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Orlando City vs. LA Galaxy: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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6 years ago

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Orlando City tossed away more home points tonight in a loss that should at least have been a draw if not for a bad penalty take in the first half. The team has completed yet another horrible May stretch (1-4-0) and will now go on the road for the entirety of June (although that’s only three total matches), making these lost points even more painful.

Let’s take a look at how everyone performed.

Starters

GK, Brian Rowe, 6 — It’s difficult to really give a grade to a guy who was largely a spectator in the match, as the Orlando goalkeeper was rarely called into action. Rowe had a great outlet pass to Nani in the 15th minute to send the team on the counter in his fist notable involvement of the game. I’m not sure he could have done much about the dos Santos screamer that beat him with extreme power. That was the only shot he faced in the first half and the only one to find the target all game long as LA’s other three attempts missed.

D, Joao Moutinho, 5.5 — The Portuguese youngster left a pair of crosses too close to David Bingham early on, which could have been dangerous chances for Tesho Akindele. He got caught inside on an LA cross in the buildup to the opening goal. In the 23rd minute he had a good opportunity to cross on the break and put the pass behind the end line. He made his best cross at the end of the 72nd minute that led to a corner. Moutinho grew into the game somewhat, becoming more dangerous as the second half wound down. Though he was officially 0-for-7 in crossing accuracy, he did put the ball into some dangerous spots after halftime but no one got to them. He closed the game with just 75% passing accuracy, a tackle, and a clearance.

D, Robin Jansson, 6 — The beefy Swede sent a powerful free kick over the net in the 18th minute. He had some bad luck clearing a cross a minute later that fell perfectly for Jonathan dos Santos to open the scoring and a giveaway with a loose touch in the 25th that nearly led to an LA counter. Made a big stop to cut off a counter attack in the 66th minute with a sliding tackle. He took a tactical foul yellow late to quell an LA counter. His 90% passing rate was behind only Sebas Mendez among those with at least nine attempts. He made one tackle and had a team high three clearances.

D, Lamine Sané, 5.5 — Lamine had a bit of a quiet first half with perhaps his most memorable play being a missed tackle on Emil Cuello that led to a dangerous attack. He was culpable on a scoring chance early in the second half by not stepping up but was bailed out by a shot over the bar. In the 61st, he failed to communicate with a backtracking midfielder — something that we’ve seen happen repeatedly in recent weeks — and as a result no one played the ball that luckily rolled where only Rowe could get it. He made one tackle with two interceptions and two clearances, with an 87% passing rate.

D, Ruan 6.5 — The Brazilian speedster drew a yellow card in the 17th minute as Emil Cuello was afraid he might beat Bingham to the ball, setting up a set piece. He sent a fantastic cross to Mueller in the 21st that should have led to a scoring chance. His 71st-minute cross led to a shot on target from Nani after he mesmerized the defense. His 71.4% passing rate wasn’t great but six of his eight incomplete passes came in the congested final third. Defensively, he made three tackles and one clearance, with three dribbles, and drew two free kicks. He unfortunately just about disappeared from the game once Kyle Smith was introduced.

MF, Cristian Higuita, 6 — The Colombian made his second straight start and had a bit of a quiet first half despite three tackles, an interception, and a passing rate of 89%. He didn’t get forward much and managed to get dispossessed twice when he did. His giveaway in the 51st sent LA on the break and he was lucky not to concede a free kick in a good spot after contact with Sebastian Lletget. He finished with five tackles and a passing rate that dipped to 84.8%, while connecting on five of seven long balls.

MF, Sebas Mendez, 6.5 (MotM) — Mendez did well to win a penalty in the 31st minute by taking the ball from dos Santos in the area. Moments later he sent a sky ball header that was easy for Bingham on a counter in which the cross may have been intended for Mueller behind him of whom he was unaware. He led all starters with a 93.7% passing rate, with one key pass and went five out of six on long ball accuracy. He tied Higuita for the team lead in tackles, with five, and made two interceptions and a clearance. He still has moments where he fails to track trailing runners and sometimes gambles a bit, but he was the team’s best player on this night in my opinion.

MF, Will Johnson, 6 — Will’s early shot in the fourth minute was one he’ll want back, sending it well over the bar from just outside the area. He drew a free kick just outside the area late in what was his typical workmanlike first half. Did well to steal a ball in the 64th but then split Nani and Mueller to give it right back at the top of the box. Defensively, Johnson had two tackles and a clearance to his credit. His 88.5% passing accuracy was good and he had one key pass, going four of five on long balls.

