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Orlando City vs. Montreal Impact: Final Score 3-1 as Early Mistakes Doom Lions

Ignacio Piatti crushes his favorite punching bag team yet again.

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Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

The Lions are no longer unbeaten in 2019. The Montreal Impact (2-1-0, 6 points) capitalized on two quick errors in the first half and took control en route to a 3-1 win over Orlando City (0-1-2, 2 points) in front of an announced crowd of 22,352 at Orlando City Stadium.

The Lions were sloppy throughout what turned out to be a chippy and contentious match, and made numerous mistakes to give Montreal scoring opportunities.

Orlando fell to 3-6-2 against Montreal in the all-time series and 2-3-1 at home. The Impact are unbeaten in the last six meetings (5-0-1). The Lions at least finally scored against the Impact after getting shut out in both meetings last year.

“Our mentality needs to be way stronger,” said Head Coach James O’Connor after the match. “To play for this football club you need to have a really strong mentality. When you defend the way we did, you make it practically impossible to give yourself a chance of going and winning the game. You can’t defend like that and expect to get something out of the game.”

O’Connor dropped Alex De John from the starting XI in order to insert Carlos Ascues on the back line. Kamal Miller was dropped from the 18 as the coaching staff would like to manage the rookie’s minutes. As expected, Dom Dwyer stepped into the starting lineup for the injured Tesho Akindele, with rookie Santiago Patino making the game day 18 for the first time in his career.

Despite the graphic, the team played in what appeared to be a 4-3-3 with Nani, Dwyer, and Chris Mueller at the top above Will Johnson, Sebas Mendez, and Sacha Kljestan. The back four (left to right) were Danilo Acosta, Ascues, Shane O’Neill, and Ruan.

Orlando started the game by nearly conceding, which was a sign of things to come. Ascues had a giveaway that created an early chance for Montreal.

“I felt very positive going into the game. I felt very confident. And then we started the game in the worst possible way,” Kljestan said. “Nearly off the kickoff we almost gifted them a goal, off our possession, just passing it right to their forward almost. That kind of set the tone for the rest of the day and we never really got better from that point and we weren’t good enough in the attacking third.”

Despite the early gaffe, Orlando could have scored the first goal. Johnson stole a ball in the fourth minute and worked his way forward but got taken down from behind at the top of the box on what should have been a free kick. Three minutes later, Dwyer blasted a shot over the bar off a Nani feed.

Moments later, Ruan sent either a shot or a cross wide of the far post. But things unraveled quickly in the span of two minutes. Ascues was slow to close down Orji Okwonkwo after a partially blocked cross found the Montreal forward, and Mendez also didn’t do well enough in defense on the play. Okwonkwo turned quickly and fired off the inside of Brian Rowe’s far post to make it 1-0 in the 14th minute.

The Lions then gifted a second goal to the visitors moments later. O’Neill’s horrible back pass was halfway between Rowe and two Montreal attackers. Rowe came off his line to try to clear it but got only Maxi Urruti. That left Ignacio Piatti to deposit his ninth goal against Orlando into an empty net to make it 2-0 in the 15th. Rowe was booked for taking down Urruti.

“You cannot start games like that,” O’Connor said. “And then, if you are going to start the game like that you need to have to have a stronger mentality.”

Making matters worse was that Johnson was forced to the locker room for concussion protocol. He had returned from the early collision in which he was knocked down from behind by Samuel Piette and his head hit on Victor Cabrera as he fell. Despite returning to the match, Johnson must not have felt right, and he left the pitch with his team down, 2-0, eventually being replaced by Cristian Higuita.

“It looks like he’s suffering from a blow to the head, so I think the safest thing obviously was to take him off,” O’Connor said of Johnson’s injury. “It was a blow for us, because obviously he’s someone who has been playing very well. Even in the first couple of minutes, he steals the ball in the midfield, drives to the top of the box…it looked like a free kick, but it wasn’t given.”

