Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Nashville SC: Player Grades and Man of the Match
How did your favorite Lions rate individually in a tough 2-0 loss to Nashville?
Well, that wasn’t a very fun game. Orlando City had its chances, but was caught out twice and lost 2-0 to Nashville SC at home. It was another game that will sting for supporters as the Lions weren’t bad by any means, but failed to capitalize on the chances they created while the visitors were extremely ruthless. Here’s how I saw the individual performances in OCSC’s second straight home loss.
Starters
GK, Pedro Gallese, 5.5 — This maybe feels a little harsh on El Pulpo, but on a night when he didn’t face many shots, he wasn’t able to keep out the majority of the ones that he did see. He finished with one save on the three shots on target that Nashville produced on the night, with the other two finding a way past him. He was caught in no man’s land on the opening goal, and while a cruel deflection took Hany Mukhtar’s shot past him, it’s still not great to get beat from such an acute angle. His 59% passing accuracy left a bit to be desired, even as a goalkeeper, but it’s hard to hold that against him too much. In the end, it just wasn’t his night.
D, Luca Petrasso, 5.5 — Preferred to Rafael Santos in the starting left back role, Petrasso had a fairly quiet night. His passing was the highlight of his performance as he was extremely accurate, completing 93% of them, while also contributing two key passes. His cutback pass to Ramiro Enrique should have resulted in more than it did, but it was that kind of night across the board for the Lions. He also completed one dribble and committed two fouls before being withdrawn as OCSC was chasing the game.
D, Robin Jansson, 6 — Jansson recorded one tackle, one interception, four clearances, and four long balls while passing with 92% accuracy. I particularly enjoyed the excellent curled ball he played up the sideline just two minutes into the game. While he wasn’t as culpable as Rodrigo Schlegel on Fafa Picault’s opening goal, he wasn’t blameless either, and neither player covered themselves in glory on the sequence. He did commit one foul but avoided picking up a yellow card, which isn’t exactly a foregone conclusion for him, so that was some silver lining.
D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 5.5 — Schlegel partnered Jansson in defense as he has for most of the young season. He was busy on the stat sheet with two tackles, four clearances, and 84.6% passing accuracy with one long ball. Unfortunately, his most high profile contribution to the game came on Nashville’s opening goal when he fell asleep and allowed Picault to get in behind him to open the scoring. It was not good defending from him, and while he was mostly solid afterward — though it’s not clear how much his sliding challenge distracted Gallese on the second goal — his first lapse ended up costing the Lions dearly. He also picked up a yellow card shortly after the halftime break and had to play more carefully as a result.
D, Kyle Smith, 6 — Like Petrasso, it was a fairly anonymous performance from The Accountant. He passed with 86% accuracy and completed three key passes, and it was nice to see him making that contribution offensively, although he was only one-for-five on his crossing attempts. He won two aerial duels, and made one tackle, while being fouled once and picking up a yellow card for a shoving match with Picault in the second half.
MF, Felipe , 5.5 — Felipe was given the start and asked to play the double pivot in deep central midfield alongside Cesar Araujo, presumably in an effort to gum up the play of the always dangerous duo of Mukhtar and C.J. Sapong. It worked to a degree. He recorded a tackle, an interception, a shot and a completed dribble while passing at an 84% clip. With that being said, he was the one who committed the foul on Mukhtar which led to the Nashville goal. The foul in itself wasn’t a cardinal sin as it stopped a Nashville break, but he maybe should have tried to get in front of the German playmaker and tried to delay the set piece being taken as quickly as it was, though he was by no means the worst offender on that particular goal conceded.
MF, Cesar Araujo, 6 — Araujo did plenty of dirty work in the match, but was able to flash an offensive side of his game as well. He passed with a whopping 99% accuracy, recorded two tackles, one clearance, two shots, a completed dribble and was fouled three times while committing three of his own. It was a shame he was unable to stay on his feet when the ball found him in the box in the first half, as he had a good opportunity to shoot, but his slip was fairly emblematic of Orlando’s night as a whole.
MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 6 — Pererya was largely freed of defensive responsibilities with Felipe deployed as the eight, and that was reflected in his stat line. The captain took one shot, passed with 84% accuracy, had three key passes, two long balls, was fouled twice, and chipped in with two tackles defensively. Unfortunately, he and the rest of his offensive teammates couldn’t find the final ball to unlock Nashville defensively, especially once the first goal went in and the visitors started to bunker more heavily.
MF, Martin Ojeda, 6 — As has become customary for him, Ojeda took the most shots out of anyone in an Orlando City shirt, with six. Two went on target, one was blocked and the other three were off target, but he isn’t shy about having a pop when the opportunity presents itself. He also passed with 88% accuracy, had one key pass and one interception while committing one foul. For the most part, the final ball just wouldn’t present itself for anyone in a purple shirt, and he was no exception.
MF, Ivan Angulo, 6.5 (MotM) — Angulo was his usual active self in this one. He had Orlando’s best chance of the game in the 17th minute when he turned on a ball in the box and fired a low shot towards the far corner that forced Joe Willis into an excellent kick save. He took three shots on the night, putting one on target, one off, and having the final one blocked. He also passed with 89% accuracy and had a key pass, and he won a lone aerial duel and made one clearance. On the disciplinary side of things he was fouled once and committed one foul of his own.
F, Ramiro Enrique, 5.5 — Enrique was given the start up top and was not shy about running and using his high energy levels. Defensively he contributed one clearance and committed a foul. On the offensive end of things he took two shots, putting one on target and had the other one blocked, while also passing with 88% accuracy and notching a key pass. He had a great chance to get Orlando level when Petrasso’s cutback found him in the second half, but he could only fire low into Joe Willis’ body with a shot he really should have done better with.
Substitutes
MF, Facundo Torres (45′), 6 — Deployed only as a second half substitute, Torres still managed to get involved. He finished his night with two shots, one on target and one off target, and also had a key pass and drew a foul on the offensive end. He passed with 89% accuracy, completed two long balls, and contributed one tackle and one interception on the defensive end. His introduction gave the Lions a spark, but it ultimately wasn’t enough to get them on the scoresheet.
MF, Gaston Gonzalez (78′), N/A — Gonzalez came in with under a quarter of an hour to play as Oscar Pareja threw the kitchen sink at Nashville to try to get a result. He didn’t record any defensive statistics but passed with 78% accuracy, was fouled once, and completed one dribble.
MF, Duncan McGuire (81′), N/A — Like Gonzalez, McGuire entered the fray late to try to help chase a result. He completed all three of his passes, one of which was a key one, won one aerial duel, and took one headed shot, which he put on target.
MF, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson (82′), N/A — Thorhallsson was another sub late with OCSC chasing the game. He completed all three of his passes and committed two fouls, but was otherwise unable to impact proceedings.
That’s how I saw the individual performances in the tough home loss to Nashville SC. Let me know how you saw things in the comments, and be sure to vote in the Man of the Match poll below.
Orlando City
Orlando City Relies on Starters More Than Any Other MLS Team
An analysis of Óscar Pareja’s early lineup choices and substitution patterns and how that compares to the 2024 season.
Legendary swordsman Inigo Montoya, a man who is not lefthanded, once opened a conversation by asking the Dread Pirate Roberts if, by any chance, he had six fingers on his right hand. Nobody will need to prepare to die by the end of this column, but I will ask a similar question: I don’t mean to pry, but did you by any chance happen to realize that we are already more than one-sixth of the way through the MLS regular season? Six fingers, one-sixth of the season…close enough. Let’s go.
Time flies when you are having fun, and somehow Orlando City has already played 540 minutes of MLS soccer this season. I consider 500 minutes played to be a cutoff amount when looking at player and lineup performance, and with the conclusion of the most recent game in Los Angeles, the team has now surpassed that 500-minute threshold.
