Orlando City vs. Chicago Fire: Player Grades and Man of the Match

The Lions took on the Chicago Fire today, and once again came away with no points in the 4-0 loss. The loss was arguably one of the worst games Orlando has played all season with no energy at all. With the poor performance as a whole, how did the Lions fare individually in Chicago?

Starters

GK, Joe Bendik, 3 — This is a pretty favorable grade for Bendik after this match. He gave up four goals and was at least partly responsible for most of them, especially the second goal in which he gave away possession and basically gave a free goal to Aleksandar Katai. Bendik has had a rough season and this game was just a representation of how the season has gone for him.

D, Jonathan Spector, 5 — Spector played a pretty solid match, playing multiple positions on the back line in this one. Spector was the best passer on the back line and also cleared the ball out of the danger area seven times. Within a poor defensive line, Spector was a bright spot.

D, Carlos Ascues, 3.5 — Ascues had a rough game on the back line, much like his teammates around him. The third goal of the match for the Chicago Fire was mostly because of terrible defense from Ascues, and the game as a whole for Ascues was just poor. He had the most blocked shots, with two, but besides that, not many positives came from his performance.

D, Shane O’Neill, 4 — O’Neill wasn’t the greatest player on the pitch on Sunday, but he also wasn’t the worst. His defensive play was subpar along with his passing, but it was also hard to evaluate him after being subbed out at the start of the second half. Not a terrible outing for the center back but definitely could have been better.

D, Scott Sutter, 5 — Sutter was probably the second best defensive player on the pitch behind Spector, but he also had his moments at right back. Sutter was involved in creating offensive chances with numerous crosses into the penalty area, but none of them resulted in legitimate scoring chances. He was beaten by Katai a few times but held up for the most part in an average outing.

MF, Uri Rosell, 5.5 — Rosell had a very solid match as he was involved in all facets of the game on both sides of the pitch. He had nice tackles in the midfield along with three clearances to go with them. Rosell also read opposing passes well with three interceptions to shut down what could be shut down from the Chicago Fire. Rosell has been playing very well as of late and kept it up on Sunday.

MF, Yoshímar Yotún, 5 — Yotún had a very slow game with offensive production. He only took one shot in the game, which was not on goal. He was fouled three times during the match, which set up scoring chances that were just never taken advantage of. Yotún has had a pretty good season overall but he didn’t do anything spectacular at all against Chicago.

MF, Sacha Kljestan, 4.5 — Kljestan had a pretty average game for his caliber. He took one shot but it wasn’t on target. The 33-year-old made some solid passes throughout but created minimal scoring chances for the offense. He didn’t do much with his 56 touches and can’t really be blamed for the loss, but as a leading player he had to be held accountable.

MF, Josué Colmán, 4 — Colmán took one of the two shots on target for the Lions, but his poor decision trying to back heel and losing possession to Dax McCarty led to Chicago taking the advantage early on. The Paraguayan was one of the players who seemed to just go through the motions rather than showing any sort of care or energy. With him being subbed off, the Lions didn’t get much better, but getting a player who seemed to not care much off the pitch was a positive.

MF, Mohamed El-Munir, 6 (MotM) — El-Munir was the best player on the pitch during the match for Orlando, in my opinion. Placed at a winger spot to start the game, El-Munir once again showed his versatility, creating numerous offensive chances and shutting down attacks on the wings. He cut off passing lanes as well as clearing the ball out of the danger area, but his production wasn’t enough to even get his team on the board. He moved to left back after the first half. Despite an poor overall team effort, El-Munir had a productive match.

F, Dom Dwyer, 4.5 — Whenever the offense does poorly, Dwyer usually has had a bad game. Dwyer easily led the team with six shots, but only one hit the target and was easily saved by Richard Sánchez, with the striker smashing the ball right off the goalkeeper’s chest on a 1-v-1 situation. Dwyer struggled throughout the match in multiple areas, from his poor shooting accuracy to his minimal amount of touches. It was a rough outing for Dwyer and the scoreline showcased the struggles of the entire offense.

Substitutes

MF, Chris Mueller, 5.5 (46’) — Mueller brought a sense of energy on to the pitch with his entrance, but he still struggled to get anything going. Mueller’s passing accuracy was a poor 68% and he only took one shot, so not much came out of the rookie off of the bench, even though he was one of the few players to show some urgency.

MF, Pierre Da Silva, 3.5 (69’) — Not much came from Da Silva, except that his first involvement of the game resulted in a Chicago goal. His lazy back pass to Yotún was easily picked off by Raheem Edwards, starting a 2-v-1 with Nemanja Nikolic against Spector. Nikolic then padded the score line with his second goal of the match. Other than that, Da Silva’s presence was never really felt at any point in the match. He didn’t do much wrong coming on for James O’Connor — after the early turnover — but he couldn’t force a comeback effort either.

Who was your Man of the Match in the loss to the Chicago Fire? Let us know in the comments.

Polling Closed