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Orlando City vs. New England Revolution, 2019 U.S. Open Cup: Final Score 2-1 as Lions Win in Extra Time

Lions are through to the quarterfinals thanks to goals by Benji Michel and Tesho Akindele.

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5 years ago

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Nick Leyva, The Mane Land

Survive and advance is a good description of what Orlando City did tonight on a rainy evening at Exploria Stadium. The Lions played lethargic soccer for nearly 90 minutes, then scored twice in extra time and held on against a furious rally to nip the New England Revolution, 2-1.

Benji Michel opened his Orlando City account and Tesho Akindele added some much-needed insurance before New England scored late and came close to equalizing numerous times. The Lions are through to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals and will host New York City FC at 7:30 p.m. on July 10.

“Obviously, very pleased to get through,” O’Connor said after the game. “I thought it was a very tough game, as we knew it would be. Credit to New England. I thought they put up a great fight. I thought it was a very difficult game for both football teams, back and forth. But I thought the heart and the commitment that the players showed was outstanding.”

O’Connor put together a similar lineup to last week’s match in Memphis, but starting fullbacks Joao Moutinho and Ruan returned to the starting XI, pushing Shane O’Neill and Alex De John to the bench. Other than that, the personnel were only different on the bench, with Nani, Kyle Smith, and Michel dressing, along with last week’s reserves, Brian Rowe and Carlos Ascues.

The first half was as sloppy as the Orlando weather throughout the day, with neither team doing a whole lot. The Lions were slow and plodding, and as a result, New England easily picked off a pass nearly every time City approached the final third. The Revolution were easily the more motivated club for the first 45 minutes and that showed in their 7-2 advantage in shots, even though New England failed to put any on target (Orlando managed one).

Teal Bunbury got the game’s first chance three minutes in, sending a shot that Adam Grinwis parried, but it looked to be heading wide anyway. Cristian Penilla sailed a shot over the bar four minutes later.

Orlando’s first shot came off a counterattack that put Cristian Higuita into a good spot but the Colombian didn’t get much power on his effort and it was an easy save for Matt Turner in the eighth minute.

Santiago Patino fired a header wide off a free kick cross in the 16th minute and Orlando’s chances were done for the half.

Most of the rest of the first half was played between the boxes with the teams trading forays forward only to turn it over when they came toward goal. New England looked the far more likely team to score, getting deeper into the Lions’ end overall.

Late in the first half, the Lions tried to send a long ball to Higuita and Jalil Anibaba got to the aerial ball first, colliding with the Orlando midfielder in the New England box. He won the ball cleanly but Higuita was injured on the play and had to be subbed off with an apparent leg injury.

The half ended 0-0 with Orlando holding 57.4% of the possession and out-passing the Revs 86%-79%.

New England continued to get the better opportunities in the second half and it seemed like only a matter of time before the Revs would cash in. Sacha Kljestan blocked a shot by Anibaba off a corner kick in the 57th minute to deny a goal. Moments later, Dillon Powers arrived to make a vital block.

After a couple of Orlando crosses couldn’t find anyone in the area, a cross to an open Penilla looked like it would give New England the lead but the Revs forward couldn’t set his feet properly and the chance was wasted in the 66th minute.

After a weak shot by Chris Mueller fell right to Turner, New England nearly scored in the 75th minute. Grinwis did well to get down to deny a wicked cross that was back-heeled on frame by Bunbury.

Juan Fernando Caicedo hit the post four minutes later, then tracked down the rebound and missed wide.

Orlando City got a late flurry despite the second half being all New England, which coincided with Michel entering the game in the 81st minute. Akindele smashed a shot off the post five minutes later as the Lions started to find some energy. The rebound almost fell for Michel, but he was offside, and Ruan followed with a shot that didn’t matter, but it was right at Turner anyway.

Moments later, Powers fired and forced a great save by Turner, who committed to his right and had to reach back to his left to make the save.

The full time whistle blew and the game headed to extra time for two additional 15-minute halves, still scoreless. The Revs held a 14-7 lead in shots after 90 minutes but Orlando got three on target to New England’s one. The Lions held 56% possession and an advantage in passing accuracy (84%-79%).

In the first minute of the extra period, Michel got down the right. With no one else in the area he fired a bad-angle shot that forced Turner into a save. The Revs came back the other way and fizzed a cross through the six but no one could get a touch on it.

Michel’s earlier foray was a sign of things to come. The Lions broke through in the 96th minute when Moutinho got down the left and fizzed a cross in that deflected off the back of Michel’s foot. It fell for Carlos Ascues, who shot. Turner saved it, but Michel was there for the put-back to open his Orlando account and make it 1-0.

“I mean, wow. It’s an amazing feeling,” Michel said of scoring his first professional goal. “I’ve been dreaming of this since I was younger, watching the club and then thinking about me scoring in front of these amazing fans, and I finally achieved it. I scored my first goal in front of this club and I’m still just…thinking about it. It’s like amazing to me.”

Ascues freed himself up for a shot in the 100th minute but it was deflected out for a corner kick by the defense. A minute later, the ball fell to Akindele’s feet in the box. He was standing dead still and couldn’t get any power on his shot, but it deflected off Andrew Farrell and wrong-footed Turner, trickling across the goal line to make it 2-0.

After what seemed an interminable amount of stoppage time, the Lions held a two-goal advantage into the extra time break.

Nani nearly made it 3-0 just after the restart on what would have been a truly spectacular goal. The Portuguese star tried to catch Turner off his line from near midfield and the ball sailed just over the bar and landed on the roof of the net.

Orlando then went into conservation mode more out of self-preservation than sitting on the lead. Powers went off with what appeared to be a groin injury or cramps and limped off the field, being replaced by Alex De John. Akindele could hardly walk let alone run for the final 10 minutes.

As a result, New England sent numbers forward and was able to sustain some pressure over the final five minutes. The Revs broke through in the 117th minute on what seemed like their 20th dangerous cross of the game. Carles Gil sent a back-post ball that second-half sub Justin Rennicks got onto and nodded home to make it a game with just minutes remaining.

The Lions got nervy after that but were able to just see out the final few minutes, with Bunbury heading just off target in stoppage time. The whistle mercifully sounded and City had a trip to the quarterfinals.

“Credit to our back line,” Grinwis said of his defense’s work on the night. “I mean, even Joao Moutinho, who’s one of the shortest guys out there and he’s winning balls in the air left and right. I think we weathered the storm well, because they were just putting balls in on us left and right. It was tricky on the pitch and I thought (the defense) did really well to manage that.”

Orlando saw 52% of the final possession and was the better passing team (83%-80%) but the Revs fired more shots (22-15). The Lions, however, were the more accurate side, getting eight attempts on frame to just three for New England.

Orlando City returns to MLS action next Wednesday, June 26 at D.C. United.

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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.

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5 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 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?

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7 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: 11/21/24

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

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11 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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