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Orlando City vs. Montreal Impact: Final Score 3-3 as Lions Salvage Point via Late Equalizer

The Lions left it late on Saturday night against Montreal, but a moment of Jonathan Spector brilliance in stoppage time secured a home point for City.

Published

7 years ago

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Nick Leyva, The Mane Land

Saturday night’s contest against the Montreal Impact was an especially important one for Orlando City. The Lions (7-5-4, 25 points) were coming off a listless showing in their mid-week U.S. Open Cup match, and that effort, combined with Cyle Larin’s DUI arrest the morning after, left a cloud hanging over the club for the past several days.

It wasn’t the full three-point outing that the club and its fans were hoping for, but it was entertaining and the Lions showed a lot more what-for — albeit against a ninth-place side — in a dramatic 3-3 draw vs. Montreal Impact (4-4-6, 18 points) capped by a Jonathan Spector goal in second-half stoppage time.

There were legitimate concerns about Orlando’s ability to score without its main man up top (Larin had scored 50% of the club’s goals this season entering the game), but those concerns were at least temporarily eased by a fast offensive start against the Impact.

Despite playing without its leading scorer, Orlando City didn’t waste much time getting things going on the offensive end. Kaká — making his first start since a May 21 calf injury vs. NYCFC — sent in a cross from the left wing that Will Johnson took a stab at with a volley, but the Canadian was unable to keep his effort down enough and sent it sailing over the bar. It didn’t take long for Orlando to open the scoring, however, as five minutes later Kaká managed more impressive work down the left side, getting past Hassoun Camara with ease and pulling back a cross that Matías Pérez García was able to adjust to — he found it about a half-yard behind him as his momentum took him toward goal — and finish left-footed for his first goal in an Orlando City shirt.

While well-worked, the goal was not without a bit of controversy, as the ball was very close to being over the end line when Kaká chased it down and sent it back to MPG. It was tough to tell live and from certain camera angles on replay, but it’s safe to say our Canadian counterparts at Mount Royal Soccer weren’t as pleased with the end result as we were.

Nevertheless, City found itself up a goal just seven minutes in.

Perhaps a bit of karmic retribution was repaid in minute 16 by Jose Aja, who, instead of clearing the danger while being closed down by Ignacio Piatti, decided to dance around and was subsequently stripped by the Argentinian, who took full advantage of the defender’s gaffe and found an open Blerim Dzemaili in the box, who confidently slotted home near-post to knot the game at 1-1.

Continuing the trend of an exciting first half, though, Orlando answered less than 10 minutes later.

Giles Barnes played MPG into the box nicely, and the Argentinian laid it back to Johnson, whose first-time shot was parried back by Evan Bush and into the legs of his own center back Laurent Ciman just off the goal line, but the deflection off the Belgian fell perfectly for Rivas to smash home a go-ahead goal and make it 2-1 in minute 23 for Orlando. While Ciman’s knees kept Johnson from getting credit for the score, the Colombian Rivas left no doubt with his rifle of a finish on the rebound.

All of a sudden, an Orlando team that had averaged fewer than 1.1 goals per match coming in had netted two in the opening 25 minutes, and without Larin.

After another series of chances that included a beautiful one-two combination play from the likes of Rivas and Barnes, as well as a backheel nutmeg of Camara by Kaká, Orlando City finished the first half with a 14-2 shot advantage and 60% of the possession, but the one-goal advantage felt like it could’ve, and perhaps should’ve, been greater.

The failure to capitalize on chances in the first half predictably came back to bite Orlando City, as Montreal’s dynamic midfielder Piatti sprung for two goals in a two-minute span, with Lions center back Spector being bested both times.

Piatti used a clever touch on the first goal to set himself up on his right leg, side-stepping Spector in the process before finishing with a low burner that made it through Joe Bendik’s legs. Piatti struck again almost instantly in minute 59 when he cut to the inside of Spector to the left this time and fired another shot at Bendik. This time the Lions’ keeper was able to make the save, but Piatti was the only man left standing among a pile of three Orlando City players who had gone to ground to try to defend the first shot, and he easily tapped home his eighth goal of the season to put the Impact ahead 3-2, just like that.

The flow of the game had suddenly been flipped, and the energetic attacking we saw from the Lions in the first half was dampened quite a bit. Lacking Larin up top, the Lions didn’t have too many options to go to for an offensive boost off the bench, but the attacking crew of Kaká, Rivas, Barnes, and Pérez García continued to fight to create chances to equalize.

