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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.

Published

6 years ago

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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.

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Orlando City

How Orlando City’s Offense Stacks Up Against What Atlanta Does Defensively

How Orlando City has performed against teams playing with three or four defenders, and how that may influence the playoff game against Atlanta United.

Published

11 hours ago

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November 21, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

The most famous quote about real estate is that “there are three things that matter in property: location, location, location.” Soccer coaches also like to think in threes, especially when it comes to points, but for a soccer coach, the three things that matter might be the rhyming triplet “formation, formation, formation,” as that is where they will have the biggest influence on every game that their team plays.

Throughout his tenure as head coach, Óscar Pareja has preferred to use a 4-2-3-1 as his formation (fbref.com’s lineup data shows that the Lions primarily played a 4-2-3-1 in 65% of their MLS matches this season, and 79% of their MLS matches during the last three seasons). The Lions have lined up in a 4-2-3-1 during each of their last 14 games, and my confidence level is strong to quite strong (can you believe Meet the Parents came out 24 years ago?) that they will do so once again on Sunday when they host Atlanta United.

Atlanta United also prefers to deploy a 4-2-3-1, but was less consistent than Orlando City this season during MLS play, as evidenced by the chart below that shows how Atlanta lined up this season:

The purpose of this image is a table to show how Atlanta United lined up in 2024 (mostly in a 4-2-3-1 but also in one of six other formations).

I am relying on the coders at Opta for their evaluation of the formation, as I do not watch a lot of Atlanta United matches (sounds terrible), but though Atlanta primarily played with four defenders in more than two-thirds of its matches, during the last two matches it played a 3-5-2, the only two matches all season in which interim coach Rob Valentino rolled out that formation. I suspect that the formation change was related partially to playing Inter Miami and trying to defend the Herons’ dynamic offense and partially due to an injury suffered by defender Brooks Lennon in the first game of that series. So, while Atlanta primarily played four in the back for most of the season, there is a good chance it will roll with what worked against Florida’s second-best MLS team when it plays Florida’s best MLS team this weekend.

Now, if you want to read more about Atlanta, then you can read our match preview, which will drop Sunday morning, but I want to look at how Orlando did against teams that play similar styles. Looking only at MLS games, the table below shows how Orlando City performed against different back line structures this season (the left side is how the Lions’ opponents lined up, the right side is how Orlando City performed against opponents in those formations):

Table embedded as an image showing Orlando City doing best in goal differential in 12 games against three-man back lines, second best against four-man back lines, and having played once against a five-man back line (a 1-1 draw).

Orlando City earned slightly more points per game — the stat that matters most — against teams that played four in the back, but the Lions had a better average goal differential when teams played three in the back. Atlanta will likely deploy one of those two formations. In both games against Orlando City this season, Sunday’s visitors went with a 4-2-3-1, but as mentioned earlier, they used three in the back in each of their last two matches, so it really could be either.

Soccer is not like baseball, where players primarily stay in the same spot throughout the game, so some of these stats have to be taken with a grain of salt, as players are not always rigidly in the same position throughout a match. A team may also primarily play with four in the back but switch to three when chasing a game, or five when trying to protect against a late goal.

That said, using the data around Orlando City’s opponents’ general formations, here are the attacking groups who played the most frequently against four defenders during the 24 MLS games where Opta coded the opponents as using a defensive group of four:

Table embedded as an image showing the most frequently used lineups against teams who deploy four defenders. The most frequently used attacking group has a plus eight goal differential for the season.

It is a little ominous that the main starting group, shown in row one, has played 666 MLS minutes against back lines of four this season, but do I like that green goal differential of +8 in those minutes, which is a strong +1.08 per 90 minutes. I like that goal differential more than I like all the things that Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin like on their song that is creatively named “I Like It.” Coincidentally, when people ask me what I think about that song, I say, “I like it.” I am very creative.

If we look at the lineups that Orlando City has used against back lines of three defenders then there are some pretty major differences in personnel groupings, but it must be noted that more than half of the games against teams playing three in the back came early in the season, when Ramiro Enrique was unavailable to play. Enrique, my presumed starter at striker, has played fewer than three games’ worth of minutes (265 total) against back lines of three this season, and only 28 minutes with the main starting group, which ranks 13th among all the attacking lineups for minutes played against three defenders. That group scored one goal in their 28 minutes together though, for a robust 3.21 goals-scored-per-90-minutes average.

While the team as a whole has been successful against three-man back lines, I do not expect any of the lineups shown in the table below to play more than a few minutes together this weekend, though the first row and the last row are strong groups and had a lot of success.

Table embedded as an image showing the most frequently used lineups against teams who deploy three defenders. The most frequently used attacking group has a plus three goal differential for the season.

I am sure that all week long the Orlando City coaching staff has been going back and forth on whether it is more likely that Atlanta reverts to its most commonly used four in the back, or if the Five Stripes try for three wins in a row with three in the back. I would prefer that Atlanta plays with zero defenders and goalkeeper Brad Guzan wears a blindfold, but I think that is unlikely to be the case.

Even though Atlanta defeated Orlando City both times while in a 4-2-3-1, based on available personnel and recent results, I believe that the team will come out in a 3-5-2 in Inter&Co Stadium in the conference semifinal. Good things come in threes, and Orlando City’s best offensive production this season has been against three defenders, so I am going to be hoping that this continues, and in the third game against Atlanta the Lions grab the three points. Three’s company!

Well, it is a playoff game, so there are no actual points at stake, but you know what I meant.

Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to get a victory to advance to the Eastern Conference final?

