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Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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5 years ago

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I’ll admit that I didn’t know what to expect from the lineup that Oscar Pareja sent out against Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. On the one hand, I knew he had to rotate the squad some, but it was a little surprising to see Tesho Akindele held out again and for Mauricio Pereyra not to be available off the bench if needed. The linchpin in the middle of the attack was Junior Urso and both of his wingers and his forward were young guys. The lineup didn’t seem like one that would go on to score three goals and narrowly miss on a couple other opportunities, but it got the job done.

Let’s look at the individual performances from an exciting 3-1 road win.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 7 — El Pulpo faced only four shots on target and he made a wicked save on the first of those, robbing Brooks Lennon blind in the eighth minute. He made a couple of comfortable saves and was sharp in reacting to a long-range Ezequiel Barco blast that may have been able to sneak in under the bar. There weren’t a ton of opportunities for him to flash, owing largely to his back line and defensive midfield, but when he did, he had it covered. There wasn’t much he could do about Lennon’s looping header late in normal time. However, there may have been an opportunity for him to do more to call off Joao Moutinho and avoid what could end up being a critical injury. Mendez nodded down a ball that Gallese easily could have reached and picked up, but Moutinho smashed an emphatic clearance and hurt himself on the play. It appeared Gallese was shouting at him but, whether he couldn’t get through to the Portuguese left back or Moutinho simply didn’t want to take chances, is unclear. Better communication there would have avoided what might turn out to be a costly injury for the Lions.

D, Joao Moutinho, 6.5 — It was another good night for Moutinho, although with the short turnaround he didn’t get forward nearly as much as we’re used to seeing. He defended well, finishing with three clearances. He passed well (85.4%) and went 4/5 on long balls. He won two aerials, including one on a Brad Guzan free kick that ended up going the other way for Chris Mueller’s goal. He also helped put out a fire early in the second half by helping stop Pity Martinez from getting in alone. Now we wait and hope his injury isn’t serious.

D, Robin Jansson, 6.5 — The beefy Swede bounced back after conceding in each of the last two matches. He wasn’t asked to do as much building out of the back and had more of a green light to knock the ball away in this one, but he still passed at an 85.7% rate and completed one of his two long-ball attempts. He made one tackle — a vital one in the 49th minute to deny a breakaway — and three clearances, and tried to tuck a flick inside the back post on his one shot but it skipped just wide.

D, Antonio Carlos, 6.5 — Carlos returned to the lineup after a match off and was steady, if unspectacular. He gave up a dangerous free kick late in the game and was reviewed for a potential penalty in stoppage time, but was otherwise solid. He had a co-team-high five clearances and two interceptions, with 80% passing and 2/2 long-ball accuracy. He got hung up a bit in traffic on an Orlando free kick, which kept him from being able to get his lone shot attempt on frame.

D, Kyle Smith, 6.5— Smith led the team in touches (65) and, despite conceding three free kicks — including two dangerous ones — did a fairly solid job slotting in for Ruan. He finished with one key pass, a dribble, three tackles, three interceptions and tied Carlos with five clearances. He might have gotten a higher grade if not for the 76.3% passing rate, long ball inaccuracy (2/7), and the trouble he had getting in crosses (and having his one cross attempt blocked by the first defender). He shifted to the left side, just inside Kamal Miller, late in the match when Orlando went to five in the back to see out the match.

MF, Uri Rosell, 6.5 — The Lions have been quietly getting a fantastic year from the Spaniard. Rosell ran his tail off and connected the lines as usual, doing the little things the team needs but which don’t typically get the glory. His 86.8% passing rate was best on the team and he connected on 3/6 long balls. He won two tackles with an interception and a clearance before making way in the second half for Sebas Mendez.

MF, Andres Perea, 6.5 — The Colombian teenager had a mixed night but it was a workmanlike effort that could have been a lot more glorious. He led Orlando in tackles won (4), and passed well (82.8%), hitting 1/2 on crosses and 1/2 on long balls, and creating two scoring chances. Perea absolutely should have scored in the 42nd minute, getting a free running header on the back side after a good job of Orlando disguising its corner kick strategy. Two runners cleared everyone out and all Perea had to do was hit the target, but instead it went wide.

