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Orlando City vs. New England Revolution: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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4 years ago

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Orlando City went on the road to take on the New England Revolution and fell 2-1. Adam Buksa scored in the ninth minute, but Daryl Dike was able to equalize in the 18th minute. However, an own goal later in the first half and a missed penalty in the second half doomed the Lions as they lost their fourth straight match.

Let’s dive into how each Lion rated and who was our Man of the Match.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 5.5 — It was the first time Gallese didn’t record a save for Orlando since May of this year. The Revolution were only able to get one shot on target, but Gallese wasn’t able to stop a bouncing shot on the volley from Buksa in front of goal at point-blank range. On the Revolution’s second goal, a low cross from Tajon Buchanan was delivered quickly enough that Gallese couldn’t do much about it pinballing off Rodrigo Schlegel and into the goal. The Peruvian goalkeeper also rushed out of goal to cut off DeJuan Jones, but the left back made a nice pass to Buksa, who should’ve scored again but sent the ball into the stands. Gallese was successful on 17 of his 24 passes for a 71% completion rate and was accurate on eight of his 14 long balls.

D, Joao Moutinho, 6 — The left back had a tough assignment against Buchanan for most of the night. In the 35th minute, he was beaten by some fancy footwork from the skilled Canadian, who used the open space to whip in a low cross that bounced off of Schlegel and into the goal. Despite that, Moutinho ended up having a decent defensive performance, particularly late in the match with the Lions trailing as he tracked back to make crucial stops. Moutinho had a team-high five interceptions and also three tackles, a clearance, and a defensive block. His only cross of the night was also his only key pass as he whipped in a good ball to Andres Perea in the box, but the header was off target. Moutinho had two shots late in the match, not making good contact on one and attempting a bicycle kick late that looked good but was deflected. The 23-year-old also led the team with 79 touches and 51 passes, completing 40 of the latter for a 78% success rate as he often tried serving Benji Michel some long passes upfield to no avail.

D, Robin Jansson, 5.5 — The Swede wasn’t in a great position on Buksa’s goal, although that may be more of a testament of how pinpoint the cross was from Gustavo Bou on a counter than Jansson’s defensive ability. Jansson wasn’t able to get his head on that cross and couldn’t intercept Buchanan’s low ball into the box that wound up in the net. The center back had five clearances and a tackle in a fairly quiet outing. Jansson had 47 touches and 38 passes at a 92% completion rate as helped Orlando build out of the back at times. He was also shown a yellow card that will make him miss Wednesday’s match on the road against Nashville SC. Jansson has played every minute in Orlando’s last 11 games so the thin silver lining here is that he will get some rest before the home stretch.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 5.5 — Just a week after being elbowed by Kacper Przybylko, Schlegel had to deal with another physical center forward in Buksa. Their battle for positioning in the box included plenty of shoving from Buksa and led to Schlegel’s own goal as a low cross by Buchanan pinged off of him and into the net. Schlegel led the team with six clearances and also had four interceptions, two tackles, and two defensive blocks to help limit the Revs’ offense. The center back had 49 touches and completed 24 of his 28 passes for an 86% success rate and we’ll likely see more of him this Wednesday alongside Antonio Carlos due to Jansson’s suspension.

D, Ruan, 6 — The right back slipped on the turf just prior to New England’s opener and Bou took full advantage to sprint down the field and deliver the cross for Buksa’s goal in the ninth minute. While Ruan was a liability on defense at times, finishing with just one clearance and no tackles or interceptions, he did give the Lions plenty of opportunities on offense. The speedster had little issue beating defenders and led the team with four key passes, including a nice cutback pass for Dike in the 24th minute. His crossing ability still leaves plenty to be desired as he was inaccurate on all five of his attempts. Ruan had 60 touches in this match, the third-most on the team, and he was successful on 36 of 39 passes for a good 92% completion rate.

MF, Junior Urso, 6 — The Bear hustled up and down the field all night long, racking up 63 touches and completing 45 of his 49 passes for a strong 92% success rate as he worked hard to serve as an outlet for other players to build possession. Urso had a tackle, an interception, and a block on the defensive end and on offense he had a shot that was blocked and a key pass. There were a few mishaps here and there, but overall it was a fairly efficient night for the Brazilian.

