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

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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.

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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

Orlando City

Intelligence Report: Orlando City vs. New England Revolution

Get to know this year’s New England Revolution team courtesy of someone who knows them best.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City remembered how to score on Wednesday night, as the Lions put five goals past the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the U.S. Open Cup. OCSC will try to carry that sort of offensive performance over to league play Saturday, when the New England Revolution come to town.

A match against the Revs means I caught up with Jake Catanese, one of the writers over at The Blazing Musket. As always, he was extremely helpful in bringing us up to speed on what this year’s version of the Revolution looks like.

Talk me through the Revolution’s off-season transfer business. Who are some of the new names to know?

Jake Catanese: Okay, so some of the new faces are from the end of last year: winger Luca Langoni and midfielder Alhassan Yusuf were both acquired back in August. Yusuf is a Nigerian international and has cemented himself in the lineup as one of the holding midfielders, and Langoni had a great spell at the end of the last year but was dropped to make room for the Revs’ newfangled 5-3-2 wingback setup — more on that in a bit. Also, Tomas Chancalay isn’t a new face but is fresh off the season-ending injury list from an ACL injury last May and is working his way back up to full fitness, and both he and Langoni started the USOC win against Rhode Island (Wednesday) along with MLS veterans Maxi Urruti and Jackson Yueill, who were picked up this off-season.

The big off-season stuff happened up front, with the Revs making a record GAM trade with Miami for Leo Campana and making an interesting short-term loan for Ligue 1’s Ignatius Ganago out of Nantes. In the Revs’ 4-2-3-1 setup to start the year, it was Campana as a lone striker and Ganago in what I’ll call the “Gustavo Bou” winger/striker role, but both have moved up top with the formation change and it’s been fairly successful. Campana did miss a month with a hamstring injury, which did not help the Revs early on, but the strike partnership is starting to blossom with productivity.

The Revs have been the best defensive team in the entire league, with just seven goals conceded in 10 games. What’s been the secret sauce there?

JC: To finish the rest of the question above, the Revs absolutely hit a massive home run with two new center backs in the off-season. Malian international Mamadou Fofana (age 27) and Colombian Brayan Ceballos (age 23) entered the starting lineup together and basically have been there ever since, and they’ve been tremendous. Ceballos got a Team of the Week nod on debut in Week 1 against Nashville and has been a solid aerial presence, which is something the Revs have struggled with in recent years. Fofana is tremendous on the ball and he’s passing at a 90% clip with an over 50% clip on long balls, as well with several deeper, line-breaking passes that have opened up the defense.

League veteran Tanner Beason was added as the third center back to go with Homegrown Peyton Miller and Israeli youngster Ilay Feingold as the wingbacks/fullbacks, and the Revs have pulled off effectively changing over their entire back line in one off-season, which, given the success this group is having, is rather unheard of. Combine that with keeper Aljaz Ivacic having a top season and his back line blocking a lot of shots for him as well, the Revs have a foundation that looks set for many years to come unless some big transfer offers come in.

The opposite side of that coin is the fact that New England has scored the third-fewest goals in the league with nine in 10 games. The Revs have come on stronger in recent weeks though, with six tallies in their last five matches. What’s changed for the Revs that has allowed the goals to start going in a little easier?

JC: Let me explain…no, there is too much, let me sum up. The Revs in a 4-2-3-1 to start the year were horrific. Campana’s injury didn’t help, but they weren’t moving the ball effectively up field to the attacking group, and turnovers often caught the fullbacks too high as well — almost a carbon copy of 2024, when the Revs were second to last in the East and more or less were to start this year as well. The solution was to drop the struggling Langoni and add a third center back and put Ganago into a second striker role, which on paper I had a lot of doubts about. However, Carles Gil is still a magician and the Revs did solve a major problem with the formation switch.

