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

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3 years ago

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Orlando City went to Chicago and will bring home one point that should have been three after a 0-0 draw against the Fire. We may never know if Ercan Kara actually handled the ball in the area, because the available replays were inconclusive at best, but referee Ismir Pekmic not only believed he saw Kara do it from those replays, which he watched repeatedly for several minutes, but after the game he also claimed Kara did it intentionally.

You really have to hand it to PRO — every year they find new ways to remove points from Orlando’s final total and absolutely lack any humility when doing it. If Kara clearly and obviously handled the ball intentionally on a goal originally ruled good, that should show up on the video in a matter of one viewing (because that’s how “obvious” works) rather than requiring several minutes of review.

Anyway, the Lions have to grin and swallow it yet again. They were at least able to keep a second straight clean sheet without the suspended Robin Jansson and get a result on the road.

Here’s how I saw the individual performances of the men on the pitch.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 7 — The Peruvian international did his job with four saves out of four on target and controlled his area for the most part. He didn’t have any especially spectacular saves. Of the four, the toughest was a rocket from outside the area that wasn’t too much of a reach for him and he was able to parry it over the bar for a corner, showing good control. The other three were fairly soft and right to him. He looked confident and passed at a strong 90.5% rate and connected on two of his four long balls. It was a good night for El Pulpo.

D, Joao Moutinho, 6 — The Portuguese fullback was mostly solid through the night, settling in after an early turnover to Xherdan Shaqiri. He didn’t allow attackers to get down to the end line for dangerous crosses and kept most of the play on his side out wide. He contributed two tackles, an interception and a clearance defensively while dealing with Chicago’s most dangerous midfielder much of the evening. He was able to get on the ball a lot, but like many of the Lions, he had trouble unlocking the Chicago defense, as the Fire’s back line and central midfielders did a good job on their own end. Moutinho passed at only a 71.2% rate. He connected four of his 10 long balls but none of his four crosses, but created a scoring chance from his left back position on a night when the Lions had few of those.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 6.5 — Schlegel got his first start of the season with Jansson sidelined after last week’s second yellow card. The Argentine and central defense partner Antonio Carlos were aggressive, often coming up the field to crowd Shaqiri. He had a scary challenge in the area early on against Fabian Herbers that had the home crowd screaming for a penalty. I think it was a good no-call, with Herbers flying in out of control and getting a piece of the ball, but it looked more a case of the attacker getting into Schlegel than the other way around. He and Carlos did well to limit Kacper Przybylko’s looks at goal, which was his primary focus. The Polish striker was limited to just one shot attempt. Schlegel had a tackle, an interception, a blocked shot and three clearances. His 80.5% passing rate wasn’t bad on a windy night in Chicago, although he was successful on only one of six long balls. His biggest knock was conceding four free kicks, with a couple of them coming from dangerous spots.

D, Antonio Carlos, 7 (MotM) — The Brazilian continued to show that preseason is overrated with his second strong showing of the year. He helped limit Przybylko to one weak header attempt and, as usual, had more territory to defend than his central defense partner due to Ruan serving as a de facto wingback further up the pitch. Carlos had two interceptions, a team-high four clearances, and a blocked shot. His 82.4% passing rate was tops among all outfield starters, although he connected on only three of 10 long balls. He had a shot attempt on a late set piece but his header went wide.

D, Ruan, 6.5  — The Brazilian speedster was creating issues down Chicago’s left side for Miguel Navarro and Herbers throughout the night, helping force turnovers, but he couldn’t quite get his crosses right in the attack, going only one of five for accuracy. He attempted one unsuccessful long ball and completed 21 of his 28 passes (75%). Defensively, he did well overall with a tackle and three clearances. He nearly allowed a goal to Brian Gutierrez in stoppage time but his positioning wasn’t a problem so much as his height on that play.

