Orlando City
Orlando City vs. New York Red Bulls: Player Grades and Man of the Match
In a game that I have to play back to believe, the New York Red Bulls fell to Orlando City in the Lions’ first win of the season. For a recap of a match I still can’t believe you can head over to read Michael’s write-up. In my first attempt at player grades, here’s how the Lions fared as they scooped up three points in arguably the hardest venue in MLS.
Starters
GK, Brian Rowe, 7.5 — So many fans have had very mixed feelings about Brian Rowe. Tonight, I think he may have just proven why he’s Orlando’s starting keeper. The Red Bulls never let up, with nine shots, four of which were on target. He was quick to react in the sixth minute, punching the ball to safety, sending a message early on to the Red Bulls that he wasn’t going down easy. With three saves he helped lead OCSC to the team’s first clean sheet of the season.
D, Robin Jansson, 7 — Jansson made his MLS debut with the Lions tonight and made himself known on the pitch with two tackles, three interceptions, seven clearances and a 58% pass success rate (though the plan wasn’t to play out of the back, so the passing success suffered as a result). Jansson stretched the field with 15 long ball attempts off his left foot, finding space on the right wing to Ruan numerous times. He seemed calm, cool, and collected with every touch of the ball, and it was refreshing to see so much control. He earned a yellow in the 51st minute with a challenge on Omir Fernandez. I can’t wait to see more of his defending.
D, Alex De John, 6.5 — De John was back in the starting XI near his hometown in front of a huge crowd of supporters. Before going off in the 65th minute with a leg injury after a challenge, De John was having a decent game with three interceptions, six clearances, and a blocked shot. His pass success rate was 53%. No major errors made him a valuable member of the back line.
D, Shane O’Neill, 6.5 — With one tackle, nine clearances, and a blocked shot and a pass success rate of 51%, O’Neill seemed more like himself out there tonight providing much needed coverage in the back. He started an attack with a long pass off a Red Bulls set piece but Santiago Patino wasn’t able to complete it. He also started the sequence that led to Orlando’s goal, sending the ball up to Dom Dwyer.
WB, João Moutinho, 7.5 — Offensively Moutinho had the assist to Sacha Kljestan for the lone goal of the match. We saw three tackles, three interceptions, one clearance and a 47% pass success rate in his OCSC debut. There’s room for Moutinho to grow, but it was not a bad game and the assist set him above a seven in my book.
MF, Carlos Ascues, 6.5 — Ok, I’m probably going to hear it on this one. Ascues was all over the place tonight with his performance — three tackles, two interceptions, three clearances, two blocked shots, and a 50% pass accuracy. Some of his passes left me scratching my head and led to New York scoring chances. Then he goes and clears the ball off the line only three minutes after the goal from Kljestan to preserve the lead.
MF, Sacha Kljestan, 8 (MOTM) — With one goal, leading in touches, and a 73% pass success rate Sacha was the man Orlando City needed on the field tonight against his former teammates in their house. Some fans have strong feelings about Kljestan, but this is why he’s a starting player. He’s quiet a lot, but when he makes noise, he’s deafening. He was fun to watch tonight.
MF, Uri Rosell, 7 — Leading in tackles (four more than the next closest) and with three interceptions, five clearances, one shot attempt, and a 69% pass success rate in his first minutes of the season, Uri did not disappoint. Seven of his 13 long balls found their target and he had the second most touches at 73, just one fewer than Kljestan. There’s no doubt that against the Red Bulls tonight, Rosell made the midfield a tough place to play.
WB, Ruan, 6.5 — Ruan and his speed had a lot to offer the offense tonight while his play in the back was only OK. Defensively, Ruan saw two tackles, one interception, three clearances, and he finished with a 63% pass success rate. He had two shot attempts, one on target, making a few nice runs into the box that really opened the right side of the field up with his pace of play.
F, Nani, 6 — The man we all love to watch seemed to struggle a bit in the match as he continued to be taken down with no calls. It was hard for him to get anything past the New York defenders as they swarmed him any time he had the ball. Nani had a 69% pass success rate and not much else this match as he learned how physical MLS can be. It is evident however, that the chemistry is building between him and his teammates as he works to create space with his quality of play.
F, Santiago Patiño, 6 — Patiño played an hour against the Red Bulls in his first start and attempted one shot, which was blocked, and had an 80% pass success rate. The rookie used his size and pace to create multiple opportunities but was unable to finish as he adjusts to the physical demands of MLS play. He attempted only five passes but two of them created scoring chances.
