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Orlando City vs. Philadelphia Union: Final Score 3-1 as 9-Man Lions Undone in Second Half

Robin Jansson’s red card late in the first half completely changed the game and Sacha Kljestan’s red in the second half didn’t help.

Published

5 years ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

Orlando City just can’t quite seem to find a way to win consecutive games. With yet another good opportunity to start a winning streak, the Lions saw Robin Jansson sent off at the end of the first half for denial of a goal-scoring opportunity in a tie game, and Sacha Kljestan was sent off in the second half for a horror tackle. The first-place Union (10-5-5, 35 points) took full advantage and beat the Lions (6-9-3, 21 points) 3-1 at Exploria Stadium.

It was the first time this season that Orlando scored first and lost. It was also the Union’s first win at Orlando in five tries (1-1-3).

Chris Mueller opened the scoring for Orlando just eight minutes in, but Kacper Przybylko answered later in the first half and added another just after halftime as the Union capitalized on the Lions being down a man.

“We started the game brightly, got a goal and then after the goal I felt like we needed to do a better job of maintaining possession. We allowed them to come back into the game a little bit,” said Head Coach James O’Connor after the match. “They obviously scored a goal but then I think obviously the sending off (of Jansson) was a major impact.”

O’Connor wasted no time inserting some of his internationals back into the lineup. Will Johnson and Sebas Mendez joined Kljestan in the midfield. The forward line and back four remained the same as it was for Saturday’s win at Columbus, with Brian Rowe back in goal. Dom Dwyer made the 18, along with Kamal Miller.

The Lions got on the front foot immediately, with Danilo Acosta getting a couple of crosses into dangerous spots in the first minute. The second found Tesho Akindele, who was denied at point-blank range by a sliding Matt Freese.

Just after Kljestan and Mendez had shots blocked in the area off a corner kick, Orlando broke through in the eighth minute. Mueller took advantage of an Auston Trusty turnover, backed Jack Elliott into his own penalty area, and fired home for the Lions’ earliest goal in a game this season. It was the fifth of the season and the second straight game with a goal for Cash.

“I picked it up and just started driving kind of towards the goal,” Mueller said. “The defender just kind of kept backing off, backing off, backing off until I thought I was close enough to get a good look and I just kept it low and took my shot.”

“I thought we started out really well,” said Akindele. “They’re a good team. We knew it. We knew we had to kind of impose ourselves on the game and we did. Chris scored an amazing goal and I thought we had control of it. They kind of started taking the momentum back.”

Philadelphia started to climb into the match shortly after that. Przybylko fired a shot from range in the 12th minute that Rowe didn’t pick up right away, but he was able to get down with a strong hand and knock it away.

The Union then spent about the next 10 minutes winning several corner kicks but the Orlando defense did well to keep any of them from becoming dangerous. However, Rowe did have to make a save on a clear-cut chance from an angle in the 18th.

Nani had a ball fall for him on the left in the 24th minute but he sent a scorcher over the bar.

Two minutes later, Orlando tried to break on the counter off a Union corner but Haris Medunjanin was booked for a professional foul.

The Union leveled in the 32nd minute when Akindele turned it over in the midfield. He went down under contact but Chris Penso waved play on and Jamiro Monteiro passed to Przybylko, who put a move on Jansson, who went to ground, then fired into the net to make it 1-1.

Disaster struck in the 43rd minute when a ball got in behind and Jansson took down Fafa Picault. He managed to get a touch on the ball first but fell awkwardly and ended up scissoring Picault to the ground. Penso gave him a yellow card initially, before reviewing the video and changing his decision to a straight red.

“I think that obviously completely changes the game,” O’Connor said.

“Obviously the red card was unlucky for us, but you know, it happens sometimes,” Akindele said. “We need to learn from it and we need to go and review what we did wrong and make sure we’re ready to do better in that situation next time.”

The Lions saw out two minutes of stoppage time down a man, but the game changed dramatically with Orlando’s first red card of the season.

Orlando out-shot the Union in the first half, 8-7, with Philadelphia getting more on target (4-3). The Union held a slight edge in passing (89%-88%), with possession split just about 50/50.

The Union wasted no time grabbing the lead, with Przybylko notching his brace just 62 seconds after the restart. A routine ball into the area fell for the Union striker and second-half sub Kamal Miller was too slow in closing him down, allowing him to get off a volley shot that made it 2-1.

Seven minutes later, Picault put the game away with his third goal of the season, roofing a shot toward the near post to make it 3-1 in the 52nd minute. This time Acosta was late tracking back to close down the shooter.

“The first 10 minutes of the second half I think we needed to be sharper,” O’Connor said. “Granted we’re down to 10 men but I think that’s something that we feel as if we needed to start the second half brighter than we did.”

“I think we lost our discipline as a team,” Akindele said. “You need to at that point bunker and not allow a goal in that first couple minutes. And that’s on everyone. That’s on me from the top and our defenders — everybody needs to be better and I think we just need to be a little bit more disciplined in those situations.”

Things got even worse in the 67th minute when Kljestan caught Monteiro with his studs from behind and got Orlando’s second straight red card of the game and the season. It was a terrible challenge and Kljestan will be lucky if he doesn’t receive any additional punishment beyond the suspension for Saturday’s return leg in Philadelphia.

“Obviously Sacha makes a poor decision, goes to ground,” O’Connor said. “Too tired, to be fair to Sacha, and then obviously we’re down another man. I think the game was completely impacted by the sendings off.”

The Lions did try to hit on the counter a few times after going down to nine men, but Akindele and substitute Dom Dwyer couldn’t quite break free. Dwyer nearly scored in the 84th on a corner kick after Johnson headed a ball into the area with an audacious bicycle kick attempt but he hit his screamer over the bar.

After that it was just damage control. Miller blocked a shot that would have made it 4-1 in the 87th minute and seconds later Rowe was forced to make an outstanding stop to deny Medunjanin.

Philadelphia led all statistical categories, including shots (22-13), shots on target (9-3), possession (58%-42%), and passing accuracy (91%-87%). But going down a man and then two goals, then losing another player was too much to overcome against virtually any team, let alone the Eastern Conference leaders.

“The issue for Saturday now is we’ve got a load of guys that have played a lot of minutes and have covered a lot of ground,” O’Connor said. “And then with another game on the Wednesday against New York (City) we’re going to really have to manage the situation.”

These two teams will do it all over again — hopefully without the Orlando red cards — at Talen Energy Stadium on Saturday at 7 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

18 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?

Published

20 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.

Published

23 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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