Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Philadelphia Union: Player Grades and Man of the Match
Well, that was a game to forget. Orlando City lost 1-0 to the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night, and while the Lions almost certainly should have had a chance to level things from the spot in extra time, the home team also failed to take advantage of several good chances and only has itself to blame for the final score.
Let’s take a look at how each Lion performed individually in the loss.
Starters
GK, Pedro Gallese, 6 — It was a quiet night in net for Pedro. He wasn’t actually credited with any saves, although I think the corner that he punched away was going in if he didn’t touch it. He passed with 96% accuracy, including two completed long balls, and also completed one dribble way out of his box as time was winding down. He was helpless to do anything about Gazdag’s goal and can probably feel a little aggrieved that the offside call was overturned.
D, Joao Moutinho, 7 (MotM) — It was great to have Moutinho back and he did a little bit of everything out there. Defensively he had a team-high five tackles, a game-high four aerial duels won, one clearance, completed both dribbles he attempted, and completed 80% of his passes with two successful long balls. Oh and he also had a team-high 83 touches. The Lions have missed his presence both at the back and going forward, and it was nice to see him back out there. His only blemish on the night came when he picked up a needless yellow card for kicking the ball away after a foul call went Philadelphia’s way.
D, Robin Jansson, 6.5 — The Swede had a typically good performance in this one. He had two tackles, four interceptions, drew a foul, caught his man offside twice, and completed a dribble — all while passing with 96% accuracy and completing seven long balls. On more than one occasion he flashed his recovery speed to snuff out dangerous balls attempted behind the Lions’ back line, and it’s a credit to him and the rest of the defense that Philadelphia’s only good chance of the night didn’t come from open play.
D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 6.5 — Like his counterpart at center back, Schlegel also had a good game. Defensively he won three aerial duels, made three tackles, and recorded four clearances and a block. Offensively, he took one shot and drew a lone foul while passing at a 92% rate and completing three long balls. He seems to grow a little more with every game he plays, and it was really nice to see how vocal he was with his teammates after several worrying passages of play.
D, Ruan, 5 — Ruan had a quiet night. Defensively, his only stat on the night was one clearance, and his most noticeable moment on defense was failing to step up in time, which kept Daniel Gazdag onside to score the game’s only goal. While he’s not really out there for his defending, and shouldn’t be marking the opponent’s top scorer on set pieces, he didn’t generate anything on offense either, although he did pass at a 91% rate. Unfortunately, most of the passes he didn’t complete were important ones in the final third. He got into good areas out wide on more than one occasion, but none of his balls into the box found a teammate, and his lack of accuracy on crossing has become a real problem. Teams have figured out that they just need to stand off him and not let him dribble past them, and they’ll probably be fine.
MF, Andres Perea, 6 — It was a better game for Perea than some he’s had in recent weeks. He passed with 86% accuracy, including a key pass and two long balls, and had one tackle, two interceptions, and two blocks, while his lone shot of the night was blocked. He was dispossessed once but was generally pretty good in possession and helped drive the team forward when the ball came to him.
MF, Cesar Araujo, 6.5 — Like a lot of guys whose main job is to defend, Araujo had a pretty good game. He was the best passer on the night with a 97% completion rate, and he had four long balls as well. He also had two tackles, an interception, drew a foul, won an aerial duel, and took two shots, one of which left Andre Blake massaging his wrist it was hit so venomously. His main blemish on the night was the one foul he committed, for which he also received a yellow card. Outside of the raw numbers, he had a couple very good passages of play to help Orlando break Philadelphia’s press and one very bad moment where he was far too slow picking up Julian Carranza on a corner, with Orlando very fortunate not to pay the price for it. He also made a mistake near midfield that Carranza tried to turn into a golazo but missed the target with Gallese pulled out. His long throw-in created a scoring chance that Torres missed wide. He did much more good than bad and continues to look like an excellent find.
MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 5.5 — Like the rest of Orlando’s attacking players it wasn’t a great night for him. His passing accuracy of 83% wasn’t his best, although he did register a key pass and a long ball. He also took one shot which was volleyed over, drew three fouls, and had two instances where his control let him down — one of which killed a promising attack very early in the game. He also chipped in one tackle defensively. The Orlando attack as a whole hasn’t looked very good in recent weeks and unfortunately that was the case for much of tonight. There were several instances where Orlando’s captain maybe should have shot but opted for a pass instead, although he wasn’t the only one guilty of that crime.
MF, Jake Mulraney, 4.5 — Getting the start out wide on the left, it was a difficult outing for Mulraney. Just several minutes into the game he had a bad giveaway in Orlando’s midfield that the Lions were very fortunate to not have punished. Worse though, was when he had trouble corralling the ball on the edge of the Philadelphia box following a turnover that Pereyra forced, with the giveaway torpedoing a great chance for the Lions. Outside of that, he passed with 75% accuracy, made a tackle, was dispossessed once and caught offside once. His effort can’t be questioned but it wasn’t a good performance and it was unsurprising to see him come off at halftime.
MF, Facundo Torres, 5.5 — Torres did some good things on the night. He had two key passes, completed two dribbles, drew a foul, and passed with 91% accuracy while completing three long balls and a cross. He also wasn’t afraid to shoot, registering five attempts on the night. Less good was the fact that he also missed OCSC’s best chance of the night in the first half after doing well to cut back on his defender and get the ball on his left foot. Speaking of his left foot, the other thing that’s becoming apparent is that he’s extremely one-footed. Teams have picked up on his lack of confidence with his right and do everything they can to show him away from his left. He was also dispossessed once and had three unstable touches in a frustrating night for the Lions on offense.
F, Ercan Kara, 5 — It was a very tough night for Orlando’s big Austrian striker. He was extremely isolated for the 89 minutes that he was on the field, with little to no service to speak of. His stats for the night speak to that as he finished with a meager 21 touches in almost a full game’s worth of action. He did have a clearance and a block while also passing with 77% accuracy and completing two key passes. His flick on for Pereyra from a long ball by Gallese set up Torres’ golden chance in the first half. He committed one foul which he received a yellow card for, and was also dispossessed twice and had three unstable touches, which hurts more considering how little he saw of the ball. He and the rest of Orlando’s offense need to figure out how to get him more involved.
Substitutes
MF, Benji Michel (45’), 5.5 — Benji got pretty involved in his half on the pitch and did some good stuff, such as recording three key passes, while distributing the ball with 91% accuracy, completing a cross, and drawing a foul. Some of the less good things were getting dispossessed three times, having two unstable touches, and committing two fouls. He had a better outing than the man he replaced, but with his speed it would be nice to see him try to take on his man 1-v-1 a bit more often.
MF, Alexandre Pato (61’), 5 — Pato wasn’t able to make much of an impact in his half hour on the field. His passing rate of 60% left a bit to be desired, although he did complete a long ball. Outside of that, he drew two fouls and committed one, while he hit his lone shot of the night wildly off target. He has not looked as dangerous after a good start to the season, and while it can be tough to get involved in the game as a substitute, he currently isn’t making a good enough case to start either.
MF, Junior Urso (75’), 5.5 — Upon entering the match, Urso did what he does and worked his butt off. The Bear completed a long ball while passing with 93% accuracy. He also completed a dribble and drew a foul. Unfortunately, his hard work didn’t have much of an impact on proceedings, although he was asked to play a more creative role than he’s used to with Pereyra exiting the field in his place. He’ll likely need a stitch or two after a clash of heads opened up his forehead mere moments after coming on.
