Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew: Player Grades and Man of the Match

Hey there, Mane Lander’s it’s me again, reporting for grades. Listen, fam, this one wasn’t pretty. I mean I’ll take the three points and I’m all for being aggressive, a-g-g-r-e-s-s-i-v-e, but last night was a bit much. Now before you come for my head, the yellows were completely unbalanced. Columbus got away with a lot of surprising things, and then City would turn around and get the foul called for the exact same play. You know what we say, PRO gonna PRO. Here’s how I felt the Lions did in the 1-0 win over Columbus.

Starters

GK, Brian Rowe, 7 — We all know what tends to happen when the Lions are up by one in the 85th-90th range and while Columbus made them work for it, Brian Rowe made a Grinwis-esque save to deny the goal, the crowd went wild, and tempers on the pitch flared. Not a bad showing for the keeper.

D, Kamal Miller, 7 — Miller did well to deflect a Columbus cross in the 37th minute to send the ball over the net. When referee David Gantar found his cards, Miller was booked in the 56th for taking down Zardes in the corner. Miller had one shot, two dribbles, one tackle, two interceptions, one clearance and a 77% passing rate on 50 touches.

D, Robin Jansson, 7 — Jansson started despite his rib contusion, and in a race to the ball in the 14th minute beat Zardes but fell hard to the turf and hit his head, but was able to continue. The Swede had a great play in the 60th, using his length to stretch out and break up the Crew’s attack. Jansson registered two interceptions, five clearances, and an 86% passing rate on 58 touches.

D, Lamine Sané (MotM), 8 — Wouldn’t you know the second yellow came only two minutes after the first on Miller as Sané was booked for a foul on David Guzman. Sané had a perfect moment in the match when he sent a beautiful pass to send Ruan up the right flank. Sané passed at a 94% rate on his 73 touches (second on the team). He technically had the second-highest passing percentage to Uri Rosell’s 100% accuracy on only 14 attempts. Additionally the defender made one interception, five clearances, and two blocked shots. Healthy Sané strikes again!

D, Ruan Teixeira, 6.5 — The Brazilian has been trying to work back to what we saw early in the season. His assist on the goal by Benji Michel was perhaps just what he needs to get back in it. This match Ruan finished with one tackle, three clearances, two crosses, the assist, and only a 57% passing rate on his 44 touches.

MF, Will Johnson, 7 — It was a mostly quiet night for the Canadian, though in true WillJo fashion, he never stopped in the minutes he played. His 41 touches saw an 86% passing rate, while defensively he had four tackles, an interception, and a clearance.

MF, Carlos Ascues, 7.5 — Ascues took a bit of time to warm up and find himself in this match and was a bit frustrating to watch early in the first half, but in the second half he sent a beautiful ball to Chris Mueller, who won a free kick from the play. In a (not) surprising turn of events, Ascues was booked in the 81st minute. The Peruvian had a game-high seven tackles, two clearances, a blocked shot, and his 66 touches saw an 83% passing rate on 42 attempts.

MF, Sebas Mendez, 7 — What position was Mendez playing? Because I’m pretty sure he covered every inch of the field. Wouldn’t you know, Mendez was booked in the 92nd minute. Mendez finished with a team-high 78 touches and passed at a 90% rate. Defensively, the Ecuadorian made six tackles and a clearance.

F, Chris Mueller, 6.5 — The Lions did well to pick up a Crew turnover in the 12th minute, and Mueller had a nice breakaway but he failed to look up and was easily dispossessed. Mueller earned a free kick off the pass from Ascues in the 48th minute but it led to nothing. We saw Chris block the Crew’s cross that was earned from Miller’s yellow. Mueller finished with a 79% passing rate on his 30 touches, making two tackles, and an interception, but it was a fairly quiet night.

F, Tesho Akindele, 6.5 — Tesho had a nice cut between defenders in the 43rd but his pass led Mueller a bit too far and it slowly made its way right to Joe Bendik. A tired Tesho pushed through and in the 73rd minute got a nice key pass to create a chance for Santiago Patiño but the rookie’s shot was blocked. Akindele made one tackle, two key passes, and he had a 75% passing rate.

F, Benji Michel, 7.5 — We saw Michel make a nice play to take the ball back in the box but his cross attempt was thwarted by Bendik. Michel sent a weak cross right into Bendik again in the 46th. All his efforts finally paid off when he slammed in a beautiful cross from Ruan, helping the Lions bring home three points. His nine attempts on 33 total touches produced a 67% passing rate. Defensively he made one interception and three clearances.  

Substitutes

F, Dom Dwyer (58’), 5 — Dwyer came on for Mueller, which totally shocked me as I thought Tesho would certainly be coming off first. Dom may never have the chance to get in full form this season. In the 93rd an aerial duel found Dwyer’s elbow in Josh Williams’ face earning him a straight red. I still believe, Dom. I still believe.

F, Santiago Patiño (72’), 7 — Again, I was surprised to see Patiño come on for Johnson instead of the exhausted Akindele. The kid does nothing if not bring some incredible energy to the pitch when he subs on! One minute in, with the help of Akindele, Santi got a chance but it was blocked for an Orlando City corner. His 15 touches saw a 75% passing rate, he had a team-high two shots, and he made one big tackle in his own defensive corner, as he made the most of his minutes.

MF, Uri Rosell, (78’) 6.5 — Uri came on for Akindele and the Canadian finally got a well-deserved rest. As mentioned earlier the Spaniard’s 14 touches produced a 100% passing rate on 11 attempts, and he had a clearance. There’s not much else to say about his time in this one. 

I think that’ll do it! Who was your Man of the Match? Be sure to vote in the poll and let us know why in the comments!

Polling Closed