MF, Andres Perea, 5 — There was certainly some rust from Perea in his return from suspension. The 20-year-old was often a step behind in the midfield as the Revs passed around him with ease to then pick apart the defense. This was shown on the Revs’ second goal as the opposition worked around him to set up a one-on-one for Buchanan against Moutinho. However, he did have four clearances in the match and also chipped in with two interceptions, a tackle, and a block on the defensive end. Perea also led the team with three shots, the best coming from him pouncing on a loose ball in the box that Turner was able to save. That was his only shot on target as one shot was blocked and another headed wide from Moutinho’s great cross. In 87 minutes of action, Perea had 54 touches and 39 passes at an 85% success rate, although his inaccurate attempts weren’t all that difficult.

MF, Sebas Mendez, 6 — It was the Ecuadorian midfielder’s first game since his injury on July 17 and he did a decent job giving the Lions some stability in the midfield. This was particularly true in the second half when Mendez came up with crucial tackles to stop the revs on the counter while Orlando pushed forward to try and score. Mendez was subbed out in the 70th minute and finished with three tackles and an interception while not making much of an impact on offense. He had 55 touches and 47 passes at an 85% success rate as he was eased back into action.

MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 6.5 — Pereyra fed a nice ball to Dike in the box for his 10th assist of the season. It was one of many great passes from the Uruguayan, but his best of the night was a perfect first touch to serve Dike the ball again in a play that resulted in a penalty for Orlando. Although he only finished with two key passes, Pereyra pulled the strings for Orlando for most of the night and had 39 passes at an 87% success rate, which is pretty good considering the distance and difficult angles of some of his attempts. His two crosses from free kicks didn’t find their target, but were decent balls and he was accurate on his lone corner kick. Pereyra played all 90 minutes and ended the game with 50 touches, two key passes, and a shot from distance that went high and wide of goal.

F, Benji Michel, 4.5 — Michel didn’t get much done with only 14 touches in 57 minutes of play. He had no shots or key passes and his only cross was inaccurate. His best opportunity came in the second half when he ran along the end line with the ball, but he wasn’t able to make anything of it. Michel had no defensive stats either and only had five passes at an 80% success rate.

F, Daryl Dike, 6.5 (MotM) — Dike’s goal was a great one as he muscled past former collegiate teammate Henry Kessler in the box and fired a shot that was too powerful and too low for Turner to keep out. His only other shot in the match was from a good pass by Ruan, but he wasn’t able to make clean contact and it went wide. Dike won four fouls during the match, including a penalty that gave Orlando a golden opportunity that was squandered. It was Dike’s first time playing all 90 minutes for Orlando since returning from the Gold Cup and he had 37 touches and 14 passes at a subpar 57% completion rate as he tried to hold possession and create chances. More shots should be expected from the forward over the course of a game, but the Revs did focus on shutting him down after his goal. He was also a force in the air, using his large frame and physicality to win the ball upfield and he came up with two headed clearances on the Revolution’s set pieces. Dike is our Man of the Match for scoring a great goal while trailing on the road and earning a penalty that could have wound up salvaging a point for the Lions.

Substitutes

F, Nani (57’), 5.5 — Orlando’s captain had a chance to equalize with a penalty kick in the 75th minute, but his shot was stopped by Turner. Nani opted to shoot straight down the middle and Turner moved to his right but hesitated and got just enough of his body behind the ball to deflect it high and out of harm’s way. His only other shot of the match was blocked and his key pass to Urso set up a shot that was also blocked. None of his crosses from free kicks found their target, but his sole cross in open play was accurate. Nani completed 13 of his 15 passes for an 87% success rate and had 27 touches and he tried to bring Orlando level. The Designated Player hasn’t scored since Aug. 7 and Orlando will need him to lead the team during the final stretch of the season.

MF, Silvester van der Water (70’), 5.5 — With Orlando trailing in the second half, van der Water gave the team a bit of edge on the offense. The Dutchman had two shots, sending his first just wide and having his second blocked in stoppage time. He had 12 touches in the match and completed five of his seven passes for a 71% success rate. Van der Water wasn’t able to provide a goal for Orlando, but did give the team some needed energy when he had the ball at his feet in the attacking third.