MF, Cesar Araujo, 6.5 — The MLS U22 Initiative midfielder has basically made the No. 6 role his own very quickly. Tasked with the difficulty of defending Shaqiri in the middle of the pitch, the young Uruguayan held his own. He had only one tackle, but largely worked well in either denying the ball to dangerous areas with his movement and positioning or forced the Fire to go wide into the channels. His 50 passes were the most by any non-back line player on the team and he completed 80%, including one of his two long balls. He unlocked the defense with a key pass, attempted one shot (off target), and drew a team-high five fouls (along with two of his teammates). His yellow card was laughably soft as he attempted to reach out and slow down an opponent but he whiffed.

MF, Júnior Urso, 6 — The Bear should have scored a goal, blasting a shot in off a defender in the 73rd minute, stepping into a layoff pass by Facundo Torres. Alas, the referee stole his moment along with two vital points. That would have been Orlando’s only shot on target in the game if it hadn’t been erased for…reasons. He had one key pass on 71.4% passing but was dispossessed a worrying, team-high five times. Still, he did well defensively with a tackle and two interceptions and kept the Orlando press organized.

MF, Facundo Torres, 6 — In their opening game, the Fire saw Inter Miami use the tactic of fouling Shaqiri a lot. It seemed that Chicago coach Ezra Hendrickson borrowed that tactic against Orlando, as his team employed it often, including five of them against Facu. One of those fouls, by Herbers, prevented an Orlando counter-attack and was sufficiently vicious that I honestly thought the red card would come out but it was only yellow. Torres was fouled well over those five times but only five were called as Pekmic allowed several two-handed shoves and clips from behind to go unpunished — mainly through the opening 45 minutes. Torres recorded one shot and three dribbles. His 62.1% looks quite pedestrian until you look at the rate of Orlando’s other starting attacking midfielders, though he was unsuccessful on three long balls and two crosses. His layoff for Urso should have been an assist if not for…well, you know. Defensively, he contributed a tackle and two interceptions.

MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 6 — The captain wasn’t able to leave his usual mark on the game. His passing was just 55% as the Chicago defensive midfield and back line played aggressively all night, which is a tactic that was successful because the wind prevented Orlando’s ability to play over the top into spaces in behind. Pereyra attempted one shot and created one chance. He was successful just once on six long balls and on one of three long balls. He had one tackle, an interception, and a clearance. Like Araujo and Torres, he was fouled five times and, much like Torres, it should have been more than that.

MF, Benji Michel, 3.5 — The Homegrown winger had a tough night offensively, although his defensive hustle was evident while he was on the pitch. After he was subbed off for Tesho Akindele, Chicago fullback Boris Sekulic was able to get forward more often. Benji’s passing rate of just 16.7% was simply dreadful and his hold-up play was lacking (four unstable touches, dispossessed once), forcing Oscar Pareja to sub on Tesho. He recorded a tackle and an interception on defense but had no shot attempts and no key passes on the offensive end.

F, Alexandre Pato, 6 — Much like his attacking teammates, Pato was roughed up quite a bit whenever Orlando got the ball in the attacking half, and for some reason he wasn’t even able to get some of the calls Pereyra and Torres got, drawing just two foul calls. He had one key pass on 63.6% passing but no shot attempts. He had one chance to get into a good shooting position but took an uncharacteristically heavy touch and the chance evaporated. He was active defensively with one tackle, an interception, and two clearances.

Substitutes

MF, Tesho Akindele (52’), 6 — Tesho’s lack of lateral quickness allowed Sekulic to dribble past him a couple of times but the Lions’ hold-up play got noticeably better when he came on for Michel. His work rate and pressure was evident as always, as the Canadian posted two interceptions and a blocked shot. He passed at a 77.8% rate, giving the Lions something that had been lacking on the left, but he attempted no shots and didn’t create scoring chances on a night when the Fire were dealing with any attack by simply crushing guys. He did well to switch the play on the disallowed goal, getting the ball over to Torres on the left. That provided the space to score the goal, but…yeah.

