Orlando City

Orlando City vs. FC Cincinnati: Player Grades and Man of the Match

Published

3 years ago

March 5, 2023

Orlando City continued the 2023 MLS Regular Season campaign with a 0-0 draw against visiting FC Cincinnati. Orlando City rolled out a heavily rotated squad for the match against the Orange and Blue ahead of the first leg of the club’s Concacaf Champions League match-up Tuesday at Tigres. Let’s take a look at how each Lion performed individually in week two.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 7.5 (MotM) — Gallese made four saves to earn his second clean sheet of the season and to help salvage one point at home. Facing a trio of dangerous attackers, Gallese did well to save four shots on the night in a myriad of different ways. His best save of the night came in the 29th minute on a Luciano Acosta free kick from just outside the box. He was successful on 80.8% of his passing attempts, including six long balls. On a night when there was very little help on the offensive side of the pitch and the visitors controlled the possession for a majority of the match, El Pulpo came up big when the club needed him most.

D, Kyle Smith, 6 — Smith was inserted into the starting XI at left center back for the first half as Oscar Pareja played a three-man back line for the opening 45 minutes. He then played fullback when Robin Jansson came on to start the second half, departing when Luca Petrasso was brought on as the final substitute of the night for OCSC. Turning in a performance that one has come to expect from Smith isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but there were several times when Smith found himself beaten down the sideline. To his credit, he was often able to recover, but he did get burned badly by Luciano Acosta in the 54th minute and luckily watched the shot go wide. Smith passed at 82.7%, was accurate with two of three long balls, and was responsible for one turnover. He did not attempt a shot but did provide one key pass. He also recorded three tackles, one interception, and two clearances and won 33% of his headed duels.

D, Abdi Salim, 5.5 — MLS SuperDraft pick Salim logged his first official MLS start, going the full 90 minutes. It was a bit of a mixed bag debut for the young draft pick who started with Smith and Rodrigo Schlegel as one of the three center backs. After the break, he played a more traditional center back role on the right, paired with Jansson. A little inconsistency is to be expected from a rookie when facing a team with the attacking options that FC Cincinnati has, and at times Salim seemed to be caught off guard and out of position by the pace and explosiveness of Cincinnati’s attackers. He recorded two tackles, a team-high three interceptions, and a clearance. He passed at 87% on the night, completed his lone long ball attempt, and was responsible for one turnover.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 6.5 — With an injured Antonio Carlos and a starting squad with heavy rotation, Schlegel functioned as the de facto leader of the back line in the first half and was mostly solid in his 45 minutes on the pitch. Passing at a 93% rate in the first half, Schlegel was a stead force and logged his second straight match without recording a foul. He did not record any defensive statistics but had one off-target shot attempt and completed one of his two long-ball attempts.

WB/D, Michael Halliday, 6 — Halliday logged his second straight start at right back (more of a wingback for the opening 45 minutes) and continued to show growth and development. He logged 71 minutes and his brightest moment was running onto a laser of a pass from Robin Jansson in the second half and then laying a pass off for Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, who put his shot attempt just above the bar for one of the best scoring chances of the night. At times, Halliday was caught up field and out of position, which is part of playing wingback — especially against a good transition team like Cincinnati — but he looked more comfortable than last week. Halliday logged one interception and committed one foul while passing at an 83% clip. He did not record an accurate cross on one attempt and was inaccurate with his one long ball. He finished with a team-high four tackles, an interception, and two clearances.

MF, Wilder Cartagena, 5.5 — It wasn’t a perfect night for the defensive midfielder who was inserted into the starting lineup to provide rotation and rest for Ceasar Arajuo. While Cartagena passed at a decent 88% on the night, going 0/1 on crosses and 1/2 on long balls. He had a few too many careless giveaways or simply inaccurate passes which prevented the Lions from breaking out of their own end. He was booked for a questionable yellow in the 28th minute and was successful on two of his four tackle attempts. Cartagena also recorded one interception and logged two clearances.

MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 5 — The Orlando City captain logged his 100th competitive match in purple across all competitions, but the century mark match proved to be one of Pereyra’s shakier games in recent memory. The Uruguayan passed at an abysmal 74% success rate (his lowest percentage since Aug. 13. of last season against the New York Red Bulls). He recorded no key passes and was 0/1 on crosses and 3/5 on long balls. He had two shot attempts on the night, which were both blocked, including a poor attempt on a dangerous free kick chance in the 14th minute, and was only successful on one of his five tackle attempts. Ultimately, this will be a match to forget for a handful of reasons and Pereyra’s first-half effort will be among that list. The captain was subbed off at halftime for Araujo.

WB/MF, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, 6 — Another Lion logging his first official MLS start, Dagur Dan went the distance for Orlando City in the midfield, playing out on the left and switching spots with Gaston Gonzalez often. The Icelandic midfielder passed at an 86% success rate, was inaccurate on his one cross attempt but completed his only long ball. Thorhallsson was dispossessed twice and could have done better on his one shot attempt, which sailed over the bar. He drew one foul, recorded two successful dribbles, and logged two tackles.

MF, Gaston Gonzalez, 5.5— Orlando City fans were able to see Gonzalez in action for the first time as the MLS U22 Initiative signing from last season has finally rehabbed from an ACL tear. Any fitness concerns should be squelched as Gonzalez went the full 90 for Orlando City in his debut match. He connected on 19 of his 21 passing attempts for a 90% success rate, however, he was just 1/3 on crosses and did not complete his only long ball. Gonzalez committed three fouls, and won Orlando City one corner but otherwise did not log too many other meaningful stats in his inaugural match, although he had one clearance defensively. There were attempts at breaking down opponents 1-v-1, but it appears for now Gonzalez needs more time to develop chemistry with his teammates and more game time to get back to his former self, as he attempted no shots, provided no key passes, was dispossessed once, and had three unstable touches.

MF, Facundo Torres, 5.5 — It felt like watching the game live that for most of the first half, Orlando City could have done a better job at trying to find Torres in space. The Young Designated Player — and the offense as a whole — struggled for the second straight game. Torres only logged one shot, which was off target, and only recorded 47 total touches for the match. He passed at a 78.6% rate on 28 attempts, providing two key passes and went 1/2 on crosses and completede his only long ball. Torres was dispossessed once, had one unstable touch, and completed three of five total attempted dribbles, but again there seemed to be some disconnect in the attacking third. The attack needs work and Orlando City needs Torres to be a catalyst to get in back in gear. Defensively, Torres supplied one interception and one clearance.

F, Ercan Kara, 4.5 — Stop me if you have heard this one before, but Kara needs accurate service to be the most effective version of himself, and for the second match in a row Orlando City struggled to get the striker involved. Some of that is a credit to 6-foot-4 center back Matt Miazga’s play for FC Cincinnati. Kara recorded only 17 touches in the match, showing how starved for service the Lions’ center forward was on the night. His isolation limited him to 46.2% passing as he struggled to find teammates in traffic. He won two aerials but recorded no shots or key passes in 65 minutes of gameplay before being subbed off for Ivan Angulo. Defensively, he contributed a blocked shot.

Substitutes

D, Robin Jansson (46’), 6 — Coming out of the halftime break, Jansson replaced Schlegel as the team transitioned to a more traditional four-man back line. After a shaky debut match last week, Jansson seemed more settled and had the best long ball out of any player on the pitch when he sprung Halliday down the right side of the field, ultimately resulting in an open look for Dagur Dan. He passed at a 79% success rate, completed three of six long balls, won one aerial duel, and did not record a tackle but did log a vital blocked shot near the end of the match and finished with two clearances.

MF, Cesar Araujo (46’), 6.5 — Out of the starting lineup presumably to remain fresher for the upcoming trip to Mexico, Araujo entered the match after the break and demonstrated much better form than in the season opener. Araujo passed at a 91% clip in the second half and was successful on both of his attempted long balls and his one through ball. Defensively, Araujo drew two fouls on Cincinnati, recorded one successful tackle, and added an interception. Towards the end of the match, Araujo could be found drifting more into the attacking third of the match where he was credited with one shot attempt and had the Lions’ only shot on target of the evening, albeit a weak dribbler that offered no trouble to Roman Celentano. While the offense figures out that the ball is supposed to go in the back of the net, it will be imperative that Araujo continues to lock down force in the defensive midfield.

