Good morning everyone, and happy St. Patrick’s Day! If you have the ability and inclination to celebrate, I hope you have a great time doing so, but stay safe. Orlando’s soccer teams had reason to celebrate over the weekend, as Orlando City and Orlando City B both picked up victories, while the Orlando Pride narrowly lost to the Seattle Reign in an extremely weather-delayed affair. We’ve got a lot to talk about this morning, so let’s dive into the links.

Martin Ojeda up for Goal of the Matchday

Not only did Martin Ojeda score the winning goal in Orlando City’s 2-1 win over CF Montreal on Saturday, but that strike has also been nominated for the MLS Goal of the Matchday. While the actual shot from Ojeda was precise and well-executed, this goal was all about the buildup. Ivan Angulo spun his man at midfield and drove at the defense, eventually latching onto a loose ball outside the box, playing a give-and-go with Marco Pasalic, and finally cutting the ball back to the top of the area for Ojeda to fire home. Keep up the good work fellas!

Americans in Midweek Action

There are a number of Americans who will be in action during the working week, and continental competition is once again heavily featured. Malik Tillman and Bayer Leverkusen get things started today when they take on Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League. Johnny Cardoso and Atletico Madrid will travel to face Tottenham Hotspur in the same competition on Wednesday, while Chris Richards and Crystal Palace will hit the road to face AEK Larnaca on Thursday in the Conference League. The week finishes up with Tyler Adams’ Bournemouth side facing Manchester United in the Premier League, while former Lion Alex Freeman and Villarreal have a date with Real Sociedad in La Liga.

MLS Suspends Ernst Tanner

Philadelphia Union Sporting Director Ernst Tanner has been suspended without pay by Major League Soccer until June 1. The decision comes after Tanner was determined to have violated league policies on sexist and homophobic language in the workplace, in addition to making racist comments about players, coaches, and officials. The league had conducted an earlier investigation into the allegations, which were brought in a complaint by the MLS Players’ Association but had closed it after being unable to verify them. Following a report by The Guardian in mid-November 2025, the league placed Tanner on administrative leave while it reopened the investigation. Tanner must go through a “league-approved restorative practices program” before he is able to resume his position.

Chelsea Receives Sanctions

Chelsea has been sanctioned by the Premier League after admitting to making secret payments to unregistered agents and other parties over a period spanning from 2011 to 2018. The Blues have been fined £10 million, and given a one-year transfer ban that has been suspended for two years — which means that no ban will go into effect as long as further breaches do not occur during that two-year period. Additionally, the team has been given an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban and fined £750,000 due to issues with the registration of academy players between 2019 and 2022. £10 million is the largest fine ever handed down by the Premier League, and the organization noted that it would have been double if not for Chelsea self-reporting the infractions and displaying a high level of cooperation during the investigation process.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City rose five spots to no. 23 in ESPN.com’s MLS power rankings.
• MLS has released the schedule and important dates for this year’s playoffs, which will run uninterrupted from Nov. 18 to Dec. 18.
• U.S. Soccer has officially released the home and away jerseys that the United States Men’s National Team will wear during this summer’s World Cup.
• Catarina Macario has reportedly signed with the San Diego Wave for a total contract value that is believed to be the highest in women’s soccer history.
• Neymar has been left out of Brazil’s squad for the March international window, while Endrick is in the team for the first time since Carlo Ancelotti took the reins of the side in June of 2025.

That’s all I’ve got for you this morning. Vamos Orlando!

Orlando City won 2-1 over CF Montreal at home in the first match following the parting of ways with longtime head coach Oscar Pareja. A strong first half was enough to see the Lions through against a Montreal side that is having struggles of its own. The Cardiac Cats were true to form though, as some desperate defending was needed right up to the end to secure the result.

The grades below come against less-than-elite competition, but the Lions should still be judged on their efforts regardless of the opposition. So let’s take a look at how the Orlando City players performed individually in this game.

