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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Portland Timbers: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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5 years ago

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Orlando City’s run in the MLS is Back Tournament came to an end last night with a 2-1 defeat to the Portland Timbers. I would have to say not many people had the Lions making the final, which turned out to be a very physical match-up. Down in the match until Mauricio Pereyra scored the equalizer in the 39th minute, the Lions dominated possession, but it wasn’t enough and they came up just short in the end.

Let’s see how the Lions rated individually in the tournament final.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 7 — The Peruvian goalkeeper had four saves in the match but unfortunately the Timbers were able to get their first goal off a free kick as Larrys Mabiala got his header from a perfect Diego Valeri delivery past Gallese to take the lead. The second goal was off a corner kick and Eryk Williamson’s shot was deflected off of Jeremy Ebobisse to center back Dario Zuparic, who buried it for Portland. Gallese was able to keep Orlando in it with some big saves in the second half. One of them came in the 65th minute when he dove to the right side on a Valeri a free kick. I’ve got to give him credit for trusting his wall on that one. Gallese then made another big stop on Ebobisse on the ensuing corner He also made a 1-v-1 save on Valeri late to give the Lions a chance.

D, João Moutinho, 6 — The left back led Orlando with 91 touches and completed 92% of his passes, creating two solid chances in the game. Joao Moutinho was, for the most part, effective but he got out-muscled on Mabiala’s goal. A sloppy touch on a clearance attempt led to a turnover and a yellow card in the 63rd minute. He finished with an interception, a shot, and a clearance.

D, Robin Jansson, 6.5 — For the night Jansson had one shot in the game and completed 95.4% of his passes. He was key in blocking a Sebastian Blanco shot in the 51st minute. He blocked three shots in total, with one interception and a clearance. He made a critical stop in the 58th minute to prevent Marvin Loria from breaking in alone on goal after Ruan got caught up field.

D, Antonio Carlos, 7 — Antonio Carlos had a busy, physical game. He finished with four clearances, four interceptions, a tackle and two fouls. He got a yellow card in the 47th minute for fouling Valeri, setting up a dangerous free kick. Of the two center backs, Carlos got forward more to assist the offense, completing 85% of his passes.

D. Ruan, 6 — Ruan created a couple of chances in the match with one coming in the 75th minute. He crossed the ball in to Akindele but Portland’s defense cleared it with a sliding challenge. He played a hard 87 minutes on the pitch but committed four fouls and also received a yellow card in the 85th minute before being subbed off. Only one of his four crosses was accurate on an otherwise good passing night (89.5%). He could have used his speed more to get to the end line to find better crossing lanes.

MF, Sebas Mendez, 5.5 — Mendez led the team in total shots, with three, but none were on target and his best opportunity was blocked by Mabiala in the 56th minute. Sebas completed 95.8% percent of his passes and avoided dangerous turnovers, getting dispossessed just once in the match. He surprisingly registered no defensive statistics at all, and committed three fouls. His foul in the 25th minute led to Portland’s opener on the ensuing free kick.

MF, Oriol Rosell, 5.5 — Rosell had no tackles, but had an interception and six recoveries on the night. He created one scoring chance on a 92% passing night and literally threw himself into passing lanes frequently to prevent Portland transition opportunities.

MF, Chris Mueller, 5 — Mueller started the game and although he wasn’t on the ball much he still managed two shots in the match, although neither was on target. One moment that summed up his night was his opportunity in the 41st minute — just moments after Pereyra’s goal — when he got the ball at the top of the area but showed too much of the ball while trying to position himself for a shot and it was easily cleared away. Mueller only managed 28 touches, passing at an 88% clip with one key pass. He continues to hustle (one interception, one clearance, and one blocked shot) but hasn’t quite looked right since injuring his shoulder a couple games ago against LAFC.

MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 7.5 (MotM) — Mauricio continued his excellent play in the tournament with an equalizing goal in the 39th minute — his second goal of the tournament. He made things happen with two shots and a key pass but his set piece delivery was a bit off on the night and actually led to a dangerous counter attack in the 90th minute. He passed only at an 81.1% rate but was one of the few players trying to create something against Portland’s tightly packed low block. He contributed two tackles and an interception and his pressure helped create some turnovers from rushed passes by the Timbers.

