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Orlando City Must Punish Opponents for Fouling

Published

4 years ago

March 15, 2022

Three matches into the 2022 MLS season, it has become clear how teams are tactically going to deal with Orlando City attackers — foul early, foul often. The Lions have suffered 52 fouls on the season, which is second in Major League Soccer only to the San Jose Earthquakes, who have sustained an incredible 59 fouls in the first three matches of the year.

Orlando’s fouls suffered numbers could be right up there with San Jose’s if referee Ismir Pekmic hadn’t been so lenient in the first half hour or so of the match at Chicago. There were several plays let go early in that match that were whistled as fouls in the second half. Likewise, Marcos de Oliveira was a bit lenient early in the opening match against Montreal and started being more strict in the second half as the game became more chippy and threatened to get out of hand.

Orlando City is on pace to suffer 589 fouls over the course of the 2022 season. That’s a huge increase over 2021, when the Lions were just the 10th-most fouled team in the league, sustaining 419 in 34 games. At the current rate, that would finish as an incredible 170 more fouls over last year, which is a rise of five more infractions per match on average. And there haven’t even been any rivalry games against Atlanta or Miami yet.

When it comes to translating fouls into bookings, Orlando’s opponents have already picked up 11 yellow cards and one straight red (four bookings per game, on average), with the leniency (incompetence?) of Pekmic the only reason Fabian Herbers didn’t get a second yellow (or a straight red) in Chicago and Fire forward Jhon Duran didn’t get a straight red for an elbow to Cesar Araujo’s face.

What about Orlando’s fouling? Are these just contentious, physical games?

The Lions have committed 46 fouls on the year, which is tied for seventh most in the league. If you add up the three OCSC opponents so far, the total is equivalent to the 52 of New York City FC, which sits second in the league in most fouls committed. That’s not a giant discrepancy, but it’s one that isn’t hard to explain.

Referees typically don’t like to call games in a way to leave a large discrepancy in fouls, which gives the appearance to neutral observers of calling an even game. But that doesn’t mean the game is called the same way for both teams and it doesn’t account for the kinds of fouls being committed. A couple of Orlando’s fouls in the Cincinnati game came during attacking set pieces. In the Chicago game, both Alexandre Pato and Facundo Torres were whistled for fouls trying to win balls back in the attacking third, after they themselves appeared to have been fouled without a call. Being called for attacking fouls is a bit different than chopping down the other team when the opposition has the ball and is trying to score.

As for cards, the Lions have received eight yellows on the year — only three fewer than their opponents — but, like fouls, not all bookings are created equal. Orlando has gotten two of those yellows for time wasting, three for dissent, and Robin Jansson’s first yellow against Montreal was for “other reason,” which likely had to do with something he said to Romell Quioto within the referee’s earshot shortly after the Montreal forward had punched him. Araujo’s two yellow cards this season were for a slight shirt tug against Montreal that wasn’t an obvious transition and an attempted grab that failed and didn’t even slow down his opponent at Chicago.

Meanwhile, Orlando opponents have been booked for tactical fouls to stop the Lions’ attack from creating danger seven times. Herbers’ such infraction on Torres was extremely rough and cynical, and could have been red. Joel Waterman should have been sent off for being the last defender and denying Ercan Kara a goal-scoring opportunity in the opener.

Playing physical is perfectly fine, if it’s within the rules of the game. Orlando opponents are roughing up Pato, Torres, and Pereyra and that has a cumulative effect as a game wears on. Some of that contact is being called and some isn’t, which is normal.

The Lions’ defensive midfielders are doing a typically good job of drawing fouls, but Torres (8) and Pereyra (7) are also getting fouled a lot, and that doesn’t even take into account Chris Penso’s MLS initiation-like treatment of Torres on a couple of occasions last Saturday, when he let go some of the things he was otherwise calling. Kara has been fouled three times in limited action. Pato doesn’t seem to be getting those calls, only having been officially fouled twice so far, but watching the games tells a different story and his ability to keep the ball has also resulted in some “play-on” situations.

Pereyra was getting knocked around pretty good against Cincinnati, often to the point where he had to recover his footing after a first touch before he could regather the ball. Fair play to the opposition if the referee allows it, as it disrupts the timing of the Orlando attack and prevents Pereyra from turning toward goal and picking out his next pass.

How Can Orlando Combat this Approach?

