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Orlando City

Orlando City at Inter Miami: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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4 years ago

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Orlando City SC saw its 12-match undefeated run come to an end at the hands of in-state rivals Inter Miami CF on Saturday with the South Florida-based side winning 2-1 at Inter Miami CF stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

Already guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, the Lions had an overall flat performance and after scoring an early goal with Daryl Dike saw their opponents come from behind to take all three points after an own goal off Orlando defender Robin Jansson and a late game-winning header by Inter Miami center back Leandro Gonzalez Pirez.

Here’s how each player performed.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 5.5 — The Peruvian returned to the lineup after missing three matches due to international duty and picked up right where he left off with a strong performance that denied some Miami goal-scoring opportunities. There was nothing he could have done to avoid Jansson’s own goal and on the second one, while it’s true he could have left the post to try to intercept the cross, it’s uncertain he would make it, considering the number of players between him and the ball.

D, Kyle Smith, 5.5 — The fullback played a decent match opposite his preferred right side. If on offense Smith looked at times uncomfortable pushing forward and getting to the end line, he was steady on defense with four clearances and controlled most of Inter Miami’s attempts from his side.

D, Robin Jansson, 4 — The Swedish defender was somewhat unlucky, but is also partially at fault for Inter Miami’s first goal as his action to clear Blaise Matuidi’s shot was unsuccessful as the wet ball pinged around the area. His performance didn’t really stand out but he managed three blocks.

D, Antonio Carlos, 6 (MotM) — The Brazilian played a key role in Orlando’s goal by feeding Dike with a great long pass that moved the ball forward more than 50 yards. He was solid for most of the match, especially in the air, registering impressive nine clearances, but wasn’t able to avoid Miami’s game-winning goal, as he was left to defend two players.

D, Ruan, 5 — The right back was as offensive-minded as usual, frequently pushing forward and managing to create dangerous situations with his runs on a couple of occasions and had a team-high five crosses, although none of them found an Orlando player at the end. His defensive game wasn’t solid, though, most notably when lost Julian Carranza inside the penalty box in the second half and left the Argentinean to hit the crossbar with a header.

MF, Sebas Méndez, 5.5 — Also returning from international play, the Ecuadoran brought some dynamism to Orlando’s midfield. He played in a more advanced role than usual at times moving ahead of Junior Urso and Andres Perea, Méndez wasn’t as active defensively, registering a single tackle in the entire match, but mostly took good care of the ball, though he did have a couple of dangerous turnovers and touches in his own end. He connected on 92.6% of his 27 passes.

MF, Junior Urso, 6 — The Brazilian performed his two-way role in his typically efficient fashion, impacting the game on both sides of the ball. The Brazilian led the team in tackles, with five, and passing accuracy, connecting 94.4% of his 36 attempts. On the low side were an unnecessary yellow card for dissent and his part in the defensive confusion on Miami’s second goal.

MF, Chris Mueller, 5 — Cash had an unusual yet relatively efficient performance, being more impactful on defense than offense. The winger was active on the defensive end with three tackles, two interceptions, and three clearances — one of them a pivotal one near the end of the first half on a corner kick that was on its way to finding Rodolfo Pizarro on the far post. He only registered one shot, though and wasn’t tidy with the ball at his feet.

MF, Andrés Perea, 4.5 — The Colombian covered a lot of ground in the center of the field, but again didn’t get to produce at a high level. He passed the ball at a good 84.4% rate, but didn’t create much out of it and his defensive game was unreliable with four fouls.

MF, Nani, 5.5 — The Portuguese had one of his weakest performance in recent weeks, not seeing a lot of the ball and struggling to be dangerous outside of dead-ball situations. His production improved near the end, when the Lions had more of the ball, and he finished the match with a team-high three shots.

F, Daryl Dike, 6 — The striker used two of his main assets — his physical strength and his composure — to score Orlando’s goal after he outmuscled Nicolas Figal to get control of a long pass and clinically finish it. He wasn’t much involved outside of that play and failed to connect what could be a dangerous pass inside the box during the second half.

Substitutes

F, Tesho Akindele (58’), 5 — The forward came in for Méndez in an attempt for Orlando to regain the control of the match and his best play came near the end of the match, when he made a run from the left and had his shot deflected by an Inter Miami defender.

F, Benji Michel (76’), 4 —The second-year player returned from injury and replaced Mueller with 15 minutes to go and slotted on the right side, but like the starter couldn’t find ways to produce much offensively outside from a good run inside the penalty box in which he won a corner kick for the Lions. Soon after, however, he missed an incredible scoring opportunity with goalkeeper John McCarthy on the ground.