F, Tesho Akindele, (87’) N/A — Coming on late to give the Lions another attacker while trailing, Akindele’s biggest contribution was winning a foul in a dangerous position for Orlando. He didn’t have any shots or key passes but gave the Revolution another big body to worry about alongside Dike. In a short shift, Akindele had nine touches and was successful on three of his six passes.

D, Kyle Smith (87’), N/A — Smith replaced Schlegel late in the match and completed three of his four passes. It was a quiet cameo for Smith as he had no offensive or defensive stats and just four touches.

That’s how I saw things play out in Orlando’s 2-1 loss on the road. Make sure to weigh in on how you feel about the grades in the comments below and to vote for who you think deserves the title of Man of the Match.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Daryl Dike18
Mauricio Pereyra2
Junior Urso3
Other (Comment Below)2

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. CF Montreal: Final Score 1-1 as Lions Drop More Points at Home

The Lions made three-win Montreal look like a competent team in a wasteful effort at home.

Published

9 hours ago

on

July 12, 2025

By

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Orlando City couldn’t make Martin Ojeda’s goal in the first half stand up as a late Montreal penalty kick sent the Lions to their third straight game without a win in a disappointing 1-1 draw at Inter&Co Stadium. Rodrigo Schlegel’s foul on Prince Owusu allowed the latter to tie the match from the spot late in a game in which Montreal (3-13-6, 15 points) finished with only four shots and just the one on target.

The Lions (9-5-8, 35 points) themselves mustered just 11 shots and put three on goal against the worst team in the Eastern Conference, which was playing on short rest after a home match in the Canadian Championship at midweek. The season series ended with two draws, which doesn’t speak well of an Orlando side with postseason aspirations.

“We couldn’t reach the rhythm the whole game,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “I have to say that we tried to move and eventually we had some actions that ignited us a little, but the overall (thought) was it was a very uncomfortable game for us. The effort was there. It was a very complicated game. It was not an easy one.”

Pareja had to juggle his lineup a bit because of a pair of suspensions for yellow card accumulation to Pedro Gallese and Robin Jansson. Javier Otero started in goal behind a back line of Rafael Santos, Schlegel, David Brekalo, and Alex Freeman — his first game back since the Gold Cup ended. Cesar Araujo and Eduard Atuesta started in central midfield between wingers Ojeda and Marco Pasalic, with Luis Muriel and Ramiro Enrique up top.

The first half began as a choppy and dull as any game this season, as Montreal kept much of the ball early with neither side able to create much of a threat. The visitors won a free kick in the 10th minute but didn’t do anything with it, but aside from that, the opening 15 minutes were quiet.

Orlando City finally attempted a shot in the 17th minute, but Ojeda got well under his volley attempt off a deflected cross and sent his attempt high into The Wall.

It wasn’t until the 24th minute when the game saw its first shot on target. Muriel fired a left-footed effort from just outside the area, but Jonathan Sirois was able to dive to his left to make the save. Three minutes later, the Lions broke the scoreless deadlock on a set piece.

Samuel Piette fouled Pasalic just outside the area in the 27th minute. Ojeda and Muriel lined up over it, with Ojeda tapping it to the Colombian forward. Muriel put his foot on the ball to stop it, teeing it up for the Argentine to blast just inside the right post to make it 1-0 in the 28th minute. It was Ojeda’s 10th goal of the MLS season, making him the third Lion to record 10 goals and 10 assists in a season (all competitions). It was also his seventh consecutive MLS match with a goal contribution, setting a new club record.

“It’s something we work on with the coaches. Martin Perelman is in charge of that in particular,” Ojeda said. “Today was a bit of (guile) that thankfully ended in a goal. We do have quality players with a lot of technique. A lot of these plays can result in things like this, so yeah, let’s continue on this way.”

Montreal’s only shot attempt of the half came shortly after Ojeda’s goal. Hennadii Synchuk tried to catch Otero napping, blasting a shot from distance that didn’t miss the right post by much, sending it just wide.

