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Orlando City vs. Colorado Rapids: Final Score 2-0 as Lions Extend Unbeaten Run to Six Games

Facundo Torres and Ramiro Enrique scored and the Rapids had two men sent off in an eventful match.

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11 months ago

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Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Facundo Torres and Ramiro Enrique scored and the Rapids had two men sent off as the Lions beat Colorado 2-0 in front of an announced crowd of 18, 711 at Exploria Stadium. Orlando City (7-4-5, 26 points) posted consecutive wins for the first time in 2023 and extended their unbeaten streak to six games (3-0-3) with the victory over the Rapids (2-9-7, 13 points).

Orlando improved to 4-0-0 at home in the all-time series and 5-1-2 overall.

“We’re very pleased and excited just to get three points in front of our fans,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “That was something that we had in our mind today — winning at home and just getting that confidence back. It’s not an easy job. I think we’re going to increase it for sure with time, but today it was very necessary to get this win and performance.”

Pareja’s starting lineup remained unchanged, with Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, and Kyle Smith. Cesar Araujo and Wilder Cartagena played in the central midfield behind an attacking line of Ivan Angulo, Mauricio Pereyra, and Torres, with Ercan Kara up top.

The match was delayed about 50 minutes due to inclement weather and whether it was the delay or the wet pitch, Orlando’s passing was not sharp throughout the opening half. And when the passes did arrive as intended, they weren’t handled cleanly.

The Lions started brightly, winning a corner kick just 19 seconds into the game, but the Rapids handled Orlando’s crosses well and even some dangerous-looking balls into the area never reached the target. Torres took a pass near the penalty spot in the eighth minute, turned, and fired a shot but hit his effort right at Colorado goalkeeper Marko Ilic.

Two minutes later, Cartagena sent too soft a back pass and it was picked off, but Jansson made a great open-field tackle to snuff out Colorado’s transition opportunity.

Kara headed just over the bar in the 12th minute after getting onto a good cross from Santos.

Cole Bassett took a shot from distance that was right at Gallese in the 14th minute and Colorado started to grow into the match, earning some set pieces and a yellow card on Carlos for a foul on Kevin Cabral. Carlos will miss the next match due to yellow card accumulation.

The game took a turn in the 39th minute when Braian Galvan caught Angulo with a high boot, studs first, and he was sent off.

Orlando’s best chance of the half came in stoppage time when Smith sent a cross into the box and Pereyra directed it on goal but again the shot was straight at the goalkeeper.

Orlando City finished the half with more possession (59.7%-40.3%), shots (7-2), shots on target (2-1), and passing accuracy (85.3%-79.4%). Both teams won two corners.

Pareja made a couple of changes at the break, replacing Carlos with Rodrigo Schlegel and Cartagena with Martin Ojeda. He said the defensive change was to protect Carlos due to him being on the yellow, while Ojeda’s introduction was a tactical change to move Pereyra deeper and add a forward against the shorthanded Rapids.

Those changes paid dividends, as Schlegel made three outstanding open-field tackles in his 45 minutes of work, and Enrique provided the knockout blow late in the game.

The Lions came out on the front foot in the second half, looking to take advantage of their man advantage. Kara tried to flick a cross inside the back post just after the restart but didn’t get enough of the ball and it skipped wide in the 47th minute.

After a couple of dangerous crosses fizzed through the six-yard box in the 55th minute, just needing a touch but not getting one, the Lions finally opened the scoring. Pereyra sent the ball to Torres near the top of the area. The Uruguayan international smashed a shot that deflected off defender Andreas Maxsø and in to make it 1-0 in the 56th minute. It was Torres’ team-leading fifth goal of the MLS season and his third in two matches.