MF, Joey Dezart (76’), N/A — The rookie midfielder subbed on for Dike near the end of the match and didn’t do much offensively or defensively during the 15 minutes he was on the field.

F, Matheus Aias (92’), N/A — The Brazilian forward entered the match in stoppage time to make his MLS debut, but he wasn’t on long enough to do much of anything.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

That’s the way I saw it. Let us know what you thought in the comments and vote for your Man of the Match.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Mauricio Pereyra127
Chris Mueller6
Andres Perea3
Kyle Smith24
Antonio Carlos5
Tesho Akindele0
Other (write in comments)2

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. LA Galaxy: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Lions head to the West Coast for their third away match in four games, taking on the Galaxy in Los Angeles.

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55 minutes ago

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March 29, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (2-2-1, 7 points) and the LA Galaxy (0-3-2, 2 points). This is the only scheduled meeting between the two clubs from opposite conferences this season.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.

History

The Lions are 4-3-0 against LA in MLS play, but have only met twice since 2019. Orlando is 1-2-0 on the road against the Galaxy, although the Lions won in their last trip to Carson, CA back in March of 2022 (more on that below).

The teams last met on April 29, 2023 at Exploria Stadium, with Orlando City winning 2-0 on goals by Ercan Kara and Facundo Torres. Current Orlando starting right back Alex Freeman made his MLS debut in that match.

Orlando City and LA last met at Dignity Health Sports Park on March 19, 2022 and the Lions won their first match ever in the state of California, 1-0. Torres scored his first career MLS goal on a header off a beautiful Kara cross for the game’s only goal. Pedro Gallese set a new club record with his 14th clean sheet across all competitions.

The Galaxy came to Exploria Stadium and got a smash-and-grab 1-0 win on May 24, 2019. Jonathan dos Santos provided the game’s only goal in the opening 20 minutes, with the Lions out-shooting the Galaxy 19-4 (7-1 on target).

Before 2019, the home team had won all four prior meetings. In Orlando’s visit to LA in 2018, the Lions fell 4-3 after blowing the lead three times. It was a case of too much Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who figured in every goal, notching his first MLS hat trick and adding an assist. Cristian Higuita and Dom Dwyer scored for Orlando and Sacha Kljestan forced an own goal by Michael Ciani with a pass intended for Yoshimar Yotún.

Back in 2017, the Lions prevailed 2-1 in Orlando. Will Johnson and Cyle Larin provided the offense to offset a goal by Romain Alessandrini.

The Galaxy captured the lone 2016 contest, 4-2. Giovani Dos Santos scored twice as LA put together four straight goals to erase a 1-0 deficit provided by Kevin Molino. Alan Gordon and Robbie Keane scored the other two Galaxy goals. Brek Shea tacked on a cosmetic goal late for Orlando.

The Lions won 4-0 at home in 2015 in the first meeting against the then-defending champions. It was Orlando City’s first-ever home win in MLS. Eric Avila, Larin, Kaká and Darwin Ceren found the net for the Lions and Tally Hall got a shutout in his first Orlando City appearance.

Overview

Orlando City continues to score goals, but the defense played arguably its best 90-minute stretch of the season a week ago in the Lions’ 4-1 destruction of D.C. United. All three Designated Players — Luis Muriel, Martin Ojeda, and Marco Pasalic (I’m just going to start calling them the M&Ms to save time) — scored in that game, marking the first such occasion that has happened in club history. Freeman provided the other goal that night. The Lions entered the weekend leading MLS in goals (13) and assists (15).

Unfortunately, while the offense has been hot, the defense has decidedly been…not. The stoppage-time goal United tacked on to spoil the shutout a week ago was the 11th Orlando has conceded in 2025 through five matches, which is one shy of Toronto’s league-worst 12. The Lions will be looking for their first road win of the year after going 0-1-1 against the two New York teams in consecutive weeks prior to the D.C. match.

The defending champion Galaxy have struggled out of the gate, whether due to players missing, featuring in Concacaf Champions Cup, or both reasons. LA has conceded 10 goals in five matches and has scored just four times this season. So, only two teams have conceded more goals than the Galaxy, while just three clubs have scored fewer goals than LA. The Galaxy are yet to win or even draw at home (0-2-0) in 2025, however, the defending champs have scored three of their four goals in the last two matches, while earning their first two points of the season in those games, so that may be a sign of things starting to turn around for Greg Vanney’s side.