The Lions had chances to pull one back before halftime but couldn’t execute. Ruan got loose in the box in the 31st minute and sent a cross through traffic, but none of his teammates made a back post run, and the ball fizzed harmlessly through the area. Four minutes later, Ruan found Dwyer with a cross, but Dom headed down and right at Evan Bush from point-blank range.

Mueller cut from left to right and fired just inches over the bar at the back post in the 42nd minute.

Montreal got the last decent chance of the half when Okwonkwo got down the right channel and fired, but Rowe made the save.

First-half shots were 10-3 in favor of Montreal (5-1 on target), with the Impact holding a 56%-44% edge in possession. Montreal was also the more accurate passing team, completing 80% of all passes, compared to Orlando’s 75%.

Rowe came up big on an Okwonkwo shot in the 47th minute after another Orlando turnover, as the Lions continued to be much looser with the ball all day than in the first two games.

The game started to get more physical and heated after that, with Mendez and Saphir Taider both staying down after a challenge and then Acosta getting booked after a hard aerial challenge against Bacary Sagna, in which it looked like he was simply playing the ball. Montreal took exception and Okwonkwo was booked for retaliating on Acosta moments later.

Orlando should have been back in the game in the 58th minute. Mueller blocked a Cabrera pass and it fell at Dwyer’s feet. With a gaping wide net and only Bush to beat, Dwyer got his shot around the keeper but missed the target completely.

Orlando kept pressing numbers forward to try to claw back into the game and it allowed Montreal to pile up chances. Rowe had to come off his line to thwart Taider on the rush in the 59th minute and Ascues had to clear the ball out after it trickled in behind.

A minute later, Okwonkwo got a shot off while well covered that hit Ascues’ shin and blooped just over the crossbar.

In the 68th, Okwonkwo again got in down the right after a soft pass out of the back never reached Kljestan, but Rowe came out and made a crucial save. Two minutes later, Rowe came out again to beat Piatti to a ball to prevent a scoring chance.

Dwyer had his third excellent scoring chance in the 74th. Nani made a nice play on the left and sent a cross into the 6-yard box. Dwyer got a toe onto it but it trickled just wide of the far post.

After that, O’Connor sent on rookie Santiago Patino — making his MLS debut — and Josué Colmán to try to add something to the attack. Instead, the Montreal lead grew to 3-0 in the 80th minute. Piatti scored his 10th career goal against the Lions. Kljestan tried to turn and clear the ball forward but second-half sub Harry Novillo closed him down and deflected the ball in behind, where it became a Montreal 2-v-1. Piatti doesn’t miss those, especially when there’s only one defender back — Ascues, in this case. With Acosta and Ruan both pressing forward, Piatti easily dispatched Kljestan and slotted home.

“Towards the end we’ve made changes and we’ve got Ruan playing right center back and Sebas playing left center back,” O’Connor said. “So, over the last 15-20 minutes or whatever it is, we’ve made changes to try and get ourselves back into the game because we’re two-nil down. I think when you do that you leave yourself wide open.”

The Impact should have made it 4-0 in the 89th, when Zakaria Diallo got a free header right in front of goal, but he got under it and sent it well over the bar.

Two minutes later, Orlando, and Dwyer, finally finished a chance.

City won the ball in midfield and worked out wide right to Mueller. The second-year Lion put a perfect ball onto Patino’s foot and the rookie drew Bush out off his line and slid a pass over for Dwyer to swipe into the empty net for his second goal of the season.

“Chris played me a great ball,” Patino said of his first MLS assist. “I took a touch. I saw Dom making a run and I just gave it to him.”

As it got late into stoppage time, the Impact took exception to a through ball played on what was a drop ball situation. O’Connor apologized to Montreal after the game, saying “that’s not a good representation of this football club.”

Diallo was sent off during the fracas after grabbing Dwyer’s head and shoving him to the ground. Higuita was booked on the play.

That was about it. The whistle blew and Orlando City had its first loss of 2019.

“There was a general nervousness to our play,” O’Connor. “The start certainly didn’t help. We seemed to be edgy. Honestly it’s not good enough. The first two games we feel we were able to set a standard and we were way off today. We were nowhere near the level of what we want.”