MF, Nani, 7 — Nani was a little more quiet than usual. He was definitely involved in the action after a slow start but was certainly getting a lot of attention from the Portland defenders. His low cross in the 39th minute helped set up Orlando City’s only goal of the night. Nani had two shots, one corner kick, and received a yellow card in the 73rd minute. He could have done more on Portland’s second goal but decided to guard the line and was unable to keep out Dario Zuparic’s shot. He provided three key passes — second in the game only to Valeri — passed at an 85.2% rate, and completed four of his six long balls.

F, Tesho Akindele, 5 — Tesho was again very quiet. He played 78 minutes in the match before he was subbed out with just 25 touches and two shots in the match (neither on target). Portland’s low block prevented teammates from finding him but his movement must also be more creative in that situation. He provided two key passes and was fairly accurate in his passing (81.3%), considering half of his attempts were in the attacking third. He added a tackle and a clearance.

Substitutes

MF, Junior Urso (71’), 5.5 — Urso came on to replace Mendez and drew a foul for a free kick in a good area but outside of that was quiet. He attempted no shots but completed 92.9% of his passing attempts and recorded a tackle.

F, Benji Michel (71’), 5 — Benji came on to replace Mueller and tried to make a few plays happen but Portland limited him to just 10 touches, no shots or key passes, and 75% passing accuracy but on only four attempts. He did manage to draw a couple of fouls, including one that led to a good free kick opportunity in the 89th minute.

F, Daryl Dike (78’), N/A— The rookie played 12 minutes in the match and touched the ball only six touches, so he didn’t have time to earn a grade. However, he did register a key pass in his brief time on the field.

F, Santiago Patino (79’), N/A — With only had two pass attempts (both complete) and four total touches, Pantino wasn’t on long enough to earn a grade.

D, Kyle Smith (87’), N/A — Smith came on for Ruan in the final minutes of the match. He had one shot at eternal glory in stoppage time when he tried to volley a shot from a free kick scramble into the net but it was a tough chance and the effort went over the crossbar. He had the best chance to tie the game for the Lions and no doubt feels he should have scored on that one.

It was the set pieces that ended up costing the Lions in this match. The players should hold their heads up high after a solid run to the final. Orlando City won Group A, upset LAFC on penalties in the quarterfinals, and beat a good Minnesota United team in the semifinals. Hopefully our Lions will use this loss as motivation and when the regular season begins Aug. 22 against Inter Miami CF, they’ll go on another run to improve and strive to make the playoffs for the first time in the MLS era.

How do you feel about the individual performances and the grades? Were we too low or too high on some players? Tell us by commenting and voting on the Man of the Match below.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Pedro Gallese40
Antonio Carlos1
Robin Jansson2
Mauricio Pereyra34
Nani2
Other3

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Opinion

Orlando City’s Start to the Season a Pleasant Surprise So Far

The Lions have started the new season well enough, but we shouldn’t get too carried away just yet.

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15 hours ago

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April 18, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

While Orlando City didn’t have a ton of roster turnover to deal with during the off-season, it was really anybody’s guess as to what sort of start the Lions would make to the 2025 Major League Soccer season. There was obviously the loss of all-time leading goal scorer Facundo Torres to deal with, then Wilder Cartagena was lost for the year in preseason, although the club did a great job in landing Eduard Atuesta to replace him. There were also questions about depth at left back, center back, and central midfield. It was anyone’s guess on how Marco Pasalic would adjust to life in MLS, and there were serious questions about whether the Lions had enough firepower up front with Duncan McGuire unavailable to start the season while he recovered from shoulder surgery.

While the club returned the vast majority of the guys who played key roles in helping reach the Eastern Conference final, on paper, the roster didn’t improve and arguably got weaker, so was it truly realistic to expect the team to go a step farther and make the final this year?

Despite all of those concerns, and despite a confidence-shaking 4-2 opening game loss to the Philadelphia Union, Orlando has largely made a good start to the campaign. The Lions have compiled a respectable 3-2-3 record and have 12 points to show for it, currently sitting in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, six points behind the first-place Columbus Crew.

Even in the two losses, it’s hard to make the argument that OCSC played truly bad games on the whole. Rather, the Lions were undone by moments of bad defending and losses of concentration that led to silly mistakes, particularly against the Union. The shaky defending has certainly been one of the bigger concerns, especially on an Oscar Pareja-coached team, but things have begun to look better after keeping two straight clean sheets.