Ideally, referees should be handing out more bookings for persistent infringement. Brandon Vazquez seems to be the only player to have received such a booking among Orlando opponents so far in 2022. And that doesn’t necessarily mean one player has to rack up fouls. If a team collectively is knocking Pereyra and Torres down often, a booking should be given to discourage that. However, if one cannot count on a referee to only overturn goals on clear and obvious errors, there’s no way one can reasonably expect competent and consistent calling of games.

As a result, Orlando will continue to see these tactics from opponents until the Lions can adjust and punish their opponents for it. One way to deal with it is to score first, which is easier said than done, but it can alter the way an opponent approaches the game. It’s difficult to get into a rhythm to come from behind in a choppy, stop-and-start match, and a team with the lead has an advantage if there are a lot of stoppages. Taking an early lead won’t eliminate the tactic completely, but taking a two-goal lead certainly would.

Otherwise, Orlando will need to be stronger on the ball to play through some of these fouls, and it must get much better at set pieces. If teams are going to concede free kicks, the Lions need to punish them for it, and so far they haven’t been doing that. Perhaps there was less fouling tactics by opponents a year ago because of Nani’s free kick prowess and Daryl Dike’s known ability to win aerial crosses and get them on target. The Lions haven’t been very good so far on set pieces. Kara appears to be a good set piece target like Dike was, but his minutes have been limited early this season due to his preseason injury.

Antonio Carlos is a good target as well, but hasn’t been the most accurate in getting headers on frame. When he did (on a corner this past Saturday), Alec Kann made a good save to deny him a goal. Outside of Kara and Carlos, there isn’t a lot of aerial prowess in the starting XI. Is that something that can be addressed in the next transfer window? Maybe, but we’ll have to see first if more minutes for Kara mean him getting more comfortable with service — or that opponents can’t just focus on Carlos on set pieces.

What about going for goal? Here’s where losing Nani hurts and even departed winger Chris Mueller had shown an ability to bury a direct free kick. Pereyra has shown inconsistent accuracy on his direct free kick shot attempts during his time in Orlando. The ones he’s gotten on target haven’t had enough pace on them and have been saved. Others haven’t been on frame. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s not the best man for the job, but he’ll need to dial in his delivery. Torres hasn’t been accurate yet on his tries. Pato might be a good option in terms of pace and accuracy, coming close with a blast late last season against Nashville. This is an area Oscar Pareja and his staff will have to work on to figure out the best solution. If that’s Pereyra, he must improve. Plus, the Lions will have to win more free kicks in good shooting positions.

Lastly, the Lions need to do a better job of getting the ball into the area. Opponents are unlikely to foul inside the box, where conceding a foul can be lethal. So far, teams have done a good job of packing the middle of the field at the top of the area and fouling Orlando on the perimeter, where set pieces have a lower chance of success. A more concerted effort of getting the ball inside the top of the area can create issues and/or win penalty kicks. Just getting it into the middle, even outside the area, can help create better free kick opportunities.

The bottom line is that Orlando must make teams think twice about fouling. There aren’t many ways to do that and some aren’t always in the team’s control. So far, these tactics have cost the Lions five out of nine points. That’s the kind of success rate that will ensure that opponents will continue to foul Orlando City until the Lions force them to stop.

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Orlando City restarts its 2026 MLS campaign late tonight out west at San Jose.

Published

2 weeks ago

July 22, 2026

Michael Citro

Image of Braian Ojeda taking a shot in a friendly against FC Dallas.

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match thread for a late night midweek matchup tonight between Orlando City (4-9-2, 14 points) and the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-2, 32 points) at PayPal Park (10:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams in 2026 and the first time the teams have met since 2024.

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

History

Orlando City is 3-1-3 in the previous seven MLS meetings with the Quakes since the club joined Major League Soccer in 2015. The Lions got their only away win in the series in the last meeting and enter tonight 1-1-2 on the road against San Jose.

The teams last met on May 18, 2024, with Jack Lynn coming off the bench to score the game’s only goal. Lynn’s strike in the 89th minute broke the scoreless deadlock and lifted the Lions to a 1-0 victory.

The teams met in Orlando most recently way back on June 22, 2021, with the Lions beating the Quakes down, 5-0. Orlando got things started with an early penalty kick goal by Nani, followed by braces from Benji Michel and Daryl Dike to easily put the game away. The lasting memory from the game is Michel’s celebratory dance wearing a cowboy hat that came out of the stands.