“I see much more conviction of him,” Pareja said of Torres, who has three goals and two assists in the last two matches. “The responsibility that these young guys have on their shoulders, and knowing that when we don’t score goals, everybody looks at them, and they feel it, right? But they kept working and Facundo has been outstanding in the last few games, especially because scoring is obviously what we need the most. So, happy for Facu and hopefully we can keep increasing from everybody that part that we’re looking for, just being more lethal.”

Torres got to the end line in the 65th minute and cut back a pass to Kara at the near post, but the Austrian had no room to squeeze his shot between Ilic and the post and his attempt went wide anyway. Three minutes later, Angulo worked his way from the left and fired a shot but Lalas Abubakar deflected it and it popped up gently for an easy catch by Ilic.

Torres nearly had a brace in the 71st minute. He fired a shot from the top of the box that sizzled just wide of the right post after taking a slight deflection. The Lions couldn’t do anything with the ensuing corner.

The Rapids went down another man in the 75th minute. Abubakar, who was booked early in the match, was beaten by Angulo about 35 yards out from goal. The big defender grabbed Angulo and brought him down to prevent a transition opportunity, despite having decent coverage behind him. Referee Rosendo Mendoza showed him a second yellow and Colorado was down to nine men.

“For us, it’s more pressure (being up a man or two), because we know that we were leading the game, and we have one more player and then two,” Pereyra said. “We know we cannot concede a goal, but that’s our responsiblity.”

Pareja bolstered his attack moments later by bringing on Enrique for Smith, moving Angulo to right back against the outnumbered Rapids.

Pereyra nearly put the game away in the 81st, smashing a shot from outside the area that was headed for the upper left corner. Ilic made an outstanding save to tip it wide of his post.

The insurance goal came only two minutes later. Araujo brought the ball up through the middle and sent it wide to Torres on the right. Torres dribbled toward the corner of the box and with Kara dragging defenders toward the six-yard box, the Uruguayan found Enrique at the top of the area. Enrique took a step to his right to improve his angle and fired a blast into the bottom right corner. The Lions led 2-0 in the 83rd minute.

Enrique called the goal “a great moment.”

“Facu was out on the wing with the ball and we were just trying to bring into the area,” Enrique said through a club interpreter. “I saw the forwards go up and take the focus of the center backs, so I just kind of dropped back and hoped that Facu was going to play the ball there. And thankfully he did, and I hit it, and thankfully it went in, and just a lot of joy in that moment for it to finally come.”

The game started to open up unexpectedly after the second goal. Colorado fashioned a chance to pull back a goal in the 85th minute, getting the ball in front of goal but the defense deflected the ball out for a Rapids corner. Kara tried a shot from distance in the 87th that didn’t miss the left post by much and had Ilic diving on the play. Gallese made a save a minute later on Darren Yapi to preserve the shutout.

From there, the Lions saw out the match. Pareja subbed Alejandro Granados on late for his first MLS appearance. The OCB midfielder was signed Friday to a short-term agreement and in just a few minutes on the pitch managed nine touches, a shot attempt (which was blocked), and completed six of his seven pass attempts.

Orlando City had 70% of the second-half possession to finish with the advantage (65%-35%). The Lions also had more shot attempts (15-4), shots on goal (6-2), corners (5-3), and passing accuracy (89.4%-81.5%).

Gallese kept a clean sheet in his 100th game with Orlando City across all competitions. About the only thing that went wrong in the second half was Smith picking up a yellow card and he’ll be suspended for accumulation for the next match.

“The second half we could have been probably more aggressive, but the boys were were cautious about just closing the game,” Pareja said. “And this is something that we carry on our shoulders, and I understand that. Even me. We needed to win today and that happened, so we’re happy. We’ll keep increasing and getting our performances better. That’s what we’re aiming for.”

The Lions will head north next Saturday to face the New England Revolution for the first time this season. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

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Orlando City

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

How did your favorite Lions perform in Orlando City’s home loss to Toronto FC?