Ironically, even though the offense seemed to be most people’s biggest concern before the season started, it’s been the part of the team that has consistently functioned at the highest level. Before the two 0-0 draws, Orlando had scored the most goals in the league, and despite being held scoreless twice in a row, they still have the third-most goals scored. Out of OCSC’s six games played with a first choice XI, the Lions have scored more than one goal four times. Even in the games when they haven’t been as prolific, or have largely been on the back foot, the Lions have still managed to carve out a healthy number of chances. While their finishing has let them down at times, they’ve still managed to get several good looks at goal in every game, and that’s half the battle.

All in all, it’s been a perfectly respectable start to the season, and the team honestly has performed higher than my (probably slightly pessimistic) expectations. While the start hasn’t been white hot, it’s been nice to not see the sort of slow start that so often has seemed to plague this club during Pareja’s tenure at the helm.

That being said, I think it’s important to place the beginning of the year in the proper context. It’s worth noting that of the teams that Orlando has played to this point, Philadelphia is the only one currently above the playoff line (although the New York Red Bulls occupy the last play-in spot). The Lions have beaten an LA Galaxy team that is the worst in the West; Toronto FC, which is second from the bottom in the East; and D.C. United, which is third from the bottom in the East. They drew the fifth-place Union on the road, and lost to NYCFC at the baseball stadium. But it has to be said that Orlando has faced a noticeable lack of top shelf opponents so far.

Essentially, Orlando has played three bad teams, two decent ones, and one that started very well but has cooled off in recent weeks (twice). Of course, OCSC can’t do anything about that, but it’s worth asking if the solid start to the season is due to the Lions legitimately being a good team, or if it’s more of a paper tiger situation where they just haven’t had to play many tough opponents yet.

There isn’t really any way of knowing for sure, and there won’t be any hints for awhile. With the way the standings currently look, Orlando won’t face a team above the playoff line until they go up against Charlotte FC on the road on May 14. I don’t bring all of this up to try to dampen the mood, but I just don’t think we have a truly accurate idea of this team’s level yet. Which is fair and totally fine, after all we’re only eight games into the season.

That doesn’t mean that we can’t give OCSC its due for a solid start to the year. It hasn’t been perfect by any means, but the team has done more good than bad, and the Lions’ current place in the standings reflects that. We should still keep things in perspective and resist the urge to dole out too much praise just yet, but we can be happy with what we’ve seen so far.

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 4/18/25

Orlando City set to play the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Lions reach Generation Adidas Cup semifinals, Angel City hires Alexander Straus, and more.

Published

18 hours ago

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April 18, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Happy Friday! I hope today finds you well as we gear up for another Saturday filled with soccer to enjoy. I don’t have many plans this Easter weekend beyond working, catching soccer when I can, and playing Baldur’s Gate 3 for the first time if I find some spare hours. Let’s dive right into today’s links from around the soccer world!

Orlando City Learns U.S. Open Cup Opponents

Orlando City’s 2025 U.S. Open Cup campaign will begin on the road against the Tampa Bay Rowdies on May 7 at 7:30 p.m. in what will be the latest edition of the I-4 Derby. It will be Orlando’s first game of this year’s tournament, while the Rowdies joined in the previous round and got past FC Naples in penalties. The Rowdies have lost four of their five games so far this season in the USL Championship and fired Robbie Neilson as head coach earlier this month. The Lions also notably would have hosting priority if they reach the round of 16, where they will play either Nashville SC or the Chattanooga Red Wolves.

Here’s the full schedule for the round of 32, which includes some interesting matchups across the country. The Tacoma Defiance are the only MLS NEXT Pro side left and will face the Portland Timbers, while the New York Red Bulls will have a long road trip to take on the Colorado Springs Switchbacks.

Lions Advance to Generation Adidas Cup Semifinals

Orlando City’s U-18 team beat Real Salt Lake 1-0 in the Generation Adidas Cup to secure a spot in the semifinals. The Young Lions have won four of their five games of the tournament and will take on Santos Laguna in the semifinal on Saturday. The winner of that match will face whichever team becomes victorious in the other semifinal between Atlanta United and the Colorado Rapids.