In looking at the opening 540 minutes, I was surprised to see how much continuity I found in the minutes played, considering how many injuries the Lions have had to work around during these first six games. In just the first six games, Orlando City has already had full games missed due to injury by César Araujo (1), David Brekalo (2), Robin Jansson (2), Duncan McGuire (3) and Nico Rodriguez (5). Brekalo and Pedro Gallese both missed a game for international duty as well. McGuire was not expected back during the first set of games, but all of those other players, with the possible exception of Rodriguez, were expected to contribute during the early part of the season.
These absences led to games where the substitutes list was full of players who will play big minutes for Orlando City B this year, but not players who Óscar Pareja was likely to turn to off the bench unless the game was out of hand or he was absolutely desperate. According to Opta’s tracking through the opening six games, Orlando City ranks last in MLS in the average minutes played by its substitutes, as the average amount of time per appearance for the players off the bench for the Lions is only 12 minutes. For context, 16 teams have an average amount of time per substitute appearance of 20 minutes or greater, and Inter Miami and Toronto are tied with a league-leading 27 minutes per substitute appearance.
The interesting thing about those two teams, Miami and Toronto, is that Miami leads the league in points per match with 2.6 and Toronto is second from the bottom with a scant 0.33 points per match. I think a lot of this data will even out over time, as right now there are several teams, including Miami, that are playing in multiple competitions and trying to keep players fresh for all of their matches.
When it comes to Orlando City, however, that is not the case, and thus far there has just been the standard one game per week on six consecutive Saturdays. The players are rested for each game. The issue has just been that Pareja has not had the depth and variety of players he thought he would have to bring off the bench to protect a lead or chase a deficit.
We often joke in articles or on The Mane Land PawedCast about how “Óscar gonna Óscar,” and once he finds a lineup he likes, he sticks with it. Even with all the injuries he has somehow managed to do this again this season, as you can see from the chart below. I started tracking lineup data last season, and even though the 2025 season is only six games old and there have been so many absences from key players this season, it was striking to see that the 11-man lineup that has played the most minutes together this season already outranks all but two lineups from the entire 2024 MLS season (including the five playoff games!):
Now, it is a little unfair to the one 2025 lineup on the above chart that it has such a negative goal differential per 90 minutes, because if it is only the 10 field players, with goalkeeper excluded, then that lineup has played 215 minutes together and has a +0.84 goal differential per 90 minutes. That group is +4 with Javier Otero in net in 74 minutes together, and removing the goalkeepers from the calculation turns that negative goal differential into a positive.
What that also tells us, however, is that when it comes to the 10 field players, Pareja has played the same unit in the field for 40% (215/540) of the team’s minutes already. Granted it is early in the season, but after six MLS games last season, the lineup that had played together the most had played a grand total of 74 minutes together (14% of all minutes). The top five most used lineups in last season’s opening six MLS games combined to play 302 minutes, or 56% of all minutes, and in 2025 it is 402 minutes, or 80%. My math, and everyone else’s math, says that is a much higher percentage and indicates that the team is focused on continuity early.
That continuity thus far this season has paid dividends, with the Lions earning 10 points from the first six games, twice as nice as last season’s five points after the first six games. Last year, the team was balancing midweek Concacaf Champions Cup games in addition to injuries and an international break during the opening weeks of the MLS season, so there were some good reasons for the lineup rotation and the slow start. This year’s squad will have to navigate two upcoming cup tournaments in the coming months, and so we likely will see a lot of new lineup configurations or more rotation once the U.S. Open Cup starts in May and then again when Leagues Cup starts in July.