MF, Martín Ojeda (60’), 5.5 — Ojeda entered the game in the 60th minute to relieve Torres and recorded one shot in the 79th minute which was a scorcher that missed the target high and left from outside the 18 as he tried to catch Celentano off his line. He was accurate on 85.7% of his 21 passing attempts and his only long ball but his one cross attempt did not find the target. He contributed one interception. Due to player rotation in this match, very little was accomplished in terms of gaining experience and building chemistry between the three Designated Players as Ojeda replaced Torres, and Kara was subbed off five minutes after Ojeda entered the field.

MF, Ivan Angulo (65’), 5.5 — Angulo replaced Kara in the 65th minute and was largely ineffective for the final 25 minutes of the match, He was dispossessed twice, completed 86% of his passes, and did not record a shot attempt. He finished with one tackle and just 15 total touches.

D, Luca Petrasso (71’), 6 — Petrasso came into the match in the 71st minute for Halliday, which sent Kyle Smith to the right side of the pitch. There was some early aggression and concentrated efforts to get into the attacking third from Petrasso but he failed on a few occasions to link up with teammates or to send the ball into the box. He passed at 85.7%, but his only cross attempt was inaccurate. He did not record a tackle, interception, or shot attempt.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in the first draw of the season for the Lions. Let me know your thoughts in the comments and be sure to vote for your Man of the Match below.

Polling Closed

Player	Votes
Rodrigo Schlegel	11
Robin Jansson	17
Dagur Dan Thorhallsson	1
Pedro Gallese	139
Cesar Araujo	1
Someone Else (tell us in the comments)	1

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 3/13/26

Orlando Pride prepare for 2026 season opener, NWSL power rankings, Guro Reiten joins Gotham FC, and more.

Published

4 hours ago

March 13, 2026

Marcus Mitchell

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Happy Friday, Mane Landers! I’ve spent most of my free time this week getting some needed spring cleaning done before the weekend gets here. Kicking up dust while also dealing with all the pollen when I go outside probably wasn’t the smartest idea, but it’s nice to be productive. Let’s get to the links!

Orlando Pride Prepare for Season Opener

The Orlando Pride are set to return to action on Sunday against the Seattle Reign in what should be an exciting season opener. It will be a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal between the two, which the Pride won 2-0 thanks to a strong defensive performance and goals from Haley McCutcheon and Luana. Head Coach Seb Hines spoke on how the team’s preparations for the season have gone, as well as the expectations to fight for titles after failing to win silverware last year.

NWSL Power Rankings Ahead of 2026 Season

The Orlando Pride placed fifth in All For XI‘s NWSL power rankings before the start of the season. It’s a pretty fair ranking for the Pride in my opinion, as they were inconsistent last year but still managed to reach the semifinals in the playoffs. Whether or not they can stake a claim as a title contender may hinge on how well Jacquie Ovalle does now that she’s had time to settle in this preseason.

The Kansas City Current top the rankings, with defending champion Gotham FC in second and the Washington Spirit third. As for the new teams on the block, the Boston Legacy are down in 15th while the Denver Summit are in 10th. It should be an interesting season and I can’t wait for it to start tonight when the Spirit and Portland Thorns square off at 8 p.m.

NWSL Transfer News Roundup

The NWSL season is here, but teams are still bringing in some firepower to their rosters before things get underway. Gotham added Norwegian forward Guro Reiten on loan from Chelsea and she will join the club as a free agent once the loan expires, with that deal lasting through 2029. Reiten has been a force in England, recording 59 goals and 44 assists across 207 appearances and helping Chelsea win six Women’s Super League titles.

The Chicago Stars also strengthened their attack, sending $300,000 in transfer funds and $200,000 in allocation money to the Reign in exchange for forward Jordyn Huitema. The 24-year-old joins on a contract through 2028 and gives the rebuilding Stars an aerial threat to help fill the void left by Ally Schlegel leaving for the North Carolina Courage.

European Title Races to Watch Out For

While it may not be crunch time just yet for clubs in contention, it’s a great time to check in on how title races are shaping up across Europe. While it may take some intriguing results in Germany, Italy, and Spain for things to get interesting, the United Kingdom is rife with drama to look forward to. Celtic and Rangers are usually the contenders in the Scottish Premiership, but it’s Hearts that has a five-point lead with plenty to go. In the English Premier League, the title race between Arsenal and Manchester City may end up being dwarfed by a relegation fight involving Tottenham, Nottingham Forest, and West Ham. Wrexham is right in the thick of a tight battle for promotion as well. Don’t sleep on the title race in France either, as Lens is hanging around just one point behind Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the Ligue 1 table.

