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Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew SC (Round 2): Player Grades and Man of the Match

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Orlando City’s winless run continues but if the team can continue playing like it did against the Columbus Crew tonight, it won’t last much longer. Look, I get it. you want wins — not draws, and certainly not losses. You want more than a good effort. I do too. But results in sports don’t always reflect performance and words like ‘deserve’ have nothing to do with the game of soccer.

So, while I understand people’s frustrations with the final score and a dwindling hope of reaching the playoffs (which, if you’ve paid attention since May 1, you shouldn’t be surprised by), but I have to applaud a solid 96-minute effort by the Lions, who out-shot the Crew 20-4 (7-2 on target), out-possessed them 55.5%-44.5%, and out-passed them 85%-77%. You can perform well and not get a result. That’s the sad truth about the game of soccer that a lot of people forget.

Anyway, enough with the preamble, let’s get to the grades.

Starters

GK, Joe Bendik, 6.5 — You might think it was a light night for Joe with the Crew only getting four shot attempts and only two on goal, but he did put in some work. His save in the 37th minute was a tremendous effort as Ola Kamara got in behind the defense and left Joe all alone to come way off his line and smother the shot. Columbus tried to play directly over the top with quick long passes often and he was called on to come outside the box to make plays, notably a couple of clearances. Bendik made only one save and the goal against was from point-blank range with a quick change of direction. His distribution was mostly solid with 5/10 on long balls, including a couple really good ones. This grade may be low but there wasn’t a lot for him to do at times.

D, Donny Toia, 6.5 — Donny made two crucial one-on-one challenges in the box to break up potential Crew breakaways. But he also gave up the foul that led to the Columbus goal. It was a bit soft, especially considering the venom in some of the challenges in the game, but Toia did put his hands on the Crew player and that’s an easy way to get noticed by the referee. He finished with two tackles, an interception and two clearances and a very good 84.2% passing percentage, and managed one cross on the offensive end, before being subbed off in the 83rd minute for Richie Laryea.

D, Leo Pereira, 6.5 — The young Brazilian held his own for the most part. He did have a couple of shaky moments and allowed a couple of free runners. But he was active in the game, with 70 touches — most on the back line and second most on the team. His 63 passes were the most on the team and he was a respectable 81% on the night. He did get beat over the top a few times but that was largely how Columbus was playing. He finished with one tackle, two interceptions, two clearances, one aerial won, and an accurate cross. He did, however, concede three free kicks on the night. As with Bendik, his score may have been higher had he needed to do more defending.

D, Tommy Redding, 6.5 — Overall a solid night for Tommy, who, like his central defense partner, didn’t have to fend off too many periods of sustained Columbus pressure. His 96.9% passing rate will raise some eyebrows, but he didn’t have a single tackle in the game, with one interception, one aerial won, and two clearances. As you could say about anyone, he had a little trouble handling Justin Meram, but in the end all Meram did was rattle the woodwork. Allowed Ola Kamara to get behind the line once forcing a huge save by Bendik.

D, Scott Sutter, 7 — As usual, Sutter did his thing and helped the team out on both ends. Defensively, he had two tackles, two interceptions, and a clearance, and was part of the reason that Meram and Kamara had pretty quiet nights. His 73.3% passing is a bit misleading as the majority of his passes were in the offensive half, as opposed to his back line mates. He had two key passes, sent five crosses into the area, and had one shot attempt, but his movement and ability to read the game helped Orlando maintain sustained pressure in the second half.

MF, Antonio Nocerino, 6 — When your defensive midfielder has no defensive statistics it is either a sign that he was terrible or that the other team didn’t attack a whole lot. It was the latter in the Italian’s case on this night. He spent most of the game connecting the left and right sides of the attack and facilitating between the back line and the attacking players. He passed at a pretty good 87.8% clip but had no crosses or shots and drew only one foul. We’ve seen him jump into the attack last week at New York but on this night he was a spectator when the ball went into the final third, and that was possibly part of the game plan.

