Orlando City vs. Montreal Impact: Player Grades and Man of the Match

Orlando City turned in a performance that was every bit as miserable as the rainy Canadian night, falling to the Montreal Impact, 3-0. The loss took the Lions’ losing streak to six games as Major League Soccer enters a week-long hiatus for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Here’s how the performances looked:

Starters

GK, Joe Bendik, 5 — A few big saves in the final minutes from Bendik saved the score line from being thoroughly embarrassing, but overall it was a quiet night for Orlando’s goalkeeper.

D, Tony Rocha, 6.5 (MotM) — If there was a positive in this game, it was Tony Rocha. One of Orlando’s most dangerous moments came from Rocha’s attacking play and a dangerous cross that should have been finished by Dom Dwyer. Rocha was attentive to his defensive assignments for the most part, collecting six interceptions and five tackles.

D, Jonathan Spector, 5 — The captain’s continued road to a return to form had a solid but quiet night in Montreal, as Spector returned to the starting lineup in MLS since a long spell on the sidelines due to concussion protocol. While a decent return, this was not the level of performance we have come to expect from the veteran defender. His best moment was forcing Ignacio Piatti wide in a 1-v-1 situation in the second half.

D, Amro Tarek, 4 — While the Lions collectively had a rough outing, Tarek had the worst of it with an own goal and little success marking in the box. The defender missed numerous assignments and was at times lucky not to be punished more for the lapses. The Egyptian will want to put this game behind him in a hurry and work to rediscover the form that earned him a national team call-up to his nation‘s preliminary World Cup squad.

D, RJ Allen, 5 — Watching Allen and Josué Colmán attempt to link up along the right touch line felt symbolic of the challenges that face Orlando City in the midst of this slump. Wing play; featuring overlaps, give-and-go’s, and challenging crosses are meant to be a feature of Orlando’s playing style. Allen, while looking dangerous at times, seemed completely out of tune with Colmán and the rest of the attack. In defense, Allen had zero interceptions and only three tackles. Poor night for the former NYCFC man.

MF, Cristian Higuita, 4 — Strange, and poor game from Higuita tonight. The defensive mid conceded an early foul to set up a Piatti penalty kick and later collided awkwardly with the same player to earn a yellow card. The caution hamstrung the Colombian for the rest of the game, rendering him ineffective in the midfield on both the attacking and defensive sides of the ball. The yellow card earned him a game off in two weekends time when these two teams meet again.

MF, Uri Rosell, 5 — As the game entered the late stages and Orlando still looked somewhat hopeful in its efforts to equalize, I felt it would come from Rosell. He looked bright and creative, despite Orlando’s doldrums. The Spaniard produced two key passes and 10 successful passes in the attacking third. A clumsy challenge in the 49th minute saw him survive video review and stay on the field with only a yellow for a tackle that most would agree looked more like a red.

MF, Justin Meram, 4.5 — Another sub-par performance from Meram as Orlando City’s faithful are still looking for the dangerous offensive player who tormented MLS defenses during his time with the Columbus Crew. Tonight, Meram’s decision making in the final third was suspect, as any build-up of play seemed to fizzle at his feet time and time again. Symbolic of Meram’s struggles against Montreal, he lost the ball out of bounds five times and was unsuccessful in two of his three attempts to take on defenders and get into open space.

MF, Sacha Kljestan, 4.5 — The struggles of Meram and Kljestan are the story of this game and this six-game losing streak. Sacha still looks unintegrated into the Orlando City offense as he struggles to connect meaningful balls into dangerous areas. In watching this game, it seems as if Meram, Kljestan, Dwyer, and Colmán are desperately out of rhythm with one another, and are collectively complicit in Orlando’s struggles.

MF, Josué Colmán, 5 — While I can’t fault Colmán’s hustle at times, this wasn’t an impressive performance for the attacking midfielder. Invisible and uninvolved for long stretches, and selfish and out of sync with his teammates when he did end up on the ball, this game will go down as another learning experience for the young Paraguayan as he continues to adjust to life in MLS.

F, Dom Dwyer, 5 — I’m not sure how to grade the striker tonight. There were a number of quality chances that an in-form Dom would normally slot easily into the net. Part of me feels the like the lack of cohesion is affecting Dom’s form up top, but another part of me feels that his veteran leadership and ability are such that he should bury his chances and lead the club out of its downward spiral. He nearly did that with one dangerous free kick in the 44th minute, which went teasingly close to the top corner. Whatever happens with this season moving forward, Dom and his attacking midfielders need to collectively find their way or it's going to be a long summer.

Substitutes

M, José Villarreal (57’), 5 — While Jason Kreis was smart to remove Higuita before his night got any worse, the inclusion of Villarreal certainly came as a surprise. The former LA Galaxy man had a decent effort off the bench that might lead to more playing time as Orlando looks to find answers to its slump.

D, Chris Mueller (68’), 5— Mueller’s inclusion brought a bit of energy to the attack without changing the overall lackluster performance from Orlando.

F, Stéfano Pinho (70’), 3 — This game, and Orlando City’s six-game losing streak, could be symbolized by Pinho’s two open goal misses. Unlucky or just awful, a bit of finishing could have helped the Lions turn an awful night into a moral victory, but like all things, it wasn’t in the cards. 

I don’t know where we go from here my friends, but these are dark days indeed. Orlando City returns to action against D.C. United on June 20 in the U.S. Open Cup round of 16.

Polling Closed