Ojeda scored a minute later, but the flag came up for offside. Enrique had played him in with a lovely through ball, but replay showed Ojeda was just off and the call on the field was confirmed after video review.

Five minutes later, Montreal followed suit. Ojeda and Santos tried to work a give-and-go up the left sideline, but it didn’t come off and the visitors broke in transition. Owusu got onto a through ball and beat Otero, but he was several yards offside and it was an easy offside call.

Pasalic drew another free kick early in stoppage time from the left. Ojeda scorched a cross to the back post for Brekalo, but the Slovenian couldn’t get his header on target. Orlando won one more late free kick near the touchline and Muriel sent it in. Enrique had a free header, but his redirect was right at Sirois on the last touch of the half.

At the break, Orlando held the advantage in possession (51.8%-48.2%), shots (6-1), and shots on target (3-0). Montreal had more corners (1-0) and better passing accuracy (91.1%-90.9%).

“When you find rivals that have that model of chasing and converting the game into dueling in every single area, it has that tendency to be a game that is caught here and there, that the sequences are broken if we cannot get the flow that we want,” Pareja said of the team’s disjointed attack tonight. “And eventually we did it. It seemed like we were getting the rhythm and immediately we came back to that discomfort in the game.”

Montreal came out of the lockerroom with a bit more urgency than Orlando for the first few minutes, keeping the Lions pinned back. When Orlando finally held some possession, Freeman found some space down the left, cut inside, and sent a left-footed shot over the crossbar in the 50th minute.

Montreal then won a series of free kicks in the attacking third. Although the visitors didn’t pay any of them off, they came close in the 55th minute when an entry ball hit someone in front of Otero and fell in the box. Schlegel swooped in and cleared the danger.

The Lions won their first corner of the game in the 58th minute but played it short and were flagged for offside on the play.

The game kind of went dead in terms of chances for a while after that. Ivan Angulo’s blocked effort in the 73rd was the closest either side came to scoring over a 15-minute span.

Montreal got its gift in the 81st minute. Owusu carried the ball into the area on the left and went down after contact with Schlegel. The Montreal forward went looking for the contact and sold it well, with Ramy Touchan pointing to the spot. Owusu then used a stutter step to get Otero leaning and slotted home to tie the game in the 83rd minute.

“We are tired of seeing that, and it’s really frustrating,” Pareja said of the penalty decision going against Orlando. “It’s a big dive.”

Orlando City didn’t create much down the stretch. Ojeda fired from the top of the box but missed just wide in the 86th minute. Freeman cut inside and had his shot blocked early in stoppage time. Second-half sub Nico Rodriguez tried from distance moments later and the ball deflected off a defender and changed directions, but it stayed in the middle for Sirois to save in the fifth of the eight added minutes.

The Lions finished with the advantage in possession (52.9%-47.1%), shots (11-4), shots on target (3-1), corners (3-2), and passing accuracy (90.1%-90%).

With the draw, Orlando City is winless in three straight games (0-1-2) and winless in its last three at home (0-2-1).

“I think they kept the ball, which, you know, good defense is a good offense, and keeping the ball and limiting our chances in the attack,” said Kyle Smith, who subbed on in the second half to make his 200th appearance across all competitions for Orlando. “And then I think with their back five, it helps control what we were trying to do.”

“The team confidence has to stay alive the whole year,” Pareja said. “I don’t consider that we have to depend to the results. Our work and our job and our professionalism tell us that when the game finishes, you have to move on to the next one. We know that it hurts, but we have to be capable to move on. Tomorrow we have the responsibility to prepare for this game on Wednesday. That is a big challenge as well.”

The Lions have a quick turnaround as they look to bounce back when New York City FC visits Inter&Co Stadium on Wednesday.

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Orlando City

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

The shorthanded Lions look to get back in the win column when Montreal visits.

Published

21 hours ago

on

July 12, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (9-5-7, 34 points) and CF Montreal (3-13-5, 14 points) at Inter&Co Stadium (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). It’s the second of the two scheduled meetings between the Eastern Conference rivals in 2025.

