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Orlando City vs. Seattle Sounders: Player Grades and Man of the Match

How did your favorite Lions perform in a 0-0 draw on the road against the Seattle Sounders?

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2 years ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

In a match that saw Orlando City pass the ball wherever and whenever it wanted, only to squander multiple scoring chances, the Lions ultimately drew 0-0 at the Seattle Sounders. The Lions struggled to find the frame, putting only three of 13 shots on target. The old adage says “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” but I would argue some of those shots just weren’t worth taking and some were flubbed so badly that I wish they weren’t taken either.

Here’s how I rated Orlando City’s individual performances at Lumen Field.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 7 — It is always great to get your first-choice goalkeeper back in the net. And you really remember how much you missed him once he’s called to action in the opening minutes. In total, Pedro made a couple saves across the course of 90 minutes and held the Sounders scoreless in a match that saw him face a 1.22 expected goals against stat line. His 30 passes only found their mark 43% of the time, which isn’t great for a team that usually depends on him to spring a counterattack. For his efforts keeping the ball out of the net and being an outlet for a drop ball to relieve the high pressure, El Pulpo was good enough, but didn’t need to be spectacular. His best save came in the first minute against Heber.

D, Rafael Santos, 6.5 — Santos was the cause of the aforementioned Gallese save in the first minute. He must have been worried about something he left on the team bus because Heber made it look like he still hadn’t gotten off of it to start the match. But perhaps that was the exact wake-up call that he needed. Santos had a decent defensive performance against the Sounders but struggled in the attack. Defensively, he recorded two tackles and a clearance while only giving up one foul. Offensively, he found himself on the ball 80 times, completing 81% of his 60 passes. He found his man with only one of his five long balls and was inaccurate on all three of his crosses. Ultimately, he defended well against those coming down his left wing. Overall, I think Santos can give himself a pat on the back as he boards the plane back to the east coast.

D, Robin Jansson, 6.5 — Sometimes we look back at the statistics from a match to try to help us remember what a player did that was notable. For Jansson, it is rare to not think of a single key moment where the Beefy Swede stepped up big for the team, but it wasn’t really required. With zero tackles or interceptions on the night, Jansson only offered a clearance, a pair of blocked shots, and a foul conceded. He completed 92% of his 39 passes, with three of five long balls also being accurate, and he also drew a yellow card on Cody Baker. The center back wasn’t the cause for a goal against or booked in the match, so that in itself is noteworthy.

D, Antonio Carlos, 7 — As the match came to a close and players began to shake hands, we saw the camera pan to Antonio Carlos sitting on the pitch with a trainer and players next to him. Hopefully, this was just the picture of a man disappointed to only draw after all his efforts and nothing more serious, but I think it was also a good depiction of what Carlos gave in the match. He used his body to block two shots and was hacked down once for a foul. The Brazilian had three clearances and won two aerial duels. With 51 touches, he passed at an 84% success across 45 attempts and was one-for-two on his long balls. Perhaps at the end of the match he was just feeling a bit tattered and torn for having gone the distance against a potent attack of Heber, Nicolas Lodeiro, Leo Chu, and Albert Rusnak.

D, Michael Halliday, 6 — The 20-year-old right back drew a tough assignment by having to keep up with Chu down the flank all night. Early on, it looked as if Chu made a meal of Mikey by drawing a penalty, but thankfully he was offside on the play. In the 48th minute, Chu created another opportunity getting behind Halliday and swinging in a dangerous cross. Aside from that, Halliday mostly held firm on the right side of the defense. With 48 touches, Halliday had one key pass in his 26 attempts (84% accuracy). He was accurate on one of three crosses, made four tackles, and added a clearance. Unfortunately, his night came to a close in the 70th minute when he pulled up mid-dribble, grabbing his hamstring in obvious pain. Hopefully, the severity of the injury won’t turn out to be too serious.

MF, Cesar Araujo, 6.5 — Only seven minutes in, we almost witnessed the spectacular. Araujo tried to channel his inner Jose Martinez from the midweek Philadelphia Union match and go full volley at the back post. For Araujo though, he realized just how rare it is for a defensive midfielder to convert on those, as his attempt hit the side netting on the wrong side of the post. For the rest of the match, Araujo was his regular workhorse self. He made a tackle, won an aerial, and intercepted the ball once, but was booked with his only foul in the match. He had 69 touches, attempted 53 passes (81% accuracy), missed both of his crossing attempts, and completed only one of his three long ball attempts. But he maintained his positioning well and Seattle created very little up the middle.

