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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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7 years ago

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Orlando City’s win streak was snapped at six after a frustrating and emotional match against Atlanta. They out-possessed (55%-45%), passed (433-364), and shot (11-8) Atlanta United but the Lions could not overcome an early deficit. This loss ends the Lions’ win streak at six.

Here’s how the Lions did individually:

Starters:

GK, Joe Bendik, 6— There was nothing Bendik really could have done on either goal, and he did not have much of an effect on the game otherwise. The first goal was a penalty kick and the second was a combination of being partially shielded by Lamine Sané and Ezequiel Barco being wide open inside the 18. He did pick up a bad yellow card in the 32nd minute for yelling at referee Alan Kelly about what he thought was a foul but otherwise he made one save off a Héctor Villalba shot in the 77th minute.

D, Mohamed El-Munir, 7 (MOTM)— In the 32nd minute, El-Munir hustled back and recovered nicely to make a sliding challenge that slowed down the Atlanta attack and prevented a goal. About five minutes into the second half he was too fancy and lost the ball but Orlando’s goal started from his hard work and hustle. His tackle in the 56th minute stopped the visitors in their tracks and transitioned the Orlando play into the attacking end, ending with a goal. He also had one shot on target, created two chances, and was on the ball the second most on the field, behind only Yoshi. On the defensive end he made a total of two tackles.

D, Amro Tarek, 6.5 — Tarek made multiple stops in the middle of the first half. In the 25th minute, his sliding tackle pickpocketed Josef Marinez. Seven minutes later, Tarek got back defensively and was in the perfect position after Bendik was beat to block what would have been a goal. In the 55th minute his sliding tackle stopped the Atlanta attack and then he got up and dribbled down the field but no one on Orlando was there to help him and he eventually lost room to move forward. Overall, a solid night from the center back.

D, Lamine Sané, 6.5 — Similar to Tarek, an overall solid game from the center back. The first goal he could not do much about as it was a penalty, but on the second goal he was covering space instead of a man. This led to Ezequiel Barco wide open on the top of the box. Sané might have also shielded Bendik from seeing the shot. He did have many positives, though. On the very last play of the first half Atlanta had a two-on-one. Sané was the lone defender and stopped the entire attack by himself. While he did not get a shot off, he was a force on the attacking end when he got forward, even playing up top in the dying minutes, and the Atlanta defense struggled to defend the 6-foot-4 defender.

D, Will Johnson, 6 — Johnson was the best passer on the team, connecting on 91% of his 43 passes. He got beat on speed a couple of times throughout the game but he played solid and did not get beat often. He finished with two tackles, but conceded four fouls. The highlight of his night was his long distance shot in the 57th minute that was too powerful for Kann to hold onto. Kann pushed away the ball and it led to Orlando’s lone goal on the night.

MF, Yoshimar Yotún, 5 — An overall poor night by Yoshi. Statistically, he finished with the most touches on the ball and most passes among anyone on the field, but he did not provide a great deal going forward. He turned the ball over often and finished with a 84% passing accuracy. On Atlanta’s second goal, Yotún was caught ball watching on the top of the box. If he had kept running, he would have been in the way of Greg Garza’s assist and Orlando would have only been down one at half. He made a bad pass in 77th minute that led to an Atlanta counter attack that it should have scored on.

MF, Cristian Higuita, 4.5 — Atlanta’s first goal came off a penalty kick. Higuita was called for the foul but it was an extremely soft call and there was not much else that he could have done on the play. In the 28th minute he was too slow in transition and ended up with a poor pass that stopped the attack. Towards the end first half he could have put the Lions on the board but his header went directly at Kann. He picked up a yellow card in the 43rd minute and only lasted through the first half. He did have an impressive 90% passing accuracy and helped out moving the ball forward.

MF, Justin Meram, 6.5 — The best part of his night was clearly getting his first goal of the season. Johnson took a shot from distance and Meram was in the right place at the right time, and all he had to do was pass the ball into the back of the net. He ended the game as the only Lion to have multiple shots on goal, with the other coming in the 52nd minute when he cut inside and nearly caught Kann on the near post. He played 74 minutes, and finished with a 77% passing accuracy. He was hustling more than most players and earns some hustle stats, as well.

MF, Sacha Kljestan, 4.5 — Disappointing night for Kljestan. Most of the attack tried to go through him but he was not sharp and often passed the ball into pressure. As Jason Kreis pointed out after the game, Orlando City was too quick on the attacking end. Kljestan was a big culprit of this and often tried too play way too quickly. He created the most chances among Orlando City players (3), but that number should have been higher. In the 41st minute he made a poor pass that went out for a throw and killed the Orlando attack. Emotions were definitely getting to him as in the second half he and El-Munir got into an argument near the Orlando City bench that had to be broken up by Stefano Pinho. While many players on Orlando City did not do particularly well, Kljestan could have turned the game around but did not have a big enough effect.