F, Nani, 4.5 — It wasn’t the sharpest night for Nani. The captain’s passing was a bit off in the first half — including getting a cross blocked out for a corner on a 15th-minute counter attack with numbers — though he did connect well with the flanks. His first-half passing chart showed green around the edges but everything toward goal was red. For the second consecutive game he missed a penalty with a stutter-step approach when he could have simply gone for power. He did get a free kick on target in first-half stoppage time to force a Bingham save but it wasn’t a difficult one. He missed the net early in the second half with Bingham out of position. He made a good cross in the 66th but it was cut out for a corner. He did well to get on a deflected cross in the 71st minute to get a shot on target but he didn’t hit it solidly enough to get it by the goalkeeper. In the end, Nani sent eight shots toward the net, getting three on target, made two key passes on an overall 81% passing night, with one tackle and an interception. The grade may look harsh, but this wasn’t a good enough performance on a night when Dom Dwyer was unavailable to help the offense. although he admittedly didn’t get much help from his fellow forwards either.

F, Tesho Akindele, 4 — The Canadian striker had a bit of a quiet first half and his most notable play may have been a loose touch that wrecked a late counter attack. He was initially sent in behind but lost his advantage taking possession and then lost it with an unforced error at the top of the area. He made a good play early in the second half to keep the ball from Bingham, feeding Nani who unfortunately couldn’t hit the empty net. His quiet night ended in the 56th minute with just 32 touches and a 75% passing rate, though he did make two key passes and four tackles. He failed to record a shot and had five unstable touches — the most on the team.

F, Chris Mueller, 5 — Mueller was a bit sloppy with his first touch several times and faded a bit during the game, almost as if he’d played four games in 13 days, on both sides of the continent. He started strong by forcing a good save from Bingham in just the second minute. He went back to refusing to shoot in the 21st minute when Orlando had a chance to pull the goal right back, then got dispossessed without even getting off a shot attempt. Moments later he had a heavy touch on the attack and was forced to play wide for Moutinho instead of getting into the area. Mueller’s header off a corner in the 73rd minute forced a great save from Bingham on his best shot of the night. He got two of his three shots on target and passed at a 79% rate with one key pass and chipped in a clearance on defense.

Substitutes

D, Kyle Smith (56’), 3.5 — The danger on the right side faded as soon as Ruan started moving around the pitch when Smith was introduced. His 86% passing is deceptive as he got no accurate crosses into the danger zone (on three attempts) and in fact struggled to even get one into the area without being blocked. He made one clearance and a tackle and bundled a shot on target on a set piece but he knew little about it and the trickling ball was cleared off the line easily.

MF, Sacha Kljestan (67’), 5 — The former Red Bulls captain was put on to try to connect more passes in the final third, and he did manage two key passes in his abbreviated stint but his overall passing was just 72.4% as the Galaxy parked the bus and Orlando couldn’t break them down.

F, Josué Colmán (83’), N/A — Another late cameo from the Paraguayan didn’t amount to much. It wasn’t bad, but he was only on the pitch about 11 minutes counting stoppage time. He took a weak shot that trickled slowly in for an easy scoop by Bingham. He completed all eight of his passing attempts and two were key passes but perhaps he should have come on earlier for an obviously tired Mueller.

That’s how I saw the individual performances against the Galaxy. What did you think? Please tell us in the comments section and vote for your Man of the Match in our poll below.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Ruan17
Sebas Mendez23
Cristian Higuita11
Will Johnson6
Other (let us know who in the comments below)4

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2024 Orlando City Season in Review: Wilder Cartagena

The midfielder helped Orlando City own the center of the field throughout the majority of the 2024 season.

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4 hours ago

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December 22, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City initially acquired midfielder Wilder Cartagena on loan through the 2022 MLS season. After a successful end of the year, the club exercised the option to extend the loan through the 2023 season. He became a key player in the starting lineup for the Lions that season, resulting in the club signing him to a permanent deal through the 2025 season on Dec. 14, 2024. The Peruvian midfielder built a powerhouse partnership with fellow midfielder César Araújo, forming what may have been the best central midfield duo in all of MLS during the 2024 season.

Let’s take a look back at Cartagena’s season with Orlando City.

Statistical Breakdown

Cartagena participated in all four of the competitions Orlando City played in during 2024, playing primarily in his normal central defensive midfielder role but also filling in as center back for around seven games worth of minutes (631). Despite playing in a brand new position for approximately 20% of his total minutes, Cartagena ended up leading the team in plus-minus for the season, finishing +22 across all competitions, meaning the Lions were much better with him on the pitch than they were when he wasn’t.