MF, Yoshimar Yotun, 6.5 — Yoshi is still finding his way with his new team but he is certainly showing his skill set. Just two minutes in, he made a ridiculous move to get by a defender and launched a shot toward the back post from distance that didn’t miss by much. None of his three shots were on target, but considering the range he’s shooting from, he wasn’t off by much. On a team-high 88 touches, he had one key pass, an 85.5% passing accuracy, a team-high three interceptions, and a tackle. He showed his versatility when he finished the game at left back after Toia was subbed out.

MF, Will Johnson, 7 — Will’s night ended after only 32 minutes after a knee-to-knee collision with Waylon Francis and then a second foul by Wil Trapp took him out of the match. But while he was out there, Johnson fired two shots — both on goal — completed all 10 of his passes, and cleared one ball on defense. He brought energy and passion to the field but in the end a nasty challenge wrecked his night.

MF, Giles Barnes, 7.5 (MOTM) — His game-tying goal was a brilliant strike from deep on the right side of goal he fizzed one off the back post, which deflected all the way to the right post and in. It was unsaveable. He took on defenders all night, while connecting on 88.9% of his passes and taking a team-high five shots (two on frame). He also drew three fouls, made two tackles, and had one interception.

F, Carlos Rivas, 7 — The Colombian was active and had a very strong game that was spoiled only by a few really off-target passes that could have played teammates in alone on goal and some poor set-piece service that repeatedly failed to beat the first defender. He still had four key passes to lead all players but there were a few near-misses that really could have made the difference in the game where he just failed to hit the mark. He also whiffed spectacularly from the top of the box when Cyle Larin played him a great cross. Only one of his eight crosses was on target and his passing rate of 73.3% should have been better. He chipped in two tackles and an interception defensively. It wasn’t a bad night at all for Carlos but a little more sharpness in his passes into the penalty area would have made him MotM worthy in my book and possibly helped the Lions get that second goal.

F, Cyle Larin, 5.5 — The Canadian allowed Lalas Abubakar to get inside of him on the first-half Columbus set-piece goal, which was certainly unfortunate. Cyle had only one shot on target and one key pass. His passing rate was good (87.5%) but he won no aerials and managed only 29 touches on the night — the fewest of any starter who went at least half the game except Bendik. Larin worked hard but just seemed to get marked out of the game.

Substitutes

MF, Cristian Higuita (32’), 7.5 — This was a completely different Higuita than we’ve seen throughout 2017. This Higuita got into the box repeatedly, assisted on the game-tying goal, completed 93.3% of his passes — many of which were forward in the attacking half — and took two shots. He was feisty and assertive on the pitch, earning four free kicks, and tallying four tackles. It was a literal toss-up for me to pick MotM between Cristian and Barnes. Giles scored the goal so he gets the nod.

F, Dom Dwyer (63’), 6.5 — Dom made his Orlando City Stadium debut and immediately changed the energy of the match. His first involvement was a collision with goalkeeper Zack Steffen on an aerial ball and there was at least a hint of a foul on Steffen, who looked to initiate the contact. The keeper gets the benefit in those situations though, especially when they are shaken up on the play. Dwyer had three shots, with two on frame, including a blistering effort that forced a very good save in the 94th minute. He completed all four of his passes and his passion and energy gave the team a lift. With only three full training sessions since his arrival due to the All-Star Game and his surgery, the team needs a full 90 from this Dom.

MF, Richie Layrea (83’), N/A — Richie has been getting on the pitch too late to do enough to warrant a fair grade, but the glimpses he’s showing are certainly promising. He completed all six of his passes — including a key pass. Another good showing for the young Canadian in an abbreviated spell of play.


That’s the way I saw the individual performances from Orlando City’s draw with the Crew. Please feel free to share your scores in the comments section and vote for your OCSC Man of the Match below.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Dom Dwyer14
Carlos Rivas9
Cristian Higuita30
Giles Barnes29
Scott Sutter4
Other4

Opinion

Pedro Gallese’s Recent Form No Surprise

Pedro Gallese’s recent solid form isn’t anything new, you just need to know where to look.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

One of the more frustrating narratives surrounding Orlando City at the beginning of the season was the assertion that goalkeeper Pedro Gallese was playing poorly and was costing the Lions points. The main point of emphasis from the detractors was the Lions’ 4-2 opening day loss to the Philadelphia Union, although he also got a lot of flak for his performances against Toronto FC, and during the 2-1 loss to New York City FC. That criticism has started to get quieter in recent weeks, particularly after he made the bench of the most recent MLS Team of the Matchday, but I don’t think he was playing nearly as poorly as some people made him out to be at the start of the season, and his recent performances haven’t come out of nowhere.

