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Orlando City at Chicago Fire: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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4 years ago

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It was a disappointing night for Orlando City as the club fell for the second match in a row. This time it was a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field. The Lions didn’t lack chances at goal, but were too often unable to find the net, choosing instead the evidently welcoming arms of Fire keeper Bobby Shuttleworth. Injuries have stacked up, and one Daryl Dike is on international duty, making Óscar Pareja’s job that much tougher.

Just a note for those who read our player’s grades: Each staff member has their own scale on how they grade players. My grading involves not just stats and key moments, but also how the player performs against my expectations. If you disagree with how I, or any of our staff, approach our grades, I sincerely encourage you to join The Mane Land staff so you can use your own criteria. Now, let’s see how the Lions did in the loss to Chicago.

Starters

GK, Brando Austin, 6 — Austin made four saves, but let three goals in. Most of those weren’t his fault as his defense allowed Chicago in behind, making his job all the harder. In the 68th minute he did well to come out on one of Chicago’s breakaways to disrupt the chance. He attempted 21 passes at a 57.1% passing rate with 15 long balls and seven of those on target. Austin wasn’t great, but on a night when the defense was worse, it’s hard to come down to hard on the backup keeper.

D, Michael Halliday, 6 — Halliday is getting better every match. I’m not saying it was an outstanding performance, but he’s definitely improving. The youngster was robbed of his first assist when his cross glanced off a defender before Andres Perea scored Orlando City’s only goal. He even started the buildup to that goal when he pushed through a Chicago defender to drive down the right side before crossing the ball. As good as that was, he had a few lapses on the other end, though an offside call on Beric bailed him out of a potential goal. Defensively, he committed two fouls, had two tackles, four clearances, one interception, and one blocked shot. Halliday attempted 25 passes and had a 68% passing rate. He came off in the 80th minute.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 5.5 — Despite being a center back, Schlegel took two shots, one of which was on target, and made one cross. His shot on goal was a header off a corner kick in the 30th minute. He attempted 46 passes and had a 78.3% passing rate, while attempting six long balls. He made one interception, three clearances, one blocked shot, one tackle, and committed one foul. Schlegel was one of the two defenders that couldn’t stop the Fire’s third goal. Like much of the team, he wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t great either.

D, Robin Jansson, 6.5 — Jansson was generally his usual self, though like all the team had a few mental lapses that contributed to the loss. He attempted 51 passes and had a 86.3% passing rate, while completing four of eight long balls.He had three interceptions, two clearances, and committed two fouls, earning one yellow card. Jansson earns this grade because despite not playing as good as we’re used to, he still played better than many others on the team.

D, Kyle Smith, 4 — Listeners of The Mane Land PawedCast know that I am a pretty big Kyle Smith supporter. However, on this night in Chicago, the Accountant left me feeling like the IRS was auditing me. Smith drifted inside and failed to mark Boris Sekulić on the back post for Chicago’s first goal. He kept Robert Berić onside for Chicago’s second goal. Lastly, his cross late in the match was poor enough that the Fire grabbed it and counter-attacked for Chicago’s third goal. I’m saying it wasn’t a good night for El Soldado. Smith took two shots, one of which sailed over the crossbar late in the match and the other was nowhere close to goal. On defense he had three tackles, one interception, four clearances, and one blocked shot. Smith attempted 63 passes and had a 74.6% passing rate with four crosses. He was successful on seven of 11 long balls, and he suffered two fouls.

MF, Uri Rosell, 6 — Rosell was not exciting, but he wasn’t horrible either. He did almost have a bad giveaway to start the second half, but he was bailed out. Taking into account that Rosell is still making his way back to full match fitness, he was not bad, though he visibly tired in the second half. He made three tackles, two interceptions, one clearance and committed zero fouls. I know zero fouls sounds good, but a defensive midfielder should probably have at least one or two. He attempted 52 passes and had a team-high 92.3% passing rate. He suffered one foul. Rosell came off in the 76th minute.

