Connect with us

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Portland Timbers: Final Score 1-1 as Late Penalty Costs Lions Road Points

Published

3 years ago

on

Orlando City was up a goal and a man late in the match but conceded a late penalty and drew the Portland Timbers 1-1 at Providence Park. Junior Urso gave the Lions a second-half lead but Cristhian Paredes equalized from the spot after being fouled in the box by Andres Perea. Orlando (2-1-2, 8 points) were minutes away from three huge road points but Portland (1-1-3, 6 points) took advantage of the mistake.

The Lions remained unbeaten on the road (1-0-2) but have lost some valuable points on controversial plays in the two draws. Orlando took four of a possible six points from their back-to-back west coast trips.

“Our boys had a great plan that we worked during the week against a good team in a difficult place,” Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “They executed the way we imagined it. They obviously feel that they deserve much more. Collectively, it was a terrific effort.”

Pareja was forced to juggle his lineup due to international call-ups. Mason Stajduhar started in place of Pedro Gallese in goal, behind the usual starting back line of Joao Moutinho, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, and Ruan. Cesar Araujo and Junior Urso were in central midfield behind an attacking line of Benji Michel, Mauricio Pereyra, and Tesho Akindele, with Alexandre Pato up top.

The first half was cagey with the teams probing for an opening and playing mostly between the two penalty areas. A few crosses were sent in but there weren’t many opportunities to get onto them.

The first shot on goal came off of Pato’s foot in the 13th minute but it took a slight deflection and was no trouble for Portland goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic. Three minutes later, Urso fizzed a ball into the area that the Timbers were able to cut out before Pato could get to it. Michel nearly got in behind in the 18th minute but he took a touch that was a bit heavy and by the time he got back to the ball, the goalkeeper had come out to smother it.

Pereyra was fouled by Diego Chara — a common theme throughout the first half — giving Orlando a free kick in a dangerous spot. Unfortunately, Pato hit his shot into the wall and Ruan made a mess of his attempt to recycle the ball into the area.

The most dangerous chance in the first half came Portland’s way in the 30th minute. A low, hard cross through the area eluded Stajduhar and Paredes was crashing the net at the far post. But the cross had so much pace on it that Paredes was unable to direct his header toward the gaping net in front of him and it squirted wide

Urso sent a low drive from outside the area on target in the 43rd minute but it was never a problem for Ivacic.

The half started to get a little chippier toward the end of the half. Referee Marco DeOliveira could have booked Chara for his three fouls on Pereyra, but didn’t. And tempers flared between Araujo and Dairon Asprilla along the sideline but nothing came of it.

An uneventful first half came to a scoreless conclusion. Portland held more possession (57.8%-42.2%), won more corners (4-2), and was more accurate in the passing game (86.3%-82.2%). Each team fired five shots toward goal but Orlando got more on target (2-0), although not much troubled either keeper.

The Lions responded well after halftime, getting the ball into the final third and looking for an opener. Pereyra fired a shot right at the goalkeeper shortly after the restart. And not long after that, Orlando finally found a way through the traffic in front of Portland’s goal.

Pato tried to play in Ruan on the right side but his pass was deflected back to him by the defense. He then picked out a late run by Urso and sent him in behind the defense. Urso tapped it past Ivacic to make it 1-0 in the 52nd minute.

Carlos made a couple of big plays at the back to keep Orlando in front. Akindele gave the Lions a chance to double the lead from near the end line on the right, flicking the ball out in front of goal in the 59th minute. No Lions were crashing the net and it allowed the Timbers to clear.

Portland subbed on Sebastian Blanco to try to get back into the game and the dynamic attacking midfielder made a difference, particularly in transition. He put a shot on target that Stajduhar saved in the 64th and he missed a drive toward the right post wide a few minutes later.

Pereyra was stretchered off with an injury in the 73rd minute and Rodrigo Schlegel subbed on to try to give the Lions more stability in response to the Blanco sub. The Argentinian responded with a huge block from a shot at the top of the area on one of his first touches.

Things looked good for Orlando when Pato made a slick move in traffic and Josecarlos Van Rankin pulled him back, drawing his second yellow card in the 76th.

Disaster struck three minutes later, as Perea got a piece of Paredes just inside the top of the area at the same time Carlos was knocking the ball away. A penalty was given and 10-man Portland had their lifeline.