In MLS regular-season play, the Peruvian international appeared in 27 matches, starting 25 and playing 2,192 minutes. He only recorded one goal contribution on the season, an assist, though he took 24 shots, putting eight on target. He completed 89% of his passes with 16 key passes, one successful cross, and 25 completed long balls. On the defensive side, he recorded 76 tackles, 20 interceptions, 42 clearances, and nine blocks. He committed a team-leading 48 fouls, suffered 28 fouls, and received seven yellow cards and one red card, which he picked up after the conclusion of the game against Minnesota United. Coincidentally, his red card suspension and his one-game ban for yellow card accumulation each resulted in him missing a regular-season game against Atlanta United — both were Orlando losses.

During the MLS playoffs, Cartagena started all five matches, playing 431 minutes with no goals or assists. He took two shots, placing one on target, and he completed 87.2% of his passes with a single key pass. Defensively, he recorded nine tackles, four interceptions, 11 clearances, and one block. He drew eight fouls and committed nine, and he was booked twice, with both being yellow cards.

Cartagena played in all four Concacaf Champions Cup matches, starting every game and playing 315 minutes. He did not take any shots, so he did not score any goals, and he didn’t contribute any assists either. He completed 86.6% of his passes, including four key passes. Defensively, he tallied eight tackles, five interceptions, four clearances, and one block, and he committed three fouls, while suffering five. He was booked twice, earning two yellow cards.

During Leagues Cup play, Cartagena started all three games, playing the full 270 minutes with zero goal contributions. He took three shots, placing one on target, and completed 92.1% of his passes, but with zero key passes. He added three tackles, three interceptions, four clearances, and one block on defense, and he committed three fouls and drew one. Unlike in the other three competitions, in Leagues Cup play he did not receive any cards.

Best Game

While Cartagena only had one goal contribution for the season, the positions he played do not lend themselves to being able to use the commonly cited stats like goals and assists to evaluate which game was the finest. That said, I think the one game in which Cartagena had an assist was his finest performance, but the assist was only the cherry on top of an outstanding game all over the field by the Peruvian midfielder, as his performance helped lead the Lions to a dominant 5-0 victory over D.C. United on March 9.

Cartagena completed 77 of his 81 passes (95.1%), and while any game with that many completed passes and that high of a completion percentage would be excellent, it was the types of passes that he completed that really set this game ahead of all of his other performances. He completed 22 of those 77 passes into the attacking third of the field, meaning they were attacking balls forward towards goal that went from the middle or defensive third into the attacking third. If 22 sounds like a lot, well, that’s because it is. There were only seven instances during MLS play in 2024 of a player completing 22 or more passes into the attacking third in a single game.

If that was not enough, Cartagena also went 11 of 12 (91.7%) on long passes (passes of at least 30 yards) on the night, one of only 24 instances during MLS play in 2024 of a midfielder completing at least 11 long passes and being successful on more than 90% of his long pass attempts.

On top of both of those stats, Cartagena also got on the score sheet for the only time all season, playing a beautiful cross from the right flank onto the head of a charging Robin Jannson, who smashed in his header and gave the Lions a 2-0 lead.

Cartagena went the full 90 in this match, contributing not only offensively but also defensively, with three tackles, four recoveries, and one clearance, and his dominance in the center of the field helped the Lions keep a clean sheet.

2024 Final Grade

The Mane Land awarded Cartagena a composite rating of 7.5 out of 10 for the 2024 season, the same as the 7.5 we gave him last season. I mentioned earlier that the team was +22 while Cartagena was on the field, and that +22 equaled a +0.62 goals per 90-minute average over his total minutes played, meaning that when Cartagena played, the Lions were nearly two-thirds of a goal better than their opponents. On the flip side, when Cartagena was off the field, the Lions were -5 for the season, which equaled a -0.48 goals per 90-minute average. The net of those two per 90-minute averages is +1.10, meaning that Orlando City was more than one goal better than its opponents when Cartagena was on the field as compared to when he was off, showing just how valuable he was to the team during the 2024 season.

2025 Outlook

I expect 2025 to look very similar to 2024 for Cartagena, as both he and his midfield partner Araujo are set to return and are completely comfortable in Head Coach Óscar Pareja’s system. The Lions also parted ways with Felipe, Jeorgio Kocevski, and Heine Gikling Bruseth, meaning that Nico Lodeiro is the only player on the roster with significant experience in the role where Cartagena usually plays, and Lodeiro is more of a supersub than a starter at this point in his career and a much more offensive minded No. 8 option than a defensive, double-pivot type. Kyle Smith and Dagur Dan Thórhallsson both have the skillset to potentially get some minutes there, and Orlando City used its first-round draft pick in the MLS SuperDraft to select midfielder Joran Gerbet from Clemson, but it should be Cartagena’s job to lose during the 2025 season, and I expect to see him on the field for the vast majority of Orlando City’s minutes.

