Friday, where we hop in the trusty time machine and reminisce on OCSC matches of yesteryear.

Last week we relived a rousing road win over the New York Red Bulls from June, 3 2023, and this week, we actually pick up right where we left off, on June 10, 2023 as the Lions returned home to take on the Colorado Rapids.

Coming off a 3-0 win over the Red Bulls in the previous match, Oscar Pareja decided to not mess with a good thing, and kept Orlando City’s same starting XI from that victory. Pedro Gallese was in net behind a back line of Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, and Kyle Smith. Wilder Cartagena and Cesar Araujo played the double pivot; Ivan Angulo, Mauricio Pereyra, and Facundo Torres were the attacking midfielders, and Ercan Kara was deployed as the striker.

In typical June fashion for the City Beautiful, kickoff was delayed by just under an hour as the stadium was pounded by storms, and the delay did not look to have done any favors for Orlando’s sharpness. That said, OCSC did win a corner kick less than a minute into the game, and Torres had a tame shot saved in the eighth minute, but the Lions weren’t consistently sharp with their passing in the early moments of the contest.

The teams traded chances just before the 15-minute mark, with Kara sending a header too high before Cole Bassett sent a shot straight to Gallese. Carlos then picked up a yellow card in the 24th minute, which evened things out between the two teams after Lalas Abubakar was cautioned for the Rapids after just six minutes. Those two bookings proved to be a harbinger of things to come, because Colorado went down to 10 men in the 39th minute after midfielder Braian Galvan caught Angulo with a high boot while his studs were showing.

Pereyra had Orlando’s best chance of the opening 45 minutes in stoppage time but could only send his effort right at goalkeeper Marko Ilic, and that was the last significant action of the half. The Lions ended the half with an edge in possession (59.7%-40.3%), shots (7-2), shots on target (2-1), and passing accuracy (85.3%-79.4%), while both teams won two corners.

Pareja made two moves at halftime, bringing on Rodrigo Schlegel for the once-booked Carlos, and Martin Ojeda for Cartagena in an effort to go more offensive against a shorthanded Rapids side. The Lions certainly looked brighter going forward as the second half got underway and had a few dangerous moments before finally breaking the deadlock in the 55th minute.

Pereyra played a ball across the top of the box for Torres, who took a couple of touches before sending a ball to the net that took a wicked deflection off Andreas Maxsø that carried it past Ilic.

It wasn’t the prettiest goal the Lions have ever scored, but for a team that was guilty at times of passing up good shots in favor of the perfect look at goal, it was proof that sometimes you just need to take shots in dangerous areas.

Fortunately, Orlando seemed to take that lesson to heart. Kara went close in the 65th minute despite shooting through traffic, Angulo had a shot deflected by Abubakar three minutes later, and Torres had another deflected effort go just wide of the post four minutes after that.

The game changed again in the 75th minute, when the Rapids had another player sent off. Abubakar lasted for 69 minutes on a yellow card but got burned by Angulo in midfield and hauled him down in order to prevent the Lions from potentially working a transition opportunity. He had some teammates behind him, but the referee showed him a second yellow card. Pareja smelled blood in the water and just three minutes later he brought on Ramiro Enrique for Smith, who had been given a yellow card in the 52nd minute.

Ilic made a great save on Pereyra in the 81st minute to keep the score at 1-0 and keep the Rapids in the game, but Orlando got its second goal just two minutes later. Torres had the ball on the right side of the box with a Colorado player backing off him, and that gave him ample time to get his head up and pick out a man. He played a ball to Enrique at the top of the box, who had plenty of time to take a couple of touches and send a low shot into the bottom corner past a diving Ilic for his first goal as an Orlando City player.

Somewhat surprisingly, the game started to get a little stretched after the Lions doubled their advantage. Colorado had a shot blocked in the 81st minute, Kara sent a shot very close to the post six minutes after that, and Gallese saved a Darren Yapi attempt in the 88th minute to keep his clean sheet alive. Aside from Pareja handing Alejandro Granados his MLS debut, that was the last significant action of the match, which finished 2-0 to the good guys.