“I expect us to come back stronger,” Kljestan said after the game. “We’ve got to react in a positive way. Bad performance tonight but hopefully we learn our lesson and do better next time.”


The Lions go back on the road next Saturday but getting their first win won’t be easy, as they visit the New York Red Bulls at 7:30 p.m.

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Chicago Fire: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to secure a victory against Chicago at home?

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City ends May the way it began, with a match against the Chicago Fire. The Lions are coming off a wild and disappointing match against rival Atlanta United. I always worry about a team after such an emotional outing, and on short rest to boot, especially since the Fire were off during the midweek. How the team reacts will determine the result. What does Orlando City need to do to take all three points from Chicago at home?

Defend this House

Much like the last time, Orlando City will need to deal with Hugo Cuypers and the rest of Chicago’s attack. The Lions likely won’t get the benefit of having Chris Brady sent off in the 36th minute again, meaning they will need to defend more attacks for a longer time. In the last match, Chicago took 16 shots, putting eight of those on target. Limiting those chances will be critical.

I expect to see Alex Freeman, Rodrigo Schlegel, Robin Jansson, and David Brekalo starting on the back line despite having done so Wednesday night. No cheap giveaways, no errant arms away from the body in the box, just solid defending for 90 plus minutes. The Lions will have to do it without Cesar Araujo, thanks to his sending off against Atlanta. I think they can, but it will be more difficult without him.

Atuesta Ahoy

Eduard Atuesta played the full 90 minutes against the Portland Timbers, and then played limited minutes against Atlanta United. I completely agreed with that strategy, because he did not need to be playing too many minutes so soon after returning. He is also working back to full fitness. He will be rested for this home match, and the pitch conditions will be much better.

We were reminded of how good he is in the attacking midfield in that match against Portland. I need him to provide those slicing passes through tiny windows against the Chicago defense. Joran Gerbet has proven to be a steal in the draft, but he doesn’t yet have that extra bit of quality you see from Atuesta. Look for him to break Chicago’s lines.

Early and Often

Orlando City will come in on three days rest, whereas Chicago will be on six days rest. This match will also be the Lions’ ninth match in May — their seventh in the league and two more in the U.S. Open Cup. To say that tired legs will be a concern is an understatement. As such, Orlando City needs to jump out to an early lead as it did against Atlanta.

Fortunately, there was more rotation in the attack on Wednesday for Orlando City with Ramiro Enrique getting the start. That means Luis Muriel will be fresh for a start on the much nicer grass at Inter&Co Stadium. I’ll take a goal from Muriel, or frankly any Orlando player. Heck, Jansson is due for one, right? Multiple goals will likely be needed to secure a victory.


That is what I will be looking for Sunday night. Let me know your in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Five Takeaways

Here’s what we learned from a disastrous 3-2 road loss to Atlanta United.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

The final Wednesday night match of May is officially in the books, and it provided a decent amount of fireworks and what turned out to be a nightmare finish for Orlando City. OCSC held a 2-1 lead with a little less than 13 minutes to play, but the Lions saw that lead evaporate into thin air after a silly red card was issued to Cesar Araujo. The advantage allowed the Five Stripes to earn back-to-back home wins with a 3-2 victory. Here are my five takeaways from the Wednesday night match that I truly cannot wait to forget.

On the Board Early

Despite being the road team, Orlando started the match on the front foot, controlling the pace and possession over the first five minutes with relative ease. Their efforts paid off in the fourth minute of the match when Martin Ojeda played a ball toward the middle of the field. The pass found two Orlando City players occupying essentially the same space, with Marco Pasalic and Araujo standing shoulder to shoulder outside the box. Pasalic laid it off for Araujo, who struck it well, beating Brad Guzan on the bounce to put Orlando City up 1-0 early in the match. The play was reviewed as Ramiro Enrique was in an offside position, but ultimately it was deemed that he did not affect or obstruct Guzan’s sight line.