MF, Chris Mueller, 4.5 — A very quiet night from the rookie. The best part of his night was a perfect cross that he put on a platter for Higuita, but the Colombian could not find the back of the net off of it. Other than that he did not do much. He only had 23 touches and connected on just nine passes.

F, Dom Dwyer, 5.5 — A poor rating for Dom but, in his defense, he did not have many opportunities on the ball. He only had 30 touches on the ball and his first shot did not come until the 46th minute. He finished the game with three total shots, of which just one was on target in the 92nd minute. He worked hard being the first line of defense but going forward he did not create enough.

Substitutes:

MF, Oriol Rosell (45’), 6 — The second half was much better by the Lions and a part of it has to be because of Rosell coming in. Much of the play in the second half went through him but the team could not get much going on the offensive end. By watching him, it is clear that he needs more playing time to gain chemistry and confidence. A solid outing for Uri, but nothing spectacular.

MF, Josué Colmán (66’), 5.5 — Much of the same story for Colmán as Uri — he needs more game time. Immediately, when he came in, he brought a spark to the team but his flashy footwork was easily defended by Atlanta. He looks impressive on the ball but does not get very far and this led to his 80% passing accuracy — one of the lowest on the team. Some more playing time will build confidence and help the 19-year-old learn when to take players on and when to pass it.

MF, Stefáno Pinho (74’), 5 — Pinho was, well, quiet. He played 16 minutes and touched the ball just nine times. He did not provide much of a spark that he should have when he was brought in and was overall disappointing. He did have an opportunity right when he came on but the Atlanta defense just had to step in front of him near the top of the 18-yard box and Pinho lost control. There was not much that he could have done as Orlando City struggled to transition into the attack.

Vote for your Man of the Match or comment your thoughts on these game grades.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Joe Bendik1
Mohamed El-Munir38
Lamine Sané5
Justin Meram31
Oriol Rosell25
Amro Tarek136
Other10

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Orlando City

Orlando City Striker Duncan McGuire Undergoes Shoulder Surgery

It’s the other shoulder this time, but Big Dunc is on the shelf for awhile again after undergoing surgery.

Published

2 days ago

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June 6, 2025

By

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Orlando City announced today that Duncan McGuire has undergone arthroscopic surgery to repair the labrum in his left shoulder. The surgery was performed by Orlando City Chief Medical Officer Dr. Craig Mintzer of the Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute performed the surgery. Mintzer previously repaired the labrum and rotator cuff in McGuire’s right shoulder back in December for an injury he sustained in Orlando City’s playoff match against Charlotte FC Nov. 9 when he was pulled down by Djibril Diani.

The club’s press release said the 24-year-old striker’s return to play is expected “later this year.” The recovery given for his right shoulder surgery in late 2024 was listed as four to five months, but McGuire was able to come back and play much earlier than expected, appearing for the first time in 2025 in Orlando’s March 15 against the New York Red Bulls — at least a month before the earliest initial projection — however, this time there was no mention of damage to the rotator cuff.

Regardless, the Lions will be without the big target striker for a considerable amount of time.

McGuire had appeared in 12 matches during the regular season in 2025, starting three and scoring one goal and adding an assist. His goal came recently, serving as the game winner in Orlando’s 1-0 home victory over the Portland Timbers on May 24. He was recently listed as questionable on the club’s availability report ahead of the team’s most recent match against the Chicago Fire.

Orlando City drafted McGuire in the first round (No. 6 overall) in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft. After a breakout rookie campaign, in which the Omaha, NE native scored 14 goals, he was courted by several teams in Europe, signing with Blackburn Rovers, only to see the transfer rejected by the English Football League due to an administrative error by the EFL Championship club. After returning to Orlando, McGuire signed a new deal on Aug. 22 to remain a Lion. The new contract runs through 2027 with a club option for 2028. McGuire scored 10 goals and added three assists in 2024. For his Orlando City career, McGuire has appeared in 88 games (46 starts) across all competitions, scoring a total of 28 goals to go along with seven assists.

What It Means for Orlando City

McGuire appeared to be just finding his form, so this injury is unfortunate. The club didn’t put a timeline on McGuire’s recovery this time, but shaving a little off his 2024 recovery estimate, it’s likely that he’ll be out until at least some time in September.

Oscar Pareja has been favoring a 4-4-2 with Luis Muriel and Martin Ojeda up top in recent weeks, with Ramiro Enrique — who is also finding his form — typically spelling one of them when needed. Not having McGuire will affect Pareja’s late-game substitution pattern when Orlando is trailing, as he likes to put Enrique and McGuire both on the field when chasing the game. It also takes the team’s best target striker option out of the lineup when dealing with back lines with lots of height.