So let’s talk about those two big supposed “black marks” on his 2025 resume. Most of the chatter came from the opening game against the Union, with him coming in for criticism in two instances here, and here. I want to specifically address the mention of Gallese allowing six goals on 2.9 post-shot expected goals. Listen, I don’t actually have a problem with the xG stat the way some people do, and I truly think it can be incredibly useful when used properly in certain contexts. I just don’t think the numbers tell the full story here.

Against the Union, three goals came from inside or on the edge of the six-yard box, and were one-touch finishes. Gallese realistically had no chance on two of them (the first and fourth goals), and while the other one came from an acute angle and was mostly right at him, the ball is still coming so fast and from such a short distance that it still feels a bit nitpicky to place the blame entirely on him. Yes, he arguably could have done better, but there are plenty of goalkeepers in this league that aren’t saving that.

The other goal of the night came from a Rodrigo Schlegel error and a first touch shot from the edge of the box that came as El Pulpo was already moving laterally across his goal to shift with the rest of his defense, only for the shot to be heading for the opposite side of the net. Despite the distance the shot is coming from, that one also feels harsh to blame him for in my book. Again, I love xG when it’s used properly, but I just don’t think this is a fair application, as it doesn’t take into account where Gallese is at the time of the turnover-produced shot — only the shooter’s location. I find it pretty hard to look at each one of those goals and honestly say that he should save them. To me, there’s a big difference between something a goalkeeper could do more to save and something they should do more to save.

The other two goals out of the aforementioned six came against Toronto FC, and honestly it’s hard for me to put a ton of blame on him for either of them. The first came off a corner and was a header from inside the six-yard box, and although he should maybe do better considering the angle of the shot and his placement in the goal, the final shot comes from about three yards away. I’m sorry, but that just requires excellent reaction time, and while it’s the sort of shot that we do see saved in MLS sometimes, I’m not sure it’s one that we should expect to see saved. TFC’s final goal of the night was a great strike from distance in the bottom corner that also came through a few bodies, which meant Gallese didn’t see it until fairly late on. Again, to me this is a shot that he could do more to save, but not one that he should do more to save, and that’s an important distinction.

Honestly, the most justified criticism I’ve seen probably comes from here, when speaking about the 2-1 loss to NYCFC. Gallese gave up a huge rebound for the hosts’ second and eventual game-winning goal. Frankly, it wasn’t great at all and it ended up costing Orlando City a point. That being said, he did still make seven saves in that game and kept the Lions in it with a chance to salvage a late point.

Aside from the error against NYCFC though, El Pulpo has largely been mistake free and pretty blameless for the three goals he’s conceded. One was a penalty kick against the New York Red Bulls, and the second was a one-touch finish from about three yards away which also came against the Red Bulls. Go back and watch the film, and you won’t be shocked to hear that I hold him blameless for both. The goal he surrendered against the LA Galaxy wasn’t great, as Christian Ramirez’s flick isn’t exactly traveling at light speed. But, the shot also goes the opposite way of which Gallese’s momentum is already carrying him, so that’s something to consider. Aside from the rebound against NYCFC, this is the one goal he’s given up in 2025 that I really think he should have done better with.

The Peruvian has gotten a lot of praise (and rightly so) for the three straight clean sheets he’s kept in Orlando’s last three games. He’s made 11 saves during that time and got absolutely peppered late against Montreal, when Orlando went down to 10 men (again!). But he’s been making saves all year long, and the one game he didn’t register any (the season opener), was also a game where you can make a real argument that he couldn’t have done a better job of attempting to stop the ball going in than he already did. His save percentage of 73% is 19th out of 33, which is close to bang average; and his clean sheet percentage of 37.5% is tied for ninth.