A Quick Equalizer

It didn’t take a long time for the home side to find an equalizer as the teams were level once again before 20 minutes of game time had been played. Alexey Miranchuk found the back of the net as he cleaned up a sloppy bouncing ball right in front of Pedro Gallese. Atlanta likely was going to see the equalizer one way or another, as the ball took an awkward bounce up into the arm of Rodrigo Schlegel before Miranchuk’s shot. It wasn’t a particularly fancy setup to score, but there should be something to be said for being in the right place at the right time, and Miranchuk’s effort to do so was rewarded.

Enrique’s Motor Pays Off

Atlanta and Orlando looked destined to reach halftime tied 1-1 as both sides were unable to do much with possession after the Miranchuk goal, but a poor touch from defender Derrick Williams allowed speedy Argentinian striker Enrique to get in on Guzan unscathed. Enrique did well with the placement, firing a well-struck ball past the outstretched body of Guzan to put Orlando City up 2-1. It is reassuring to know that regardless of who gets the nod to start up top there is quality at the foot of all three forwards. Enrique had been a passenger for much of the first 30-plus minutes of the match, but he demonstrated how lethal he can be if given a small opening.

Missed Opportunities

If you stopped reading the takeaways right now, not a single Orlando City supporter could blame you. Orlando had the chance to put the game to bed multiple times but failed to find the final touch, which could have secured all three points. The first blown opportunity started at the feet of Ivan Angulo, who laid off a brilliant pass to a streaking Ojeda. Orlando’s No. 10 had gotten in behind the back line, picked his head up, and saw Alex Freeman making a back-post run. The chip on the ball was perfectly placed across the front of goal, but unfortunately for Freeman, the ball took a late bounce on the artificial turf and caused him to miss what would otherwise have been a sitter.

The second great opportunity came at the foot of Marco Pasalic in the second half, who finally got the ball on his favored left foot before sending a curling shot towards goal. It beat Guzan but clanked off the post. The ball ricocheted out to Ojeda, who lined up a blast from the left-hand side, only to have Guzan collect himself in enough time to deflect the ball out of bounds. These missed opportunities ultimately proved monumentally costly as the final 10 minutes of the match finished in a heartbreaking style.

Senseless Decision Making Proves Costly

Now is the time to discuss the large elephant in the room. I will go to my grave believing that Atlanta did not win the game, but rather a few individual decisions from Orlando City players instead lost the game. In the 77th minute, after a dead-ball foul, Araujo was shoved in the back by Mateusz Klich. The overly aggressive shove warranted a yellow card for Klich, who should likely already have been on one for a professional foul moments earlier, but the resulting action by Araujo went a long way toward sealing Orlando’s fate before the final whistle was even blown. Arujo, after the shove, got up and quickly put his hand around the throat of Klich directly in front of the ref and was immediately shown a straight red card.

After being reduced to 10 men, the equalizing goal for Atlanta seemed like an inevitability, and that came in the 83rd minute. Orlando enjoyed some additional nervy moments but managed to get the game into stoppage time still at 2-2 before another careless decision all but gifted the home squad the victory. Second-half substitute Eduard Atuesta took control of the ball in the 94th minute and could have made the simple decision to clear the ball down the field. Instead, his feet got caught up on the ball trying to do too much, resulting in a turnover. The back line was caught disorganized when Atlanta quickly regained possession, and a simple chip over the top resulted in a tap-in for Jamal Thiare in the 95th minute.


There is no better way to summarize the match than to say the ending thoroughly sucked. Without a result, Orlando’s 12-game undefeated streak in MLS play finally came to a halt, and the Lions find themselves alone in fifth place in the table now as Nashville, Columbus, and Cincinnati all walked away from their midweek matches with draws. There is one final quick turnaround to be had before the calendar finally flips to June. Orlando City will end the month back at home against the Chicago Fire on Saturday.

Let us know your thoughts about the Atlanta match in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!

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

How did your favorite Lions perform in Orlando City’s 3-2 loss against Atlanta United?

