The Lions had opportunities to get on the board first but wasted them in a 1-0 home loss to Houston. Orlando City had a good amount of possession, keeping the ball 56.7% of the time to the Dynamo’s 43.3%, but Orlando’s best chance clanged off the post from a tap-in distance by Tiago. Martin Perelman used many of the roster’s younger players, either starting or as replacements.

There aren’t many good grades to give, but that’s the story of the season. Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated individually in a matchup with Houston.

Starters

GK, Maxime Crépeau, 6.5 — While he didn’t have a lot to do in the first half, when the moment came, he was ready. Felipe Andrade put his head on a corner, sending it toward the top of the net, but Crépeau reacted well to tip it over at the 40-minute mark. Crépeau didn’t face another shot on goal until it a mad scramble in the 75th minute, when the ball was pinging everywhere, and he had no chance of stopping Hector Herrera’s shot. Crépeau had three move saves in stoppage time to keep the Lions in it, but as is the curse of goalkeepers, all it takes is one to ruin a night. His distribution was fine with 83% passing accuracy.

D, Adrian Marin, 5.5 — Marin started on the left but found himself beat in transition multiple times by not reading the play right. He was a passive observer on the goal, watching the action from the top of the box after being beat down the field by Houston as he pushed forward more in the second half, leading the Lions in cross attempts. To put it bluntly, he started the transition almost even with Angulo but by the end was just watching from the top of the box when, with just a little more hustle, he could’ve been the one marking Herrera, preventing the follow-up. Marin had three blocks to go with a clearance, but the image of him watching the play unfold sticks in my brain. Of the six Lions in the box, he was the only one above the penalty spot, just watching.

D, Robin Jansson, 6.5 (MotM) — This will be a familiar refrain from the last MLS game against Columbus. Jansson started and played all 90 minutes while bringing a calm to the defense and an ability to erase mistakes others make (we’ll get to those others later). Not only does Jansson bring his own ability to defend, but he raises the level of those around him. Even if Houston isn’t one of the most dangerous attacks in MLS, the defense played better than most of the games we’ve seen this season. He contributed one interception, one block, and four clearances while completing 95% of his passes. He was beaten on the play that led to the goal, going to ground to block a shot from Lawrence Ennali that never came, and the captain owned that mistake in the postgame press conference.

D, Iago, 6 — In a familiar refrain from the Columbus game, the young Brazilian played maybe his best game as a Lion and I believe it’s because of the influence of having Jansson there. Iago cleared Ezequiel Ponce’s tap-in attempt off the line but couldn’t do anything to stop the follow-up from Herrera. As the Lions were chasing the game after the goal, Iago showed up more up front and had three attempts at goal by the end, putting just one on target. His best chances were a shot on a set piece scramble that was blocked by the defense in front and a header off another set piece that landed in the stands. He added two interceptions, two clearances, and a 66% success rate on his duels while passing at a 92% clip. It wasn’t a great game, but I’m giving him credit for improvement. If he continues to grow from here, he will fulfuill the promise that led to his signing.

D, Zakaria Taifi, 5 — Taifi got the start on the right side and, for better or for worse, was mostly invisible in the first half. That’s good for a defense that has been regularly exposed this season but doesn’t help contribute anything. He was behind the aforementioned Marin on the transition play and despite a good effort, he wasn’t able to quite prevent a cross from going to Ponce for the shot Iago blocked off the line, but he was at least able to affect the shot. He wasn’t able to recover and pick up the wide-open Herrera on the rebound, however. Taifi passed at a 79% rate, recorded one tackle and two interceptions, and presented a cross-field target that went largely ignored by Orlando City when the ball was on the left, but he just didn’t impact the game in a significant way. He was replaced by Harvey Sarajian in the 80th minute.

MF, Iván Angulo, 5.5 — When Tyrese Spicer was on the field, he and Angulo were well-synced and brought some danger to the Orlando city attack. They played off each other well and either made runs to be on the receiving end or cleared space for the other while making opposing runs. Angulo had a nice through ball to Martin Ojeda in the 24th minute that Ojeda failed to put away. He passed at an 85% success rate and attempted one shot that went over the crossbar early in the second half. He also hustled back, as is his tool of the trade, and tried to disrupt the fast break that eventually led to the goal — he started 15 yards behind and was level with Lawrence Ennali by the time they got to Orlando’s penalty area — but it’s fair to point out that his blocked cross attempt ignited that counterattack in the first place. That wasn’t the only instance of Angulo hesitating just long enough to spoil his eventual decision, but it was the most costly. He finished with two key passes, one tackle, and a yellow card drawn on the Dynamo when trying to initiate a break.