F, Tesho Akindele (75’), 5.5 — Tesho flashed some good hold-up play in his time on the field, which is a strong suit of his. He only completed 50% of his passes, but also notched an interception and won an aerial duel. He had a chance to equalize for the Lions but couldn’t get over top of the ball with his header and it sailed over the bar. It wasn’t the easiest chance with a softly floating cross and a Philly player doing well to put him off, but he’ll have wanted to do better with it. He was also dispossessed once and was ultimately unable to spark Orlando’s sputtering offense.
D, Antonio Carlos (81’), N/A — Brought on for Joao Moutinho, AC won a pair of aerial duels, passed at a 71% clip with a completed long ball and committed two fouls while recording one unstable touch. He was the player pulled down by Gazdag in the box in stoppage time and might have had a chance at goal on the cross if not for the foul, but that’s not the way the referee saw it. It’s been good to see him back on the field, and if nothing else he got some minutes to help build his fitness.
F, Jack Lynn (89’), N/A — Lynn came on for Ercan Kara but was unable to get meaningfully involved in the game. He did have a great cushioned touch out of the air to help build an Orlando attack, but didn’t do much outside of that. Still, given Orlando’s woes up front it might be worth giving him some extended time on the field to see if he can help spark something.
That’s ultimately how I saw the individual performances in this one. You’ll notice that defenders and defensive oriented players tended to score higher than the offensive guys, and that’s because other than a couple lapses during set pieces, the defense played very well. The same cannot be said for the other end of the field. Let us know your thoughts in the comments and be sure to vote for your Man of the Match below.
Polling Closed
Player | Votes |
Robin Jansson | 6 |
Rodrigo Schlegel | 2 |
Joao Moutinho | 13 |
Cesar Araujo | 10 |
Someone else (Tell us who in the comments) | 1 |
Lion Links
Lion Links: 11/13/24
Orlando City’s international call-ups, Orlando Pride playoffs preview, NWSL Awards voting opens, and more.
Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. Orlando City might have to wait a week to continue its playoff journey, but the Orlando Pride do not. The Kansas City Current are coming to town this Sunday for the third meeting between these NWSL heavyweights this year, and I will be there. I hope you will make it to Inter&Co Stadium to show this Pride club how much we appreciate all they have done this season in their final home match of the season. For now, let’s get to the links.
Lions on International Duty
Several Orlando City players received call-ups for this international break, including Facundo Torres for Uruguay. Additionally, the following also got the call: David Brekalo with Slovenia, Pedro Gallese and Wilder Cartagena for Peru, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson for Iceland, and Favian Loyola for Chile’s U-20 squad. All we can hope for is they all stay healthy and in form. Orlando City’s next opponent, Atlanta United, also had several players called up.
The NWSL Playoffs Continue
The Orlando Pride will face the fourth-place Kansas City Current this weekend after decimating the Chicago Red Stars Friday. There’s been a lot of drama between these two clubs, making this an intriguing semifinal match. The other match sees the second-place Washington Spirit take on third-place NJ/NY Gotham FC. While we get to enjoy seeing the Pride continue their NWSL playoff run, many clubs are now watching from home and working on next season’s campaign.
NWSL Award Voting Open
The NWSL has opened the “fans voting round” for its 2024 end-of-season awards. There are several Pride players who were named finalists, including Barbra Banda, Marta, Emily Sams, Kylie Strom, and Anna Moorhouse. Of course, Seb Hines is up for NWSL Coach of the Year in what should be a foregone conclusion. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get out there and submit your vote here. This is your chance to make a difference for Hines and these Pride players who have given so much this season.
Pepi is Ready
The USMNT will play its first competitive match under Mauricio Pochettino against Jamaica Thursday night in the first leg of a Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal series. The U.S. doesn’t have a ton of options at forward, meaning Ricardo Pepi will likely get the start. The PSV striker said he feels he’s “ready to be the man.” It’s been years since anyone locked down the starting role up top for the USMNT. Let’s hope that Pepi is indeed ready.