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Top 10 Moments of 2024: Orlando City Surges to Top Four Spot in Eastern Conference

Languishing near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, the Lions made a massive push from June 19 onward to finish fourth in the Eastern Conference.

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6 hours ago

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December 22, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

As we count down to the new year of 2025 — which will be Orlando City’s 11th in MLS, the Orlando Pride’s ninth in the NWSL, and OCB’s third in MLS NEXT Pro — and say goodbye to 2024, it’s time to look back at the club’s 10 best moments of the year as selected by The Mane Land staff via vote.

The Lions were floundering. A team that finished strong in 2023 and ended up second in the Supporters’ Shield race had bolstered the attack in the off-season by signing a Designated Player forward out of Italy’s Serie A and figured to pick up where it left off. It didn’t.

Orlando City struggled out of the gate to connect in the final third, to find a cohesive starting XI that worked well together, and to find the form with which it ended the 2023 campaign. Although the Lions swept Canadian Premier League side Cavalry FC in the first round of the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup at the onset of the season, they once again played a scoreless draw on opening day of league play, got blown out at Inter Miami, gave up a 95th-minute goal to lose at home to Minnesota, and then got knocked out of Champions Cup by Tigres before falling at Atlanta.

The team’s 0-3-1 start to the regular season was followed by two wins and two draws, pulling Orlando to 2-3-3, but that surge proved to be fool’s gold. That run preceded a late-game collapse at home against Toronto that turned a 1-0 87th-minute lead into a 2-1 loss. That loss, to a Toronto team that finished 11-19-4, turned into a home losing streak after FC Cincinnati departed Inter&Co Stadium with a 1-0 win on May 4.

A 2-0-1 surge followed, but it could only bring the Lions to 4-5-4 on the season. But again, Orlando City fans had to take the bad with the good, as the club went 0-3-1 in its next four. Two late goals by LAFC and a missed Facundo Torres penalty — the first such miss in his entire soccer careeer — produced a 3-1 home loss that left the club at just 4-8-5 at the season’s midway point. Some fans were calling for Oscar Pareja’s job; no one was happy with new Designated Player Luis Muriel’s play; and the players seemed frustrated, disjointed, and at odds with each other on the pitch.

Things looked bleak for extending the club’s four-year postseason streak to five. It seemed as if there was no way to break out of the funk the Lions were in.

But then it happened.

The team’s fortunes didn’t turn around all at once, and the turning point sure didn’t seem like one at the time. Orlando City went to Charlotte on June 19, found itself up a man, and still had to scrape by with just a 2-2 draw. Down a man, Brandt Bronico put Charlotte FC up 2-1 with 13 minutes remaining, and things looked worse than ever for the Lions, who were on the verge of falling to 4-9-5 and threatening to contend for the wooden spoon. But Torres struck in the 81st minute to bring City level on a corner kick. Was this the goal that ultimately saved Orlando City’s 2024 season?

Once tied, Orlando pushed furiously for a winner but to no avail. The single point the Lions brought home from North Carolina didn’t feel good at the time, but it was a start — the first pebble in what ultimately turned into an avalanche. A win and a loss in the next two matches didn’t seem particularly noteworthy either, but the team was starting to put things together.

After beating Chicago 4-2 on June 22 at home, the Lions nearly mounted a comeback after a disastrous first half in a 4-2 loss at New York City FC on June 28 — a game in which Orlando lost backup goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar for the rest of the season. The Lions then won four straight matches and went 4-0-1 in their final five games prior to the Leagues Cup break, entering the MLS pause at .500 with a 9-9-7 record. It had taken the team half the season to recover from the poor start, but the Lions were back in the fight.

A win and two draws in Leagues Cup, despite some international absences, kept the Lions’ momentum going. Although a flat performance in a loss at Sporting Kansas City in the MLS restart weekend didn’t help matters, it was followed by three more consecutive wins — all via shutout, with Orlando outscoring its opponents 8-0 — and six victories in seven matches. The lone loss in that seven-game stretch was a 4-3 defeat at Columbus in which a valiant comeback effort fell just short.

After that 6-1-0 run, Orlando entered Decision Day with a 15-11-7 record and a top-four spot that wasn’t spoiled by a loss in the regular-season finale to Atlanta.

The Lions’ 11-4-2 finish over the final 17 matches of the 2024 season not only pushed the team into the postseason, it also put Orlando City in position to take advantage when Miami, Columbus, and Cincinnati all faltered in the first round of the playoffs.