MF, Braian Ojeda, 6.5 — The defensive Ojeda was the better Ojeda on the night against Houston. He worked well to link up the back to the front and found himself starting the Orlando possession often, with 12 recoveries on the night. It didn’t show up in tackles, as he wasn’t an enforcer, but he always seemed to be in a lot of right places. He was on the end of the deflected cross in the 66th minute that he put on frame that was saved into Iago’s feet for another blast that was blocked. He passed at a 92% accuracy rate and had one shot. He was one of the players defending the play that led to the goal but couldn’t find the right place to be, so that takes the grade down a bit.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 5 — I’m probably grading Atuesta too high. Time after time, Atuesta found himself on the ground watching as the play left him behind because of a missed tackle. When the goal play started, he dove in to try to dispossess Herrera, but he whiffed and couldn’t make it back to his defensive third to have any impact on the play. He was blown by in transition multiple times and mishit at least two passes to Tiago when the forward had shaken himself loose. He earned his yellow card with a harsh challenge. We’re all waiting to see the Atuesta who can hit the magical passes and at least be present in defense, but against the Dynamo, as in most nights this season, he wasn’t that. The numbers show three tackles with an 88% passing rate. He was replaced in the 90th minute by Ignacio Gomez while showing some shoulder discomfort.

MF, Tyrese Spicer, 6 — The eyes and the stats tell two different stories. The numbers show a 64% passing rate, two shots (both off target), no successful dribbles, and no successful crosses. This is where the disconnect may be. Spicer whipped a blistering pass across the face of the goal in the 45th minute that reached Tiago, who was unable to tap it in. That was one of his two key passes on the night. It was the most dangerous Orlando had been and would be until the very end, so he gets a little tick up in the grade for it. As I mentioned on Angulo’s notes, when the two were on the same side, Spicer made some intelligent runs which don’t show up on the stat sheet either. He was replaced by Justin Ellis in the 58th minute, presumably for minutes management coming off injury.

F, Martín Ojeda, 5.5 — My notes say “Invisible,” which isn’t fair because Martin Ojeda is rarely invisible. However, he’s not living up to the standards of last year, whether that’s because of the composition of the team or him taking a step back. He’s developed a dangerous corner kick delivery that is consistently challenging goalkeepers, and the scramble in the 66th minute was initiated off another dangerous Ojeda corner. He passed at an 88% clip, had an xA of 0.56, which is significant, one key pass and one one shot on target, but we expect more out of the Designated Player.

F, Tiago, 5.5 — The physical skills are there. The young Brazilian is finding open space with his pace. While fast, most of his runs came to nothing. Sometimes, that’s because his teammates fail to connect with his open runs, but that’s the life of a forward. When he does get the ball, it’s got to end up in the back of the net, especially when it’s on the end of a great cross that opened up everything at the back post. Unfortunately, he missed his chance in the 44th minute by blasting his shot off the woodwork. His passing graded out at a 77% rate and he attempted two shots, but you have to get them on target and finish chances when they arrive.

Substitutes

MF, Justin Ellis, (58′), 5.5 — The scoresheet says Ellis subbed in at the 58-minute mark for Spicer. I know I saw a number 22 running around somewhere at times. However, there was none of the skill he’s brought to OCB or the U-20 USMNT and he was mostly invisible. He just didn’t impact the game in any way. His one shot was on target, but it was a soft effort right at the goalkeeper that only rated 0.11 xG and had no shot of going in as it was hit tepidly and easily saved. He also complete five of his six passes.

WB/MF, Harvey Sarajian, (80′), N/A — The rookie did not play enough minutes to fairly issue him a grade in his MLS debut, but what I saw was someone who killed two attacks by losing his dribble to opponents twice. He completed almost twice as many passes as Ellis in half the time, but it was disappointing to see him turn the ball over.

MF, Ignacio Gomez (90′), N/A — The Orlando sideline scrambled for a sub when Atuesta motioned to the bench that he needed to come off for a shoulder injury. Gomez got the call, making his MLS debut. In the six minutes of stoppage time, he completed five passes, which is decent, but he also missed an open Martin Ojeda which could’ve sprung him loose.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s 1-0 loss to Houston. Let us know what you thought of the game in the comments below, and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.

Orlando City returned home to the friendly confines of Inter&Co Stadium to take on the Houston Dynamo. Unfortunately, the Lions were unable to keep the (relatively) good times rolling, losing 1-0 to the Dynamo. It was an ugly match from start to finish, and there weren’t a lot of positives to take from it. Here’s what I took from Orlando City’s sixth loss of the season.