Starters

GK, Javier Otero, 6 — In his first start of the year, due to a Maxime Crepeau red card earned in last week’s match against New York City FC, Otero put in a respectable shift. Montreal was not exactly clinical, but when Otero was tested he was up to he challenge — four out of five times anyway. He was generally aggressive, defending his goal on corners and free kicks suffering two fouls in the match. His distribution was something I cant recall thinking about, which is a good thing. A few of his saves were on ping pong balls that he had to react quickly to, which he managed well. For me, one highlight was a tactical “cramp” he incurred which allowed time for Tyrese Spicer to get on the pitch who was waiting out a delayed entry due to Marco Pasalic taking too long to get off the pitch when he was subbed out. It was a good heads-up play by the keeper. Overall, a respectable bounce back after an abysmal match in New York. His pass accuracy was not great, especially for a goalkeeper at 63% on 28 passes. He completed seven out of 15 long balls. There’s no doubt Crepeau will be back between the sticks next week, but you learn by doing, and nothing beats a real match. Oteror did well this time out and that gives a little hope for the next time he’s called into action.

D, Adrian Marin, 7 — In one of his best, if not the best, performances as an Orlando left back, Marin made several key plays throughout the match and, significantly, did not commit any major mistakes. In fact, he had the most tackles of any Orlando player (4), including an absolute clutch tip of the toe tackle on Hennadii Synchuk and a nice steal off of Prince Owusu when he was threatening from the end line. He also had the most fouls on the team at three, suffering one, but given the defensive nature of much of Orlando’s play, that’s kind of understandable and none were considered card worthy. He had five clearances and a blocked shot. He also had an abysmal 52,2% pass accuracy on 12 attempts and did not connect on any of six long balls. Better but not great.

D, Iago, 6.5 — It’s just one game, but Iago acquitted himself much better this time out than in his previous Orlando City matches. He was proactive and anticipated dangerous situations on a few occasions. He had two interceptions and was second only to David Brekalo for the most clearances (8). He also tallied one block and he committed one foul. He passed at 94.1% and hit on three out of five long balls. Iago appeared much more competent and alert in this match and we can, hopefully, take this as stepping stone along the path to greater things. It was against a struggling side in Montreal, but Iago’s play seemed to justify a little more breathing room on its own merit. He is a young player in an alien land and is showing improvement, which might be all we can hope for at this point.

D, David Brekalo, 6 — Brekalo spent most of his time involved in emergency defending. He did not seem to anticipate a lot, and was mostly invisible. It wasn’t a terrible outing, and maybe his assignment was to hold down his piece of real estate? If that’s the case, then he did pretty well and only committed one foul. He cleared what came his way — a team-high nine clearances — and managed a header on a set piece in the first half. He also recorded a block and hit on three out of four long balls with a passing accuracy of 90.9%.

D, Griffin Dorsey, 6.5 — This match seemed like a slight regression for Dorsey to me, at least in the attacking phases. It was a good match though, and maybe it’s a function of the rest of the team making more of an impact themselves. He did defend well against Prince Owusu and Ivan Jaime, Montreal’s two most effective attackers on the night. Jaime was a handful in the second half and got past Dorsey on at least one occasion, but overall Dorsey did pretty well against he and Owusu. He committed one foul and suffered one foul. He passed at an 88.9% accuracy with one key pass. Defensively, he had one tackle, three clearances, and a block.

MF, Ivan Angulo, 8 (MotM) — Well that’s two weeks in a row that Angulo managed a Man of the Match effort! Pretty low bar this season, but this match was Angulo’s for sure. From my point of view, there’s something not quite intangible, but close to it about the Colombian. He’s absurdly fast, that’s obvious. His effort is off the charts. He does not generally have the greatest touch when he needs it the most. What he has though, is a pretty good ability to snuff out danger and turn it into an attack. His usual downfall is his inability to maintain composure in and around the 18-yard box. Against Montreal though, he was excellent. He was chasing down broken plays, he was anticipating attacks, and he was precise and thoughtful in his buildup play, even in front of Montreal’s goal. He only took one shot, which pinged off the post and rebounded for Duncan McGuire’s goal, but he was a major factor in both Orlando City goals. He finished with three key passes, two dribbles, and passed at an 87.1% accuracy on 32 attempts. He connected on three of four long balls as well. He was dispossessed twice and had three unstable touches, but at least this time those were offset. He suffered one foul and committed two. All things must be taken with a grain of salt in this early, difficult, and unprecedented season, but Angulo has shown some growth in his game and I think he deserves a lot of credit for that. Let’s hope he can sustain it.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 5.5 — I’m typically a fan of Atuesta. He was not on LAFC’s cup-winning roster for nothing, but Atuesta gave a lot away in his minutes on the pitch in this one. This was his first start of the season and there has been a lot of change on this roster, which should not be underestimated. However, he had a couple of pretty gnarly give aways and some tortoise-like slowness at times even though he did not lack for overall effort. He had only one interception on the night, committed one foul, and had no other defensive contributions. He passed with 81.8% accuracy on 22 attempts and connected on one long ball in three attempts. He picked up the game’s only yellow card with a late and clumsy challenge. Atuesta just did not seem to be up to the speed of the match this time out and tired notably in the second half, but I expect him to return to form soon after kicking some rust off.