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Well, that was a pretty disappointing way to watch a 12-game unbeaten streak end. Orlando City was not cruising but definitely seemed to be in control. However, for the third time this season, the Lions had a player receive a red card that changed the complexion of the game, turning their 2-1 lead into a 3-2 loss on the road at Atlanta. We could debate for hours the merits of the red card, but it was an unnecessary escalation of what was a minor foul and those dropped points could turn out to be costly at the end of the season. Hopefully, the Lions use their frustration from this match as fuel, because they will have a short turnaround before hosting Chicago on Saturday night.

I have my purple pen out, and I am ready to issue some grades, so here we go. Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated individually in their Eastern Conference matchup.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 6 — There was little Gallese could have done on any of the goals, as the first one was from point blank range, the second caromed in off the post after curving away from him, and the third was also from close range, though perhaps El Pulpo could have been one step quicker off his line on that one. I think that would have been asking a lot though, and I do not fault him for holding his line considering that he had to position himself for a shot from his right from Saba Lobjanidze, who ended up making the extra pass. Gallese recorded two saves and made a valiant effort to try to help the Lions tie the game on a corner kick in the final seconds, but in the end, all he could do was apply a little pressure on a defender and then watch as the ball was booted down the field past him. The best save he made on the night ended up being erased from the stats due to an offside call, as he got down quickly to deny a shot from right in front of the goalmouth. The stats will look bad for Gallese, but they will not be representative of how he played, as I thought he was solid on the night.

D, David Brekalo, 6 —With every game he plays out at left back the Slovenian is creeping consistently further and further up field, and adding more to the Orlando City attack. He likely will not venture as far as his counterpart at right back Alex Freeman, but Brekalo is using his skills to progress the ball more often, as evidenced by his two successful take-ons and his average position on the field being nearly halfway between that of the center backs and Freeman, who is perhaps the most aggressive right back in MLS. Atlanta preferred attacking opposite of Brekalo, with only 33% of their attacks on his side as opposed to 38% down the opposite flank. Their opening goal did come on Brekalo’s side though, as he was a step slow to get out and close down Lobjanidze and was punished for it, as the cross into the middle was converted shortly thereafter. He also had a couple of careless turnovers in his half along the sideline. Orlando City’s left back completed 37 passes at an 84.1% rate and added two tackles and eight clearances for a solid, but not spectacular, game.

D, Robin Jansson, 6 — When a team gives up three goals, it is unlikely that any defender will stand out on the positive side, and while Jansson had some good moments, it was mostly a nondescript game for him. He added another highlight film bomb of a pass to his 2025 collection, but unfortunately, while it led to a shot it did not lead to a goal. The Beefy Swede’s biggest contributions were during the final minutes while Orlando City was under attack, as he ended up with a team high 10 clearances, but clearly those clearances were not quite effective enough because Atlanta was able to overturn their deficit and walk away with the three points. He was caught ball-watching instead of Jamal (Thiare)-watching on the game winner. Jansson’s passing was uncharacteristically poor, with only a 76.7% completion rate and only 33 completed passes, and he also added one tackle and one interception.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 5.5 — The Argentinean defender was unlucky to not concede a penalty in the first half — possibly the first time that sentence has ever been written in a player grades column. A ball ricocheted off Schlegel’s outstretched arm and would have been a clear penalty, but the ball bounced right to the feet of Atlanta’s Alexey Miranchuk, who made no mistake from close range, giving Atlanta a goal. A penalty would at least have given Gallese a chance for a save (or a miss by the penalty taker). He could have done much more on the third goal, as he failed to track Lobjanidze and then meekly tried to nick the ball with a toe rather than being more physical and getting shoulder to shoulder to prevent the final ball to Thiare. Other than that, Schlegel played a pretty quiet game in the middle of the defense, mostly playing conservative passes on his way to a team-leading 42 completions. He, like Jansson, had a poor completion rate (79.3%), and with no key passes or offensive contributions. Schlegel tie Jansson with 10 clearances and he also added a team leading three interceptions, though he did not make any tackles.

