Orlando City

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

Published

8 years ago

May 13, 2018

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

Player	Votes
Joe Bendik	1
Mohamed El-Munir	38
Lamine Sané	5
Justin Meram	31
Oriol Rosell	25
Amro Tarek	136
Other	10

Related Topics:Player Grades SBN_migrated

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 5/8/26

Orlando City prepares for CF Montreal, Pride host North Carolina tonight, Johnny Cardoso injured, and more.

Published

3 hours ago

May 8, 2026

Marcus Mitchell

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Happy Friday, Mane Landers! We have some exciting games ahead of us over the next few days, with three straight days of Orlando soccer to enjoy. It all starts with the Orlando Pride’s game tonight, with Orlando City playing Saturday afternoon, and Orlando City B wrapping things up on Sunday. Make sure to plan your weekend accordingly! Let’s get to the links.

Orlando City Gets Ready for Road Match

The Lions are on the road this weekend for a game in Canada against CF Montreal on Saturday. Orlando is coming off of a dramatic 4-3 win over rival Inter Miami, with Martin Ojeda scoring a hat trick. Ojeda has had Montreal’s number in recent years, scoring at least once against the Canadian club each year for the past three years. Orlando hasn’t lost to Montreal since 2023, but it also hasn’t won on the road against Montreal since 2021. Saturday’s match will also be a reunion of sorts for goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau, who joined Montreal’s academy at age 15 and played there for nine years. He was excellent in Orlando’s win in Miami, so hopefully he can keep it up in his home country.

Orlando Pride Host North Carolina Courage Tonight

The Orlando Pride are back in action tonight with a home game against the North Carolina Courage. Both teams are coming off of losses last week, with the Pride falling 4-2 to the Washington Spirit. Tonight’s match will pit the league’s top two scorers against each other, with Barbra Banda scoring seven so far while Ashley Sanchez has scored five. The Pride will play three consecutive road games after tonight, putting an emphasis on a strong showing at home. It’s also Survivor Night at the stadium, so make sure to bring any immunity idols if you’ll be in attendance. The Pride could use any advantage they can get.

Johnny Cardoso Injured Ahead of World Cup

Atletico Madrid announced that American midfielder Johnny Cardoso was diagnosed with an ankle sprain he sustained in training, casting doubt on his availability for the World Cup next month. He’ll now work on rehabilitation before the club provides a timetable for his return. The 24-year-old started in the United States Men’s National Team’s game against Belgium in March, but he had to exit that camp due to injury as well. Hopefully he has a smooth and successful recovery from this.

English Clubs Reach European Finals

Aston Villa beat Nottingham Forest 4-0 in the Europa League, overcoming a loss in the first leg to secure a spot in the final. John McGinn scored twice to help his team reach its first major European final since 1982. Villa will play in the final on May 20 against SC Freiburg, which also bounced back from a loss in the first leg by beating Braga 3-1 in Germany. A red card to Mario Dorgeles in the sixth minute reduced Braga to 10 men early on and Lukas Kubler bagged a brace for Freiburg.

In the Europa Conference League, Crystal Palace won 2-1 against Shakhtar Donetsk to advance to the final on May 27 against Rayo Vallecano. As a result of this week’s semifinals across the continent, English clubs are in contention to win the Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League.

Free Kicks

The World Cup trophy will be on display for public viewing at Universal Orlando Resort on May 11 and 12.
Nashville SC forward Sam Surridge topped the MLS MVP rankings at this point of the season, with the Chicago Fire’s Hugo Cuypers in second. Martin Ojeda wasn’t listed, but we know he can go on a hot streak and last week’s hat trick might’ve been the spark.
Barcelona can clinch the La Liga title with a win or a draw at home against Real Madrid on Sunday.
As for how Real Madrid’s preparations for El Clasico are going, Federico Valverde suffered a head injury after an altercation with teammate Aurelien Tchouameni.
ESPN detailed the multitude of pain points fans could deal with during the upcoming World Cup, as well as exploring at what point is it too much of a hassle to attend the world’s best sporting event.
Darwin Nunez is reportedly leaving Al-Hilal this summer, making him an interesting name to keep an eye out for over the next few months.