Substitutes
F, Dom Dwyer (60’), 5.5 — Dom started the match on the bench after a rough game last weekend against Montreal. He came in for Patiño and in his time on the field he completed 75% of his passes (though only on eight attempts) and attempted a single shot, but it wasn’t on goal. But his presence was necessary, as his hold-up play was crucial in the buildup to Kljestan’s goal. He took down O’Neill’s long ball and sent it wide to Moutinho, then pulled the defense toward him as the cross went to Kljestan at the top of the box. He was also important in stoppage time as he carried the ball into the attacking third on multiple occasions to help burn some time off the clock and had a beautiful cross to Ruan, that almost resulted in a goal.
D, Lamine Sané (66’), 5.5 — Sané saw the 18 for the first time all season as he’s been recovering from an injury, coming on only to replace an injured De John in the 65th minute. He had one interception, four clearances, and picked up a yellow on a poorly timed clearance that resulted in Omir Fernadez running into his knee. His rust showed a little as he conceded a pair of late set pieces.
D, Kyle Smith (77’) , 5.5 — Smith came on to replace Nani in an attempt to shore up the defense to help preserve the win. In his short time on the field he saw one tackle, one interception, and one clearance with a 38% pass success rate. More importantly, he cleared the ball down the field whenever he had the chance, helping the Lions see the game off.
There you have it, Mane Landers, the first win of the season! Revel in it now, because Wayne Rooney and D.C. United are coming to try and take the win in the purple palace next weekend. We’re going to need some of the structure and pressure we saw from the team tonight if we’re to stand a chance. But before we get to that, please vote for your OCSC Man of the Match in our poll below.
Polling Closed
| Player | Votes |
| Brian Rowe | 48 |
| Robin Jansson | 27 |
| Joao Moutinho | 12 |
| Uri Rosell | 17 |
| Sacha Kljestan | 72 |
| Other | 12 |
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. San Diego FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions welcome San Diego FC to Orlando for the first meeting ever between the two clubs.
Welcome to your match preview and live thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (7-11-4, 25 points) and San Diego FC (8-8-6, 30 points) at Inter.co Stadium in Orlando (7:30 p.m., Apple TV). It’s the first-ever meeting between these two teams from different conferences
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.
History
As mentioned above, tonight’s meeting between the Lions and San Diego is the first in the series history, so there is no history. The Lions are 2-2-1 against Western Conference teams this season, which means little to nothing in this particular match, and San Diego is going to be Orlando City’s final opponent from the opposite conference in MLS regular-season play this season.
Overview
The Lions are coming off a wild 3-3 road draw at Minnesota United a week ago, in which Daryl Dike and Antoine Griezmann scored on either side of halftime on Orlando’s first two shot attempts to put their team up 2-0 in the 64th minute. Minnesota stormed back with three goals off defensive errors in a four-minute span to take a late 3-2 lead. Just when the Loons appeared to be headed for all three points, Tyrese Spicer scored in stoppage time, forcing Minnesota to split the points. Orlando has a modest 1-0-1 unbeaten streak entering tonight, and the Lions are 5-4-2 at home in 2026.
San Diego is coming off a 3-1 home win over the LA Galaxy despite having Jeppe Tverskov sent off. Tonight’s visitors have won two straight games, but both were at home. They lost their last home game 3-1 at Portland on Aug. 19 and are 2-5-3 away from home this season.
The key for Orlando City tonight will be to mark Anders Dreyer, which is far easier said than done, as he has emerged as one of the league’s best playmakers. His eight goals and 11 assists give him 19 total goal contributions to lead his team. Marcus Ingvartsen is Dreyer’s favorite teammate to combine with, as the Danish forward has converted 11 times, leading San Diego in goals, and has added five assists. However, Ingvartsen is listed as out with a lower body injury. Midfielder Onni Valakari has chipped in four goals and seven assists.
“We respect San Diego, but as well we prepare our game,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said ahead of the match. “We know how strong we are, especially at home, so now we go.”
Orlando City will be without Braian Ojeda (foot) and Adrian Marin (thigh), while Bernardo Rhein (thigh), has been upgraded to questionable. San Diego will be without the aforementioned Ingvartsen (lower body) and Tverskov (suspension).