Published

10 hours ago

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April 30, 2024

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

Orlando City was on its way to three points Saturday night before a late collapse saw the Lions lose 2-1 to Toronto FC at home. It’s a tough loss in a season that has seen an unexpected start with the Lions sitting near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Here’s how I saw the individual performances for the Lions in this difficult loss.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 5.5 — Gallese’s form has definitely dropped this year, though he was one of the best goalkeepers in the league over the past four seasons. He was solid for the first 87 minutes, saving the two shots he faced, but then the wheels came off for the Lions. Toronto scored two goals when defenders left players wide open in the box. Gallese probably could’ve done better with Prince Owusu’s winner, but there was a difficult change of direction on the bounce, and the forward should’ve had somebody on him. Apart from his goalkeeping, Gallese completed 61.9% of his 21 passes, including seven of his 15 long balls, and recorded a clearance.

D, Rafael Santos, 6 — Santos had a solid game against Toronto. His 62 touches were the fourth-most on the team and he completed 90.7% of his 43 passes. The starting left back didn’t complete his lone cross but connected on two of his four long balls. He had a shot of his own, putting it on target. Defensively, Santos recorded a tackle, interception, and clearance before being replaced by Kyle Smith in the 71st minute.

D, David Brekalo, N/A — Brekalo had a short night as he was injured early in the game. In the fourth minute, he collided with Owusu and required treatment for his knee. The center back attempted to continue, but eventually had to come off in the 16th minute, replaced by Rodrigo Schlegel. He only had 12 touches in the game and completed 90.9% of his 11 passes. The only defensive stat he recorded was winning an aerial duel. He wasn’t on the field long enough to fairly give him a grade.

D, Robin Jansson, 6 — Jansson was terrific for most of this game. He recorded a team-high 88 touches and completed 84% of his team-high 75 passes, which included six of 13 long balls. His excellent ball forward for Facundo Torres in the 37th minute led to the Lions’ goal. Defensively, he led the team with three tackles, three clearances, two blocked shots, and two aerial duels won.

D, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, 5.5 — Thorhallsson took his regular spot at right back and recorded 53 touches on the night. He completed 88.6% of his 35 passes, but didn’t connect on either of his two crosses or three long balls. He took a shot in the game, but it was off target. Defensively, he added a tackle, a blocked shot, and a successful aerial duel. Unfortunately, his most impactful part of the game was failing to cover Owusu at the back post, leaving the forward wide open to head in the game-winning goal.

MF, Cesar Araujo, 6 — Araujo had a solid performance against Toronto, recording 61 touches. He completed 83.7% of his 49 passes, including three of his six long balls and his lone through ball. Defensively, he added a team-high three tackles, an interception, a blocked shot, and an aerial duel won.

MF, Wilder Cartagena, 6.5 — Cartagena had one of his better games in this one, recording the second-most touches on the team with 71. He completed 88.7% of his 62 passes, including two of his three long balls. Defensively, he added a team-high three tackles, a clearance, and won an aerial duel, while taking one off-target shot.

MF, Ivan Angulo, 6 — Angulo had 51 touches against Toronto and completed 91.7% of his 36 passes. He completed one of his two long balls, but didn’t connect on his only cross attempt. His lone shot was off target, and he helped defensively by intercepting a team-high two opposition passes.

MF, Facundo Torres, 6.5 (MotM) — Torres had an excellent performance in this game, recording 51 touches. While he only completed 75% of his 32 passes, he connected on two of his three crosses and played a perfect ball for Duncan McGuire in the 37th minute, enabling him to tap home the opening goal. The attacking midfielder nearly got one for himself in the 73rd minute from distance, forcing Sean Johnson into a good save. Similar to Angulo, Torres helped out defensively with two tackles and an interception.

MF, Martin Ojeda, 6 — Ojeda had 36 touches in 60 minutes and completed 92.3% of his 26 passes. He connected on one of his two long balls, but neither of his two crosses. He took one shot in the game, but failed to hit the target before being replaced by Nico Lodeiro.