Having the wingbacks allows one of them to get forward without exposing the defense, so New England is able to switch the point of attack easier and not compromise their center back duo, because Beason is there to help put out any fires. Now the Revs get their width and deep support from the wingback spot and are able to use Miller and Feingold more effectively and confidently going forward, because they have enough strength in the back of the formation. It also helps that the two wingbacks have been really good with high passing numbers despite not registering any official assists yet. Feingold essentially had the assist on the Revs’ opener in Toronto last weekend, but his very dangerous initial cross into the box was half-cleared only to have Gil volley it top bins from the top of the box. Feingold isn’t the pure speedster Miller is, but as a duo they complement each other very well and bring back a 1-v-1 element the Revs really haven’t had since Tajon Buchanan.

Now, do I still think that Caleb Porter’s possession system is too slow and hampers the offense? Yes. Do I think the Revs should counterattack a lot more than they do currently? Also yes. Their two goals against Toronto were very direct — a turnover sent out wide to Feingold set up Gil and then a semi-broken play leading to a long through ball to Campana. I think this is when the Revs are at their most dangerous, because they generally have opponents on their back foot and not in an established and/or set back line. But they are improving and against Toronto were generating better chances and doing so more frequently. And despite their win streak, big chances have been a rarity so far this year. If New England is able to consistently counter and create chances inside the box, the defense is going to carry them very far and you will see this team protecting a lot of leads.

Will any players be unavailable due to injury, suspension, etc.? What is your projected starting XI and score prediction?

JC: No suspensions to talk about, and most of the longterm injuries are off the board as well with Chancalay and Campana back in action. Andrew Farrell and Wyatt Omsberg were listed as questionable last week, but Farrell started in the midweek Open Cup game and Omsberg was on the bench and subbed on for the final 15 minutes. Youngster Malcolm Fry is likely the only person that will still be listed as out come gameday.

5-3-2: Aljaz Ivacic; Peyton Miller, Mamadou Fofana, Brayan Ceballos, Tanner Beason, Ilay Feingold; Alhassan Yusuf, Matt Polster, Carles Gil; Ignatius Ganago, Leonardo Campana.

Same lineup as last week in Toronto — the midfield triangle sees Carles Gil work his magic as the roaming No. 10, so you might see the wingbacks listed with the holding mids in a 3-4-1-2 looking thing. The running joke with the PawedCast demands I predict a 2-2 draw, but given the defensive stinginess of these two teams in the last month or so, I find it highly unlikely this game will have four goals in it…which is exactly why it will happen. We’ll add another to Carles’ tally and I think Mr. Ganago is due for another one. He’s been robbed a few too many times this year.


Thank you to Jake for the excellent primer on this year’s Revolution team. Vamos Orlando!



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Lion Links: 5/9/25

Orlando City’s next U.S. Open Cup match date revealed, MLS matches to watch, top soccer club valuations, and more.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to Friday! I hope the week has treated you well as we get ready for a Mother’s Day weekend packed with soccer. Orlando City and the Orlando Pride are both in action at the same time on Saturday, so make sure to plan accordingly depending on how you want to enjoy the action. Let’s dive into today’s links!

Orlando City Will Face Nashville in USOC on May 21

Orlando City will officially host Nashville SC on May 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the U.S. Open Cup’s Round of 16. That match is sandwiched between a road game against Inter Miami on May 18 and a home game against the Portland Timbers May 24, so at least there won’t be much travel during that week during an already jam-packed month. The Lions reached this stage of the tournament after beating the Tampa Bay Rowdies 5-0 Wednesday, while Nashville won 1-0 against the Chattanooga Red Wolves on Tuesday.

What to Watch In MLS This Weekend

We’ll all be tuned in for Orlando City’s match on Saturday against the New England Revolution, but there’s plenty more MLS action to look forward to as well. Before Orlando’s match, Inter Miami will head to St. Paul to take on a Minnesota United team that leads the league with six clean sheets this season. Another notable match this weekend is a clash between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference standings when the Philadelphia Union host the Columbus Crew. That game has Daniel Gazdag written all over it. Sunday night’s match should be a doozy between two heavyweight Western Conference teams, as LAFC will hit the road to take on the league-leading Vancouver Whitecaps.