D, Alex Freeman, 6.5 — Should is probably too strong of a word, but Freeman could have scored his first goal in weeks on Wednesday night, as he was in front of his defender but just could not extend enough to get to a back-post cross from Martín Ojeda that would have put Orlando City up 3-1 in first half stoppage time. He was unlucky that the ball skipped off the turf and likely would have scored on a grass field. Freeman bombed forward as he usually does, but did not have his best touch on this night, as he was only able to complete 78.4% of his passes, including a few cheap giveaways when he was not under a lot of pressure. At the same time, he did put a lot of pressure on Atlanta’s defense with his movement and his runs, but the final product escaped him. On the defensive side, he was active, adding two tackles, two interceptions, and six clearances.

MF, Iván Angulo, 6 — Angulo had one of his prettiest plays of the season in this game, cutting inside from the left wing before playing a perfectly placed through ball for Ojeda, but the subsequent cross went untouched across the goal. The Colombian also added one shot on goal, but it did not really threaten Brad Guzan. Aside from those two plays it was a relatively quiet game for Angulo, who was better in the first half than the second. He completed 87.5% of his passes and added two tackles and one clearance before making way for Kyle Smith in the 73rd minute.

MF, César Araújo, 5 — The game completely changed after the Uruguayan’s red card, and while Atlanta might have come back even had he been on the field, the task was much easier for the hosts with one of Orlando City’s best defensive players gone and one fewer defender on the field. This was noticeable on the tying goal, where Joran Gerbet was trying to deputize for the missing midfielder and was too deep to close down Bartosz Slisz. It is a shame, because up until that point, Araújo had been playing at a Man-of-the-Match level, scoring the game’s opening goal on a beautiful shot in the opening minutes and playing a great ball over the top to Ojeda that could have gotten him an assist had Ojeda done better with his shot. Despite only playing 77 minutes, Araújo was second on the team with 41 completed passes, including two key passes, and he was the only player on the team to complete at least 90% of his passes, finishing at 91.1%. His thoughtless red card was just a killer though, and while Óscar Pareja said the club will address it with MLS, it is unlikely to change, and it will not help the Lions get back the point or points they could have had on the road.

MF, Joran Gerbet, 5.5 — Gerbet’s hustle play at the end of the game to prevent Atlanta from scoring an open net goal was admirable and emblematic of the effort he put in nearly all game long in the center of the field. I said nearly all game long because he was caught ball watching on Atlanta’s first goal, as he let up for one second and allowed Miranchuk to sneak past him, and the Russian scored a moment later. In fairness to Gerbet, the ball did deflect up and onto Schlegel’s outstretched arm, so he may have immediately thought the play was about to be whistled for a penalty and was not expecting the ball to bounced back off Schlegel and into a the area where it did. Gerbet was also the player nearest to the ball on Atlanta’s second goal, but with Orlando City down a player, he had sunk deeper into the 18 to help defend and I do not think it would be fair to call him out for not getting all the way out to a player shooting from around 22-23 yards away. He was simply not where he would have been with a full complement of Lions on the pitch. I don’t want to minimize his effort and play all the way down to a few specific plays though, Gerbet did have a solid game all around, completing 86.5% of his passes and adding one tackle and four clearances on defense.

MF, Marco Pašalić, 6 — After some plays early in the season when he showed off his right foot, the Croatian has become a nearly exclusively left-footed player as the season has progressed, and that was on display in this game when he ran onto a long ball from Ojeda and, despite having a wide-open opportunity to take a touch and attempt a right-footed shot, he cut back into the middle and hit a shot right at Guzan. In fairness, it was impressive dribbling to get that shot off, and a shot from the middle is better than a shot from the right, but the defender was overplaying him to allow him to go right and he still went left, even though he was inside the 18 and has a good right foot. Though he did not force Guzan into any difficult saves, Pašalić was dangerous in this game, earning an assist on his short layoff pass to Araújo and attacking the Atlanta defense throughout. He won two take-ons and completed 87.9% of his passes, including one key pass, and also added a team-leading four tackles, one interception, and one clearance on the defensive end.