F, Duncan McGuire, 6 — McGuire scored the Lions’ lone goal in this game and was nearly the outright hero. He touched the ball 22 times and completed 63.4% of his 14 passes. However, strikers are judged on goals and McGuire scored the opener when he got on the end of Torres’ cross in the 37th minute. He nearly had a second in first-half stoppage time when he brought down an Ojeda cross well and slammed it into the far side netting. Unfortunately, he was just offside. He was replaced by Luis Muriel in the 71st minute.

Substitutes

D, Rodrigo Schlegel (16’), 6.5 — Schlegel came on in the 16th minute when Brekalo went off injured and, despite not expecting to play that many minutes, was very good. His 71 touches were tied for the second most on the team and he completed 88.1% of his 59 passes, including two of his four long balls. Defensively, he had a team-high three tackles, an interception, and a team-high six clearances.

MF, Nico Lodeiro (60’), 6 — Lodeiro came on for Ojeda in the 60th minute and recorded 31 touches in a half hour of action. He completed 76.5% of his 17 passes, including a key pass and both long balls, but none of his three crosses. He also had a tackle defensively and didn’t take any shots.

D, Kyle Smith (71’), 5.5 — Smith came on in the 71st minute to help see out the game, replacing Santos. He touched the ball 19 times and completed 88.9% of his nine passes, including a key pass, his only cross, and his only long ball. The purpose of his inclusion was to help defensively and he recorded three tackles, an interception, and a clearance. However, he allowed clean crosses on both late Toronto goals and struggled to track Kobe Franklin and Federico Bernardeschi on Orlando’s left flank.

F, Luis Muriel (71’), 6 — Muriel came on for McGuire in the 71st minute, playing a deeper role. He recorded 21 touches and completed 64.3% of his 14 passes, including a key pass. He had two tackles defensively, but didn’t take any shots in 19 minutes of action.

That’s how I saw the performances for Orlando City in its 2-1 loss to Toronto FC Saturday night. Let us know how you saw the game and vote on your Man of the Match below.

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 4/30/24

Luana’s season ends with Hodgkins Lymphoma diagnosis, San Diego linked with Chucky Lozano, U.S. and Mexico withdraw 2027 World Cup bid, and more.

Published

15 hours ago

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April 30, 2024

By

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

Happy Tuesday, everyone. It was another busy weekend of Orlando soccer, and things aren’t going to slow down anytime soon. May is an absolutely packed month for all three teams, and the games will be coming thick and fast. We have a lot to discuss this morning, so let’s jump into the links.

Luana Diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

This week started off with some very sad news, as the Orlando Pride announced on Monday that midfielder Luana has been placed on the Season-Ending Injury list as a result of her being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The Brazilian international is starting chemotherapy treatments with the Orlando Health Cancer Institute. In a statement, Luana thanked both the Brazilian National Team and the Pride for the support she’s been receiving. Seb Hines and Rafaelle also spoke about how the team has been supporting Luana.

San Diego Reportedly Nears Deal for Chucky Lozano

The Athletic’s Tom Bogert has reported that San Diego FC is in advanced talks to sign Chucky Lozano ($) from PSV Eindhoven. The Dutch team is expected to receive a transfer fee in the area of $12 million, and Lozano would likely be the highest-profile player for the expansion team ahead of its maiden Major League Soccer season in 2025. While nothing is official, San Diego is said to be hopeful of getting a deal done before Copa America kicks off this summer.

U.S. and Mexico Withdraw 2027 Women’s World Cup Bid

The United States and Mexico have announced their decision to withdraw a joint bid for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, and instead focus on bidding for the 2031 edition of the tournament. The bid had made it to the final three of the selection process, in addition to a bid from Brazil and a joint effort from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlowe Cone cited a desire to have more time to prepare while also having the opportunity to learn from the experience of the joint effort of hosting the 2026 World Cup. As far as who will host in 2027, the decision will be made on May 17, with Germany having hosted a Women’s World Cup back in 2011, while Brazil would be the first South American nation to host the tournament.