Darwin Nunez is expected to leave Al-Hilal this summer after being frozen out of Saudi Pro League games following the arrival of Karim Benzema.

Al-Hilal insist the parties will only formally discuss exit terms in the offseason, but talks over a departure are already advanced.… pic.twitter.com/RjKDcrtbnd
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) May 7, 2026

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

Orlando City

Justin Ellis Off to Hot Start in 2026 on Multiple Levels

Homegrown forward Justin Ellis is off to a strong early start to the season for both Orlando City and OCB.

Published

21 hours ago

May 7, 2026

S. Andrew DeSalvo

Image of Justin Ellis after he scored a goal against Chicago Fire II.

Image courtesy of Orlando City B / Justin Glatt

May is a big month for graduations, as students of all ages are wrapping up their school years and preparing to move up to the next level. Some graduations are bigger deals than others, but it is a big deal for every student that they accomplished everything required of them during the school year and should be celebrated thusly. Dr. Seuss’s book Oh The Places You’ll Go is commonly gifted to graduates in honor of their accomplishments, as the famous author writes about soaring to great heights and overcoming obstacles while on the journey of life.

That book is great and one I highly recommend that everyone, not just graduating students, read every year. I do not know if Orlando City’s Justin Ellis has read that book recently, but he is certainly going places with how he has played in 2026. Ellis started the year primarily playing with Orlando City B (OCB), but his last six games in all competitions have all been with Orlando City. In those games he started five of them, playing a total of 443 minutes, and he scored two goals while adding three assists. For the season Ellis now has one goal and two assists in MLS play, one goal and one assist in U.S. Open Cup play, and three goals and two assists in MLS NEXT Pro play for a total of five goals and five assists in all competitions. He is the leading scorer among all three Orlando teams, as you can see in the chart below.

I was a mathematics major, but you do not have to be one to notice that the chart below will only list eight goal contributions for Ellis, rather than the 10 I just mentioned. The chart below comes from Opta’s tracking on the American Soccer Analysis website, and they only track data from games in league play (a cool feature of theirs is that they track stoppage time minutes, so the per 90-minutes-values are far more accurate than on other websites). Even so, Ellis still leads all three teams in total goal contributions and also goal contributions per 90 minutes played.

All three leagues are at different parts of their season, but the per-90-minutes data normalizes it for all players. In the chart you will see two numbers in each category, the raw number for that category, and then the per-90-minutes number inside of the parentheses. The overall rank is as compared to every player who has at least three goal contributions (there are 218 as of Wednesday) across MLS, MLS NEXT Pro, and the NWSL.

Player	Goals	Assists*	Goal Contributions	Overall Rank
Justin Ellis	4 (0.52)	4 (0.52)	8 (1.04)	T-12 (17)
Barbra Banda	7 (0.92)	0 (0.00)	7 (0.92)	T-19 (26)
Martín Ojeda	7 (0.58)	0 (0.00)	7 (0.58)	T-19 (120)
Harvey Sarajian	4 (0.57)	2 (0.28)	6 (0.85)	T-41 (32)
Gustavo Caraballo	3 (0.41)	2 (0.28)	5 (0.69)	74 (72)

* This dataset only includes primary assists, though MLS counts both primary and secondary assists in the league’s official tracking. None of the players in the chart have accumulated any secondary assists thus far, though Banda and Ojeda certainly should have accumulated at least one assist somehow by now with how well they have set their teammates up. Sigh.

If we take a look at the two individual per-90-minutes categories of goals per 90 minutes and assists per 90 minutes, a player who contributes equally in all facets of the offense would be one who has pretty similar numbers in each, as that would make them just as proficient in setting up their teammates as they are in scoring goals. Most players tend towards being goal scorers or distributors, but very few players are adept at being both. In his short professional career Ellis is one of the rare players who scores and assists at nearly even quantities, as he has scored 14 goals and assisted on 11 while playing for Orlando City and OCB.