F, Ercan Kara (72’), 5.5 — The Austrian came off the bench and made a difference in his first minute on the pitch, winning an aerial ball in the box, which led to Urso’s goal. It should have been a game-changing play. It’s possible that the ball hit his arm, but nothing shown on TV or on the referee’s monitor — which was shown on television and seemed to have the exact same two angles we saw — should have resulted in any overturned call. Kara was officially only credited with three touches and he completed his one pass attempt. He didn’t have a shot or a key pass but chipped in one defensive clearance. It will be nice to see what he can do when he’s 90-minute fit and fully integrated.

MF, Andres Perea (88’), N/A — Perea came on late for a tiring Torres but didn’t play enough minutes to warrant a grade or impact the match. He completed one of his three passes and won an aerial on his eight touches.

That’s how I saw the performances in Orlando City’s road draw. It’s difficult to look beyond the statistics sometimes but Chicago did a great job of playing the weather conditions, crowding the Lions up high to force low-percentage balls over the top on a gusty night and fouling everywhere. The Fire’s strategy was helped by a referee who was quite lenient until midway through the second half (which is, not coincidentally, when Orlando started looking more dangerous) and by Orlando’s complete lack of ability to hold onto the ball on the left side for the first 50+ minutes.

Be sure to vote in the poll below for your Man of the Match.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Rodrigo Schlegel1
Junior Urso6
Pedro Gallese17
Antonio Carlos23
Cesar Araujo14
Other (tell us who in the comments)1

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Lion Links: 3/21/25

Scott Sutter joins Orlando Pride staff, Pride watch party schedule announced, USMNT falls flat vs. Panama, and more.

Published

11 hours ago

on

March 21, 2025

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Carlos Romero, The Mane Land

Welcome to the weekend, Mane Landers. I just found out that Barbra Banda’s goal didn’t win NWSL Goal of the Week, despite earning the most fan votes. Utterly ridiculous and I hope that Banda takes out the supporters’ frustration this weekend. I need these upcoming matches to take the bad taste of that USMNT match out of my mouth. In the interest of moving on, let’s get to the links.

Former Lion Scott Sutter Joins Orlando Pride Staff

Former Orlando City fullback Scott Sutter has joined Seb Hines’ staff with the Orlando Pride. Sutter was one of three new support staffers announced by the Pride on Thursday and will serve in the role of player development coach. Sutter made 51 appearances with Orlando City in 2017 and 2018, scoring four goals and adding six assists in his time with the club. He joins fellow former Orlando City players Hines and Giles Barnes on the Pride’s staff. Previously, Sutter has coaching experience as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Virginia and as an academy head coach with D.C. United. 

The Pride also named Erin Angelini as the new head of rehabilitation and Tara Kaff as the club’s performance nutritionist. In addition to the new hires, Chris Cafaro and Christi Edson were promoted to head of video performance analysis and head of performance, respectively.

Pride Announce Watch Party Schedule

You can watch the Orlando Pride away matches in the comfort of your own home, but if you crave the excitement of celebrating goals with your follow supporters, you can attend of the club’s official watch parties. These events are scheduled for some of the Pride’s biggest away matches against the best the NWSL has to offer. The match Sunday against NJ/NY Gotham FC is a must-see match and the first of those aforementioned watch parties.

Lifeless USMNT Crashes Out of Nations League

The USMNT lost 1-0 to Panama on a second-half stoppage-time goal from the visitors. The U.S. garnered most of the possession and more shots, but the Yanks couldn’t finish their chances and it came back to haunt them in the end. The loss knocks the U.S. out of the Concacaf Nations League, meaning it will be the first time that the competition isn’t won by the USMNT.

New Women’s World Sevens League

A new 7-v-7 league, Women’s World Sevens, will launch in May with a reported $5 million grand prize pool for each event. Eight clubs will participate in each event, though the participants have not yet been announced. We do know that form USWNT star Tobin Heath will be involved as a player advisor for the events.

Free Kicks

That will do it for today. Make sure to check back as we get you ready for the Orlando City and Orlando Pride matches this weekend. Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City

Orlando City’s Defense Must Start Rocking Right Now

Orlando City’s defensive struggles and the historical risks of giving up an average of more than two goals per game.