English Premier League Approves Spending Cap

Premier League teams took the first step towards implementing a spending cap on Monday. While a final vote is still needed to ratify the proposed changes, Monday’s vote gave the green light to start the legal and economic studies needed to change to a spending cap model. The proposed cap would be based on how much the lowest earning Premier League team earns from television rights, and could be implemented for the 2025-2026 season. There were 16 teams that voted in favor of continuing the process of moving towards a salary cap, while Chelsea abstained from voting, and Manchester United, Manchester City, and Aston Villa voted against the motion.

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That does it for me this morning. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 4/29/24

Orlando City and OCB lose to Toronto, Pride beat the Spirit in Washington, EPL title race update, and more.

Published

2 days ago

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April 29, 2024

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City B / Mark Thor

Hello, Mane Landers. I hope all is well with you down in Florida. It was a mixed weekend for our teams, with the Pride winning, while Orlando City and OCB lost. I’ve been busy covering high school volleyball, badminton, and soccer throughout the past week. There is plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.

Lions Lose at Home to Toronto FC

Orlando City SC saw its four-match unbeaten streak come to an end, losing 2-1 to Toronto FC at Inter&Co Stadium on Saturday. Duncan McGuire scored the opening goal to put Orlando ahead in the first half. The Lions held on to the 1-0 lead until late in the second half, when goals from Tyrese Spicer and Prince Owusu put the Reds up 2-1, and they were able to hang on and walk out of Orlando with all three points. Toronto FC has won two in a row in league play and is fourth in the Eastern Conference with 16 points. Meanwhile, the Lions are in 13th with nine points. Orlando City will look to bounce back Saturday at home as it takes on FC Cincinnati.  

Pride Grab Road Win Over Washington Spirit

The Orlando Pride held on to defeat the Washington Spirit 3-2 at Audi Field Friday — their third straight victory. Angelina scored to put the Pride ahead in the first half, but the Spirit equalized just before halftime. Barbra Banda scored her first goal for the Pride, and Summer Yates added her third goal of the season, giving the Pride a 3-1 advantage in the second half. Ashley Hatch pulled one back for the Spirit on a howler by goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse, but the Pride keep their unbeaten streak alive at six matches (3-0-3). Orlando remains undefeated and is fourth in the NWSL table with 12 points. Next up for the Pride is a pair of home matches this week, starting Wednesday at home against the North Carolina Courage. Orlando will host Racing Louisville FC Sunday.

OCB Falls at Home to Toronto FC II

Like the first team, Orlando City B also lost 2-1 to Toronto FC II in its first home match at Osceola County Stadium. The Young Lions went down early in the match when Charles Sharp scored for Toronto FC II to take a 1-0 lead. Wilfredo Rivera scored the equalizer in the second half to tie the match, however, late in the second half, Jesus Batiz scored the game-winning goal to seal the win for Toronto. The Young Lions have yet to win a match at home, but has played well on the road this season and are on a four-match unbeaten streak away. The Young Lions will face MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference leaders Chattanooga FC Saturday at Finley Stadium. 

Manchester City and Arsenal Win to Keep EPL Title Race Close

The Premier League title race is going down to the wire as Manchester City and Arsenal won their matches over the weekend. Arsenal held on to defeat rival Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 in the North London Derby. That result moves Arsenal into first with 80 points with three matches remaining. Manchester City shut out Nottingham Forest 2-0 and is second, with 79 points and still four matches left to play. Liverpool dropped points to West Ham in a 2-2 draw, putting another blow to the Reds’ title chances and leaving them in third with 75 points and three matches left.  

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  • If you missed it, check out the first goal from Pride forward Barbra Banda.

That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday and I’ll see you next time.

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