Striker Christian Ramirez has half of LA’s four goals and has found the net in each of the last two matches, so he’ll be a threat for tonight’s hosts. Orlando has struggled to contain Ramirez in the past. Gabriel Pec is another threat. Though he’s scored just once this season, Pec is averaging five shots per match, so he’s getting opportunities. He has tallied 13 shots in his last three games, along with his goal and an assist.

The Galaxy will get offensive chances. LA leads the league in passes completed, averaging more than 500 per game. Compared to Orlando’s 373 per match, that’s a lot. LA will have the ball, because the Galaxy are also second in MLS in passing accuracy (88.9%). Orlando will look to attack in transition. Although the Lions don’t string together nearly as many passes, they are second in the league in shot attempts (82) and third in shots on target (31), while leading MLS in key passes (68).

“The positive part of our last game is not just winning the game but scoring the goals. It gives us the opportunity now to raise our confidence and go to Los Angeles, a place that we don’t frequently go to, and play against a team who did a great job last year,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “Now we’re competing in a very good, demanding match, and we will be ready for it. We are trying to get the details on the game and try to get a good performance and a good result for us too.”

Orlando City will be without Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), Yutaro Tsukada (knee), Nico Rodriguez (thigh), and Favian Loyola (thigh). The Galaxy’s game notes indicate no LA players are suspended or on international duty, but the club does not list injuries there, and as of this writing, the MLS availability report for the weekend had not yet published. Galaxy players who missed the team’s last match include Mauricio Cuevas (hamstring), Joseph Paintsil (quad), Riqui Puig (knee), and Lucas Sanabria (collar bone). Marco Reus (knee) and John Nelson (thigh) were listed as questionable at Minnesota but neither dressed.

Match Content

Projected Lineups:

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Alex Freeman.

Defensive Midfielders: Cesar Araujo, Eduard Atuesta.

Attacking Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, Marco Pasalic.

Forward: Luis Muriel.

LA Galaxy (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: John McCarthy.

Defenders: Julian Aude, Maya Yoshida, Zanka, Miki Yamane.

Midfielders: Elijah Wynder, Edwin Cerrillo, Tucker Lepley.

Forwards:  Diego Fagundez, Christian Ramirez, Gabriel Pec.

Referees

REF: Jon Freemon.
AR1: Stefan Tanaka-Freundt.
AR2: Kevin Lock.
4TH: Gerald Flores.
VAR: Michael Radchuk.
AVAR: Fabio Tovar.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30p.m.

Venue: Dignity Health Sports Park — Carson, CA.

TV/Live Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow along at our Bluesky Social account (@themaneland.bsky.social), as well as Orlando City’s official Twitter feed (@OrlandoCitySC).

Enjoy the match! Go City!

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Orlando City

Orlando City Showed Defensive Improvement Against D.C. United

The Lions looked much better defensively last game, but now they have to prove that they can build on that performance.

Published

1 day ago

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March 28, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

As the 2025 Major League Soccer season has gotten underway, one of the bigger topics surrounding Orlando City has been the team’s struggles on the defensive side of the ball. Andrew DeSalvo called on the team to get its defensive game up to scratch last week, and with good reason. The Lions have conceded 11 goals in five games, a mark that is good for second-worst in the league and is only eclipsed by Toronto FC’s 12. Given how Oscar Pareja’s Orlando sides have typically been built on the backs of a strong defensive foundation, its been a startling departure, particularly when paired with an offense whose output would usually be enough to get results as long as the defense isn’t leaking like a sieve.

Fortunately, OCSC had a much-improved defensive showing in Saturday’s 4-1 victory over D.C. United. Despite a consolation goal in stoppage time preventing the Lions from keeping a first clean sheet of the season, it was the team’s first time holding an opponent under two goals in 2025. A low bar to clear maybe, but that’s where we are right now.

Including the goal, D.C. took 14 shots and put five on target, with eight shots coming from inside the box. Those eight shots resulted in one goal, one attempt missed, three shots blocked, and two shots saved. The Lions managed to block nearly half of the shots taken within their own box without Javier Otero needing to be called into action. He took care of another two, and the Lions got lucky with one wayward shot before their luck ran out on the goal. All things considered, that’s not bad, and Orlando’s five blocks on the night tied for second-most this season, with the high water mark of six set against the Philadelphia Union in the opening game. Blocks aren’t a tell-all defensive statistic. For example, OCSC only had one in the 4-2 win over Toronto FC — probably due to TFC only managing nine shots on the night. Still, it’s nice to see bodies getting in the way to disrupt potentially dangerous opportunities.

