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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Nashville SC: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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4 years ago

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Orlando City’s season came to an end in Nissan Stadium after a 3-1 loss on the road to Nashville SC in the MLS playoffs. Daryl Dike scored early on to give Orlando a lead, but Hany Mukhtar’s brace and a late goal from Jhonder Cadiz snuffed out Orlando’s postseason campaign.

How did each player perform in the Lions’ final game of 2021?

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 5.5 — El Pulpo didn’t have much of a chance on Nashville’s first goal as Mukhtar’s shot from distance took a deflection. Later on in the first half, Gallese came up with a great diving save to deny Mukhtar’s well-placed shot toward the bottom left corner. He wasn’t able to make a save against Nashville’s two goals in the second half and finished with three saves. Gallese did well in terms of distribution as he was accurate on 10 of his 13 long balls and completed 20 of his 23 passes for an 87% success rate.

D, Emmanuel Mas, 6 — The left back was kept busy against Nashville’s offense as he led the Lions with four tackles and also had three interceptions and two clearances. He was out-paced on Mukhtar’s second goal, with the MVP candidate beat him in the 1-on-1 by racing right to left across the top of the area and no help arrived from the center backs or midfield. Mas also led the Lions with a whopping 85 touches while completing 83% of his 54 passes. He was successful on his lone cross and was subbed off in stoppage time for Silvester van der Water.

D, Robin Jansson, 5.5 — The Beefy Swede got twisted around by a good run in the box from CJ Sapong that gave Mukhtar just enough time and space to pick out his shot for Nashville’s second goal. Jansson had two clearances in the match as he worked to stop Nashville’s offense. He completed 48 of his team-high 55 passes for an 87% success rate and had 61 touches to help Orlando build possession out of defense.

D, Antonio Carlos, 5.5 — The Brazilian center back led the team with five clearances, with all five taking place in the first half. His effort to stop Mukhtar’s shot in transition was unfortunate as the deflection prevented Gallese from attempting a save on the first goal. He and Jansson needed to communicate better on the second Mukhtar goal and he was beaten for the insurance goal late by the fresh legs and large frame of Cadiz. Carlos did well on Orlando’s goal as he drew attention with his run towards the near post to open up space for Dike. Carlos ended the game with 64 touches, two interceptions, and 53 passes at a 79% success rate.

D, Ruan, 5 — It was a quiet match from Ruan as the right back finished with 45 touches and 35 passes at a 77% completion rate. He had no shots, crosses, or key passes as Orlando wasn’t able to get him involved on offense. Ruan also didn’t have any defensive stats as most of Nashville’s scoring opportunities came on the counter rather than building possession on his side of the pitch. During a game in which Orlando’s wingers found themselves in good positions, it’s surprising that Ruan wasn’t able to utilize his speed to impose himself more on the match.

MF, Sebas Mendez, 6 — The Ecuadorian midfielder had a pair of shots following corner kicks in the second half. The first shot would have been on target but was deflected out of play while the second was sent just wide of goal. Mendez helped out on defense with a tackle and two interceptions, but he could’ve better pressured Sapong on the play that led to Nashville’s second goal. His yellow card in the 65th minute took some of the bite out of his presence in the midfield as he had to be a bit more decisive in his challenges. Mendez was substituted off for more firepower in the 80th minute, finishing with 58 touches and 48 passes at a 90% success rate.

MF, Junior Urso, 4.5 — The Bear had one of his roughest performances this year. His turnover in the midfield wasn’t solely on him due to the weight of the pass, but it led to Nashville’s equalizer in the 21st minute as Godoy picked his pocket and Mukhtar was there to make something happen. While Urso completed 90% of his 39 passes, he was sluggish at times against Nashville in the midfield and indecisive in the final third. Of his two shots, one was off target while the other was easily handled by Joe Willis. His lone key pass set Nani up for a shot that was blocked. Urso’s only defensive stat was a block and he ended the game with 51 touches.

MF, Benji Michel, 5 — The winger made decent runs at times and got into good areas but wasn’t able to make much happen. There were indecisive moments, slips, and heavy touches that affected him throughout the night. Although he led Orlando with two key passes, Michel had no shots in 75 minutes of action and often tried a cutback move that Nashville had no trouble dealing with. The Homegrown Player had 37 touches and completed 14 of his 17 passes for an 82% success rate. It was a rough outing for Michel, although he helped defensively with a tackle and won four of his five aerial duels on offense. His biggest contribution in the match was winning the corner that led to Orlando’s goal.

MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 6.5 — The Uruguayan delivered a perfect ball from a corner kick for Dike to get on the end of to give the Lions an early lead. Although that assist was Pereyra’s only key pass and the one of his five crosses that was successful, there were other great passes from the Designated Player throughout the match. However, Nashville did a good job cutting off passes and double teaming him, as he ended the game with 50 passes at a 74% success rate. Pereyra had 67 touches, a tackle, an interception, and picked up a yellow card while playing every minute of the match.

MF, Chris Mueller, 4.5 — In his last game as a Lion, Mueller struggled to get much going on offense. He didn’t have any shots or key passes and was unsuccessful on his lone cross. He played 81 minutes and completed 28 of his 38 passes for a 74% completion rate. Mueller had 51 touches in the match and helped out defensively with two tackles as well. Like Michel, Mueller lacked a killer instinct when attacking and wasn’t able to lift the Lions as his time in Orlando comes to a close.

F, Daryl Dike, 7 (MotM) — The forward scored yet again against Nashville as he gave the Lions an early lead in the 14th minute. Dike did well to meet a corner kick from Pereyra to flick a header past Willis and into the back of the net. His other shot was blocked late in the match as Orlando hunted for an equalizer that never came. Dike won four of his seven aerial duels to gain possession upfield and finished with 22 touches and 11 passes at a 73% success rate. The 21-year-old is our Man of the Match for stepping up and scoring on the road against one of the best defenses in MLS.

Substitutes

F, Nani (75‘), 6 — Coming onto the field just moments after Mukhtar gave Nashville the lead, Nani gave the Lions a needed spark to try and claw their way back into the match. His only shot was heading in but was blocked by Walker Zimmerman and neither of his two crosses were successful despite good service into the box. He had 16 touches and completed four of his eight passes. The Designated Player ultimately wasn’t able to give the Lions an equalizer in a tough environment, but was able to create some chances.

F, Alexandre Pato (80’), 6 — Pato didn’t have any shots or key passes, but still did a good job facilitating play in the midfield once he came on. His silky movement also won a free kick in a dangerous area for Orlando to take advantage of. He finished with eight touches and completed five of his six passes.

F, Tesho Akindele (81’), 6 — Although both of Akindele’s shots were off target, they weren’t easy chances. On the first, he tried to weave a quick shot around Daniel Lovitz and he followed with a flicked a header towards the far post that went wide. He also had a key pass for heading a ball towards Dike, who had his shot blocked. Akindele was successful on three of his five aerial duels, had seven touches, and completed all five of his passes.

MF, Silvester van der Water (90’+2), N/A — The Dutchman came on late in an effort to throw everything Orlando had at Nashville. His only cross was successful as he whipped a great ball in that found Akindele in the box. That was about the extent of his contributions though as Cadiz scored shortly after and the whistle blew. Van der Water had four touches and completed one of his two passes.

That’s how I saw things play out in Orlando’s 3-1 loss on the road to Nashville SC. Make sure to leave your thoughts down below and vote for your Orlando City Man of the Match.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Daryl Dike29
Mauricio Pereyra3
Emmanuel Mas0
Nani1
Other (Comment Below)4

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Orlando City

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

The Lions make their first trip to St. Louis looking to build on their win at Colorado.

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4 hours ago

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June 25, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread and preview for a Wednesday night matchup between Orlando City (8-4-6, 30 points) and St. Louis City SC (3-9-6, 15 points) at Energizer Park in St. Louis, MO (8:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). This is the second meeting ever between the two sides, the first in St. Louis, and the only one on the 2025 regular-season schedule.

Here’s what you need to know about the match.

History

These teams have met just once before. Orlando City won that match 2-1 on Aug. 26 at Exploria Stadium on Facundo Torres’ penalty in the first minute of stoppage time. Torres completed his brace after a handball in the box by Anthony Markanich stopped a shot by Rafael Santos. Torres opened the scoring in the second half, but Rasmus Alm equalized, with his goal being awarded after video review revealed the referee’s assistant should not have raised their flag for the ball going out of play prior to the critical pass that led to the goal. Jake Nerwinsky was sent off late in that game for a foul denying Ramiro Enrique a goal-scoring opportunity.