MF, Junior Urso, 6.5 — Urso wore the captain’s armband to start this match, and he put in a decent shift. Offensively, he took three shots, two of which were on target. One of those was a bicyle kick that if it had gone in would have been a clear contender for goal of the week, but that wasn’t Orlando’s luck last night. Urso did his usual work, drawing three fouls, and causing the opposition some trouble in transition. On defense he had three tackles, one interception, and one clearance. Urso was subbed off in the 88th minute.

MF, Sebastian van der Water, 7 (MotM) — Orlando City’s offense flowed through Van der Water until he was subbed off in the 76th minute. Despite his time on the ball, he only suffered one foul. Van der Water took two shots, with one on goal in the 21st minute, though he couldn’t find the back of the net. Van der Water attempted 24 passes with only a 62.5% passing rate, but he also made six key passes, and eight crosses. The Dutchman made good passes into the box throughout the match, but the Lions couldn’t find the last bit of quality to take advantage of his skill.

MF, Andres Perea, 6.5 — Perea scored Orlando City’s only goal in the match off a cross from Halliday. He played a solid match, and did a good job of being where he needed to be on Halliday’s cross. The goal was his only shot, and it was obviously on target. Defensively, he committed one foul. He attempted 19 passes with an 89.5% passing rate, which was good enough for second best for Orlando. He also made two key passes. Perea came off in 76th minute.

F, Tesho Akindele, 5.5 — Tesho had a quiet night for Orlando City. His hold-up play wasn’t bad, but he seemed to be just off when it came to being where he needed to be to contribute a goal. It was most obvious when van der Water headed the ball back across goal, and Akindele was caught looking rather than making a run. Offensively, he had two shots, with one on target though it was a header easily dealt with by Shuttleworth. He committed one foul, and made one clearance. He attempted 19 passes with a 63,2% passing rate.

F, Benji Michel, 6 — Michel wasn’t Almighty on the night. He took five shots, with three on target, but never managed a goal. On one he took an extra second to get the ball on his left foot and the opportunity disappeared. On another, he made the right decision to make an extra touch, but the shot was blocked. It just wasn’t his night. He committed one foul, suffered one foul, made one interception, and one clearance.. Michel attempted 21 passes with a 81% passing rate, one key pass, one cross, and was successful on one of three long balls.

Substitutes

MF, Mauricio Pereyra (76’), 5.5 — Magic Mo was a part of a three-player subsitution, which was probably about 10 minutes too late to make a difference. He came on for Rosell, as Pareja adopted a more offensive approach to chase the match. Pereyra attempted 16 passes with an 87.5% passing rate, and had one key pass. Defensively, he made one tackle, and committed one foul. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late for Pereyra and his fellow subs.

MF, Sebas Méndez (76’), 5 — On his return from international duty, Méndez wasn’t able to contribute much to Orlando City’s comeback attempt. He suffered one foul, and made one key pass. Méndez attempted 23 passes with an 87% passing rate.

F, Nani (76’), 6 — Nani did everything he could to try to get the Lions an equalizer, but the opportunities never opened up for the captain. He had one shot that was off target. He attempted 16 passes with an 87.5% passing rate, and two key passes.

F, Chris Mueller (80’), 6 — Mueller worked hard when he came on very late, and managed a nice cross in the 88th minute, but there was no one there to take advantage of it. He attempted eight passes with a 75% passing rate, and two key passes.

MF, Alexander Alvarado (88’), N/A— Alvarado had five touches with an 80% passing rate. He also blocked one shot in his limited appearance.

That is how I saw the game. How do you feel about the individual performances? Tell us by commenting and voting on the Man of the Match below.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Andres Perea16
Silvester van der Water15
Junior Urso1
Robin Jansson2
Other2

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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.

Published

15 hours ago

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May 9, 2025

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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

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.

Published

18 hours ago

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May 9, 2025

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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?

Published

2 days ago

on

May 8, 2025

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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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