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

History

The Lions are 8-9-6 against Montreal in the all-time regular-season series and 10-10-6 in all competitions since they joined MLS. OCSC is 4-4-3 in home MLS games against Montreal and 6-4-3 in matchups held in the greater Orlando area — this includes wins in Leagues Cup and the MLS is Back Tournament knockout rounds.

The most recent meeting was a scoreless draw in Montreal on April 19. The Lions’ efforts at bringing home a road win took a hit in the second half when Rafael Santos was sent off.

The teams last met in Orlando in the 2024 Leagues Cup competition nearly one year ago on July 26, with the Lions running rampant in a 4-1 home victory. Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Facundo Torres, Ramiro Enrique, and Martin Ojeda staked Orlando to a 4-0 lead. Josef Martinez scored for Montreal, although his bid for a brace was denied when Pedro Gallese stopped his penalty kick attempt.

The two sides met in Montreal on April 20, 2024 trading goals back and forth in a 2-2 draw at Stade Saputo. Mason Toye opened the scoring early, but Torres equalized from the spot a few minutes later. Ariel Lassiter appeared to win it late in normal time for the hosts, but Ivan Angulo struck in stoppage time to earn Orlando City a road point. These teams opened the 2024 season against each other in Orlando and played to a 0-0 draw. The Lions dominated the stat sheet but had a goal waved off for offside and simply weren’t lethal enough.

The teams met twice in 2023, completing the season series on Sept. 30, 2023, with Orlando winning 3-0 in dominant fashion. Jonathan Sirois’ own goal opened the scoring, and Thorhallsson and Torres added strikes for Orlando City. That was a good measure of revenge for OCSC, after Montreal defeated Orlando City 2-0 and handed the Lions their first road loss of the 2023 MLS season on May 6 at Stade Saputo. A Robin Jansson own goal got Montreal started in the second half and Romell Quioto added a second goal four minutes later.

These two sides played their biggest game against each other in the 2022 MLS playoffs, with CF Montreal knocking Orlando City out of the postseason by a 2-0 scoreline on Oct. 16, with goals by Ismael Kone and Djordje Mihailovic — the latter coming deep in stoppage time from the penalty spot.

Each team won at home in the two-game, regular-season series in 2022, with Montreal thumping Orlando 4-1 on May 7. Joel Waterman, Mihailovic, Joaquin Torres, and Zachary Brault-Guillard did the damage on the scoreboard and Orlando City managed just two shot attempts, with Joao Moutinho’s goal on a set piece helping the Lions avoid a shutout. Orlando City did not have either starting center back for that match, and it showed. The teams also met on opening day of the 2022 season, when Orlando City captured a 2-0 home win behind second-half goals from Alexandre Pato and Benji Michel.

In 2021, the teams met in Montreal on Decision Day, with the Lions earning a 2-0 road victory at Stade Saputo to clinch a playoff spot. Sebas Mendez and Daryl Dike provided the goals. That season’s matchup in Orlando came on Oct. 20, 2021, with the visitors managing a 1-1 draw. Chris Mueller struck for the Lions just before halftime, but Rudy Camacho answered on a corner kick header shortly after the restart. The first meeting of 2021 took place Sept. 15 in Orlando with the Lions falling 4-2 and finishing the game with just nine men after both Nani and Andres Perea were sent off. Quioto led Montreal with a goal and two assists. Mathieu Choiniere and Quioto put Montreal up 2-0, but despite already being down one man, Jansson and Ruan tied things up. The visitors got two more from Lassi Lappalainen and Sunusi Ibrahim.

The teams met at Red Bull Arena in late 2020 as the team then known as the Montreal Impact played home games in New Jersey due to the pandemic. Orlando City got a Dike goal in the 39th minute to win 1-0 on Nov. 1, 2020. It was the second meeting of the 2020 season, with Orlando also beating Montreal 1-0 in the MLS is Back Tournament knockout rounds on July 25 to advance to the quarterfinals. Tesho Akindele scored the game’s only goal on a Montreal defensive mistake.