MF, Chris Mueller, 8.5 (MotM) — The Money Badger was outstanding and even though he could have shared this honor with Urso, for me he just nips this award by a whisker. But rather than me spelling out everything about his accurate set piece delivery, smart decisions on passing and continuing runs, and his endless energy, let’s hear from someone else:

Plus, it was Mueller’s birthday, so that should break the tie anyway, right?

MF, Junior Urso, 8.5 — The Bear was about as good as Mueller in this match, and in his postgame comments he said he wanted to show who Junior Urso is, and that he thought he played his best in this match. It’s hard to argue. Urso was snakebit on his shot attempts Wednesday but powered a header through Brad Guzan on the early corner for his first goal. He won the ball back with his tenacity, with two tackles, an interception, and one clearance defensively. He passed at an 81.3% rate and went 2/2 on long balls. But his best play of the night came shortly after Atlanta pulled within a goal. He pressured Martinez, stole the ball, and fed Nani for an easy finish to put the Five Stripes away. Fantastic night for the Bear.

MF, Benji Michel, 6.5 — I’ve used this score a lot in this piece but it’s my honest opinion. Early in the game, I honestly thought Michel looked a step slow in closing down or getting to loose balls, and a half a tick slow to react. But he turned that around nicely. He made a huge heads-up play to find Mueller for the easy tap-in on the second Orlando goal to earn his assist. He passed at an 83.3% rate and was 2/3 on long-ball accuracy. He didn’t register a shot attempt but he chipped in two tackles and a clearance on the defensive end.

F, Daryl Dike, 6 — The rookie didn’t score a goal for the first time when starting an MLS match but he was a factor. He kept the center backs occupied, won a couple of corner opportunities and fired two shots. Dike doesn’t officially get credit for a key pass but he is the one who slipped Michel in on the play that ended in Mueller’s goal and picked up the hockey assist. He only passed at a 72.7% rate and struggled with his touch a few times, but for playing his third match in eight days, he still looked good. He hustles and even chipped in a pair of clearances on the defensive end.

Substitutes

MF, Nani (62’), 7 — While the captain’s passing wasn’t great (66.7%), it was on only 12 attempts and he registered a key pass. He was whistled for three fouls but two of them were attempts to waste time with Atlanta in possession and one was complete crap — he had just been elbowed in the mouth by Cubo Torres before preventing the Atlanta forward from reaching a ball going out of play. That should have been an Orlando free kick. As we saw with Dike on Wednesday, nobody makes the Lions bleed their own blood (nobody!). Nani finished off Atlanta by getting into position for Urso’s assist late. It was Nani’s only shot attempt. He also added a tackle and a blocked shot.

MF, Sebas Mendez (62’), 6 — The big contribution from Mendez was to provide fresh legs for Rosell and continue his strong work in the midfield. He did that, with the Ecuadorian winning three tackles. He passed at an uncharacteristic 70% but that was on only 10 attempts and at a time in the game when the team had an “anywhere will do” mentality.

MF, Ruan (74’), 5 — I thought Ruan would be the player to finish off Atlanta, bringing on that speed late in the game with the hosts pushing forward, but the Brazilian Flash was quiet in his reserve role. None of his three pass attempts found its mark. His only defensive stat was a clearance and he attempted one shot, which was off target.

D, Kamal Miller (78’), N/A — The Canadian came on in relief of Moutinho after the injury. He got abused a bit by Jurgen Damm on Atlanta’s goal but managed only five touches. Despite being on for 22 minutes (10 of it stoppage time), it is difficult to assign a grade for the performance and I’m going to hide behind N/A on this one, as is my prerogative.

That’s the way I saw things in the Lions’ first win over Atlanta. Be sure to vote in the poll below for your pick for Man of the Match and if you have some disagreements, let me hear it in the comments section below.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Pedro Gallese3
Uri Rosell10
Chris Mueller35
Junior Urso90
Nani0
Other2

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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.

Published

19 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

22 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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