Unsurprisingly, considering Colorado’s deficit in players, the Lions dominated all of the game’s most important statistics. OCSC finished with the advantage in possession (65%-35%), shots (15-4), shots on goal (6-2), corners (5-3), and passing accuracy (89.4%-81.5%).

The victory made it back-to-back wins for the first time in 2023, stretched Orlando’s unbeaten run to six, and gave El Pulpo his 100th clean sheet for the team in all competitions.

Marcus Mitchell had the helm for Player Grades in this one, and Torres got his nod for Man of the Match with a goal, an assist, and a grade of 7.5 out of 10. Several other Lions graded out at 7 out of 10, with only one player grading below a 6.

While it was a weird win, it unfortunately was the final game of the unbeaten streak, as the Lions fell to a familiar defeat at Gillette Stadium the following week, although things got back on track soon afterward. I’ll see you back here in a week for another trip down memory lane. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/12/26

USMNT plays Paraguay tonight, red cards rain down in World Cup opener, Sporting Kansas City linked with Yann Gboho, and more.

Published

3 days ago

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June 12, 2026

By

Image of Alex Freeman sliding in celebration of a goal.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Happy Friday, Mane Landers! The World Cup is in full swing and the U.S. will play today, so it’s a pretty exciting Friday to say the least. I’m a bit of a bundle of nerves about how the team will do, but I’m still looking forward to catching the game. If you have any gameday rituals, be sure to share, so that we can conjure up enough luck and support for the team tonight. Let’s get to the links!

USMNT’s World Cup Campaign Begins Today

The United States Men’s National Team will take on Paraguay at 9 p.m. tonight in its first match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. There’s plenty of pressure on the U.S. to perform well as one of the host nations, and this will also be Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino’s first time coaching at a World Cup. Pochettino stated that all 26 players are available for selection, including center back Chris Richards, although he may not necessarily start. Former Orlando City defender Alex Freeman, who is the youngest player on the U.S. roster, could make his World Cup debut tonight, so be sure to root for our hometown hero should he take the field. Hopefully, the Yanks can start this tournament off on the right foot with a big win in California.

World Cup Opener Features Three Red Cards

This year’s World Cup began in Mexico City, with Mexico beating South Africa 2-0 in a match that included three red cards. All three were straight red cards given in the second half in separate incidents, as Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane were sent off for South Africa before Mexico’s Cesar Montes was shown red in stoppage time. There hasn’t been a World Cup match with that many red cards since the record of four was set in 2006 in a match between Portugal and the Netherlands. As for the game’s goals, Julian Quinones pounced on a mistake by South Africa to give Mexico an early lead and Raul Jimenez doubled that lead while South Africa was reduced to 10 men.

Sporting Kansas City Linked With Yann Gboho

While the World Cup roars on, the rumor mill is in full force as clubs make plans for summer reinforcements. Sporting Kansas City is reportedly pushing to sign Toulouse winger Yann Gboho, who recorded 10 goals and three assists across all competitions this past season. The surprising aspect of this pursuit would be that Toulouse values Gboho at an eye-watering $20 million transfer fee, which would be a club record by a country mile. Kansas City needs all the help it can get on offense, as it has scored just 14 goals in 14 games so far this season.

Jose Mourinho Officially Returns to Real Madrid

It’s been a bit of an open secret over the past few weeks that Jose Mourinho would become Real Madrid’s next manager and it’s now official, with the 63-year-old signing a three-year contract with the Spanish club. Mourinho helped Real Madrid win a La Liga title and the Copa del Rey over a decade ago before his departure in 2013 after three seasons with the club. Now, he joins a Real Madrid side that has finished second in the league standings and been eliminated in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League the past two seasons. I, for one, can’t wait to see how one of the biggest personalities in soccer works alongside a locker room of star players that seemed in disarray this past season.

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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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