Prior to that Orlando City romp, the last time the teams met was on Aug. 31, 2019 when the Lions got freight trained 3-0 at Avaya Stadium, giving the Quakes their first win in the series. San Jose’s offense came via a Chris Wondolowski brace and an early opening goal by Magnus Eriksson. Orlando looked flat and weary out of the gate.

The Lions were victorious in Exploria Stadium in the 2018 meeting on April 21, a 3-2 Orlando win. It was the first win in the series for either side after three straight draws. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer gave the Lions a 3-0 lead before Florian Jungwirth pulled two back in the game’s late stages.

The Lions led all of the first three matches in the second half only to see San Jose pull level, with two of those tying goals coming late. In the 2017 meeting, Carlos Rivas finally broke the scoreless tie and gave Orlando City the lead in the 81st minute, but Wondolowski spoiled the Lions’ night with an equalizer two minutes later as the teams drew at Avaya Stadium, 1-1.

In 2016, the Lions were gut-punched in the 94th minute in an emotional match that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the first home match following the Pulse nightclub tragedy and what appeared to be a storybook ending to a cathartic win turned sour on a last-gasp equalizer by Shea Salinas. Seb Hines — now the Orlando Pride’s head coach — opened the scoring for Orlando, only to see Chad Barrett tie it up. Julio Baptista restored the lead in stoppage time, but Salinas ruined everything.

The two teams also drew in the first meeting, a 1-1 affair at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Lions down to 10 men after Brek Shea was sent off in the first half. Kaká and Wondolowski each scored from the penalty spot four minutes apart in that initial meeting.

Overview

The teams meet tonight to get their post-World Cup portion of the season started. Orlando City has been terrible on the road all season long, keeping only one MLS opponent under two goals all year away from home and allowing five goals twice (at New York City FC and Nashville) and six goals twice (at LAFC and in the team’s most recent match away at FC Cincinnati just before the break).

Orlando City is a putrid 1-6-1 on the road this season, and now the Lions must face the Western Conference co-leaders tonight before coming home to face Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC at home on Saturday. They’ll have to play at least tonight’s game without Martin Ojeda, who is out with a thigh injury sustained some time between his first-half goal a week ago in a friendly against FC Dallas and the time the availability report dropped on Tuesday.

But it isn’t all bad news for the Lions, who should have both Antoine Griezmann and Dike in the lineup. Griezmann was the club’s highly prized and widely publicized summer Designated Player signing, while Dike’s return to Orlando came together more recently, following his departure from West Bromwich Albion. They’ll help the club’s offense, but the attack hasn’t been the issue in 2026 — it’s been the historically porous defense, which is on pace to shatter the MLS record for goals conceded.

Meanwhile, San Jose is one of the first half of the season’s biggest surprises, as the Quakes have been outstanding in 2026. Scoring 34 goals while conceding just 15, San Jose is among the league leaders in goals scored (tied for third), goals conceded (third), and goal differential (+19, third).

The Earthquakes are 4-2-1 at home and are coming off a 3-1 road win at Portland in their last game prior to the World Cup break. San Jose boasts Golden Boot challenger Preston Judd, who leads the Quakes with 11 goals, adding two assists in his 15 appearances. Ousseni Bouda has chipped in five goals and three assists. Niko Tsakiris leads the team with seven assists to go along with his two goals, but he’s still recovering from a lower body injury and is not available tonight. However, the arrival of Timo Werner (four goals and five assists in just seven games) has truly elevated Bruce Arena’s Quakes, and he’ll need to be one of the main focal points for the Orlando defense.

To have any shot at taking something from this game, the Lions will need to play better road defense than they have all season. Orlando can score goals, but with Ojeda out, Griezmann will need to adapt quickly, and someone other than the team’s leading scorer will need to find the net.

The Lions will play without Ojeda (thigh), Joran Gerbet (knee), Nolan Miller (knee), Colin Guske (international duty), and Clovis Archage (international duty). In addition, Marco Pasalic may or may not have returned to the team after the World Cup. He was not in training Monday, although interim head coach Martin Perelman said he expected the Croatian back soon. The Earthquakes will be without Nonso Adimabua (lower body), former Lion Earl Edwards Jr. (lower body), DeJuan Jones (lower body), and Tsakiris (you guessed it, lower body…come on, San Jose).

Match Content

Our most recent PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match.

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Adrian Marin, David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Tiago.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Antoine Griezmann.