Chippy and Sloppy

This was a chippy and somewhat sloppy match from the first whistle. In the first half alone, Orlando City committed nine fouls and Houston committed five, with each team earning one yellow card apiece. By the end of the match, the Lions committed 17 fouls to Houston’s eight, with each team adding a second yellow card. To be fair, referee Pierre-Luc Lauziere was not good. He allowed his temper to get the best of him, including mimicking giving yellow cards to players. It wasn’t very professional from a PRO referee.

Offensive Offense

Orlando City managed 17 shots, but only three on goal. Compare that to Houston’s 19 shots with six on target. The Lions started Tiago and Tyrese Spicer up top, though Spicer wasn’t able to replicate his goal from the FC Naples match. Each of them managed two shots with neither on goal. Martin Ojeda and Justin Ellis each took three shots, with each putting one on target. The biggest indictment of the offense is the fact that center back Iago also took three shots and put one on target. Orlando City’s best chance was Tiago hitting the goal frame late in the first half, and when the ball was ping-ponging around in the box, but the Lions were unable to finish their chances.

Reliable Robin

If not for Robin Jansson, this match may have gotten out of hand early. The Beefy Swede had four clearances, two blocked shots, and one interception. He didn’t cover himself in glory on Houston’s goal, but he wasn’t the only problem defender on that counterattack goal either. Overall, he kept the defense organized for most of the match, and he did a good job on an individual basis. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough, but without him it’s almost certainly worse.

Crepeau Close to Clean

Much like Jansson, Maxime Crepeau played well in the match. Also like Jansson, he was not perfect. There were times he was not in the best position but was saved by a bad shot. However, he made four saves, including two that were difference makers. The first came in the first half when he made a leaping save to put the ball over the crossbar. He also made a point-blank save in the second half to keep the match within reach.

Trouble in Transition

It probably should have happened before it did, but Houston took the lead in the 75th minute. The goal came off a counterattack that saw Orlando City scrambling to get back after a turnover in the attacking third. Jansson initially did well to force his man wide, but he went to ground too early. Iago managed to clear the ball off the line on Ezequiel Ponce’s tap-in attempt, but he couldn’t control the rebound, with Zakaria Taifi forced to choose between three attackers to close down. Then, unlike Orlando City’s ping-pong chances earlier in the match, Hector Herrera smashed the ball past Crepeau and Iago for the goal. It was exactly the type of goal Orlando City has given up too many times this season.

These were the five things that caught my eye in Orlando City’s loss to the Dynamo. Let us know what stood out to you in the comments below.

Hector Herrera’s goal was the difference in one of the least memorable games at Inter&Co Stadium, as the Houston Dynamo leave the City Beautiful with a 1-0 victory over Orlando City. The Lions (1-6-1, 4 points) continued their dreadful start to the season with a better defensive performance that was helped by poor finishing by Houston (3-4-0, 9 points), but the attack is as toothless as it’s been in years.

Orlando rarely looked threatening, and when it was, the ball went anywhere except in the net — off the woodwork, off the goalkeeper, or off bodies in front.

“The defeat hurts even more at home, where we want to win always,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said after the match. “Other than that, everybody saw what happened in the game. I think there was almost one team on the field dominating. We couldn’t score, and they found that goal in transition, and that’s the game.”

Perelman’s starting lineup featured Maxime Crepeau in goal behind a back line of Adrian Marin, Robin Jansson, Iago, and Zakaria Taifi, as both David Brekalo and Griffin Dorsey were unavailable. Braian Ojeda and Eduard Atuesta started in central midfield with wingers Ivan Angulo and Tyrese Spicer with Martin Ojeda and Tiago leading the attack.

Neither team could seize control in a back-and-forth first half that saw the Lions and Dynamo squander both squander chances, combining for one shot on target in 14 total attempts. While Houston wasted more opportunities, Orlando City botched the best scoring chance of the opening 45 minutes.

Mateusz Bogusz wasted no time getting involved, firing a shot from the top of the box in the game’s first minute that Jansson blocked. Houson’s early attack continued, with Marin blocking Guilherme’s attempt at the top of the area in the fourth minute. The follow-up shot from distance by Diadie Samassekou was way off target to the right.

The first threat from Orlando came 10 minutes in when Tiago sent a cross in from the left for Spicer on the backside. The Trinidadian went up to head the shot but sent it over the bar.

Both teams won a few set pieces in the middle section of the half but couldn’t pay them off. Ojeda came closest, missing the upper left corner on a free kick from distance on the right in the 30th minute.

With chances hard to come by, Guilherme tried his luck from extreme distance in the 38th minute but his attempt was always rising over the bar.