Match Content
- Our latest episode of The Mane Land PawedCast features our key match-ups and score predictions for tonight’s match.
- Our Ben Miller wrote about his three keys to an Orlando City win over San Diego.
Official Lineups:
Orlando City (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.
Defenders: Bernardo Rhein, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Griffin Dorsey.
Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Joran Gerbet, Eduard Atuesta, Justin Ellis.
Forwards: Antoine Griezmann, Daryl Dike.
Bench: Javier Otero, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Tiago, Marco Pasalic, Martin Ojeda, Tyrese Spicer.
San Diego FC (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: C.J. dos Santos.
Defenders: Kieran Sargeant, Ian Murphy, Manu Duah, Oscar Verhoeven.
Midfielders: Gabriel Pirani, Anibal Godoy, Alejandro Alvarado.
Forwards: Elias Achouri, Onni Valakari, Anders Dreyer.
Bench: Duran Ferree, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Christopher McVey, Bryan Zamble, David Vazquez, Ian Pilcher, Alex Mighten, Bryce Duke, Amahl Pellegrino.
Referees:
REF: Joe Dickerson.
AR1: Corey Parker.
AR2: Justin Howard.
4TH: Rodrigo Albuquerque.
VAR: Daniel Radford.
AVAR: Jeff Muschik.
How to Watch
Match Time: 7:30 p.m.
Venue: Inter.co Stadium — Orlando.
TV/Streaming: Apple TV.
Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).
Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.
Enjoy the match. Go City!
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. San Diego FC: Three Keys to Victory
Here’s what Orlando needs to do in order to return to winning ways against San Diego.
After the disappointment of two dropped points against Minnesota on Saturday, Orlando City is back home with an opportunity to get things back on track. The Lions need to keep picking up points if they want to keep pace in an increasingly crowded Eastern Conference, and Saturday’s game is a good chance to start September off on the right note. San Diego FC stands in the way of that good start, and what follows are three things that I believe Orlando needs to do in order to emerge victorious from this game.
Stay Strong on the Left
The left side of the defense has been a question mark for the Lions for much of the year. Adrian Marin, Bernardo Rhein, and Zakaria Taifi have all spent time at left back lately and have done so with varying degrees of success. Regardless of who suits up there on Saturday, that area of the field will be under scrutiny once again, since they’ll be tasked with stopping San Diego right winger Anders Dreyer. He has eight goals and 11 assists in 21 appearances this year, has played 60 key passes during that time, and is generally the lynchpin through which the San Diego offense operates. He hasn’t quite been on the same pace that saw him bag 19 goals and 19 assists in the regular season last year, but with four goal contributions in his last three MLS appearances, he’s extremely capable of wreaking havoc from the wing. A lot of the goals OCSC has conceded lately have come down the left side of the defense, and if that area of the field can’t be taken care of better, the Lions will likely be in for a difficult night.
Do Damage in Transition
Orlando’s current style of positionless, fluid, attacking soccer is at its best when it comes up against teams that want to come out and play. It struggles mightily against defensive bunkers but shines when the Lions can get out and run, target open spaces, and combine with teammates in unexpected areas. Fortunately for OCSC (in theory), San Diego is a team that likes to have the ball, as it has the highest average possession in the league. That means the Lions will have opportunities to force turnovers and break the other way at pace. In order to make that happen though, OCSC will need to be both disciplined and effective when it comes to applying its press. Then, if/when the Lions win the ball, correct decision-making and clinical execution in the final third will be key to avoid letting any chances slip through their fingers (paws?).
Clean Up the Self-Inflicted Errors
Orlando has dealt with more than its fair share of general defensive struggles this year, but avoidable errors have been a particular problem in recent weeks. Whether it’s been an ill-advised challenge, passing to the opposition in the defensive third, or leaving men unmarked in the box, unnecessary mistakes have cost OCSC points time and again. Against lesser opposition it hasn’t always mattered, as the Lions were able to rescue three points against Real Salt Lake, but if Orlando wants to make a playoff push, it needs to make a habit of playing cleaner games, plain and simple. San Diego is a good team with dangerous offensive players, and Saturday’s visitors will very likely take advantage of any opportunities that the Lions gift-wrap for them. Keeping things mistake-free will go a long way.
We’ve got ample proof this season that nothing is guaranteed, but if the Lions can lock down the left side of the defense, make hay in transition moments, and limit unforced errors, then they should be in a good position to take all three points from Saturday’s game. Vamos Orlando!