Thus far though, Pareja has been able to stick with his starters deep into matches, and has only given playing time to 20 players, which is tied for third fewest across all of MLS. Fan bases often clamor for the coach to “play the kids,” but while Pareja has had young and inexperienced players on the senior roster for every game, he really has only given significant minutes to Alex Freeman from the group of players that could be referred to as “the kids.” Gustavo Caraballo has played nine minutes, which is incredible for a 16-year-old (15-year-old Cavan Sullivan of Philadelphia is the only player younger than Caraballo to have played this season, and he has also played only nine minutes), and new signing Nico Rodriguez (20 years old) has played 11 minutes, but the next three youngest players to play are all at least 22 and were with the senior club last season (Otero and Ramiro Enrique) or came to the club after four seasons of college soccer (23-year-old, but nearly 24-year-old, Joran Gerbet).
The team’s record thus far shows that Pareja has been right to limit the minutes to the small group of players he trusts, and with one game per week for the next six weeks it will be interesting to see if the early trend of starters playing long minutes and only a few players getting all the minutes off the bench continues. The next match is on the road against Philadelphia, which so rudely came into Orlando and defeated the Lions 4-2 in the season opener, and my expectation is that while we likely will not see any players make their season debut in this game, I do think we will see a different starting lineup than the season opener and probably a different one than the game last weekend against the Galaxy.
No matter who the Lions go with, I am sure they will want to avenge the season-opening loss and bring three points back home to Orlando.
As we wish.
Vamos Orlando!
Orlando City
Orlando City at Philadelphia Union: Three Keys to Victory
What do the Lions need to do to earn all three points on the road against Philly?
Orlando City is on the road yet again, this time heading to Pennsylvania to take on the Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park Saturday night. The Lions will look to get a second road win in a row after the smash-and-grab victory against the LA Galaxy. Things don’t get any easier with the Union sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference, but a win would catapult Orlando City above Philadelphia in the standings. Here’s what Orlando City needs to do to earn all three points against the Philadelphia Union.
Tie up Tai
Tai Baribo leads the way-too-early-to-call Golden Boot race with six goals in five matches. The Union striker has taken 13 shots, putting eight on target and the aforementioned six in the back of the net. He scored a brace in the season opener against Orlando to bag a third of those goals. It’s a pretty easy call to say stopping the league leader in goals is an important part of shutting down the Philadelphia attack.
It will be up to Cesar Araujo and whichever center back pairing we get to shut Baribo down. Of course, he’s not the only one the Lions need to worry about since the Union also have striker Mikael Uhre, and midfielders Daniel Gazdag and Jovan Lukic providing goals and assists. The point is that Philadelphia is second only to the Lions in offensive production with 13 goals compared to Orlando City’s 15 goals.
Formation Change
In the last match against the LA Galaxy, the Lions struggled to get things going with Luis Muriel up top, Ojeda at the No. 10 spot and Ivan Angulo on the left. Once Duncan McGuire came on, Muriel shifted back, Ojeda went wide, and Angulo subbed off. That really opened up the attack and allowed the Lions to get the two goals needed to secure the victory.
Perhaps Oscar Pareja could start things off like that against Philadelphia. Angulo hasn’t been great the last few matches, and perhaps some time on the bench will get his head straight. McGuire is still early in his return from injury, but Ramiro Enrique can start up top with Big Dunc coming in later as he has the last few matches. I think making this change could help Orlando City get an early goal on the road.
Vengeance is Thine
When the two teams met on opening day, the Union dropped four goals on Orlando City in Inter&Co Stadium. You would think it a completely dominating performance, but the Lions actually had more shots, more shots on target, and more possession than the Union. Philadelphia simply put each of its four shots on target past Pedro Gallese. That type of luck is unlikely to happen again.
Since that time, the Orlando City defense has stiffened — at least a little bit — and the team has been more difficult to break down. I’m not saying the defense is as stalwart as last season, but it has improved. Orlando City needs to use that four-goal drubbing at the hands of the Union to galvanize the defense to enact revenge with a multi-goal victory of its own.