After several more missed opportunities to produce chances — Barnes launched an awkward left-footed shot well wide despite having an open Johnson rushing down the middle, and played a through ball just too far for a charging Kaká minutes later, to name a couple — it seemed like hope was lost for Orlando.

One thing we’ve learned about these Lions, though, is that they’ll continue to fight until the last breath. That held true again, as Spector managed a bit of redemption in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time, beautifully redirecting a header off an MPG corner across the face of Bush’s goal and into the top left corner to salvage a point and a 3-3 finish. The corner was one in a series that Orlando earned with its all-out siege of Montreal’s 18-yard box in search of an equalizer.

Despite the disappointing sequence where Piatti scored twice in as many minutes — something Orlando City Head Coach Jason Kreis described post-match as his team shooting itself in the foot — the late equalizer represented a silver lining and showed the resilience of this Lions side again.

“For me, a big, big positive was the guys continued to work really hard,” Kreis told the media. “On most nights with most teams, they would’ve packed it in [after two quick goals]. But our guys kept fighting and kept believing, so we get to walk out with at least a point.”

The Lions controlled 58% of the ball on the evening and generated 17 shots, not bad at all for a team that had struggled to score consistently even with Larin in the lineup. The back-to-back Piatti goals took a lot of luster off the final result, but the three goals scored were a big positive for City and the effort and fight until the end was a needed response following Wednesday’s result vs. Miami FC.

Lions fullback Donny Toia, who spent two seasons with Montreal, echoed his coach’s sentiments following the match, acknowledging the excitement of the finish while admitting he and his teammates could’ve sealed it much earlier.

“It’s one point versus zero, so we’re happy with one,” Toia said. “We had opportunities to make it 3-1 and we didn’t put it away and then we gave up those silly goals. So it’s definitely frustrating, but at the same time you’ve got to look at it as a positive because we didn’t lose, we came out with a point.”

The Lions, who remain in fourth place in the Eastern Conference behind New York City FC, are back to it on Wednesday in the Pacific Northwest as they travel for a 10:30 p.m. ET showdown with the Seattle Sounders.

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Orlando City

How Orlando City’s Offense Stacks Up Against What Atlanta Does Defensively

How Orlando City has performed against teams playing with three or four defenders, and how that may influence the playoff game against Atlanta United.

Published

16 hours ago

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November 21, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

The most famous quote about real estate is that “there are three things that matter in property: location, location, location.” Soccer coaches also like to think in threes, especially when it comes to points, but for a soccer coach, the three things that matter might be the rhyming triplet “formation, formation, formation,” as that is where they will have the biggest influence on every game that their team plays.

Throughout his tenure as head coach, Óscar Pareja has preferred to use a 4-2-3-1 as his formation (fbref.com’s lineup data shows that the Lions primarily played a 4-2-3-1 in 65% of their MLS matches this season, and 79% of their MLS matches during the last three seasons). The Lions have lined up in a 4-2-3-1 during each of their last 14 games, and my confidence level is strong to quite strong (can you believe Meet the Parents came out 24 years ago?) that they will do so once again on Sunday when they host Atlanta United.

Atlanta United also prefers to deploy a 4-2-3-1, but was less consistent than Orlando City this season during MLS play, as evidenced by the chart below that shows how Atlanta lined up this season:

The purpose of this image is a table to show how Atlanta United lined up in 2024 (mostly in a 4-2-3-1 but also in one of six other formations).

I am relying on the coders at Opta for their evaluation of the formation, as I do not watch a lot of Atlanta United matches (sounds terrible), but though Atlanta primarily played with four defenders in more than two-thirds of its matches, during the last two matches it played a 3-5-2, the only two matches all season in which interim coach Rob Valentino rolled out that formation. I suspect that the formation change was related partially to playing Inter Miami and trying to defend the Herons’ dynamic offense and partially due to an injury suffered by defender Brooks Lennon in the first game of that series. So, while Atlanta primarily played four in the back for most of the season, there is a good chance it will roll with what worked against Florida’s second-best MLS team when it plays Florida’s best MLS team this weekend.

Now, if you want to read more about Atlanta, then you can read our match preview, which will drop Sunday morning, but I want to look at how Orlando did against teams that play similar styles. Looking only at MLS games, the table below shows how Orlando City performed against different back line structures this season (the left side is how the Lions’ opponents lined up, the right side is how Orlando City performed against opponents in those formations):

Table embedded as an image showing Orlando City doing best in goal differential in 12 games against three-man back lines, second best against four-man back lines, and having played once against a five-man back line (a 1-1 draw).