Lion Links
Lion Links: 9/4/26
Martin Ojeda details his recovery from injury, Anna Moorhouse loaned to Manchester City, Orlando City’s U.S. Open Cup journey, and more.
Three straight days of Orlando soccer starts tonight with Orlando City B’s road match against Inter Miami II at 7 p.m. Hopefully, Orlando’s teams do well over the next few days as crunch time is upon us when it comes to making the playoffs, especially for MLS NEXT Pro. For now though, let’s jump right into today’s links from around the soccer world!
Orlando City Prepares for San Diego FC
Orlando City will take on San Diego FC on Saturday in the first-ever game between the two clubs, and one of the storylines to keep an eye on is how much Martin Ojeda plays as he works his way back from injury. The Designated Player came off the bench late in Orlando’s 3-3 draw against Minnesota United in his first appearance since May 23. Not often injured, Ojeda spoke on how being off the field for over a month has shifted his perspective while training to return.
“You learn to value the moment much more. You learn to value every training session because, when you’re training on your own and you’re not available to your teammates, you feel uncomfortable,” Ojeda said. “You value being healthy more. It’s like everything in life. When you feel good, you live life almost on autopilot, so to speak. You go to work, you go home, you come back, you sleep. However, when you or someone close to you goes through an illness or something like that, you value the moment much more and become more conscious of what you’re experiencing.”
Pride Loan Anna Moorhouse to Manchester City
The Orlando Pride loaned goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse to Manchester City through January of 2027. Moorhouse joined the Pride prior to the 2022 season and helped the club win both the NWSL Championship and Shield in 2024. However, she has struggled this year alongside the rest of the Pride’s defense. Moorhouse hasn’t played in the past two games for the Pride, with Cosette Morche starting in her place. Her current contract with the Pride lasts through the 2027 NWSL season, so we’ll have to wait and see what her future with the club is when the loan ends.
Orlando City’s U.S. Open Cup Journey
Between the World Cup, regular season, and Leagues Cup this summer, it can be easy to forget that Orlando City is still in contention to win this year’s U.S. Open Cup. The Lions are in the semifinals of the tournament after crushing Atlanta United 4-1 in the quarterfinals back on May 19. The Lions won much tighter affairs prior to that win, with Javier Otero coming up with seven saves in a 1-0 win over FC Naples and Zakaria Taifi scoring in stoppage time to beat the New England Revolution 4-3 in the following match. Orlando will be on the road for its semifinal match against the Columbus Crew on Sept. 16, but the offense has received a boost due to the arrivals of Antoine Griezmann and Daryl Dike this summer.
MLS Transfer News Roundup
MLS signings continue to pour in as teams look to improve their squads for the rest of this season and beyond. The Colorado Rapids signed Ghanaian winger Ibrahim Sadiq from AZ Alkmaar, where he recorded 18 goals and seven assists in 85 appearances across three seasons with the Dutch club. San Diego also added an attacker by signing forward Cedric Bakambu, who joins as a free agent after playing at Real Betis. As for other notable moves from across the league, Real Salt Lake signed winger Dusan Zagar as an MLS U22 Initiative player, forward Lyle Foster joined the Houston Dynamo on loan, and the Columbus Crew continued to improve on offense by signing Moroccan winger Anass Zaroury on loan from Panathinaikos.
Free Kicks
- Former Orlando Pride player Christina Burkenroad is retiring from professional soccer and Monterrey will have Saturday’s game against Toluca be a send-off match for her.
- North Carolina Courage forward Ashley Sanchez was named NWSL Player of the Month after recording five goals and two assists in August.
- The Kansas City Current signed Cameroonian defender Maeve Nyadjou, who just helped her nation win the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations for the first time and was named 2026 WAFCON Best Young Player.
- Becky Sauerbrunn is joining the Portland Thorns as a technical consultant for the remainder of the 2026 NWSL season.
- Edin Dzeko announced that he will retire from international soccer following Bosnia and Herzegovina’s UEFA Nations League qualifier against Sweden on Oct. 2. That will be his 152nd match for Bosnia, wrapping up a 19-year-old international career that included 73 goals.
That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!
Orlando City vs. San Diego FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
Orlando City B vs. Inter Miami II: Final Score 4-1 as OCB Claims Three Huge Points in South Florida
Orlando City vs. San Diego FC: Three Keys to Victory
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