DeOliveira waited so long to make a decision that Paredes slammed the ground angrily. Then DeOliveira signaled for the penalty. He appeared to be in conversation with Video Assistant Referee Edvin Jurisevic, but the referee never went to take a look at it. Paredes then hit his shot right down the middle and Stajduhar couldn’t leave a foot in to deflect it.

“The penalty went down the middle. I went to the side. It is what it is,” Stajduhar said.

The Lions came close to being able to retake the lead in the 83rd minute off a corner kick as the ball skipped tantalizingly toward Urso at the back post but a defender arrived just before the Bear could get on on the ball.

The Lions got a couple of half chances after that but couldn’t get a clean shot at the target, settling for a point after some nervy moments on defense deep in stoppage time.

The Timbers held more possession (52.2%-47.8%), attempted more shots (12-11), won more corners (5-4), and passed more accurately (84.3%-83.6%) but Orlando got more shots on target (4-3).

“I felt that we lost some shape in the middle” Pareja said of the middle part of the second half. They were risking with some good players. We had the opportunity to close the game earlier. There were moments when we had control of the ball but we did not have control of the game. The first half I thought we had control of both.”

“A little frustrated because obviously there was a real chance to actually win that game and take three points on the road,” Stajduhar. “Also a little satisfied that we did everything well and, you know, one moment could turn it the other way.”

The Lions will face their third consecutive Western Conference opponent next Saturday when LAFC visits Exploria Stadium.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Orlando City

How Orlando City’s Offense Stacks Up Against What Atlanta Does Defensively

How Orlando City has performed against teams playing with three or four defenders, and how that may influence the playoff game against Atlanta United.

Published

15 hours ago

on

November 21, 2024

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

The most famous quote about real estate is that “there are three things that matter in property: location, location, location.” Soccer coaches also like to think in threes, especially when it comes to points, but for a soccer coach, the three things that matter might be the rhyming triplet “formation, formation, formation,” as that is where they will have the biggest influence on every game that their team plays.

Throughout his tenure as head coach, Óscar Pareja has preferred to use a 4-2-3-1 as his formation (fbref.com’s lineup data shows that the Lions primarily played a 4-2-3-1 in 65% of their MLS matches this season, and 79% of their MLS matches during the last three seasons). The Lions have lined up in a 4-2-3-1 during each of their last 14 games, and my confidence level is strong to quite strong (can you believe Meet the Parents came out 24 years ago?) that they will do so once again on Sunday when they host Atlanta United.

Atlanta United also prefers to deploy a 4-2-3-1, but was less consistent than Orlando City this season during MLS play, as evidenced by the chart below that shows how Atlanta lined up this season:

The purpose of this image is a table to show how Atlanta United lined up in 2024 (mostly in a 4-2-3-1 but also in one of six other formations).

I am relying on the coders at Opta for their evaluation of the formation, as I do not watch a lot of Atlanta United matches (sounds terrible), but though Atlanta primarily played with four defenders in more than two-thirds of its matches, during the last two matches it played a 3-5-2, the only two matches all season in which interim coach Rob Valentino rolled out that formation. I suspect that the formation change was related partially to playing Inter Miami and trying to defend the Herons’ dynamic offense and partially due to an injury suffered by defender Brooks Lennon in the first game of that series. So, while Atlanta primarily played four in the back for most of the season, there is a good chance it will roll with what worked against Florida’s second-best MLS team when it plays Florida’s best MLS team this weekend.

Now, if you want to read more about Atlanta, then you can read our match preview, which will drop Sunday morning, but I want to look at how Orlando did against teams that play similar styles. Looking only at MLS games, the table below shows how Orlando City performed against different back line structures this season (the left side is how the Lions’ opponents lined up, the right side is how Orlando City performed against opponents in those formations):

Table embedded as an image showing Orlando City doing best in goal differential in 12 games against three-man back lines, second best against four-man back lines, and having played once against a five-man back line (a 1-1 draw).

Orlando City earned slightly more points per game — the stat that matters most — against teams that played four in the back, but the Lions had a better average goal differential when teams played three in the back. Atlanta will likely deploy one of those two formations. In both games against Orlando City this season, Sunday’s visitors went with a 4-2-3-1, but as mentioned earlier, they used three in the back in each of their last two matches, so it really could be either.