Published

13 hours ago

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November 21, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City continues its playoff journey against Atlanta United Sunday at Inter&Co Stadium. The Lions are coming off an emotional penalty shootout win over Charlotte FC in their best-of-three, first-round series. Likewise, Atlanta United stunned everyone by taking out Inter Miami to advance in its own best-of-three matchup. Now, the rivals meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

What does Orlando City need to do to get past Atlanta United to advance to the Easter Conference final?

Beat Guzan

Brad Guzan made 16 saves over Atlanta’s three matches against Inter Miami, including seven in the 3-2 win on the road in Game 3. The 40-year-old former USMNT keeper is in excellent form and is a big reason why the Five Stripes are facing Orlando City. Converting chances against Guzan will be crucial to earning a result. There have been times this season when the Lions have struggled to convert their chances. Despite that, the team has done enough offensively to get to this point. Facundo Torres, Martin Ojeda, Duncan McGuire, Ramiro Enrique, and others have contributed and will need to do so this weekend.

Cartagena is Essential

Orlando City lost twice to Atlanta United during the regular season. What is interesting, and perhaps relevant, is that Wilder Cartagena was out for both of those matches. Cartagena was shown a straight red in the match against Minnesota United prior to the first match against Atlanta way back in March. He was shown a yellow card in the match against FC Cincinnati and then served a yellow card accumulation suspension for the final match of the season against Atlanta. Fortunately for Orlando City, Cartagena will be available for the match this weekend. I’ve mentioned before the importance of Cartagena to Orlando City’s success. When he and Cesar Araujo are on the field together, the defense is simply better. Cartagena is frankly one of the better defensive midfielders in MLS. Atlanta scored five goals in the series against Miami, and Orlando will need to keep the visitors from having that kind of offensive success.

Overcome the Past

That darn international break in the middle of the playoffs is something I don’t love. More precisely, I don’t like it because Orlando City often struggles after a break. It would have been nice if Orlando City could have ridden the momentum from the penalty kick victory into the Atlanta match, but that’s not to be. Now is the time for Orlando City to break some bad habits, including turning around its historical lack of success against Atlanta, and tendency to struggle in the first match after a break. Oscar Pareja needs to have the players in the right frame of mind, and the players need to execute the plan. A full house of supporters can also make a difference. Given it’s a Sunday afternoon match, there’s no reason not to pack the house.

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

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 11/21/24

Marta’s chance to shine in NWSL Championship, NWSL and MLS award winners announced, 2025 SheBelieves Cup details, and more.

Published

16 hours ago

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November 21, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

How’s it going, Mane Landers? I’ve been spending most of this week plotting out some holiday shopping to make things a little less stressful for myself over the next few weeks. A big weekend filled with Orlando soccer awaits us, so make sure to get any errands or obligations out of the way sooner rather than later. Let’s dive into today’s links!

Spotlight Falls On Marta in NWSL Championship

There are plenty of storylines heading into Saturday’s NWSL Championship between the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit, including Marta’s opportunity to put an exclamation point on what has been an excellent season for the Pride. Orlando has been enjoying the fruits of its labor this season after a rebuild over the past few years that’s included plenty of change in the City Beautiful. Marta has been a constant, however, enduring some difficult seasons since joining the Pride and adapting her game She’s scored in both of the Pride’s playoff games so far and has a chance to author a storybook ending on Saturday.

Ann-Katrin Berger Named NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year

NJ/NY Gotham FC goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger was named 2024 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year, beating out the Pride’s Anna Moorhouse and Utah Royals FC’s Mandy Haught for the honor. It was Berger’s first year in the NWSL and she’s the first European player to win the award. She only conceded 16 goals across her 22 matches for Gotham this season and was a key reason behind her team’s success. I’m not too surprised that Moorhouse did not win, considering how solid the Pride’s defense was as a whole, but this won’t take anything away from a record-breaking season for her.

Wilfried Nancy Named MLS Coach of the Year

Columbus Crew Head Coach Wilfried Nancy was voted 2024 MLS Coach of the Year after a historic season in which the Crew set club records in both points and goals. The Crew also won the Leagues Cup this summer and their 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup campaign included advancing past Tigres and Monterrey en route to the final. This is Nancy’s first time being named Coach of the Year and he has been a finalist for the award every year since 2021. The Frenchman received 40.02% of the vote, winning the award over Inter Miami’s Gerardo Martino and Colorado Rapids Head Coach Chris Armas.

2025 SheBelieves Cup Details Unveiled

The 10th annual SheBelieves Cup will take place next year and the tournament will return to its usual format where each of the four teams plays each other once. The United States Women’s National Team will host Japan, Colombia, and Australia in February in what should be an exciting tournament. The U.S. will take on Colombia on Feb. 20 in Houston before facing Australia in Arizona on Feb. 23 and finishing the tournament on Feb. 26 against Japan at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. These games will also be the first domestic games of 2025 for the USWNT as it prepares to qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.

Eric Quill Named FC Dallas Head Coach

FC Dallas announced that Eric Quill will become the team’s next head coach. Quill joins Dallas after a great year with New Mexico United that included trips to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals and USL Championship Western Conference semifinals. It’s also a reunion of sorts for Quill, as he previously coached North Texas SC and was named USL League One Coach of the Year with the club in 2019. Dallas missed out on the playoffs this season, with Peter Luccin coaching the team on an interim basis after the firing of Nico Estevez in June.

Free Kicks

  • District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser challenged Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to a bet involving this weekend’s NWSL Championship, with embarrassing lightshows on the line.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!

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