Bench: Javier Otero, Bernardo Rhein, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer

San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn.

Defenders: Jamar Ricketts, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benjamin Kikanovic.

Defensive Midfielders: Beau Lerouox, Ronaldo Vieira.

Attacking Midfielders: Timo Werner, Nick Fernandez, Ousseni Bouda.

Forwards: Preston Judd.

Bench: Jonathan Gonzalez, Dave Romney, Paul Marie, Jack Skahan, Jack Jasinski, Ian Harkes, Francesco Montali, Max Floriani, Darius Johnson.

Referees

REF: Elijio Arreguin.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Mike Nickerson.
4TH: Timothy Ford.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30 p.m.

Venue: PayPal Park — San Jose, CA.

TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

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!

Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 542: Tampa Bay Friendly, McGuire Traded, OCB Beats Cincinnati, and More

Lions maul the Rowdies in friendly action, OCB wins on the road, and it’s transfer season.

Published

3 weeks ago

July 14, 2026

Michael Citro

Image of Antoine Griezmann and Ivan Angulo celebrating a goal in a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City welcomed I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay to Inter&Co Stadium for a friendly match on Wednesday and then proceeded to bludgeon the Rowdies with a couple of hammers named Antoine Griezmann and Justin Ellis. The two attackers combined for a goal and four assists in a 6-0 beatdown of the team from the Gulf Coast, with five different Lions scoring and Griffin Dorsey forcing an own goal. We discuss Griezmann’s first minutes with Orlando City, what the team showed in its formation, and how good Justin Ellis’ vision is.

Oh, and it’s also transfer season now. Duncan McGuire is on his way out and Marco Pasalic reportedly will follow soon, while a new left back may be headed from Spain to Orlando.

Following all of that, we discuss Maxime Crepeau being added to the MLS All-Star Team and the announcement that he’ll participate in the 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Our mailbagbox asked us about which World Cup semifinalist players we’d want to join Orlando this season (if we could only pick one), and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 2-1 road win at FC Cincinnati 2. It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Young Lions, but they managed to do enough to earn three points on the road, where they’ll stay to face Chattanooga on Saturday. We briefly preview that game.

Finally, Orlando City will be in Dallas Wednesday for the second of two friendlies leading up to the restart of the MLS season. It’s unlikely we’ll get a lot of details about that one, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the FC Dallas folks will help us out.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 542 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City crushed the Rowdies, the transfer season is in full swing, plus: hey now, Crepeau’s an all-star.

28:50 – The mailbagbox is always good for a hypothetical scenario.

36:54 – The Young Lions slipped past Cincy and head to Chattanooga, while the senior Lions head to Dallas.

Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 119: International Break, USWNT, Louisville Preview, and More

The Pride return from a long international break looking to get their first-ever road win against Racing Louisville.

Published

3 months ago

April 22, 2026

Michael Citro

Image of Haley McCutcheon scoring the opening goal in Orlando's home playoff win over Seattle.

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

It feels like months since the Orlando Pride last took the field, but the calendar says otherwise. If you believe calendars, it’s only been a little less than three weeks, but time moves strangely in the post-pandemic apocalyptic world.

Anyway, we don’t have a match to recap, so we touched on a couple of Pride players putting the ball in the net during the international break and chat a bit about the United States Women’s National Team’s three-game friendly series against Japan. Emma Hayes used a lot of players, and the team looked solid for two of the three matches, but the rotated middle game seemed a bit disjointed. Hayes has greatly expanded the player pool and will have plenty of options when the World Cup approaches.

Our mailbagbox had questions about a potential change in the NWSL schedule, as the league explores adopting the fall-to-spring slate, and opposition own goals. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we turned our attention toward Friday’s late afternoon tussle with Racing Louisville in Kentucky. The Pride have never won on the road against Louisville, and it’s about high time they did. This match begins a congested push to the June World Cup break, and although Friday’s hosts aren’t high in the table, the Pride must be at their best to get a road result in this fixture. We look back at the series history, compare the two sides, provide our key matchups in the game, and make our final score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 119 went down:

0:15 – We open the show with a little banter about the Pride in the international break and the USWNT’s series vs. Japan.

9:03 – The mailbagbox features questions via both eletronic mail and social media. We welcome all modes of delivery.

19:59 – The Pride travel to Louisville to face Racing. They’ve never won in Kentucky, but we inform them how to do so.