MLS Clubs Listed Among World’s Most Valuable

Sportico announced the valuations for the top 50 most valuable soccer clubs in the world, and a whopping 19 MLS teams made the list. The Lions aren’t included, but it’s still neat to see some clubs like Minnesota, Sporting Kansas City, and Charlotte FC listed. LAFC is the highest listed MLS side, coming in at 16th with a $1.28 billion valuation. Real Madrid tops the list at $6.53 billion, and six of the top 10 are from the English Premier League. While valuations aren’t exactly hard evidence of success or influence, I think this is a testament to the growth and parity of MLS through an international lens.

English Clubs Reach Europa League Final

This year’s Europa League final will feature a pair of EPL teams as Manchester United and Tottenham breezed through the semifinals. United overcame a shaky first half to beat Athletic Club 4-1 at Old Trafford, with Mason Mount scoring two of the team’s four goals in the second half. Tottenham avoided an upset in Norway by winning 2-0 against Bodo/Glimt. The final will take place on May 21 in Spain, and there’s both a trophy and Champions League qualification on the line. Both United and Tottenham struggled this season and are respectively 15th and 16th in the league standings, but winning the Europa League is all that matters now.

Free Kicks

  • American midfielder Johnny Cardoso played every minute of Real Betis’ 2-2 result against Fiorentina to advance to the Europa Conference League final, where the Spanish club will face Chelsea on May 28. Enjoy this goal from Antony to help his side prevail.
  • In honor of Mother’s Day, AC Milan players will wear their mothers’ last names on the back of their jerseys in today’s match against Bologna. I love this idea and hope more clubs follow suit moving forward.
  • An ownership group led by David Beckham and Gary Neville acquired Salford City of England’s League Two.
  • Former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra’s MMA debut will have to wait, as the 43-year-old’s fight set for May 23 in Paris was postponed.
  • We’ll end our links with what looks to be some unexpected Orlando Pride representation in Vatican City!

That’s all I have for you this time around. Have a fantastic Friday and enjoy the holiday weekend!

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs New England: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to score some goals and secure a victory against New England?

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City might have the scoring woes in MLS matches as of late, but the Lions broke out against the Tampa Bay Rowdies Wednesday night in the U.S. Open Cup match. Of course, the Rowdies are not a very good team this year and are not a top flight team, so take it all with a grain of salt. What does Orlando City need to do to earn all three points at home against the Revolution?

Stop Gil/Campana

New England has scored eight goals this season. Seven of those goals have come from Carles Gil (5) and Leonardo Campana (2). Gil has also contributed one of New England’s four assists on the season. The vast majority of the Revolution’s offense goes through these two players, meaning stopping the duo is priority number one.

I fully expect Oscar Pareja to field his first-team defense, including a back line of Alex Freeman, Rodrigo Schlegel, Robin Jansson, and David Brekalo. Orlando City will also need whoever is playing in the defensive midfield to be the first line of defense. Pedro Gallese cannot be expected to have eight saves every match. The defense needs to step up.

Streak vs. Streak

Orlando City is on an eight-match unbeaten streak. New England is on a four-match winning streak in league play and five in all competitions. One of these streaks will end Saturday night. The Revolution have scored six goals in the last four MLS matches with at least one goal in each match without conceding a goal during the streak. The Lions have only scored three goals in the last five MLS matches with all three coming in one match against Atlanta United. Orlando City has shut out five straight MLS opponents and six consecutive in all competitions.

Orlando City has given away too many points during the unbeaten run. The Lions have missed Eduard Atuesta’s ability to create opportunities for his teammates to score. I’m hoping he will be available, but if not, Pareja will need to figure a better adjustment than he has in previous matches.

No More Nil

Orlando City may be on an eight-match unbeaten streak, but the offense has been absent in four of those matches. In those 0-0 draws, Orlando City took 53 shots with only 12 on target (23% rate). Contrast that with the four matches in which they scored, when Orlando City took 68 shots with 25 on target (37% rate). The Lions will need as many chances as possible given New England has only allowed seven goals so far this season. This is a defensively solid team.

Marco Pasalic did not play in the Open Cup victory over the Tampa Bay Rowdies, meaning he will be well rested and ready to start scoring goals again. He seemed to be dialing in during the Chicago match but he was taken off before he could convert. I want him to pick up where he left off, so he and many others can score goals against the Revolution. Hopefully, the goals scored against the Rowdies will kickstart the offense.


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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