Orlando City earned slightly more points per game — the stat that matters most — against teams that played four in the back, but the Lions had a better average goal differential when teams played three in the back. Atlanta will likely deploy one of those two formations. In both games against Orlando City this season, Sunday’s visitors went with a 4-2-3-1, but as mentioned earlier, they used three in the back in each of their last two matches, so it really could be either.

Soccer is not like baseball, where players primarily stay in the same spot throughout the game, so some of these stats have to be taken with a grain of salt, as players are not always rigidly in the same position throughout a match. A team may also primarily play with four in the back but switch to three when chasing a game, or five when trying to protect against a late goal.

That said, using the data around Orlando City’s opponents’ general formations, here are the attacking groups who played the most frequently against four defenders during the 24 MLS games where Opta coded the opponents as using a defensive group of four:

Table embedded as an image showing the most frequently used lineups against teams who deploy four defenders. The most frequently used attacking group has a plus eight goal differential for the season.

It is a little ominous that the main starting group, shown in row one, has played 666 MLS minutes against back lines of four this season, but do I like that green goal differential of +8 in those minutes, which is a strong +1.08 per 90 minutes. I like that goal differential more than I like all the things that Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin like on their song that is creatively named “I Like It.” Coincidentally, when people ask me what I think about that song, I say, “I like it.” I am very creative.

If we look at the lineups that Orlando City has used against back lines of three defenders then there are some pretty major differences in personnel groupings, but it must be noted that more than half of the games against teams playing three in the back came early in the season, when Ramiro Enrique was unavailable to play. Enrique, my presumed starter at striker, has played fewer than three games’ worth of minutes (265 total) against back lines of three this season, and only 28 minutes with the main starting group, which ranks 13th among all the attacking lineups for minutes played against three defenders. That group scored one goal in their 28 minutes together though, for a robust 3.21 goals-scored-per-90-minutes average.

While the team as a whole has been successful against three-man back lines, I do not expect any of the lineups shown in the table below to play more than a few minutes together this weekend, though the first row and the last row are strong groups and had a lot of success.

Table embedded as an image showing the most frequently used lineups against teams who deploy three defenders. The most frequently used attacking group has a plus three goal differential for the season.

I am sure that all week long the Orlando City coaching staff has been going back and forth on whether it is more likely that Atlanta reverts to its most commonly used four in the back, or if the Five Stripes try for three wins in a row with three in the back. I would prefer that Atlanta plays with zero defenders and goalkeeper Brad Guzan wears a blindfold, but I think that is unlikely to be the case.

Even though Atlanta defeated Orlando City both times while in a 4-2-3-1, based on available personnel and recent results, I believe that the team will come out in a 3-5-2 in Inter&Co Stadium in the conference semifinal. Good things come in threes, and Orlando City’s best offensive production this season has been against three defenders, so I am going to be hoping that this continues, and in the third game against Atlanta the Lions grab the three points. Three’s company!

Well, it is a playoff game, so there are no actual points at stake, but you know what I meant.

Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to get a victory to advance to the Eastern Conference final?

Published

18 hours ago

on

November 21, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City continues its playoff journey against Atlanta United Sunday at Inter&Co Stadium. The Lions are coming off an emotional penalty shootout win over Charlotte FC in their best-of-three, first-round series. Likewise, Atlanta United stunned everyone by taking out Inter Miami to advance in its own best-of-three matchup. Now, the rivals meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

What does Orlando City need to do to get past Atlanta United to advance to the Easter Conference final?

Beat Guzan

Brad Guzan made 16 saves over Atlanta’s three matches against Inter Miami, including seven in the 3-2 win on the road in Game 3. The 40-year-old former USMNT keeper is in excellent form and is a big reason why the Five Stripes are facing Orlando City. Converting chances against Guzan will be crucial to earning a result. There have been times this season when the Lions have struggled to convert their chances. Despite that, the team has done enough offensively to get to this point. Facundo Torres, Martin Ojeda, Duncan McGuire, Ramiro Enrique, and others have contributed and will need to do so this weekend.