F, Ramiro Enrique, 6.5 (MotM)— Enrique is doing a little bit of a Facundo Torres impression, getting hot along with the weather, scoring his fourth goal in the last three weeks in this game. He never gave up on a long ball from Ojeda, and when Atlanta defender Derrick Williams could not control the ball, Enrique blew by him to take possession and smashed a low shot past Guzan to give Orlando City a 2-1 lead. Although he was almost invisible prior to his goal, Enrique delivered his customary effort, leading the team by winning five aerial balls and hustling all over the field. He completed 88.2% his passes and recorded one tackle and one clearance before he was sacrificed in a defense-for-offense substitution after the Araújo red card.

F, Martín Ojeda, 6.5 — The Argentinian Designated Player played a game of close, but no cigar during this game, coming teasingly close to scoring on multiple shots and close to adding an assist on one excellent cross that was inches away from being put away by Freeman. Ojeda collected a secondary assist on the game’s opening goal, playing the initial ball into Pašalić, who laid it off for Araújo that led to the Uruguayan’s wonderful shot. He also played the ball over the top that turned into Enrique’s goal, though he did not get credit for the assist as the ball went off an Atlanta defender before Enrique picked it up and took it to goal. Ojeda will probably rue the chances he had but did not finish, and so while he registered an assist, he could have had another goal contribution and possibly two. He completed 78.6% of his passes and added two clearances on defense. 

Substitutes

F, Luis Muriel, (73′), 5.5 — This game is in contention for the game in which the Colombian contributed the least to the Lions, but as the solitary attacking player when playing down a player, there was little that Muriel could do as he saw almost none of the ball during his time on the field. I think he was partially culpable for Atlanta’s second goal, as with Gerbet dropping deeper into the defense Muriel could have dropper deeper as well and might have disrupted that play, but at the same time, if he dropped deeper, then Orlando would have had nobody on the field to keep Atlanta’s defenders from playing all the way up into Orlando’s defensive third. Muriel completed three of his four pass attempts and drew a yellow card on Ajani Fortune with a slick move to get behind him, but he had little opportunity to contribute in any meaningful way.

MF, Kyle Smith, (74’), 5 — Smith came on in what has become his new role, a late sub for Angulo out on the left wing. He did not see much of the ball, getting only eight touches, and he completed one of his four pass attempts. He added three clearances on defense as well. His most memorable moment was committing the foul that produced the stoppage in play in which Araújo’s scuffle with Mateusz Klich occurred, changing the end of the game for the Orlando defense and, likely, the result of the match, although it was ultimately through no fault of Smith’s.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, (74’), 4.5 — Atuesta came on at the same time as Smith, and in what will become a theme with all of the substitutes, he too did not have a lot of the ball, only receiving nine touches and completing three of his five pass attempts. One of those incomplete passes was costly, as he tried to make a difficult pass with the outside of his foot to Dagur Dan Thórhallsson instead of continuing on with the ball, passing it across the field to a wide-open Smith, or simply smashing it down the field to relieve the pressure. That turnover became the backbreaking third goal for Atlanta. He also picked up a yellow card for a nasty late challenge on Edwin Mosquera. The ref played advantage and Atlanta nearly scored, although it would not have counted because Thiare was offside on the final ball in front. It was a disappointing substitute appearance following his Man-of-the-Match performance on Saturday.

MF, Dagur Dan Thórhallsson (80′), N/A — The Icelandic midfielder entered just after the red card, replacing Enrique to bring on fresh legs to try to see the game out while playing with 10 players. He barely had any of the ball, getting only three touches and completing one of two pass attempts and mostly just desperately defended during his shift.

F, Duncan McGuire (90′ +6), N/A McGuire came on in the dying minutes after Atlanta took the lead, but was unable to contribute anything other than hustling after a long ball, forcing Atlanta to dump it out of bounds, and committing one foul while going for a ball in the air.


That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s frustrating 3-2 loss on the road against Atlanta. 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.

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