Oh, and if we want to bring post-shot expected goals back into this, then let’s look at his post-shot expected goals minus goals allowed (PSxG-GA). PSxG-GA uses expected goals to provide a stat that is based on how likely a goalkeeper is to save a shot. The number can be either positive or negative, with a positive number suggesting either a better-than-average shot-stopping ability, or a goalkeeper that’s been luckier than most. Gallese’s PSxG-GA of 1.7 is tied for 13th out of 49 goalkeepers, which ain’t half bad, is it? It’s worth mentioning that some of the rankings are skewed by keepers who only spent a small amount of time on the field and either let in a ton of goals or very few, but that’s the funny thing about raw stats — they need context.


At the end of the day, I’m not trying to sit here and say that Gallese has been flawless this season, is completely blameless for each and every one of the goals he’s conceded, and that every ounce of criticism that’s come his way has been unfair. There are absolutely goals that he should have done a better job on, but even at the time they were written, I think some of the assertions that he was a massive weak point for the Lions were overblown and not properly justified. He’s had a few shaky moments, like any keeper, but the defense in front of him wasn’t doing him any favors at times, and he was still regularly making saves to keep Orlando City in games. While it’s nice that he’s finally getting some plaudits, he’s had himself a perfectly fine 2025 season for the most part. You just have to take the time to look.

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 4/25/25

Orlando City gets ready for Atlanta United, Luiz Muzzi and Ricardo Moreira promoted, NWSL MVP candidates, and more.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Happy Friday! Today starts three straight days of Orlando soccer to enjoy, so make sure to plan your weekend accordingly. It was a fairly fast week for me, and I was able to read three books somehow. Before we dive into today’s links, let’s all wish a very happy 21st birthday to Orlando City winger Nicolas Rodriguez!

Orlando City Gets Ready for Rivalry Match

The Lions are back in action Saturday night against rival Atlanta United in what should be one of the more interesting matchups of the weekend. Both teams are looking for answers on offense heading into this match, as Orlando is coming off of three straight scoreless draws and Atlanta hasn’t won since March. Taking on a rival at home could be just what’s needed for the Lions to jumpstart their attack and return to the form they had earlier this season. Head Coach Oscar Pareja spoke on how it’s an important game to win for Orlando, as well as how the offense needs to exercise some calmness to finish its chances.

Orlando City Promotes Luiz Muzzi and Ricardo Moreira

Luiz Muzzi and Ricardo Moreira were both promoted by Orlando City, with Moreira taking over as the club’s general manager and sporting director and Muzzi becoming senior advisor to ownership, global soccer ventures. It’s a natural step up for Moreira, who joined the club in 2018 and has helped build a competitive roster that’s made the playoffs for the past five seasons. Muzzi’s new role is a bit of a mouthful, but he’ll be taking on an advisory role focused on the growth of the club while working closely with ownership.

“I am truly grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as Orlando City Soccer Club’s EVP of Soccer Operations and General Manager for seven seasons, and I am excited to continue my journey with the club in this new role,” said Luiz Muzzi. “I look forward to working alongside the Wilf family and the leadership team to help shape the future of the club and its continued success, both on and off the field, and I know Orlando City’s Soccer Operations will be in great hands under Ricardo’s leadership.”

Orlando Pride Players in the NWSL MVP Hunt

Now that we’re over a month into the NWSL season, ESPN‘s Jeff Kassouf highlighted the league’s early MVP candidates, and there are a couple of familiar faces in his rankings. Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda is predictably in the mix in sixth on the list, as she has three goals and an assist to her name so far. But a surprise inclusion is midfielder Haley McCutcheon, who has impressed on both sides of the ball to earn ninth place in the rankings. While I think the MVP race will ultimately be between scorers like Banda, Temwa Chawinga, Ashley Hatch, and Debinha, it’s pretty great to see McCutcheon receive deserved praise for her performance this year.

MLS Transfer News Roundup

The transfer deadline may be over for MLS clubs, but deals that crossed the finish line are still coming in. The Columbus Crew added yet another forward by sending up to $1.2 million to the Houston Dynamo in exchange for Aliyu Ibrahim. The 23-year-old will maintain his U22 Initiative Player status in Columbus and recorded 12 goals and nine assists across 90 appearances for Houston. LAFC signed 26-year-old midfielder Ryan Raposo, who spent the past five seasons with the Vancouver Whitecaps and was a free agent this year. St. Louis City also made things official with Simon Becher by making his loan move a permanent one so that he stays with the club.