Orlando City snapped a six-game winless streak against Montreal (0-5-1) in MLS regular-season play dating back to 2016 when the Lions put the Impact to the sword in a 3-0 drubbing at Stade Saputo on June 1, 2019. Nani (penalty), Akindele, and Will Johnson supplied the offense that day. The Lions fell 3-1 at Exploria Stadium back on March 16, 2019, and Ignacio Piatti was a big reason why, scoring his ninth and 10th career goals against Orlando, adding to a strike by Orji Okwonkwo. Dom Dwyer added a cosmetic goal late for Orlando City to spoil the clean sheet.

Montreal did not allow a goal against the Lions in 2018, sweeping the two-game set from Orlando, and the Impact shut out Orlando City in three of the six meetings in that 5-0-1 run. The lone draw in that time frame was a 3-3 shootout in Orlando in 2017, in which the Impact led deep in stoppage time, only to see Jonathan Spector’s well-placed header steal the Lions a point.

Orlando won the first two meetings in 2016 by a combined score of 6-2. The teams split three meetings in 2015, with each going 1-1-1.

Overview

Orlando City enters this match on a two-game winless streak after a 2-2 come-from-behind road draw at Charlotte FC a week ago. The Lions enter having given up two goals in each of the last three matches — six in all — and things aren’t set up for success tonight with both Jansson and Gallese suspended for yellow card accumulation. Orlando City is 5-3-2 in home matches this season, however two of those three losses have come in the team’s last two games in Inter&Co Stadium. In order to stop that skid, the Lions will have to tighten up the defense. If he starts in his first match since the end of the Concacaf Gold Cup, Alex Freeman’s return could help.

Montreal is last in the Eastern Conference with just three wins and 14 points this season. But it bears repeating that one of those points came at Orlando’s expense. Additionally, two of Montreal’s three wins on the season have come in the past four MLS matches. Add in that two of the club’s three victories have been road wins (2-7-2), and tonight’s visitors may be feeling a bit more confident than they’ve shown for much of this season. CF Montreal did, however, play a midweek match at home, finishing in a 2-2 draw against Forge FC in Canadian Championship action.

To get the win tonight, Orlando will have to get back to playing sound defense. If the Lions can stay organized, they can get out in transition where Marco Pasalic, Enrique, and Ojeda can be dangerous.

“It is part of our DNA that we don’t play with any context of the teams — not how they’re doing in the standings or how they are doing at the moment. It’s something that is not our problem,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “If we play against another team that is really bright, we don’t care either. It’s first about trying to be ourselves while trying to get the initiative and plan the game model — trying to do our things the way we plan it, with the energy that our fans deserve. The respect that we have for not just the game but for the jersey — all of those things don’t change, regardless of the moment or the opposition. The only way I know how to win games in my life is to take it the best way possible on Saturday at 7:30.”

Orlando City will be without Jansson (suspension), Gallese (suspension), Joran Gerbet (thigh), Duncan McGuire (shoulder), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee). Per Montreal’s game notes, every player is available. Montreal will be without Jalen Neal (ankle), while Samuel Piette (illness) and Giacomo Vrioni (elbow) are questionable.

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Javier Otero.

Defenders: Rafael Santos, Rodrigo Schlegel, David Brekalo, Alex Freeman.

Midfielders: Martin Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Cesar Araujo, Marco Pasalic.

Forwards: Luis Muriel, Ramiro Enrique.

Bench: Carlos Mercado, Kyle Smith, Zakaria Taifi, Thomas Williams, Colin Guske, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Ivan Angulo, Nico Rodriguez, Shak Mohammed.

CF Montreal (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Jonathan Sirois.

Defenders: Luca Petrasso, Brendan Craig, Fernando Alvarez, Dawid Bugaj.

Midfielders: Joel Waterman, Victor Loturi, Samuel Piette.

Forwards: Caden Clark, Prince Owusu, Hennadii Synchuk.

Bench: Sebastian Breza, Aleksandr Guboglo, Tom Pearce, Owen Graham-Roache, Olger Escobar, Fabian Herbers, Bryce Duke, Dante Sealy, Sunusi Ibrahim.

Referees:

Ref: Ramy Touchan.
AR1: Jeremy Kieso.
AR2: Rhett Hammil.
4th: Natalie Simon.
VAR: Shawn Tehini.
AVAR: Joshua Patlak.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.