McGuire brings size and strength and an ability to occupy center backs that others on the roster can’t replicate. There are times when Enrique’s game is better suited to the opponent, but without McGuire there will be no ability to pivot. With Jack Lynn’s off-season retirement, that leaves the striker pickings mighty slim on the Orlando City bench. That might change Ricardo Moreira’s approach to the MLS Secondary Transfer Window.

Losing a scorer of McGuire’s caliber is always difficult, but this season it could be the difference between finishing high in the table and simply getting into the postseason in a strong Eastern Conference field.

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Opinion

Orlando City Must Learn from May’s Mistakes

The Lions can learn some valuable lessons from the three losses they suffered in May.

Published

2 days ago

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June 6, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Jeremy Reper

Orlando City hadn’t quite achieved juggernaut status as the Major League Soccer season turned from April to May, but a 12-match unbeaten run in the league is nothing to sniff at, despite there being a healthy number of draws interspersed with the victories. Things turned sour as May drew to a close though, as the Lions lost three of their final four matches of the month and entered a two-week break with a whimper rather than a roar.

Losing is never fun, but in this case those three defeats don’t need to be entirely negative experiences, and there are plenty of lessons to be learned from those three bitter losses that will hold Orlando in good stead if it can implement the proper solutions.

More Squad Rotation

One of the biggest factors in Orlando’s rough finish to May was a lack of squad rotation. Oscar Pareja has always been a coach that likes to find his first-choice XI and stick to it almost religiously. He doesn’t normally tweak his lineups or tactics according to whatever opponent is on the slate, and very much values consistency. In periods of fixture congestion, that tendency can be to Orlando’s detriment, and that was very much the case against both Nashville SC and the Chicago Fire.

After beating Inter Miami 3-0 in an emotional rivalry match on May 18, Pareja made just one change for a U.S. Open Cup match against Nashville SC three days later. Ramiro Enrique slotted in for Luis Muriel up top, but every single other starter from the Miami game also got the nod midweek. With Nashville deploying a heavily rotated lineup mostly filled with backups, the gamble was a simple one: hope that OCSC’s A-team can open up a big first-half lead against Nashville’s B-squad before bringing mass changes in the second half to get guys some rest. Hindsight is, of course, 20/20, but the strategy backfired badly as the Lions lost 3-2. Orlando started well with Marco Pasalic’s 17th-minute strike, but the team faded badly afterwards and gave up a couple of very uncharacteristic goals to lose the game. Lapses in concentration and tired defending cost OCSC the game, and that isn’t something we can normally say about this team.

Then, after losing to Atlanta United 3-2 on May 28 due in no small part to Cesar Araujo’s red card, Pareja made two changes for a match against the Chicago Fire on May 31, with Muriel coming in for Enrique, and the other change being a forced one, as Eduard Atuesta replaced the suspended Araujo. Those starters looked noticeably gassed during the resulting 3-1 loss, and the fatigue manifested itself by players missing chances that would normally be converted or in sloppy, mistake-ridden defending.

May was a packed month with a whopping nine matches in 31 days, and most months won’t be that busy. August is set to be the busiest remaining period of the year with six games in 31 days, although that number could rise higher if the Lions make a run in Leagues Cup. The bottom line is that guys are going to need more rest as the season goes on. If the coaching staff doesn’t trust some of the guys currently available as backups, then they need to dip into the transfer market in one way or another and get some players that they do trust, because if the starting XI gets run ragged during busy periods it’s going to cost Orlando, plain and simple.

Cool Heads Usually Prevail

Orlando City has received three red cards on the season, which is tied for the second-most in the league. Unsurprisingly, the Lions are winless in games in which they’ve had a man sent off, with draws against the New York Red Bulls and CF Montreal and a loss to Atlanta United. The results against the Red Bulls and Atlanta were particularly difficult to swallow, as before going down to 10 men, Orlando had looked on track to get three points in each game.

Araujo’s red card against Atlanta was especially frustrating, as he allowed Mateusz Klich to get under his skin, grabbed him by the throat, and reduced his team to 10 men when OCSC was nursing a 2-1 lead on the road. It was completely unnecessary and was also the sort of thing that Orlando had looked to put in the rearview mirror after keeping its collective composure and not picking up any bookings in the 3-0 road win against Miami, while the Herons picked up four and looked noticeably rattled in the process.

It should go without saying, but the Lions can’t afford to get key players sent off. Six extra points could make a big difference in the standings at the end of the year, and that number could rise even higher if OCSC can’t put its disciplinary issues to rest once and for all.