Free Kicks


That’s all I have for you this time around. Mother’s Day is less than a month away, just as a warning. If the mothers in your life like romance books and you’re looking for a gift, I can’t recommend The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center enough. Have a great Friday!

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Orlando City

Orlando City Was Hot, But Now Is Not — An Explanation

A comparison of the Lions’ start to the season vs. recent form.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Years ago, back during the early days of the new millennium, one of the first websites to ever “go viral” was the matchmaking site AmIHotOrNot.com. I, of course, never visited this site, as I had access to a mirror on the wall and already knew who was the fairest of them all (not me, the mirror was pretty clear about that). But as a college student during those years, I knew of the site and how it quickly was getting millions of views per day. Today’s topic is related to hot and not, but it is the significantly more important topic of Orlando City’s performance on the field during the 2025 season.

During the first six games of the season, the Lions looked better than any previous Orlando City team in the club’s MLS era in terms of early season offensive prowess. The squad led the league in goals scored, the Designated Players were scoring or contributing to nearly every goal, and with Duncan McGuire still to return to add even more firepower, it seemed like there might be the possibility of running out of purple smoke to shoot off in front of The Wall with how many goals Orlando City was scoring.

And then, with apologies to Prince, purple flames were doused by purple rain, and we found out what it sounds like when Lions fans cry. To understand why the offense went from 2.5 goals scored per game to being shut out in three straight matches for the first time since 2018 we need to first consider whether the start to the season was an aberration itself, and had our expectations misaligned for how this team would perform for the rest of the season. Let’s take a look at how the first six games of 2025 compared with the second half of the 2024 regular season (17 games):

Metric2024 Final 172025 First 6
Goals per Game2.52.5
Shots on Target per Game5.65.5
Shots on Target %40%35%
Goal Conversions per Shot on Target44%45%
Medium + Long Passes Completed per Game215208
Medium + Long Pass Completion %81%80%
Completed Crosses + Switches per Game21.421.0
Progressive Carries + Passes per Game64.657.3
Points Earned per Game2.061.67

For the most part it looks like the beginning of the 2025 season picked right up where the 2024 regular season ended (I intentionally excluded the 2024 playoffs from the data because playoff games tend to be played differently than regular-season games). There were some major changes in personnel from 2024 to 2025, but even with the changes in players, the style of play and the formation used by Orlando City remained the same, and most of the offensive stats are nearly exactly the same. Six games is a decent enough sample size to say that those stats from 2025 were not a fluke, and the offensive output that we saw in the second half of the 2024 season could be reasonably expected to continue at a similar pace.

But then it did not. Oh boy has it not. Looking at the same chart, but comparing the 2025 first six games to the 2025 most recent three matches gets an immediate “not hot” vote and is as ugly as a Bubba Sparxxx song.

Metric2025 First 62025 Last 3
Goals per Game2.50.0
Shots on Target per Game5.53.0
Shots on Target %35%31%
Goal Conversions per Shot on Target45%0%
Medium + Long Passes Completed per Game208171
Medium + Long Pass Completion %80%74%
Completed Crosses + Switches per Game21.012.6
Progressive Carries + Passes per Game57.342.0
Points Earned per Game1.671.0

The sharp-eyed observer will note that red cards are not noted anywhere above, and in those last three games Orlando City played nearly 50 minutes with only 10 players. In both of the games when a red card (the ultimate sum of two yellow cards by the same player) was given, Orlando City was ahead in expected goals at the moment the red card was issued, and while those do not count for anything officially, they indicate who was getting shots off from more dangerous locations. I thought Orlando City seemed more likely to score and take all three points in both games up until the dismissal of a player. Instead, of course, the Lions went down a player and immediately had to pivot to a more defensive posture, and with one fewer player on the field, they could not play (or at least maintain) the same style as they had been.

In addition to playing far more conservatively, in both games Orlando City substituted on a defender for a key attacking player within four minutes of the red card, removing Marco Pašalić in the game against New York and Luis Muriel in the game against Montréal. This was effectively a double negative, and not in the way that turns two negatives into a positive. It was more like f(x) = -2x, a function with a slope of -2 and…let me stop right there. It was bad, and hurt the offense to remove a key playmaker and goal scorer.