Free Kicks

The Portland Timbers signed 23-year-old midfielder Jose Caicedo from Pumas, inking him to a deal through the 2029-2030 season.
The Columbus Crew traded Nigerian forward Aliyu Ibrahim to the Houston Dynamo in exchange for $250,000 in General Allocation Money, with another $500,000 headed their way if certain conditions are met.
Mexican goalkeeper Luis Angel Malagon will miss out on the World Cup due to the injury he sustained in Club America’s win over the Philadelphia Union in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Chelsea winger Pedro Neto was issued a one-game ban for shoving a ball boy in his team’s 5-2 loss to PSG in the UEFA Champions League.
Aston Villa and Porto won the first legs of their matchups in the Europa League’s round of 16. Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest fell 1-0 to Midtjylland and Roma and Bologna fought to a 1-1 draw.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!

Orlando City

Point Blank: Orlando City Cannot Afford Another Empty Night

A look at the recent history of MLS teams that started 0-3-0, and the uphill battle Orlando City will have to fight if it starts 0-4-0.

Published

22 hours ago

March 12, 2026

S. Andrew DeSalvo

Image of Eduard Atuesta and Marco Pasalic celebrating Atuesta's free kick goal in preseason against Colorado.

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

The idea of this article is to make a point about points, because if Orlando City is not going to earn any, then at least we can write about it. The Lions are off to the worst start in club history after three games, with zero points earned after losses to the New York Red Bulls, Inter Miami, and New York City FC. The good news is that those three teams occupy places one, three and four in the Eastern Conference standings, so perhaps Orlando City was just dealt a difficult schedule to start the season, but those of us with eyes know the Lions simply have not played well for the majority of the three games.

The MLS regular-season schedule contains 34 games, so some quick math tells us that 91% of the season still remains to be played. The playoff structure for MLS is also incredibly forgiving, as 18 of the league’s 30 teams qualify for the postseason, and 16 of those 18 are guaranteed at least one home game. Plenty of teams over the years have gotten hot late to secure a playoff spot, or like Orlando City during the 2023 season, to go from a low playoff seed to a top one by winning nine of its final 12 games.

There is still plenty of season left, but while teams can and do get hot late, it is rare that they do after struggling mightily during their first three games. I took a look at the last three seasons, the only ones in which nine teams qualified for the playoffs in each conference, and the table below shows how many points each of the 54 playoff teams had earned after the first three games.

Points After Three Matches	2023	2024	2025
0	1	1	0
1	1	1	0
2	2	1	0
3	2	0	4
4	2	5	6
5	1	2	0
6	4	1	3
7	4	7	3
8 (cannot happen, because math)	0	0	0
9	1	0	2
Avg. Points by Playoff Teams	4.7	4.9	5.2

Only two of the 54 playoff teams went winless during their first three games (Charlotte in 2023 and NYCFC in 2024), and in each subsequent year the overall average points earned by playoff teams during their first three games increased. Orlando City is one of four teams in MLS that have yet to earn one point, though New England has only played two games due to one being postponed because winter storms delayed the delivery of the club’s new grass field.

The Lions will be fighting an uphill battle to become the third team to qualify for the playoffs after starting with three straight losses, but if they win this week’s game against CF Montréal, that would put them on the same trajectory as the aforementioned 2023 Charlotte and 2024 NYCFC teams, as both won the fourth games of their season on the way to turning their seasons around and eventually qualifying for the playoffs.

What that means, however, is that since the league moved to this new playoff format no team has started the season with four straight losses and made the playoffs. It is always cool to be the first to do something, but I think it would be much cooler if the Lions would go out and deliver a resounding — some might say impactful (think about it) — thrashing to the Canadian club.

If they were to defeat Montréal by at least two goals, they would jump over them in the standings, guaranteeing themselves to no longer be dead last in the entire league, which is where they currently sit. It will be weird to root against Dagur Dan Thórhallsson, and to a lesser extent Luca Petrasso, but I will be passionately rooting against players with “sso” in their last names on Saturday, unless Robin Jansson comes out of the tunnel like Willis Reed (timely reference) to help the Orlando City defense actually be fence-like and prevent some goals.