Free Kicks
- In unsurprising news, Charlotte FC’s Kristijan Kahlina was named 2024 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. Orlando fans are all too familiar with how good Kahlina is in goal. Honestly, Khalina is a very deserving winner.
- England’s squad will look very different this international window with eight players out due to injury, including Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer.
- The UScpMNT match scheduled for today has been postponed due to inclement weather.
- Coventry City has its eye on Frank Lampard as a possible replacement for Mark Robins as manager.
- We have unfortunately seen the last of Memphis 901 FC. It is a sad day, as we’re unlikely to see such a cool name with whatever Santa Barbara comes up with.
- Jude Bellingham’s younger brother, Jobe, may make a move to La Liga giant Real Madrid.
- The USMNT’s Gio Reyna is still nursing a mystery injury at Borussia Dortmund.
- We’re sad to share that FC Cincinnati’s Marco Angulo passed away as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and teammates.
- Finally, I leave you with Ally Watt solving a Rubik’s Cube.
That will do it for today. Check back as we get you ready for the Pride’s playoff match against the Kansas City Current. Vamos Orlando!
Lion Links
Lion Links: 11/12/24
Examining Orlando City’s playoff path, what to watch in the Concacaf Nations League, Lily Yohannes declares for the U.S., and more.
Happy Tuesday, everyone! The weekend couldn’t have gone much better for Orlando’s soccer teams, as both Orlando City and the Orlando Pride advanced after their respective playoff games, with the Pride dominating Chicago and the Lions getting a late, dramatic equalizer before winning the penalty shootout. The Pride will return to action Sunday against the Kansas City Current, while the Lions have a slightly longer layoff before they take on Atlanta United. As usual, we have plenty to discuss this morning, so let’s get into the links.
Orlando City’s Playoff Path
It was a wild weekend for the MLS playoffs as far as the Eastern Conference was concerned, and a slew of upsets suddenly means that the path to the MLS Cup final in the Eastern Conference goes through Orlando. The Lions are the highest remaining seed in the East, and not only will they host Atlanta Nov. 24, but they would also host the Eastern Conference final, should they come out victorious. Oscar Pareja spoke after the game about not wanting the victory over Charlotte FC to be the end of the playoff journey, and says the team intends to chase the MLS Cup. If Orlando does make it that far, the team wouldn’t be likely to host the match, as it would require Minnesota United to come out of the Western Conference in order for the final to be held in Orlando. Stranger things have happened though.
What to Watch For With the USMNT
It seems like we just had an international break, but here we are again with two more United States Men’s National Team games on the docket. These are two important games, as the USMNT squares off against Jamaica in the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals. Besides the obvious chance to advance to the semifinals, there are plenty of other storylines to keep an eye on. With Josh Sargent and Folarin Balogun both absent due to injury, can Ricardo Pepi seize an opportunity to lay claim to the starting striker role? What sort of impacts can Brendan Aaronson and Weston McKennie have in the midst of good starts to the season for their clubs? Last, but certainly not least, is Christian Pulisic, who has had a fantastic start to the season and will have many eyes on him in the first competitive matches under Mauricio Pochettino.
Lily Yohannes Chooses the United States
The United States Women’s National Team has landed a great young talent, as Lily Yohannes announced on Monday that she has chosen to represent the U.S. over the Netherlands. While she was born in Virginia, Yohannes has lived abroad since the age of 10, making her eligible to play for either country. However, she stated that with the United States being her country of birth, as well as where her extended family lives, she decided to commit to representing Emma Hayes’ team. Yohannes made her debut for Ajax’s senior side in November of last year, and has seven goals in 40 appearances for the Dutch team.