Soccer is not like baseball, where players primarily stay in the same spot throughout the game, so some of these stats have to be taken with a grain of salt, as players are not always rigidly in the same position throughout a match. A team may also primarily play with four in the back but switch to three when chasing a game, or five when trying to protect against a late goal.

That said, using the data around Orlando City’s opponents’ general formations, here are the attacking groups who played the most frequently against four defenders during the 24 MLS games where Opta coded the opponents as using a defensive group of four:

Table embedded as an image showing the most frequently used lineups against teams who deploy four defenders. The most frequently used attacking group has a plus eight goal differential for the season.

It is a little ominous that the main starting group, shown in row one, has played 666 MLS minutes against back lines of four this season, but do I like that green goal differential of +8 in those minutes, which is a strong +1.08 per 90 minutes. I like that goal differential more than I like all the things that Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin like on their song that is creatively named “I Like It.” Coincidentally, when people ask me what I think about that song, I say, “I like it.” I am very creative.

If we look at the lineups that Orlando City has used against back lines of three defenders then there are some pretty major differences in personnel groupings, but it must be noted that more than half of the games against teams playing three in the back came early in the season, when Ramiro Enrique was unavailable to play. Enrique, my presumed starter at striker, has played fewer than three games’ worth of minutes (265 total) against back lines of three this season, and only 28 minutes with the main starting group, which ranks 13th among all the attacking lineups for minutes played against three defenders. That group scored one goal in their 28 minutes together though, for a robust 3.21 goals-scored-per-90-minutes average.

While the team as a whole has been successful against three-man back lines, I do not expect any of the lineups shown in the table below to play more than a few minutes together this weekend, though the first row and the last row are strong groups and had a lot of success.

Table embedded as an image showing the most frequently used lineups against teams who deploy three defenders. The most frequently used attacking group has a plus three goal differential for the season.

I am sure that all week long the Orlando City coaching staff has been going back and forth on whether it is more likely that Atlanta reverts to its most commonly used four in the back, or if the Five Stripes try for three wins in a row with three in the back. I would prefer that Atlanta plays with zero defenders and goalkeeper Brad Guzan wears a blindfold, but I think that is unlikely to be the case.

Even though Atlanta defeated Orlando City both times while in a 4-2-3-1, based on available personnel and recent results, I believe that the team will come out in a 3-5-2 in Inter&Co Stadium in the conference semifinal. Good things come in threes, and Orlando City’s best offensive production this season has been against three defenders, so I am going to be hoping that this continues, and in the third game against Atlanta the Lions grab the three points. Three’s company!

Well, it is a playoff game, so there are no actual points at stake, but you know what I meant.

Vamos Orlando!

Continue Reading

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to get a victory to advance to the Eastern Conference final?

Published

17 hours ago

on

November 21, 2024

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City continues its playoff journey against Atlanta United Sunday at Inter&Co Stadium. The Lions are coming off an emotional penalty shootout win over Charlotte FC in their best-of-three, first-round series. Likewise, Atlanta United stunned everyone by taking out Inter Miami to advance in its own best-of-three matchup. Now, the rivals meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

What does Orlando City need to do to get past Atlanta United to advance to the Easter Conference final?

Beat Guzan

Brad Guzan made 16 saves over Atlanta’s three matches against Inter Miami, including seven in the 3-2 win on the road in Game 3. The 40-year-old former USMNT keeper is in excellent form and is a big reason why the Five Stripes are facing Orlando City. Converting chances against Guzan will be crucial to earning a result. There have been times this season when the Lions have struggled to convert their chances. Despite that, the team has done enough offensively to get to this point. Facundo Torres, Martin Ojeda, Duncan McGuire, Ramiro Enrique, and others have contributed and will need to do so this weekend.

Cartagena is Essential

Orlando City lost twice to Atlanta United during the regular season. What is interesting, and perhaps relevant, is that Wilder Cartagena was out for both of those matches. Cartagena was shown a straight red in the match against Minnesota United prior to the first match against Atlanta way back in March. He was shown a yellow card in the match against FC Cincinnati and then served a yellow card accumulation suspension for the final match of the season against Atlanta. Fortunately for Orlando City, Cartagena will be available for the match this weekend. I’ve mentioned before the importance of Cartagena to Orlando City’s success. When he and Cesar Araujo are on the field together, the defense is simply better. Cartagena is frankly one of the better defensive midfielders in MLS. Atlanta scored five goals in the series against Miami, and Orlando will need to keep the visitors from having that kind of offensive success.