The U-16 team’s run in the Premier bracket is also going strong after a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich, and Orlando will take on the New England Revolution in the semifinals on Saturday.

Angel City FC Hires Alexander Straus

Bayern Munich’s Alexander Straus was named Angel City FC’s next head coach and will officially join the club on June 1. The Norwegian coach has won back-to-back Bundesliga titles and has Bayern positioned well to make it three straight this season. He’ll join an Angel City team that’s unbeaten in its first four games of the season under interim head coach Sam Laity, who will stay on as an assistant coach once Straus joins.

Europa League Quarterfinals End In Dramatic Fashion

Old Trafford hosted one of the wildest games in Europa League history, with Manchester United and Lyon battling for a spot in the quarterfinals. United scored twice in the first half, then conceded twice in the second, sending the game to extra time. Lyon took the lead despite being a man down and then the teams traded penalty kicks as the madness continued. Casemiro orchestrated Manchester’s victory in the end, assisting on two late goals within a minute of each other to beat Lyon 5-4 and advance. This United fan pretty much sums up just how much of a rollercoaster this match was.

There was also drama in Italy, as Lazio came back in the second leg to force extra time against Bodo/Glimt. The match went to penalties and Bodo/Glimt goalkeeper Nikitka Haikin denied former New York City FC player Taty Castellanos from the spot to book his team’s place in the semifinals. Although Tottenham was without Son Heung-Min, it got the job done in a 1-0 road win against Eintracht Frankfurt, while Athletic Club beat Rangers 2-0 in Spain to advance as well. In the semifinals, Tottenham will face Bodo/Glimt and Manchester United will take on Athletic Club.

Free Kicks

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!

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Orlando City

Orlando City at CF Montreal: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to earn all three points on the road against Montreal?

Published

2 days ago

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April 17, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City heads to the Great White North to take on CF Montreal. The Canadian squad sits in last place in not just the Eastern Conference but also the entire MLS, with only two points from a pair of draws. To say it’s not been a good start to the season is an understatement. Of course, it’s exactly that type of situation that makes it feel like a trap. What does Orlando City need to do to take all three points against CF Montreal?

Designated Goal Scorers

What do you do if you haven’t scored a goal in the last two matches? You play a team that has given up 13 goals in eight matches with a -9 goal differential. Montreal doesn’t have the worst defense in the league — I’m looking at you, D.C. United — but it’s not far off. That presents an opportunity for Orlando City to get back on track when it comes to scoring goals.

Through the first six matches of the season, Orlando City was leading the league in scoring with 15 goals. Over the last two matches, the spigot has dried up. The Lions must seize on this opportunity to create and finish their chances. Much like earlier in the season, I want to see Luis Muriel, Martin Ojeda, and Marco Pasalic lead the way. If anyone can get the first goal, then I’m hopeful the dam will break and the scoring drought will be over.

Keep it Clean

There is some good news of late when it comes to the Orlando City defense. The club has two clean sheets over the last two matches, and that is without Cesar Araujo. There is also some bad news, given Rodrigo Schlegel will be serving his red card suspension this match. That means David Brekalo will move back to center back with Robin Jansson, and Oscar Pareja will have to employ either Rafael Santos or Kyle Smith at left back. Santos has been less than good so far this season.

Montreal has scored a paltry four goals so far in 2025, but two of them have come from striker Prince Owusu. The defense will also need to deal with Caden Clark facilitating in the midfield. I get that this isn’t a prolific attack. Montreal has not looked very good this season and is looking for both its first win and its first points of any sort at home. That means the hosts may be desperate for a result, and desperate is often dangerous. How well the defense does — in particular, how well Santos does if he plays — may determine if Montreal is able to break out of its slump. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.

Give the Midfield Time

Before the last match, I was a little worried about the midfield. Having both Araujo and Eduard Atuesta out at the same time seemed to be a concern. Now, after seeing how well Joran Gerbet and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson worked together against the New York Red Bulls, I’m way less worried. If Araujo and Atuesta need a little more time to get fully healthy, then let them. The Franco/Icelandic combo seems to be a potent one.

Of course, if the normal starters are ready, then by all means bring them back, but maybe not until the 60th minute. Perhaps Pareja could even mix and match. One never knows how yellow card suspensions or minor injuries will affect player availability. This is a good match for Gerbet and Thorhallsson to work their magic.

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

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