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 us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Orlando City

Orlando City Nailed the Signing of Eduard Atuesta

Orlando City spent big to sign the Colombian midfielder, and so far the decision looks like a great one.

Published

2 days ago

on

July 11, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

There was a lot of understandable hand-wringing among Orlando City fans when Wilder Cartagena went down with a ruptured Achilles tendon in preseason. The injury meant that the Lions would be without one of their most important players for the 2025 season, as Cartagena and Cesar Araujo had formed an excellent partnership in the engine room of Orlando’s squad. Fans needn’t have worried though, because the front office quickly identified Eduard Atuesta as the man it wanted to replace Cartagena and persevered through some public back-and-forth to land him from Palmeiras.

Not only did OCSC sign a proven MLS-caliber midfielder, but the Colombian assimilated into the team almost immediately and has been just as good as advertised.

For one, he’s been able to provide a consistent impact on the defensive side of things. Atuesta has made 15 regular-season appearances (13 starts) and has logged 1,172 minutes on the field. In that time, he’s recorded 22 tackles (tied for fifth on the team), 10 interceptions (tied for fourth), and 14 blocks (eighth). Out of he and Araujo, the Uruguayan is asked to do more of the defensive work, but Atuesta has still been a perfectly capable contributor on that side of the ball.

His impact has most been felt on offense though. We knew when the signing was announced that Atuesta should carry more punch going forward than Cartagena did, and that’s precisely how things have played out. His six assists is second most on the team, trailing only Martin Ojeda, who has nine. He also has the second-most progressive passes on the team with 92, again only behind Ojeda, who has 104. If that isn’t enough, consider that despite playing in defensive midfield, he’s third on the team in shot-creating actions with 65 (trailing Ojeda with 108, and Luis Muriel with 73), and he leads the team in goal-creating actions with 13. In fact, those 13 goal-creating actions are tied for the fifth most in the league, and his average of one goal-creating action per 90 minutes is third best in the league behind Lionel Messi and Ali Ahmed who average 1.25 and 1.04, respectively.

Really, the only area where his game is lacking on offense is scoring actual goals, as he has yet to get one in MLS play, despite having some good chances to do so. Despite the lack of direct goals, he’s become instrumental in Orlando being able to operate its offense at a high level — just cast your mind back to earlier in the year, when the Lions played to multiple scoreless draws when he was unavailable due to injury. OCSC eventually got its offense looking better in his absence due to Joran Gerbet growing more comfortable and the Designated Players getting back on track, but that took time, and the Lions just look much more cohesive when he’s on the field than when he isn’t. Those 92 progressive passes are an extremely important reason why, as he and Araujo (who has 84) are vital when it comes to joining the defense to the attack.

He’s also costing Orlando a reasonable amount of money for what the club is getting in return. His $725,000 in guaranteed compensation makes him the seventh-highest-paid player on the team, but so far he’s holding up his end of the bargain with what he’s bringing to the offense. That number places him 22nd among central midfielders in the league behind guys like Felipe Carballo ($1,199,777.00 in guaranteed compensation for two assists in 16 appearances), Mateusz Klich ($1,937,338.00 in guaranteed compensation for one assist in 16 appearances), and Sebastian Lletget ($891,250.00 in guaranteed compensation for one goal and one assist in 11 appearances). While those guys don’t all exactly match the profile of Atuesta, the point I’m making is that so far he’s been pretty good value for money when you look around at what some other teams in the league are getting.

His impact is perhaps best summarized by Fbref.com’s scouting report tool, which compares someone to other players in his position over the course of the last 365 days. While this isn’t a perfect tool for evaluating Atuesta as an Orlando City player, since it takes into account some of his stats while he was with Palmeiras, it still provides a useful look at his current level, and this is just exactly what you want to see.

Screen shot of Atuesta's statistics.

In short, I can’t give the front office enough credit for landing Atuesta. The club didn’t try to cheaply replace the vastly important Cartagena and instead identified the guy the Lions wanted, went out, and made the signing happen. So far, that decision has paid off — most notably in what the Colombian midfielder has brought to Orlando City’s offense. If he keeps assisting at his current rate and also starts scoring a few goals of his own, then his signing could end up being one of the best pieces of business in recent years. Vamos Orlando!

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