Focus for the Full 90

There were moments in each of Orlando’s three May losses that the team committed bad defensive lapses or mistakes. Whether it was not playing to the whistle on Nashville’s third goal, Atuesta’s bad turnover against Atlanta, or the Lions collectively allowing Chicago to stroll through midfield to score a third goal, there were plenty of examples of bad breakdowns that were largely absent during the team’s unbeaten run. Can some of that be attributed to tired minds and tired legs? Maybe so — it’s a lot harder to play crisp and focused when the minutes have piled up. Regardless, its something that can’t continue to happen going forward. It’s possible that having more rotation in the squad will help that a lot, but it’s also on the players on the field to stay as mentally sharp as they can when they’re out on the pitch.

Clearly, a recurring theme here is that fresh legs and balanced squad rotation are top of my list of things I want to see change. I’m all for riding the hot hands, but tired legs make for tired minds, and tired minds make mistakes and are easier to rile up. Whether reinforcements come from the bench or an outside source, using more bodies will go a long way towards solving some of the issues that we saw in May’s three losses. All we can do now is wait and see what happens once the team returns from its break. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/6/25

Alex Freeman called up for Concacaf Gold Cup, Orlando Pride get ready for the Houston Dash, Orlando City B plays tonight, and more.

Published

2 days ago

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June 6, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Happy Friday! I’ll be spending this weekend celebrating my birthday by beating my friends at mini golf with no mercy but still hope to catch some soccer over the next few days. I’ve also been on a bit of a movie kick and plan on catching Wes Anderson’s new flick at some point soon. But for now, let’s dive into today’s links!

Alex Freeman Called Up For Gold Cup

Orlando City defender Alex Freeman was officially called up by the United States Men’s National Team for the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer. He’s the only Lion who will be at the tournament and is one of seven uncapped USMNT players on the roster. The 20-year-old could receive more playing time than expected, as right back Sergino Dest is not on the roster so that he can recover over the summer. Left back John Tolkin was added to replace Dest, so Freeman has a real shot at making a claim for the position this month. The U.S. will take on Turkey Saturday in the first of two friendlies before its first Gold Cup match against Trinidad & Tobago on June 15.

Orlando Pride Prepares to Host the Houston Dash

With the international break for women’s soccer over, the Orlando Pride return to action Saturday with a home game against the Houston Dash. It should be a great opportunity for the Pride to ease back into the swing of things against a Dash team that’s only scored 10 goals this season. Pride midfielder Ally Lemos spoke on the benefit of being able to rest heading into this match while maintaining a winning mindset from a 3-1 victory on May 23.

Anna Moorhouse Called Up For 2025 Euros

Orlando Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse was named to England’s final roster for the 2025 UEFA European Women’s Championship. She’s one of three goalkeepers on the squad following Mary Earp’s surprise retirement from international soccer, and she will likely compete with fellow uncapped player Khiara Keating for the backup position behind Hannah Hampton. Moorhouse has started in every game for the Pride this season and was an NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year finalist for her record-breaking season last year. England’s Euro run will begin July 5 against France before other group matches against the Netherlands and Wales.

Orlando City B Takes On Huntsville City FC

The Young Lions are riding high after a 2-1 win over Chattanooga FC and will take that momentum into tonight’s road match against Huntsville City FC. Midfielder Noah Levis scored his first career goal in that home win, with Justin Hylton providing the assist in his OCB debut. Orlando’s offense has been hot and cold this season but has a variety of attacking talent that can create chances in different ways. The Young Lions have only won once on the road, but a win tonight would lift them to third in the Eastern Conference.

Free Kicks

  • FIFA Club World Cup action is coming to the City Beautiful this month and Orlando City legend Kaká spoke on how it’s nice for Orlando to host games.
  • San Diego Wave Head Coach Jonas Eidevall was named NWSL Coach of the Month. The Wave were undefeated in May, winning three of their four matches to climb to second in the league standings.
  • The NWSL will allow intraleague loans for all teams, with the players needing to consent to the move in order for it to happen. Denver and Boston’s expansion teams will have access to potentially over $1 million in Allocation Money starting on July 1 to build their rosters before the 2026 season.
  • Atletico Madrid is reportedly close to signing American midfielder Johnny Cardoso from Real Betis.
  • South Korea, Uzbekistan, and Jordan all qualified for the 2026 World Cup, while China was eliminated from contention. Australia beat Japan 1-0 and will qualify so long as it doesn’t lose heavily to Saudi Arabia on June 10.
  • Spain beat France 5-4 in a wild game to reach the UEFA Nations League final against Portugal on Sunday. Lamine Yamal continues to take the world by storm, but a late rally by France nearly completed a comeback.

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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