Published

1 day ago

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March 20, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock penned a song in 1988 that became a staple on dance floors and in sports arenas everywhere, and it will probably remain so for years to come. That song is the classic single “It Takes Two,” a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember. The reason I bring it up here is not because of Rob Base and his excellent flow, but rather because in three of the four games this season “it takes two” was also the answer to the question “how many goals will the Lions need to score to at least give themselves a chance to earn a point?”

Sadly, in the other game of the first four it was not it takes two but rather it takes two times two, or perhaps it it takes two two times, when the Lions gave up four goals in the season opener.

The regular season is 34 games long, and with only four games played, Orlando City still has 88% of its games remaining. And, with one win and one draw among those first four games, the Lions have earned four points, which is better than last season, when they had only earned one point after their first four games. That team went on to make it all the way to the Eastern Conference final, so we should not overreact to a slow start.

And really, the slow start is only on the defensive side, because the offense has scored nine goals, tying for second in MLS so far, and it is also among the top teams in shots (second), shots on target (third), goals per shot (seventh), and goals per shot on target (sixth).

I wanted to look a little more at the defense this week, and in particular look at that ugly stat around giving up at least two goals in every game. I looked back at the last three seasons in MLS to see how many regular-season games a team gave up at least two goals, and I was both heartened and disheartened by what I found. Here are the results, broken out by each team’s final position (reminder that the regular season is 34 games):

Final Position202220232024Three-Year Avg.
Champion11131914.3
Runner-Up4121410.0
Conf. Finalist14.010.013.512.5
Conf. Semi-Finalist13.012.313.813.0
Conf. Quarter-Finalist13.212.113.512.9
Wild CardN/A14.51916.8
Did Not Make Playoffs17.515.819.517.6

It was heartening to see that the average across every final position that ended in the playoffs was at least 10 games, and most were at least 12.5. I had thought it would be a lower average, so based on Orlando City’s early performances, I was glad to see that it was higher than I thought.

Though it is not in the chart above, the average for all playoff teams during the three seasons was 13.1 games of giving up at least two goals. That is approximately 38% of a season, so the average playoff team gave up at least two goals in nearly two out of every five games. This was also more than I thought, and it means that Orlando City can pretty quickly get back onto a similar pace with a good run of defensive form.

While I was happy to see that most teams — even teams that went deep into the playoffs — had posted double-digit games of shipping two or more goals, that still does not change the fact that Orlando City is on pace to give up two or more goals in…let me check my math here….every game this season. A four-game sample is a small one, and it would not be wise to make any firm conclusions off of that, but it is simple math to look at the three-year averages for the teams that went deep into the playoffs and to calculate that Orlando City is already around one-third of the way there, with nearly 90% of the season left to play. Disheartening.

The obvious question is why are the Lions giving up so many goals, and, as was discussed a bit on the most recent episode of The Mane Land PawedCast, the team has started four different defensive lineups in four games, and the Lions will make it five for five during this week’s game against D.C. United, as Pedro Gallese was called up to Peru’s national team, so Javier Otero will likely be the starter in goal. The back line in front of Otero will probably be a repeat of a lineup that has already been used, but the lack of continuity in defense has certainly contributed to some of the issues in the first four games.

Head Coach Óscar Pareja has pointed to individual mistakes that need to be cleaned up for the results to improve, but the team as a whole has allowed the fourth-most shots on target this season, an average of 5.75 per game. Using expected goals as a measure for the danger of the locations of the shots allowed, Orlando City is giving up shots from the second-most dangerous locations across MLS, making it unsurprising that its opponents have put so many shots on target per game and converted 10 of those shots into goals. Individual mistakes certainly contributed, and Robin Jansson was called for a questionable foul that gave the Red Bulls an undeserved penalty kick, but the issues seem to be a little deeper than just a few mistakes that need to be cleaned up.