Transfer Rumor Roundup
As always, the transfer rumor mill continues to turn, which means we have plenty of things to catch up on. We start with Major League Soccer itself, where FC Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta has said he may have played his final game for the club. He cited frustration with falling short of silverware as a possible reason for wanting to move on, so he may change his mind once the sting has faded more. Moving to Spain, Barcelona is reportedly monitoring Eintracht Frankfurt’s Omar Marmoush as an option to replace the aging Robert Lewandowski. Arsenal and Manchester United are said to be interested in Leroy Sane, and will pursue him hard if contract talks with Bayern Munich don’t progress well.
Free Kicks
- NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman had some friendly words for the Orlando Pride.
- The U.S. Men’s Deaf National Team battled Argentina to a scoreless draw at the Deaf Pan American Games on Monday, but fortunately advanced in the tournament due to a coin flip tiebreaker. The U.S. will play either Brazil or Mexico in the semifinal.
- Premier League referee David Coote has been suspended due to a social media video that seemed to show him making negative marks about Jurgen Klopp.
- Manchester United interim head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy has left the club following the arrival of new head coach Ruben Amorim, who wants to bring in his own assistants.
- Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer are among a whopping eight players who have pulled out of England’s UEFA Nations League squad due to injury.
That does it for me today. Vamos Orlando!
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC: Player Grades and Man of the Match
How did your favorite Lions perform in Orlando City’s 1-1 draw/4-1 shootout win in Game 3 against Charlotte FC?
The Cardiac Cats were back again as Orlando City conceded its first goal of the postseason in the 81st minute, equalized on a rebound from a saved penalty with almost the last kick of the game, and won on penalties. Before we begin to look forward to the Eastern Conference semifinal against Atlanta United, we’ll look back at how the team played in its 1-1 draw and 4-1 shootout victory against Charlotte FC.
Let’s take a look at the individual performances in this memorable playoff battle.
Starters
GK, Pedro Gallese, 7 — The Lions dominated the chances in this game, so there wasn’t a lot for Gallese to do in the 90 minutes. He saved two of the three shots on target, and the goal he conceded took a deflection that sent the goalkeeper the wrong way. Gallese’s moment came in the penalty shootout with everything on the line. He saved the first two penalties to give his team a commanding lead, helping the Lions advance. He also guessed correctly on the third penalty, although he couldn’t quite get to Ashley Westwood’s shot. In addition to his shot stopping, Gallese completed 80% of his 10 passes but neither of his two long balls. He also recorded two clearances. Although he had a quiet game in regulation, he did what was needed in the shootout.
D, Rafael Santos, 6 — Santos had a team-high 86 touches, completed 87.7% of his 57 passes and two of his three long balls, and had two key passes. While he only completed one of his seven crosses, he should have had an assist when Kyle Smith failed to convert right in front of the goal in the 90th minute. Defensively, the left back recorded two tackles, two interceptions, and four clearances, leading the team in all three statistics. He also converted his penalty, sending the Lions through to the conference semifinals.
D, Robin Jansson, 6 — Jansson touched the ball 69 times in this game while completing 92.1% of his 63 passes. He had one key pass, completing five of his 10 long balls, and put his lone shot on target. Defensively, Jansson was less active than usual, recording three clearances and a blocked shot. He got caught on a high bounce on the attack that ultimately led to Charlotte’s only goal, which was his lone mistake of the night.
D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 6 — Schlegel had 42 touches in the game and completed 87.5% of his 32 passes, including two of his three long balls. Like Jansson, Schlegel took one shot and put it on target. The center back recorded one tackle, two interceptions, and three clearances. He was replaced by David Brekalo in the 89th minute.
D, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, 6 — Touching the ball 49 times in this game, Thorhallsson completed 87.9% of his 33 passes, including two key passes, one of his three crosses, and his lone long ball. He didn’t take any shots in the game and didn’t record any defensive statistics before being replaced by Kyle Smith in the 79th minute.