Overcome the Past

That darn international break in the middle of the playoffs is something I don’t love. More precisely, I don’t like it because Orlando City often struggles after a break. It would have been nice if Orlando City could have ridden the momentum from the penalty kick victory into the Atlanta match, but that’s not to be. Now is the time for Orlando City to break some bad habits, including turning around its historical lack of success against Atlanta, and tendency to struggle in the first match after a break. Oscar Pareja needs to have the players in the right frame of mind, and the players need to execute the plan. A full house of supporters can also make a difference. Given it’s a Sunday afternoon match, there’s no reason not to pack the house.

That is what I will be looking for Sunday afternoon. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!

Continue Reading

Lion Links

Lion Links: 11/21/24

Marta’s chance to shine in NWSL Championship, NWSL and MLS award winners announced, 2025 SheBelieves Cup details, and more.

Published

20 hours ago

on

November 21, 2024

By

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

How’s it going, Mane Landers? I’ve been spending most of this week plotting out some holiday shopping to make things a little less stressful for myself over the next few weeks. A big weekend filled with Orlando soccer awaits us, so make sure to get any errands or obligations out of the way sooner rather than later. Let’s dive into today’s links!

Spotlight Falls On Marta in NWSL Championship

There are plenty of storylines heading into Saturday’s NWSL Championship between the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit, including Marta’s opportunity to put an exclamation point on what has been an excellent season for the Pride. Orlando has been enjoying the fruits of its labor this season after a rebuild over the past few years that’s included plenty of change in the City Beautiful. Marta has been a constant, however, enduring some difficult seasons since joining the Pride and adapting her game She’s scored in both of the Pride’s playoff games so far and has a chance to author a storybook ending on Saturday.

Ann-Katrin Berger Named NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year

NJ/NY Gotham FC goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger was named 2024 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year, beating out the Pride’s Anna Moorhouse and Utah Royals FC’s Mandy Haught for the honor. It was Berger’s first year in the NWSL and she’s the first European player to win the award. She only conceded 16 goals across her 22 matches for Gotham this season and was a key reason behind her team’s success. I’m not too surprised that Moorhouse did not win, considering how solid the Pride’s defense was as a whole, but this won’t take anything away from a record-breaking season for her.

Wilfried Nancy Named MLS Coach of the Year

Columbus Crew Head Coach Wilfried Nancy was voted 2024 MLS Coach of the Year after a historic season in which the Crew set club records in both points and goals. The Crew also won the Leagues Cup this summer and their 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup campaign included advancing past Tigres and Monterrey en route to the final. This is Nancy’s first time being named Coach of the Year and he has been a finalist for the award every year since 2021. The Frenchman received 40.02% of the vote, winning the award over Inter Miami’s Gerardo Martino and Colorado Rapids Head Coach Chris Armas.

2025 SheBelieves Cup Details Unveiled

The 10th annual SheBelieves Cup will take place next year and the tournament will return to its usual format where each of the four teams plays each other once. The United States Women’s National Team will host Japan, Colombia, and Australia in February in what should be an exciting tournament. The U.S. will take on Colombia on Feb. 20 in Houston before facing Australia in Arizona on Feb. 23 and finishing the tournament on Feb. 26 against Japan at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. These games will also be the first domestic games of 2025 for the USWNT as it prepares to qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.

Eric Quill Named FC Dallas Head Coach

FC Dallas announced that Eric Quill will become the team’s next head coach. Quill joins Dallas after a great year with New Mexico United that included trips to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals and USL Championship Western Conference semifinals. It’s also a reunion of sorts for Quill, as he previously coached North Texas SC and was named USL League One Coach of the Year with the club in 2019. Dallas missed out on the playoffs this season, with Peter Luccin coaching the team on an interim basis after the firing of Nico Estevez in June.

Free Kicks

  • District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser challenged Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to a bet involving this weekend’s NWSL Championship, with embarrassing lightshows on the line.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!

Continue Reading

Trending