The early results from playoff teams from last three seasons will not have any bearing on whether Orlando City can turn its season around and make the playoffs for a league-leading seventh consecutive season, but it is instructive on how difficult it is to dig yourself out of a hole. Two teams were able to turn it around and make the playoffs, but eight teams (two in 2023, three in 2024, and three in 2025) started with three straight losses and finished the season out of the playoffs.

We will not know the fate of Orlando City’s playoff hopes until much later in the season, but we will know its fate against Montréal in just a few days. Hopefully at game’s end the Lions will have a one in the win column. Or, at least in the draw column, but preferably in the win column.

It is always the darkest before dawn, and with six straight losses dating back to last season, it is pretty much pitch black around Orlando City right now. I’d say that makes this weekend the perfect time for the Lions to execute a three-point turn.

Vamos Orlando!

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. CF Montreal: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to earn all three points against CF Montreal this weekend?

Published

1 day ago

March 12, 2026

David Rohe

Image courtesy of Orlando City B

Orlando City returns to Inter&Co Stadium to take on CF Montreal after parting ways with Oscar Pareja on Wednesday. Martin Perelman will call the shots Saturday night as the interim head coach. Orlando City is still looking to earn its first points of the season after three straight losses. This is a club in turmoil looking to stop the bleeding of a horrible start to the season. What must Orlando City do to earn all three points — or even a single point — against Montreal Saturday night?

Enter Otero

Javier Otero was pressed into service early in the match against New York City FC thanks to Maxime Crepeau’s dumb mistake. That — and the five goals that followed — was not something he was expecting when he sat down on the bench. That cannot be his excuse this week. Otero will get full reps as the starter all week. He will know that he is getting the start and should mentally prepare.

Otero will need to be better this week, and that should be easy enough to do at home with a full squad in front of him. I’m not saying he needs to be Pedro Gallese, but he does need to make smart decisions, be careful with his distribution, and not be the reason the Lions lose. If he would like to have the best performance of his professional career, it is a perfect time to do so.

Full Team Defense

For weeks I’ve spouted off about the Lions needing the players on the back line and defensive midfielders to step up. I should have been more specific. I need them to do so for the entire 90 minutes plus stoppage time. It is evident how much this team is missing Robin Jansson and Wilder Cartagena.

In what I’ll describe as “good news,” Orlando City gets Colin Guske back after serving his red card suspension last week. I would like to see a center back pairing of Nolan Miller with Iago. David Brekalo has not been good, so Perelman might as well go with even more youth behind Guske. If those two, along with Griffin Dorsey on the right and Adrian Marin on the left, start it still won’t be good enough.

At this point, I need 11 players lined up across the face of the goal to just block off the net. I know I’m being hyperbolic, but I think the Lions will need to play deeper and more defensive-minded if the club hopes to get a result. Attacking on the counter after absorbing shots for long spells isn’t what I would normally recommend, but aside from the Miami game, it hasn’t fully been tried out so far this season, so why not give it a shot. At the very least, I need everyone tracking back all night.

Smell the Coffee, Duncan!

My sister-in-law, who has down syndrome, loves to tell people to “smell the coffee” when she wants them to wake up or be more active. I’m not saying Duncan McGuire needs to be more active, but he could be more efficient. His lack of goals has not been totally his fault as some of his teammates aren’t anticipating his runs, but he hasn’t been his old self either.

Remember when he ended Michael Bradley’s career (or at least it felt like it)? I’d love to see some of that. I believe he just needs to score that first goal, celebrate with his signature flip, and he’ll be back to normal. That means he needs to be better at his hold-up game and better with the ball at his feet. Hopefully he’s had enough time with his teammates in training so they know what runs he will make. If Orlando City sits back and tries to hit on the counter or go route one, it will be important for him to be more efficient and “smell the coffee.”

I thought about using “divine intervention” as one of the keys, but even I thought that might be a little silly. Though I’m not opposed to anyone making an appeal to a higher power if that is something you think might work. Otherwise, the above is what I will be looking for Saturday night. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!