D.C. ended the night with 1.60 expected goals (xG), and while that stat isn’t perfect, it’s good to see that D.C. didn’t vastly underperform the statistic, which would mean they should have scored more and simply didn’t take good chances. Of the visitors’ 1.60 xG, 45% came from Lukas McNaughton’s goal, with another 29% coming from Dominique Badji’s 68th-minute attempt that Otero saved. The next highest attempts were 17% from a Derek Dodson attempt in stoppage time, which was blocked, and 16% from a Christian Benteke header in the 54th, which was saved by Otero. Essentially, Orlando mostly did a good job in preventing D.C. from getting off dangerous attempts, and the opposition’s only big chance of the night came on McNaughton’s goal.

This also all came with Orlando City having slightly less of the ball than D.C., with 48% possession to the opponent’s 52%. The imbalance isn’t huge, but it’s a good sign that Orlando was largely able to limit dangerous chances even while spending periods of time without the ball and while being peppered with a whopping 10 corner kicks.

It wasn’t a perfect performance, as evidenced by the late goal, but frankly I’d have been surprised to see a sudden leap in defensive play given the struggles of the first four games. The D.C. win showed a lot of good things though, and gave the Lions a performance that they can build off of. Next up is an LA Galaxy team that has struggled for goals with only four in five games, but LA has attackers like Christian Ramirez and Gabriel Pec that are capable of doing plenty of damage on the offensive end. It’ll be a good test of whether the defensive unit is on the right trajectory, and hopefully it’s one that the defense can pass with flying colors. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 3/28/25

Orlando Pride prepare for the San Diego Wave, NWSL weekend matches, USMNT roster predictions, and more.

Published

1 day ago

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March 28, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

We made it to Friday! Celebrate however you see fit, whether that’s an indulgent breakfast or just your favorite cup of coffee. This week has flown by a bit for me and I’m looking forward to a weekend filled with soccer. I’ll be spending the next few days working, reading a new book or two, and working out the kinks of making a frozen coconut mojito. My blender hates me. Let’s get to today’s links!

Orlando Pride Prepare for the San Diego Wave

The Orlando Pride will look to extend their 2025 win streak to three games — and their overall win streak to seven — on Saturday when they host the San Diego Wave at noon. Orlando has looked the part of a defending champion so far, leading the league with eight goals without conceding a single one in two games. The Pride will take on a revamped San Diego team that is unbeaten under Head Coach Jonas Eidevall. Pride Head Coach Seb Hines spoke about how Orlando will need to set the tone early on at home against the Wave and keep up the momentum.

NWSL Provides Entertaining Slate of Weekend Matches

While it’s far too early to think about the NWSL Shield race, it never hurts to check out how the Pride’s competitors are doing while enjoying some great soccer. Tonight features a pair of matches at the same time, with the Washington Spirit hosting Bay FC and the Houston Dash playing on the road against NJ/NY Gotham FC. Kansas City Current forward Temwa Chawinga will have a chance to tie her own record of scoring in eight straight games when her team plays the Utah Royals on Saturday. On Sunday, we’ll get to see if the Seattle Reign’s solid start continues against an unbeaten Angel City FC team searching for its first win of the season.

USMNT Roster Predictions for Concacaf Gold Cup

The pressure is on United States Men’s National Team Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino to turn things around after a rough showing in the final four of the Concacaf Nations League. This summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup will be an opportunity for the USMNT to impress in preparation for the 2026 World Cup, and Pro Soccer Wire dove into how the roster could look for the tournament. Injuries to Ricardo Pepi and Folarin Balogun complicate things up top, but we could see Brenden Aaronson or Alex Zendejas could return to the attack. The Gold Cup will likely also determine which goalkeeper between Matt Turner, Zack Steffen, and Patrick Schulte emerges as the true starter. Players like Sergino Dest, Malik Tillman, and Johnny Cardoso are other notable names to keep an eye out for leading into the tournament.

FA Cup Quarterfinals Kick Off This Weekend

Only eight teams remain in the FA Cup and the action returns with enticing quarterfinal matchups. Preston North End is the only team outside of the English Premier League still fighting, but Manchester City is the only traditional giant left in the field as well. City will face off against a Bournemouth side that beat it 2-1 back in November, while Preston will have to get past Aston Villa, which has only won two of its last eight games. Nottingham Forest forward Chris Wood’s injury adds an obstacle to overcome when the team travels to play Brighton and Hove Albion. Meanwhile, Crystal Palace gets star striker Jean-Philippe Mateta back from injury for its clash with Fulham.

Free Kicks

That’s all I have for you for today’s links. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend. Go Orlando!

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