Orlando City
Orlando City at D.C. United: Player Grades and Man of the Match
A goal in the seventh minute by Mauricio Pereyra secured three points away from home for Orlando City in a 1-0 win over D.C. United. It was a strong defensive effort as the team achieved its third clean sheet in the first five games of 2021.
Let’s take a look at how each individual Lion did in the win.
Starters
GK, Pedro Gallese, 6 — It’s hard to say anything bad about a goalkeeper in a clean sheet. Gallese had a solid game, though he didn’t have that much work in this one. D.C. United only put one of its 13 shots on goal, forcing Gallese to make one save. When Gallese was called upon to make a decision to come off his line, he made the right one and put an end to the United attack.
D, Kyle Smith, 6 — The return of João Moutinho and the injury to Ruan last week allowed Kyle Smith to move back to his natural right back position. Just as he’s been at left back, Smith was solid in this game. Defensively, the right back led the team with seven tackles and also had an interception and two clearances. Offensively, Smith completed 67% of his 42 passes and made one key pass. He was accurate on two of his three crosses and delivered a great long ball to Pereyra in the box for Orlando’s goal.
D, Antonio Carlos, 7 — While Gallese will be credited with the clean sheet, much of the praise should go to the center backs. D.C. had 13 shots in this game but only one was on target and that was largely because opposing players didn’t have great opportunities. Carlos ended the game with three interceptions and a team-leading 13 clearances. Offensively, the defender completed 79.3% of his 20 passes, including seven of his 11 long balls.
D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 6.5 — Similar to Carlos, it was a very solid game from the center back. The defender was strong on the back line, ending the game with two interceptions and seven clearances. Going forward, he completed 67% of his 24 passes.
D, João Moutinho, 6 — This game saw Moutinho return to the starting lineup for the first time since Aug. 29, 2020. His performance was what Orlando City fans were hoping to see from the healthy defender as he helped the back line achieve its third clean sheet of the season. While Oscar Pareja utilizes a system with the outside backs often going forward, Moutinho’s biggest impact was when making a sliding block in the first half that kept a shot from reaching Gallese. Moutinho finished the game with one tackle, four interceptions, and two clearances to go along with the block. He completed 58% of his 45 passes, including one key pass, but he was most impactful when helping the team keep D.C. off the scoreboard.
MF, Sebas Mendez, 6.5 — Defending for 83 minutes is a difficult task and the defensive midfielders were key in the Lions’ success. While both Mendez and Junior Urso were terrific, you can’t find a negative in Mendez’s performance. The midfielder completed 93% of his 43 passes, but his biggest impact was on defense. His seven interceptions were the most on the team and key in keeping D.C. from being sending numbers forward.
MF, Junior Urso, 6 — Urso was solid in this game. The seventh-minute goal meant Orlando City was going to need to defend well for most of the game and Urso made his presence felt. He finished the game with two tackles and two interceptions in the midfield. A link to the attack, Urso completed 77% of his 30 passes before being taken off in the 82nd minute for Joey DeZart.
MF, Benji Michel, 5 — Michel was pretty quiet in his 50 minutes in this game. He only had 14 passes, completed 64% of them, and didn’t take any shots. He had an opportunity to make an impact in the final moments of the first half, but a heavy touch saw him lose a chance at a shot on goal. He was a part of a tactical substitution by Pareja in the 51st minute as Robin Jansson came on as a fifth defender.
MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 7 (MotM) — Mauricio Pereyra was the key player in this game that Orlando City fans have been used to. The midfielder scored his first goal of the 2021 season in the seventh minute, which ended up being the difference. After receiving the ball from Tesho Akindele, Pereyra did well to shield Drew Skundrich and put it past Jon Kempin with his only shot. Aside from the goal, Pereyra was solid in the midfield once again, completing 86% of his 21 passes, including one key pass. Unfortunately, his last action in this game was a booking, but it was a strong performance by the midfielder.
MF, Nani, 6 — Nani saw his three-game scoring streak end in this one but joined in the defensive effort after Pereyra’s early goal, coming away with two tackles and three clearances. He completed 75% of his 40 passes and all four of his shots were off target. He did nearly score another wonderful goal in the first half, but the curling shot just missed the frame. The captain was successful on two of three attempted crosses.
F, Tesho Akindele, 6 — The role of Akindele for much of this game was keeping pressure on D.C. to help maintain the lead. The forward’s only shot in 82 minutes of play was blocked and he completed 65% of his 17 passes. Most importantly, he assisted Pereyra in the seventh minute for the game’s only goal.
Substitutes
D, Robin Jansson (51’), 6 — Jansson made his season debut as a second-half substitute. He replaced Michel to become the third center back when the Lions went to a five-man back line. Despite playing most of the second half, Jansson only completed two of four passes and made one clearance. However, he did help stop D.C. from scoring as the Lions held onto their third clean sheet of the season. Jansson had two clearances and completed nine of his 11 passes.
MF, Andres Perea (70’), N/A – Perea came on in the 70th minute for Pereyra, but didn’t do much in this one. A defensive change, Perea didn’t have any possession, shots, or defensive stats other than a tackle.
MF, Joey DeZart (82’), N/A – DeZart was a part of a double substitution with eight minutes remaining in the game, replacing Urso. While he didn’t make a huge impact, he did block a cross in the dying moments. DeZart did well to keep his arms at his side, ensuring that a penalty wouldn’t be called.
MF, Chris Mueller (82’), N/A – The biggest note about Chris Mueller’s night was that it was his 100th competitive appearance for the club. The other half of the late substitutions, Mueller came on as fresh legs for Akindele. He was booked in stoppage time for time wasting, had one pass, no shots, and no defensive contributions.
That’s how I saw the individual performances of Orlando City in this game. Let us know what you thought about the players and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.
Polling Closed
Player | Votes |
Mauricio Pereyra | 34 |
Pedro Gallese | 2 |
Antonio Carlos | 34 |
Sebas Mendez | 2 |
Other | 11 |
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.
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:
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):
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:
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.
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!
Orlando City
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?
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!
Lion Links
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.
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.
- Atlanta United interim head coach Rob Valentino, who was an Orlando City B assistant coach in 2015 and played for the USL Lions, spoke on Atlanta’s Cinderella run this postseason ahead of his team’s clash with Orlando City on Sunday.
- CF Montreal signed Canadian center back Joel Waterman to a contract extension that will keep him with the club through 2027 with an option for 2028 as well.
- D.C. United signed goalkeeper Jordan Farr from the Tampa Bay Rowdies on a two-year deal. Farr had 11 shutouts with the Rowdies this year and joins a D.C. side that declined the contract options for both Tyler Miller and Alex Bono last month.
- American forward Catarina Macario had an assist for Chelsea in a 3-0 win against Celtic in the Women’s Champions League.
- Spanish midfielder Juan Mata joined San Diego FC’s ownership group ahead of the club’s inaugural MLS season next year.
- Costa Rican club Alajuelense, which is the highest-ranked team in Central America, has hired a legal firm regarding FIFA allowing both Pachuca and Club Leon to take part in the 2025 Club World Cup despite having the same owner.
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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