MF, Braian Ojeda, 7 — Defensive Ojeda did a great job…especially on offense! He had three key passes and two successful dribbles, and he was fouled four times to slow him down. I really liked his play in this match, and he did a lot to facilitate the success of Angulo, Martin Ojeda, and McGuire. He committed one foul, passed at 92.1% on 38 attempts, and had one long-ball attempt that did not connect. Stats are essential, but they only tell you what they can tell you. The midfielder showed an aptitude for positive passes. That’s what impressed me, not just the success or otherwise of the execution, nor defensive stats, but that he could see what needed to be done in the moment to facilitate the attack. This could just be a one-off case, but he picked out multiple passes that looked to unlock the defense from deep lying areas, and that’s fairly rare. Defensively, he finished with one interception, two clearances, and two blocks. I liked what I saw on this one, so I’m rating him pretty high.

MF, Marco Pasalic, 6 — Pasalic had two early misses, the second of which he had a half second more or so to settle than he seemed to think. He had four shots on the night, but they weren’t on target, and he got dispossessed three times, had two unstable touches, and suffered one foul. His passing was very good at 91.7% although his one long ball did not connect. Importantly, he played a major role in both goals. His blast from outside the area pinged off mutliple defenders before finding Angulo in front on McGuire’s goal. On the second, it was his give-and-go with Angulo that resulted in Martin Ojeda’s game-winner, with Pasalic picking up a secondary assist.

F, Duncan McGuire, 7 — McGuire had a good night. He only had two shots, but both were on target and one was an opportunistic goal off of an Angulo rebound that hit the post. It was his first goal of the season, and it must be good to get on the scoresheet. He helped out in defense, as usual, with a couple tackles, a clearance, and a block. But he also made some nice flicks to help build up the attack. I think he showed some real vision in this one and he executed it well. He passed at a 58.8% rate, not great but he is a striker, and suffered one foul and committed none. This was a good outing for Duncan in my opinion and it was mostly his help in the build up that impressed me in this one.

F, Martin Ojeda, 7.5 — Offensive Ojeda was his typical effective-attacker self against Montreal. He was all over the pitch facilitating and getting results on his own. He took two shots, both on target, including scoring the winning goal. He recorded two key passes and was fouled once. He passed at a 62.5% rate on 22 attempts, three of his six crosses found a target, and he connected on his lone long ball as well.

Substitutes

D, Zakaria Taifi (61′), 6 — I’ll give Taifi some credit for his efforts in his second appearance this year. He was getting involved and clearly put in some hard work in his limited time in this match. He even managed to put his lone shot on target, although Montreal goalkeeper Thomas Gillier saved it easily and a pass to Dorsey or back to Angulo may have been the better decision. Going for goal was understandable though, given the limited opportunities for the substitute. Taifi did pretty well in defense as well contributing two clearances and a vital block late in the match on Jaime, committing one foul. He attempted seven passes with 57.1% accuracy.

MF, Colin Guske (61′), 6.5 — Guske did well in his minutes, helping to snuff out Montreal’s efforts in what had become a pretty defensive posture for Orlando. On the offensive side of things, he took one shot in the 90th minute that was blocked and he was fouled once. He connected on his one long ball attempt and completed all eight of his pass attempts. Defensively he managed one tackle and four clearances, and he committed one foul.

F, Tyrese Spicer (71′), 4.5 — Spicer came on for Pasalic and brought his usual energy but did not produce much. He only attempted three passes and did not connect on any of them, nor his lone long ball attempt. He attempted two shots with one on target, but it was on a breakaway after a bad Montreal giveaway. He should have done better with his 1-v-1 opportunity against the goalkeeper to put the game out of reach. His other was a free kick right into the wall. He was dispossessed once as well. He managed two tackles and a clearance with his defensive efforts.

D, Tahir Reid-Brown (84′) N/A — Reid-Brown did a decent job in this one given his limited minutes. He made three pass attempts completing two (66.7% accuracy) and attempted one cross and one long ball, neither of which found a target. He had no defensive contributions to speak of and wasn’t on long enough to fairly earn a grade.