Or, perhaps it is a few individual mistakes, a lack of continuity on the back line and also some bad luck. Six of the goals allowed have been from within four yards, one was a penalty kick, and one was shot into a wide open goal after Rodrigo Schlegel took perhaps the worst touch in his professional career. According to Opta’s tracking, Orlando City only gave up five goals from four yards or closer in 2024, and for that number to already be six this season seems like an aberration more than a new normal. The team also opened the season against Philadelphia, and after four games played, the Union lead the league in goals scored. That was also the game when Jansson was unexpectedly scratched from the starting lineup just minutes before the opening kickoff, changing the defensive game plan considerably.

Maybe that is me seeing the glass half full instead of half empty, but these are the same defensive players as last season, with the exception of Alex Freeman playing instead of Dagur Dan Thórhallsson for most of the minutes at right back. The defensive statistics were much better in 2024 than thus far in 2025, and Freeman is not a downgrade from Thórhallsson, so I think a positive regression to the mean will be coming. The 2024 team also gave up 10 goals in the first four games, 2.5 goals per game, but then gave up 40 goals in the next 30 regular-season games, a reduction of more than one goal per game, from 2.5 to 1.33.

The Lions’ defense has the talent and the experience to do something similar this year, especially as the players spend more minutes together, and there is no time like the present to have their first game of giving up fewer than two goals. I do not think it is too much to ask, and if the players are looking for some inspiration, they could get that by watching the Orlando Pride’s defensive players, who are coached by former Orlando City defender Seb Hines.

Let’s hope that the defense can, to quote Rob Base, make this thing go right.

Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. D.C. United: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to secure three points at home against D.C. United?

Published

1 day ago

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March 20, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City B

Orlando City returns to Inter&Co Stadium Saturday night to face Eastern Conference foe D.C. United. The Lions have given up a ton of goals this season but have also scored quite a few. However, with only one win so far, Orlando City needs to get a positive result at home this weekend. Here’s what Orlando City needs to do to earn all three points against D.C. United.

Blank Benteke

D.C. United has scored six goals so far this season. Christian Benteke has scored three of those six goals. While that is completely unsurprising, it also makes Benteke the most important player on the field for the Lions to shut down. Orlando City has given up at least two goals in every match and a total of 10 goals already this season. That must change on Saturday night.

Robin Jansson is back in the starting lineup, but he didn’t have his best match against the New York Red Bulls. We need the Beefy Swede to get back into form both mentally and physically if he is to help keep Benteke off the scoresheet. Obviously, Jansson won’t be the only player needed to stop Benteke, but he is the leader of the team and the leader of the defense.

The other major factor is Pedro Gallese’s absence, as the keeper will be on international duty. That means Javier Otero will get his first MLS start in goal. Otero will need to rise to the challenge in front of a leaky back line. Said back line needs to stop being so leaky to help out Otero. Everyone elevating to get the job done is ideal.

Continued DP Contributions

Orlando City’s Designated Players have scored six of the club’s nine goals, and provided four of the team’s five assists on the season. While that is exactly like it should be for any team, that hasn’t always been the case for the Lions in the past. It’s so normal and also so odd at the same time.

D.C. United has given up five goals so far this season, which is pretty average in comparison around the league. My point is that Kim Jun-hong is not Carlos Coronel, and D.C. United’s defense hasn’t been as stingy as the New York Red Bulls defense. If the Lions can score two goals against New York — and it should have been more — then Marco Pasalic, Martin Ojeda, and Luis Muriel can certainly score multiple goals against D.C.

New Midfield, Who Dis?

Eduard Atuesta had an excellent game against the New York Red Bulls. Joran Gerbet had as good a first start as any rookie could in place of Cesar Araujo, who missed the match due to some tightness late in the week. Orlando City may have its starting defensive midfielder back, but if not, then Gerbet will need to build on his performance from last week.

The D.C. United midfielders are expected to provide service for Benteke. The Orlando City midfield needs to disrupt that service at every opportunity. If they do this, then Atuesta can do what he does best to link the defense to the Orlando City offense and provide opportunities to the attack to hopefully outscore D.C. United.

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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