Overview

The Lions are 3-2-4 on the road this season after coming off a tightly contested 1-0 road win at Colorado on June 14, snapping a two-match losing streak that ended a busy May schedule. Orlando has been off since beating the Rapids but will try to continue building momentum as the month of June comes to a close. The Lions have six matches against Eastern Conference competition after visiting tonight’s Western Conference opponents in the leadup to the 2025 Leagues Cup at the end of July.

Orlando City center back Rodrigo Schlegel will serve his one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation tonight, and with Alex Freeman away with the USMNT, the Lions will be missing half of their starters on the back line for this match as the entire right half will be out. Look for David Brekalo to move to right center back. Dagur Dan Thorhallsson is the most likely candidate to take the right back spot, with either Kyle Smith or Santos slotting in at left back.

St. Louis City is 2-3-4 at home this season and is coming off a wild 3-3 home draw against the LA Galaxy on June 14. Joao Klauss scored a hat trick in the match, putting his third goal of the game in the net in the fifth minute of stoppage time to steal a point against the defending champions. Tonight’s hosts are 0-1-1 in their last two matches, but they’ve been playing better lately, with five consecutive games either decided by a single goal or finishing in a draw.

Klauss may have gotten three of his five goals this season in the last game, but he can be one of the league’s most lethal finishers. It’s not the best night for Orlando to be missing half of its back line with the Brazilian rounding into form. On the other end, Roman Burki is one of the best goalkeepers in the league, so Orlando City will need to be clinical to finish chances — something that the team has struggled with at times.

“St. Louis is a team we don’t regularly play, but we’ve followed them over the last three or four games,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “They’ve changed coaches, even though it’s someone who has been within the system. We try to capture what their current modes are — how they’re structured, how they’re playing — and then merge that into our game plan. We don’t have as much context of a rivalry as we usually do, since it’s a team we don’t know very well. But we keep preparing in our way and keep insisting that imposing our style on the game is what we’re looking for.”

In addition to Schlegel (suspension) and Freeman (international duty) the Lions will be without Duncan McGuire (shoulder), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee), while Joran Gerbet (thigh) is listed as questionable. St. Louis City will be without Alm (hip), Chris Durkin (knee), Henry Kessler (hamstring), Eduard Löwen (hamstring), Joakim Nilsson (knee), and Tomáš Ostrák (lower body).

Match Content

Projected Lineups

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Cesar Araujo, Eduard Atuesta, Marco Pasalic.

Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Luis Muriel.

St. Louis City SC (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Roman Burki.

Defenders: Jayden Reid, Timo Baumgartl, Kyle Hiebert, Tomas Totland.

Midfielders: Alfredo Morales Simon Becher, Akil Watts.

Forwards: Celio Pompeu, Joao Klauss, Marcel Hartel.

Referees

REF: Guido Gonzales, Jr.
AR1: Ryan Graves.
AR2: Walt Heatherly.
4TH: Matt Thompson.
VAR: Kevin Terry, Jr.
AVAR: TBA.

How to Watch

Match Time: 8:30 p.m.

Venue: Energizer Park — St. Louis, MO.

TV/Streaming: 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 game. Go City!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/25/25

Orlando City and OCB play tonight, the Club World Cup continues, and more.

Published

8 hours ago

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June 25, 2025

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Image courtesy of Victor Tan / New Day

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. It is a busy week here at The Mane Land. Orlando City and Orlando City B play tonight, there are FIFA Club World Cup matches, Concacaf Gold Cup, and USWNT friendlies. It’s a lot, but it also means there’s a ton of soccer to watch, which is a good thing. Let’s get to the links.

Go West, Orlando City

Orlando City heads to Missouri to take on St. Louis City FC tonight. The Lions will be without Alex Freeman (international duty) and Rodrigo Schlegel (yellow card accumulation). Orlando City will need to deal with St. Louis City striker Joao Klauss while finding goals on the road. This is a must-watch midweek match. We will have a preview later today, and you should also listen to The Mane Land PawedCast to prepare.

Orlando City B Returns Home vs. Toronto FC II

Orlando City B hosts Toronto FC II at Osceola County Stadium tonight. Like the first team, we will have coverage for you. The Young Lions are coming off a two-week break after a loss to Carolina Core FC. It will be interesting to see which OCB shows up for the match. You can watch the match on mlsnextpro.com.

Club World Cup, Orlando-Style

There might not be as many people in the seats at the Club World Cup as FIFA would like, but Orlando is still a big part of it. The group stage finishes this week as the competition heads into the Round of 16. There’s a ton of prize money up for all the competitors no matter where they are currently in the standings. Our Michael Citro was at Camping World Stadium last night to cover LAFC vs. Flamengo in Group D.