MF, Wilder Cartagena, 6.5 — Cartagena came into this game with two yellow cards, leaving him one short of a suspension. However, the defensive midfielder did well to stay out of the book while touching the ball 84 times and retaining his grit in the middle of the pitch. He completed 88% of his team-high 75 passes, including four of his six long balls. He recorded two interceptions and a clearance, but his biggest impact was a good ball into the box that contributed to Djibril Diani pulling down Duncan McGuire, resulting in the penalty that set up the equalizer.
MF, Cesar Araujo, 6 — Araujo took 70 touches and was back to his stellar passing, completing 93% of his 57 attempts, including one of his two crosses and six of his seven long balls. He was also credited with a key pass in the game. His two shots were off target, but he added three clearances defensively.
MF, Ivan Angulo, 6 — Angulo’s 37 touches were the fewest of Orlando City’s midfielders. However, he completed 93.3% of his 30 passes, the highest pass completion percentage of his position group. His only shot was off target and he didn’t record any defensive statistics before being replaced by Luis Muriel in the 65th minute.
MF, Martin Ojeda, 6.5 — Ojeda touched the ball 62 times and completed 83.8% of his 37 passes, including four of his five long balls and a team-high four key passes. However, he only completed three of his team-high 14 crosses. One of the midfielder’s two shots was on target and he didn’t have a defensive impact before coming off for Nico Lodeiro in the 79th minute. For much of the first hour of the game, most of Orlando’s offensive chances and most dangerous attacks came via Ojeda’s forays up the left and interplay with Santos.
MF, Facundo Torres, 7 (MotM) — Torres had 68 touches and completed 88% of his 50 passes, including two key passes. He didn’t complete any of his seven crosses but all of his three long balls. While only two of his six shots were on target, he hit the post and crossbar in the first half. More importantly, he converted on the rebound after Kristijan Kahlina saved his penalty for the equalizing goal. He made up for the penalty save by converting his spot kick in the shootout.
F, Ramiro Enrique, 5.5 — Enrique wasn’t very involved in this game, touching the ball 20 times and completing 90.9% of his 11 passes. While he completed his lone cross, none of four shots were on target, including a free running header on a corner kick when he was left completely uncovered. The forward was replaced by Duncan McGuire in the 65th minute.
Substitutes
F, Duncan McGuire (65’), 6 — McGuire came on for Enrique in the 65th minute, but only touched the ball five times. He completed all four of his passes and didn’t take any shots, but had the most impactful play of the night. In the final seconds of the game, he went down after a tug on the back of his jersey by Diani, drawing the penalty that resulted in the equalizing goal. Unfortunately, he injured his shoulder on the play and didn’t take part in the shootout.
F, Luis Muriel (65’), 6.5 — Muriel replaced Angulo in the 65th minute and touched the ball 28 times. He completed 76.5% of his 17 passes, including a key pass, one of his two long balls, and one of his two through balls. Only one of his three shots were on target, with his free kick effort deflected by the defense, but he converted the first penalty in the shootout, getting the Lions off to a good start. His introduction allowed the Lions to maintain possession and create chances as time wound down.
MF, Nico Lodeiro (79’), 6 — Lodeiro came on for Ojeda in the 79th minute, touching the ball 19 times in his short appearance. He completed 83.3% of his 12 passes, including a key pass and two of his seven crosses.
D, Kyle Smith (79’), 5.5 — Smith came on for Thorhallsson in the 79th minute, touching the ball seven times and completing one of his three passes. Santos found him for a tap-in at the back post in the 90th minute, but the defender completely messed up the golden opportunity stepping over/onto the ball and going to ground. However, he made up for it with the best penalty of the shootout, in my opinion. He didn’t end up with any defensive statistics in the game.
D, David Brekalo (89’), N/A — Brekalo replaced Schlegel in the 89th minute, as Oscar Pareja wanted his aerial presence on the field for the final push. He touched the ball seven times and completed all of his five passes. He didn’t record any defensive statistics in his short appearance.
That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s playoff win over Charlotte. Let us know how you saw the game in the comments and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.
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