Cartagena is Essential

Orlando City lost twice to Atlanta United during the regular season. What is interesting, and perhaps relevant, is that Wilder Cartagena was out for both of those matches. Cartagena was shown a straight red in the match against Minnesota United prior to the first match against Atlanta way back in March. He was shown a yellow card in the match against FC Cincinnati and then served a yellow card accumulation suspension for the final match of the season against Atlanta. Fortunately for Orlando City, Cartagena will be available for the match this weekend. I’ve mentioned before the importance of Cartagena to Orlando City’s success. When he and Cesar Araujo are on the field together, the defense is simply better. Cartagena is frankly one of the better defensive midfielders in MLS. Atlanta scored five goals in the series against Miami, and Orlando will need to keep the visitors from having that kind of offensive success.

Overcome the Past

That darn international break in the middle of the playoffs is something I don’t love. More precisely, I don’t like it because Orlando City often struggles after a break. It would have been nice if Orlando City could have ridden the momentum from the penalty kick victory into the Atlanta match, but that’s not to be. Now is the time for Orlando City to break some bad habits, including turning around its historical lack of success against Atlanta, and tendency to struggle in the first match after a break. Oscar Pareja needs to have the players in the right frame of mind, and the players need to execute the plan. A full house of supporters can also make a difference. Given it’s a Sunday afternoon match, there’s no reason not to pack the house.

That is what I will be looking for Sunday afternoon. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links: 11/21/24

Marta’s chance to shine in NWSL Championship, NWSL and MLS award winners announced, 2025 SheBelieves Cup details, and more.

Published

21 hours ago

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November 21, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

How’s it going, Mane Landers? I’ve been spending most of this week plotting out some holiday shopping to make things a little less stressful for myself over the next few weeks. A big weekend filled with Orlando soccer awaits us, so make sure to get any errands or obligations out of the way sooner rather than later. Let’s dive into today’s links!

Spotlight Falls On Marta in NWSL Championship

There are plenty of storylines heading into Saturday’s NWSL Championship between the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit, including Marta’s opportunity to put an exclamation point on what has been an excellent season for the Pride. Orlando has been enjoying the fruits of its labor this season after a rebuild over the past few years that’s included plenty of change in the City Beautiful. Marta has been a constant, however, enduring some difficult seasons since joining the Pride and adapting her game She’s scored in both of the Pride’s playoff games so far and has a chance to author a storybook ending on Saturday.

Ann-Katrin Berger Named NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year

NJ/NY Gotham FC goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger was named 2024 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year, beating out the Pride’s Anna Moorhouse and Utah Royals FC’s Mandy Haught for the honor. It was Berger’s first year in the NWSL and she’s the first European player to win the award. She only conceded 16 goals across her 22 matches for Gotham this season and was a key reason behind her team’s success. I’m not too surprised that Moorhouse did not win, considering how solid the Pride’s defense was as a whole, but this won’t take anything away from a record-breaking season for her.

Wilfried Nancy Named MLS Coach of the Year

Columbus Crew Head Coach Wilfried Nancy was voted 2024 MLS Coach of the Year after a historic season in which the Crew set club records in both points and goals. The Crew also won the Leagues Cup this summer and their 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup campaign included advancing past Tigres and Monterrey en route to the final. This is Nancy’s first time being named Coach of the Year and he has been a finalist for the award every year since 2021. The Frenchman received 40.02% of the vote, winning the award over Inter Miami’s Gerardo Martino and Colorado Rapids Head Coach Chris Armas.

2025 SheBelieves Cup Details Unveiled

The 10th annual SheBelieves Cup will take place next year and the tournament will return to its usual format where each of the four teams plays each other once. The United States Women’s National Team will host Japan, Colombia, and Australia in February in what should be an exciting tournament. The U.S. will take on Colombia on Feb. 20 in Houston before facing Australia in Arizona on Feb. 23 and finishing the tournament on Feb. 26 against Japan at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. These games will also be the first domestic games of 2025 for the USWNT as it prepares to qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.

Eric Quill Named FC Dallas Head Coach

FC Dallas announced that Eric Quill will become the team’s next head coach. Quill joins Dallas after a great year with New Mexico United that included trips to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals and USL Championship Western Conference semifinals. It’s also a reunion of sorts for Quill, as he previously coached North Texas SC and was named USL League One Coach of the Year with the club in 2019. Dallas missed out on the playoffs this season, with Peter Luccin coaching the team on an interim basis after the firing of Nico Estevez in June.

Free Kicks

  • District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser challenged Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to a bet involving this weekend’s NWSL Championship, with embarrassing lightshows on the line.

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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