USMNT News

The USMNT will face Costa Rica Sunday in a Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinal match in Minneapolis. Malik Tillman has been a bright spot on the roster, though Orlando City fans will be watching Freeman. The perpetual search for a consistent striker continues for the USMNT, though Patrick Agyemang may be the answer — at least for now.

Free Kicks

  • There’s nothing quite like having your number retired after playing for a team for two whole years after playing for another club for six years. It is especially special when the new club has been in existence for a whole four years. Congratulations to former Orlando Pride forward Alex Morgan.

Jesse Marsch cleared of all allegations by Concacaf.MORE: news.canadasoccer.com/jesse-marsch…

— CANMNT (@canmntofficial.bsky.social) 2025-06-24T03:22:25.639Z
  • After the Gold Cup, Agyemang may be making the move from Charlotte FC to Derby County.

🚨🐏 Excl: Derby County are closing in on deal to sign 24 year old striker Patrick Agyemang from Charlotte FC. Talks underway with player’s green light already in place.

— Fabrizio Romano (MIRROR) (@fabrizioromano.yopro20.com) 2025-06-24T23:28:28.124048+00:00
  • You may have seen that the USWNT is celebrating Pride month with rainbow numbers on the team jerseys. I am a supporter and ally, but it means even more to the players.

That will do it for today. Make sure you check back later for our match coverage. You can also follow our live coverage on Bluesky. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/24/25

Orlando City’s upward aspirations, Tim Weah reportedly set for transfer, Club World Cup roundup, and more.

Published

1 day ago

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June 24, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Happy Tuesday, everyone. We’ve got a busy week ahead of us with the Club World Cup approaching the end of the group stage, OCB at home on Wednesday, and Orlando City back in action with a pair of games. That means we have plenty to talk about, so let’s get straight into today’s links.

Orlando City’s Lofty Goals

Kyle Smith took some time after training on Monday to speak to the media and shed some light on where OCSC is at right now. The utility player was candid in saying he believes this year’s team is the best one he’s seen since he’s been with the club, and that’s saying something considering he’s the longest-tenured player on the team. Smith said the team is focused on climbing higher in the standings and that the two recent breaks will help the team do just that. He emphasized the importance of handling extra time off between games the right way by making sure the players are taking care of their bodies, getting in the gym, and recovering afterwards. That sort of professionalism paid off in the 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids, so hopefully the same is true of Wednesday’s game against St. Louis City.

Tim Weah Reportedly on the Move

Nottingham Forest has reportedly agreed a deal with Juventus to sign Tim Weah and fellow Juve player Samuel Mbangula for roughly €22 million. That being said, personal terms have not yet been agreed upon with Weah, and that will likely take some time, since he’s playing for them at the Club World Cup, and the Italian side is probably keen to minimize outside distractions. Weah broke out with Lille during a four-season spell with the French side, earning a move to Juventus in 2023 as a result.

Club World Cup Roundup

The Club World Cup continues to roll on, as the tournament entered its final round of group stage games on Monday. Atletico Madrid became the first big name to exit the competition, as it beat Botafogo 1-0 to finish level with the Brazilians on six points but will be going home due to having worse goal difference. Atletico needed to win by at least three in order to overtake Botafogo in the standings and might have managed it if not for some poor finishing. In Group B’s other game, Paris Saint-Germain took down the Seattle Sounders 2-0 to finish top of the group. Seattle was given a brutal draw and accounted itself as well as can be expected, but ultimately, the Sounders exit the competition without picking up a point.

Club World Cup Takeaways

Speaking of the Club World Cup, what are some of the impressions so far of the expanded tournament? There have been plenty of good things, as teams have been taking it seriously with strong lineups, and barring the outlier that is Auckland City, no one team has been consistently getting shelled. On the other hand, making the jump from six teams to 32 simply feels like too much too soon, and that’s probably contributed to fluctuating levels of interest from local fans. High ticket prices and games starting in the heat of the day haven’t helped much either, as weather conditions have been a recurring concern among both fans and players. The competition is still a net positive overall, but there are certainly some things to learn from and improve upon next time around.

Free Kicks

  • Check out some of the scenes from the Lions’ training session on Monday.

That’s all I have for you this morning. Vamos Orlando!

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