Orlando then survived a series of set pieces, with Crepeau making the game’s first save, going up to palm away Felipe Andrade’s header on the recycle of a corner in the 40th minute. A minute later, Andrade was left alone near the top of the area and sent a low shot just wide of the left post.

As the half wound down, the Lions had the best scoring chance of the opening period but muffed it. Spicer got down the left channel and sent in a great ball across to Tiago on the right. The young Brazilian had almost the whole net to shoot at but he hit the goal frame, wasting the chance.

That was the final look of the half and the teams went into the break scoreless. Houston held the advantage in shots (9-5), shots on target (1-0), and passing accuracy (88.2%-87.3%), while both teams won three corners.

Houston goalkeeper Jonathan Bond must have picked up a knock, as he was subbed off for Jimmy Maurer at halftime. Maurer had a busier half than Bond did, but the two allowed the same number of goals, which was none.

Angulo fired off target from outside the area three minutes after the restart with the first shot attempt of the second half, but Houston started the half better as it had in the opening 45 minutes.

Jansson did well to track back in transition to break up a three-on-three Houston attack on the counter in the 49th minute. Guilherme and Bogusz fired over the bar from similar spots in the 54th and 55th minutes as the Dynamo opened the half with more energy.

But Orlando City settled into the game and had good spells of possession, even if the Lions couldn’t make them pay off. The best opportunity to do that came in the 66th minute.

Martin Ojeda’s corner kick into the box fell for Braian Ojeda, who fired a shot that Agustin Resch blocked in front. Iago’s follow-up shot was blocked off the line by former Lion Antonio Carlos. Maurer made a save on the third Orlando City attempt in quick succession, as Martin Ojeda’s shot found the target but could not beat the substitute goalkeeper.

Houston nearly made Orlando pay quickly for failing to finish. In the 68th minute, the Dynamo countered and Bogusz sent in a great back-post cross from right to left to Ezequiel Ponce. The forward’s header went just wide of the right post as he tried to send the shot back against Crepeau’s movement.

The previous counterattacks should have served as warning signs, but Houston scored on one in the 75th minute. Angulo lost the ball in the attacking third and Lawrence Ennali broke down the right channel. Jansson ran with him, but as he neared the goal line, the Dynamo man faked a shot and Jansson went to ground. Ennali then picked out Ponce, who was all alone out front. Iago blocked Ponce’s shot off the line, but the reprieve didn’t last long. Herrera was completely unmarked and slotted it home for the game’s only goal.

“We lost the ball outside of their box, which I think we could have taken care of the ball a little bit more, but then they got the transition,” Jansson said. “I ended up to coming too close to Max, and then he dribbled me. And then we weren’t able to catch up on the rebound. I think it was Iago that saved it on the goal line. Herrera has an open goal and put it in, similar to what we had. Almost an identical situation. We don’t score. They score.”

Orlando kept pushing for an equalizer, but struggled to create clear-cut chances down the stretch. Harvey Sarajian and Ignacio Gomez each made their MLS debuts, coming on to add energy and fresh legs.

Second-half sub Justin Ellis took a pass just inside the area in the 81st minute, spun, and fired a shot. However, his effort was right at Maurer. Five minutes later, after Houston blocked several cross attempts, Iago tried an ambitious shot from distance, but he too sent his shot at Maurer, who wasn’t troubled by it.

Houston had a couple of late chances to put the match to bed, but Crepeau did well to deny Guilherme in the third minute of stoppage time.

Iago sent a header into the seats two minutes later in what turned out to be City’s last shot attempt. Braian Ojeda committed a foul in transition at the other end and Houston saw out the 1-0 road win.

Houston finished with the advantage in shots (19-17) and shots on target (6-3), while the Lions passed more accurately (88.1%-84.3%) and won more corners (4-3).

“We are building this team, coordinating the team again,” Perelman said. “I think the team is competing, and I have no doubt that goals are going to come again for sure.”

“In truth, I think the game tonight, we deserved to win,” Braian Ojeda said. “I come here sad tonight, because I feel like the group did everything that we needed to do to win. But at the end of the day, football is like that.”

“Super frustrating,” Jansson added. “I think we were playing a quite good game. We’re trying to become more playing with the ball than we’ve been doing in the beginning of the season, and yeah, we’re creating some chances, having some scoring opportunities, (hit) a post, and something similar to what they scored on, they have most likely their only big chance, they score on (it). And it’s super frustrating, of course, and we’re not happy with the loss. We’re here to compete for Orlando City. And to be completely honest, it hasn’t been good enough.”

It will be another quick turnaround for the Lions as they will host Charlotte FC on Wednesday.