Looking at his 2026 performance alone, Ellis is in the top 17 among all players in both total goal contributions and goal contributions per 90 minutes during league play, with a perfectly even four goals and four assists and 0.52 per 90 minutes for each. That puts him right on the f(x) = x line (real ones know), and he, St. Louis 2’s Palmer Ault, and San Diego’s Anders Dreyer are the only players with at least eight goal contributions (Ault has eight and Dreyer has 10) to have the same number of assists as goals thus far this season.

The scatterplot below shows all 218 players with at least three goal contributions and their associated goals and assists per 90 minutes, and you can see that Ellis is one of only a few players to be strongly positive on both measures.

Scatterplot showing Justin Ellis in the upper right quadrant, meaning high in goals per 90 minutes and in assists per 90 minutes.

Ellis’ excellent stats are combined between the two leagues, but based on how well he has played for Orlando City recently it is quite possible that (oh) the places that he will go in 2026 will no longer include any OCB games, unless it is to watch from the stands. After last year’s great year — what a season, in fact! — Ellis is rolling along on the Alex Freeman track.

The senior Lions’ next three games are against teams that are all right next to them at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings (Montreal, Philadelphia, and Atlanta), meaning that all three games are winnable, especially considering that two of the three will be at home. Results have been better recently, especially after the injection of Ellis into the lineup, and thanks to his contributions I am feeling better about the team’s chances of putting together a good run of form in the upcoming weeks.

Will they succeed? Yes! They will indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

Vamos Orlando!

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. CF Montreal: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to earn all three points against CF Montreal on Saturday?

Published

23 hours ago

May 7, 2026

David Rohe

Image of Martin Ojeda and Ivan Angulo celebrating a goal against Montreal.

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City is on the road once again and this time in another country. The Lions are heading to the great white north to take on CF Montreal on Saturday. The Lions are coming off a monumental 4-3 comeback victory over rival Inter Miami. Hopefully, Orlando City can keep scoring goals in bunches to get a fourth win on the season. What must the Lions do to earn all three points against Montreal on Saturday afternoon?

Hot Streak Ojeda

Last season, Martin Ojeda had a stretch of good form that forced the national pundits to talk about him as a potential MLS MVP. Many players go on runs of good and bad form — especially attacking players — where nearly every shot finds the back of the net. It’s hard to follow up a hat trick with another, but a brace from Orlando City’s Designated Player would not be unwelcome. I don’t even care that he doesn’t have any assists so far this season as long as he continues to score the goals. Given how leaky the Orlando City defense has been — despite Maxime Crepeau’s efforts — scoring multiple goals is probably necessary to earn three points in this match.

Consistent Kids

Everyone wants teams to “play the kids”, and Orlando City fans have gotten their wish. The amount of younger players in each match is a bit overboard thanks to off-season missteps and injuries. That being said, the kids are generally improving. Most of them even had a decent match against Inter Miami, but can they do it again?

It’s likely we see Iago start next to Robin Jansson. He and the captain will have to deal with Montreal’s leading scorer, Prince Owusu. The striker has six goals and four assists this season, including a goal against the Lions when the two teams met on March 14. As for Justin Ellis, he’s best when he starts, and despite Duncan McGuire’s return, I think Martin Perelman should probably keep riding the hot foot.

Mental Monsters and Road Warriors

The match after a big win over a rival is often difficult. When said match is one of the greatest comebacks in MLS history, it’s more difficult. Being able to recover from the mental and emotional toll in addition to the physical toll such an effort requires is not easy. The Lions must “be a goldfish” and focus on the next match.

If that wasn’t enough, this is Orlando City’s fourth match in a row on the road in all competitions. All of that travel takes a toll, especially when traveling to a different country. Time and climate changes mess with the body and mind. Not sleeping in your own bed messes with your body. The schedule is different than when playing at home. How well the Lions are able to deal with the rivalry match hangover and the long stretch of travel may decide the match.

That is what I will be looking for Saturday afternoon. The Lions return to Inter&Co Stadium on Wednesday, meaning they will be on short rest after traveling. However, that is a discussion for next week. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!