That is what I will be looking for Saturday night. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!
Lion Links
Lion Links: 4/3/25
Martin Ojeda in the MLS MVP mix early, Orlando Pride players won’t play for Zambia this window, Tierna Davidson out for the NWSL season, and more.
How’s it going, Mane Landers? I hope this week has been going well for you as we gear up for a busy Saturday filled to the brim with soccer to enjoy. Despite my blender’s protests, I’ve finally figured out how to make frozen coconut mojitos and plan on having those get me through the rest of the week. Before we dive into today’s links, let’s all wish a happy 28th birthday to Orlando City legend Rodrigo Schlegel!
Martin Ojeda’s MVP Credentials
Orlando City’s Martin Ojeda placed second in Sacha Kljestan’s MLS MVP power rankings this week. With four goals and three assists so far this season, Ojeda leads the league in goal contributions and is a major reason why the Lions have scored a league-high 15 goals. It’s great to see the 26-year-old take the reins of the offense after Facundo Torres’ departure. Inter Miami’s Luis Suarez tops Kljestan’s rankings, despite only having a goal in five games this season. Tai Baribo, Evander, and Lionel Messi round out the top five in what could be an interesting MVP race this year.
Pride Players Won’t Join Zambia For International Duty
Zambia will be without four NWSL players when it takes part in the Yongchuan International Tournament in China this month. Along with Bay FC forward Rachael Kundananji, Orlando Pride trio Barbra Banda, Grace Chanda, and Prisca Chilufya were withdrawn from international duty, with the Football Association of Zambia stating it was due to additional travel measures by the current U.S. administration. FAZ General Secretary Reuben Kamanga expects the quartet to be available for future matches and both Banda and Kundananji played in friendlies in Zambia in February. Restrictions like this may limit the appeal of the NWSL to foreign players in the future.
Fan Banned For Hateful Language Towards Banda
NJ/NY Gotham FC announced that the fan who directed hateful language towards Banda has been banned following an investigation that included interviewing witnesses and reviewing security footage. The incident took place at the Pride’s match against Gotham on March 23 at Sports Illustrated Stadium. The fan was found to be in violation of the NWSL Code of Conduct and their season ticket was revoked as well. Gotham also encouraged fans to report inappropriate behavior through the team’s encrypted text message service to inform the stadium’s incident management team.
USWNT Defender Tierna Davidson Out for the NWSL Season
American center back Tierna Davidson will miss the remainder of the 2025 NWSL season after tearing the ACL in her left knee in the club’s draw against the Houston Dash. It’s tough news for her, Gotham, and the United States Women’s National Team, as she captains the NWSL club and featured heavily in the Olympics last year. Davidson sustained an ACL injury in her right knee back in 2022, which contributed to her missing out on the 2023 World Cup. Gisele Thompson replaced Davidson for the USWNT’s upcoming friendlies with Brazil, and Pride defender Emily Sams will likely receive more playing time as the team prepares for the 2027 World Cup.
Free Kicks
- Orlando City received $100,000 in General Allocation Money in exchange for former academy goalkeeper Zack Campagnolo’s Homegrown Player rights. The Lions will receive another $100,000 in GAM if conditions are met, and they retain a sell-on percentage if Campagnolo is transferred.
- San Diego FC added Milan Iloski on loan from FC Nordsjaelland in Denmark through July of this year. Iloski is a San Diego native and won the USL Golden Boot for Orange County SC in 2022.
- New England Revolution midfielder Carles Gil won MLS Goal of the Matchday for his free kick against the New York Red Bulls.
- El Farolito SC, which is named after a burrito chain and bar local to San Francisco, has reached the third round of the U.S. Open Cup for the second straight year. The National Premier Soccer League side took down Monterey Bay FC to reach this point of the tournament.
- Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 to book its ticket to the Copa del Rey final, where it will face rival Real Madrid on April 26.
That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a terrific Thursday and rest of your week!
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