F, Pedro Leao (84′) N/A — In a bit of a surprise substitution, Orlando City B’s Pedro Leao got his first minutes for the first team. He hit the ground running immediately, getting involved in the attack and earning a free kick just outside the 18-yard box. Not much else came from his efforts though, and he suffered two fouls and was dispossessed twice and he attempted two passes with one complete. He also had no defensive contributions.

That’s how i saw the individual performances in a much-needed Orlando win. Let us know how you saw the game in the comments below, and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.

Sometimes confidence is everything for a goalkeeper. After a poor performance, they can go one of two ways. Either they can continue to slide, or they can bounce back and show resilience.

Javier Otero was put in just that position Saturday night. Maxime Crepeau’s red card for handling the ball outside the box against New York City FC forced the 23-year-old Homegrown shot stopper between the sticks. It was a nightmare that seemed to keep getting worse as the game went on.

Taking over in a scoreless contest but down a man, Otero conceded in the 22nd and 42nd minutes before giving up a third in first-half stoppage time. It didn’t get much better early in the second half as he conceded two more inside the first 10 minutes after the resumption of play.

In addition to the five goals conceded, Otero didn’t make a single save.

The embarrassing 5-0 loss could’ve been the downfall of the young goalkeeper. Crepeau’s red card meant the veteran would miss Saturday night’s game against CF Montreal, forcing Otero into his fifth appearance and third start for the senior team.

Fortunately, Otero didn’t have a lot to do for most of the game. The opposition only put five shots on frame in the 90 minutes and the Lions had the best chances. But when the young goalkeeper was asked to step up, he did.

The only concession came in the 24th minute, five minutes after Orlando City took the lead. Prince Osei Owusu outjumped center back Iago to win a ball and head it past Otero. There was little he could do to prevent the goal with most of the blame falling on the defender.

Apart from that, Otero was solid throughout the game. He showed some indecisiveness in the early minutes, especially when looking to distribute the ball from inside his own box. But that’s to be expected by a young goalkeeper who has seen minimal MLS action.

As the game went on, Otero was a stronger presence in his own box. After the goal, the Venezuelan international came out on set pieces to collect, climbing over attackers and defenders alike with little care about who he took out in the process.

It’s a necessary trait for quality goalkeeping, especially at the professional level.

After only needing to make one save in the first 67 minutes, he was forced into three in the final 22 minutes. And they weren’t all easy to deal with.

Despite only leading by a goal, Lions interim head coach Martin Perelman went defensive in the 61st minute by replacing Duncan McGuire with Zakaria Taifi. While Taifi played forward initially, he’s a natural right back and eventually dropped further to create a back five with about 15 minutes to go.

Otero’s first crucial moment came in the 68th minute when Ivan Jaime cut inside and fired between Braian Ojeda and Colin Guske. The shot had some action and Otero had multiple players in front of him. He pushed the ball to his left and away from danger.

While it might not have been the most aesthetically pleasing stop, his ability to push the ball wide instead of in front of him was essential. Orlando City’s first goal illustrates how rebound direction can impact things, as Ivan Angulo’s shot off the left post rebounded to McGuire in the middle for an easy tap-in.

Otero was called into action again in the 83rd minute when Efrain Morales got his head to a Jaime corner kick. While Otero didn’t catch the ball, he kept it under his control and pounced on it before Samuel Piette could knock it in. Piette was whistled for fouling the goalkeeper on the play, but Otero still did well to collect it.

The final stop came in the 87th minute when Olger Escobar sent a knuckling ball towards goal. Otero got down and blocked it to his right, getting it away from danger rather than knocking it in front of the goal where it could end up behind him.

Otero could’ve done better with some of those shots, and the young goalkeeper will continue to improve with experience. But after a game in which he gave up five goals, he kept his composure and didn’t let the ghosts of his previous performance come back to haunt him. Instead, when his team needed him to keep the ball out of his net late with a one-goal lead, he did just that.

This game showed that Otero is able to do one of the most important things for successful goalkeeping: forget the past. Rather than letting the goals continue to accumulate, he kept his head down and made some big saves, getting better as the game went along.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that Otero will become the starter. With Crepeau’s suspension behind him, the Canadian will once again take his starting spot back. But if he’s suspended, injured, or away on international duty, Orlando City can rest assured that the team has a backup that can come through when needed.