Because the Lions were the highest remaining seed in the postseason, once Orlando City won its best-of-three, first-round series against Charlotte, it had home field priority for the remainder of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Lions hosted Atlanta in the Eastern Conference semifinal and knocked their rivals out of the postseason in a tight defensive battle in which the Five Stripes hardly troubled goalkeeper Pedro Gallese. Orlando advanced to the Eastern Conference final for the first time, hosting the New York Red Bulls.

Although Orlando faltered in that conference final, which is not the result we (or the Lions) wanted, City put itself in the best possible position to reach the MLS Cup final by finding the right blend of chemistry, form, and grit in the season’s second half.

The Lions came closer to MLS Cup in 2024 than ever before, thanks to the team’s second-half surge. As such, that surge is a worthy inclusion in the list of the club’s top moments of the year, and a great way to kick off our annual series of the club’s most memorable accomplishments and events.

Come back through New Year’s Eve as we count down the remainder of Orlando City’s top 10 moments of 2024.

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Opinion

Three Orlando City Games to Watch in 2025

Here are three intriguing matches in the 2025 Orlando City season.

Published

1 day ago

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December 21, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Major League Soccer provided a last-minute stocking stuffer for North American soccer fans when it dropped the 2025 season schedule six days before Christmas. It feels like the Orlando City season just wrapped (as is often the case when a team makes a deep run in the playoffs), and yet now we can spend the next few “winter” weeks meticulously breaking down the matchups as training camp is just around the corner. My fellow staff writers at The Mane Land can attest that I have a horrible case of scoreboard-watching from Matchweek 1 of the regular season on, and that obsession starts now with my top three games to watch in 2025.

Friday, July 25 — at Columbus Crew

As the final match of three games in 10 days and the last match of July, the first meeting against perennial the Eastern Conference powerhouse Columbus Crew should serve as a great measuring stick for fans and pundits to assess where the Orlando City season stands heading into the final third of the season. Traditionally speaking, over the last few years, late July into early August is the time frame when Head Coach Oscar Pareja’s teams have caught fire.

If that historical trend holds, then I expect Orlando City to hit Columbus in strong form, once again looking to secure a top-four spot in the Eastern Conference. While it is hard to predict what rosters will look like by then, as there have been reports and rumors of both stars and Head Coach Wilfried Nancy’s possible departure circulating. However, it is difficult to imagine Columbus slipping much, as the club has established a winning culture and has a knack for finding and signing outstanding players like Lucas Zelarayan and Cucho Hernandez. A matchup between the Crew and Lions at that point of the season could serve as a marquee event for MLS in 2025.

Saturday, Feb. 22 — vs. Philadelphia Union

There are two things I know to be true when it comes to Orlando City soccer. First, Orlando City has kicked off every MLS regular season in front of its home fans — a unique trend that I was excited to see continue in 2025. The second thing that I know is that Orlando City is unbeaten in season openers (3-0-7). In 2025, Orlando City welcomes the Philadelphia Union to Inter&Co Stadium and the unbeaten record will be on the line once again. The Union will be the seventh different opening day opponent for the Lions in 11 seasons.

What makes this matchup particularly interesting is that this will be the first time in Orlando City history that they will face the Union without now-former head coach Jim Curtin. One of the longest-tenured head coaches in MLS at the time, Curtin parted ways with the Union at the end of the 2024 season. Often I find myself in the “managers don’t make a large difference” camp when it comes to the outcome of matches, but to look back at what Curtin did with Philadelphia, its academy, and modest roster spending can only be viewed as wildly successful. Orlando will try to start its season off on the right foot, while a new Union manager will be looking to start his tenure in Philly with a road victory. Something will have to give, and I am going to put my money on Orlando winning the day.

Saturday, April 12 — vs. New York Red Bulls

While the first opportunity to exact revenge over the club that eliminated the Lions from the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs will happen roughly a month earlier on the road, the true opportunity to stick it to the Red Bulls in front of a home crowd has to be my most anticipated match of 2025. A lot has been said about rivalries in MLS. Some seem manufactured, and some come down to genuine hatred, but I firmly believe that for the time being our squad’s biggest rival is the one that ended Orlando City’s season one game short of the championship match.

It seems a little strange to me that the Lions will wrap up their season series with the Red Bulls just eight games into the year (so much for spacing out some matchups), but Orlando City will look to pounce on the Red Bulls early on and would likely love nothing more than to take all six points from the team that ended its MLS Cup hopes before the calendar even hits Memorial Day.

Those are the top three matches I have circled on my calendar. Let us know in the comments below which matches you’re most excited about and which matches you think will carry the most significance in 2025. As always, vamos Orlando!

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