Another major issue is that the midfield engine of César Araújo and Eduard Atuesta have played a combined 11 minutes in the last three games, and all 11 of those minutes were played by Atuesta in the game against New York and after the red card. Araújo’s absence has definitely been felt, but as he is more of a deep-lying player and defensive destroyer, the team has been able to adequately replace him, but Atuesta’s offensive talents have been sorely missed. Atuesta may not have many goal contributions, but he is second on the team in shot-creating actions per 90 minutes (4.62) and first on the team in goal-creating actions per 90 minutes (1.20). That 1.20 is the highest in club history (fbref.com only has tracking back to 2018, so apologies to the legend Kaká) among players who played at least 500 minutes in a season, and it is nearly 50% higher than the player in second place in that stat, Mauricio Pereyra in 2020, when he averaged 0.82.

Might it be nice to be able to play a player who is creating a goal every 90 minutes? I think so. Joran Gerbet has played well, especially for a rookie, and specially especially (just go with it) for a rookie in the mentally and physically demanding role of a central midfielder. He has a ton of potential, but he is not yet as productive a player as Atuesta and when the Colombian playmaker returns the offense will get back a key cog that will help to create good shots, and in a game like soccer the difference between a goal and a miss is often a matter of inches, and a slightly better delivery on the pass can turn a shot into a shot on target and a shot on target into a goal.

Is it really as simple as just red cards and injuries, and that if Orlando City can keep its full complement of players on the field and get back some injured players, everything will go from not hot to hot again? Perhaps, but I think there is a style of play change that has also been causing some of the recent issues. I included rows on the charts above on the aggregation of completed crosses and switches (as in switches of the field) per game and medium and long passes completed per game, and from that chart you can see that the numbers are much lower in the last three games as compared to the beginning of this season and the final half of last season.

Those drops coincide with Rafael Santos playing only 59 minutes in the last three games, and with Alex Freeman not being able to get into the attack in the same way as he was in the season-opening games. There definitely is some overlap here with playing down a player and needing to keep defensive players back, but Santos’ offensive contributions (he is currently 20th in MLS in completed crosses + switches per 90 minutes), and even just the threat of him playing a long ball across the field to change the point of attack, have been missed by the Orlando City offense with him off the field. David Brekalo is an excellent defender, but his offensive contributions are more tied to his ability to win balls in the air, whereas Santos is among the league leaders in crosses and switches per 90 minutes, with Freeman one of his primary targets.

Brekalo playing left back certainly helped shore up a defense that had been leaking goals, and Santos was a major contributor to that with some poor defensive performances, but that tradeoff has removed a major threat to the Orlando City offense. Freeman’s reduction in offensive contributions has not helped, but I think the loss of Santos’ early crosses, long switches, and overlapping runs contributed more to the nearly 400-minute dry spell without a goal from open play. The Lions need him to find his form again, though he will not be able to do it against Atlanta, as he will be suspended.

Three games without a goal is unpleasant as a fan, but Orlando City battled in all three games and at least came away with a point. The defense is playing well, and despite many injuries, the Lions are still very much in the playoff hunt as the season approaches the one-third mark. There are legitimate reasons for the recent offensive swoon, and Araújo and Atuesta will likely be back shortly, and McGuire also may soon be able to start a game and offer a different offensive look. Ramiro Enrique heated up once spring turned to summer in 2024, and when all four of those players are back to full health, the team will once again have a deep roster full of players aggressively competing for minutes.

Óscar Pareja historically has used the first half of a season to find his preferred lineup for the stretch run of the season, and I believe this is another season when he will be playing the long game and seeing what he has at his disposal. The red cards and injuries provided short-term pain in terms of points dropped, but they will likely also provide long-term gain with the view into how the players play in different positions and combinations.

It is a long season, with two cup competitions still to start, in addition to 25 more regular-season games, and summer does not even start until June. I expect that a lot of the issues from the recent run of games will work themselves out with time. We just need to keep our cool and wait for the inevitable Orlando City late season hot streak.

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