MF, Wilder Cartagena, 7.5 (MotM) — The Peruvian returned from international duty and put in a solid shift. During his absence, there was a distinct piece missing defensively in the midfield. While the statistics show he only made two tackles, won an aerial duel, and cleared once, Cartagena does so many little things off the ball that it is hard to mention them all. He subtly finds attackers like Rusnak coming through and cuts down passing lanes or offers a bit of his body to them as they try to collect a pass. While these things do not make the stat sheet, they do matter. A key pass, a dribble, and a foul conceded won’t get you in the conversation for Man of the Match alone — but 100% passing accuracy will on 41 attempts and going seven-for-seven on long balls in a crowded and talented Seattle midfield. Welcome back, Wilder Cartagena. You were missed.

MF, Ivan Angulo, 6.5 — Fresh off a loan extension, Angulo was once again lively and hoping to make an impact. He appeared to be a bit more of himself this match and perhaps understands how to handle the turf a little bit better now. His pace didn’t seem to be hampered and made good runs into the channels playing alongside Santos. He won a corner kick in the 35th minute that nearly turned into an Orlando City goal, but a great effort by Stefan Frei kept it out. Defensively, he only made two interceptions. Offensively, he made one key pass, one cross, one dribble, and passed at a 92% clip on 38 attempts.

MF, Facundo Torres, 7.5 — Facu was everywhere on the night. If he had found the net, he would be a shoo-in for Man of the Match. But ultimately, his lack of finesse left me wanting just a little bit more and while his grade ties Cartagena, I’m docking the nod at the award from him for it. In the 76th minute, he forced Frei to make a save with no chance to control the rebound, but the Lions missed a sitter off the deflection. In the 89th minute, Torres slid a shot wide of the far post. His night finished with one foul drawn, 100% completion on his two long balls, four of six on crossing accuracy, and four key passes, while distributing the ball with 79% accuracy on 39 attempts. Only one of his four shots ended up on target, and he earned himself a yellow card for something off camera in the 41st minute without committing a foul in the match.

MF, Martin Ojeda, 6 — For me, I thought Oscar Pareja couldn’t bring on Mauricio Pereyra soon enough. Ojeda was definitely on the pitch, but he wasn’t doing anything out there that made me want to see him play for a full 90 minutes. He blasted two shots, with neither on target, and was dispossessed twice. He only found himself on the ball 39 times, which is the second lowest among outfield starters. He passed 22 times at a 68% accuracy, with one key pass. Only two of eight crosses were successful, however, his saving grace might be that he was four-for-four on his long ball attempts. I’m still not seeing a great return on investment for Orlando’s latest Designated Player, but I’m willing to be patient. I just think he needs to earn his starting minutes still.

F, Duncan McGuire, 7 — The MAC Hermann Trophy winner continues to be the spark the club needs in the attack. He has great holdup play and can create chances for himself. His imposing size allows him to win balls in the air. This was once again proven in the 35th minute as he put a header on target in the bottom left corner. A great save by Frei is the only thing that kept McGuire off of the scoresheet. Frei made a save on another McGuire header in the 65th minute before he made way for Ramiro Enrique in the 70th minute. Duncan found himself on the ball 24 times, won two aerial duels, put both his shots on target, and attempted 11 passes at a 63% completion rate. He also offered a tackle, two clearances, and two fouls conceded.

Substitutes

MF, Mauricio Pereyra (57′), 6.5 — Brought on to maestro the midfield where Ojeda left the team lacking, Pereyra was eventually able to create some dangerous chances with his pinpoint passing. His vision and quality were on full display as he split the back line in the 89th minute to give Torres a free chance at goal. Torres ultimately pushed the shot wide, which seemed only fair after Pereyra missed his own tap-in that Facu created in the 76th minute. Pereyra had 34 touches (only five fewer than Ojeda) in his time on the field. He had two key passes and a badly missed shot. He passed 26 times with 80% accuracy and even added three interceptions defensively.

F, Ramiro Enrique (70′) 5.5 — There are certain truths in the world and one of them seems to be Ramiro Enrique’s lack of real impact coming off the bench. Why Kara wasn’t chosen after we saw McGuire use his body in the air to relevant success throughout the match is something I don’t understand. However, Pareja called up on the services of Enrique. For that, we witnessed 15 touches, one way-off-target shot, and a 70% passing accuracy on 10 attempts. Surprisingly, he won three aerials, so perhaps even the smaller stature Enrique has picked up a thing or two from the big men on the training ground.

D, Kyle Smith (70′) 6.5 — Brought on to replace an ailing Halliday, Smith didn’t miss a beat. He recorded 21 touches, a key pass, a dribble, a tackle, and two clearances. He completed just 61% of his 13 passes, going one-for-one on crosses and was accurate once on two attempted long balls.

MF, Felipe (83′) N/A — The changes in the 83rd minute were likely Pareja wanting to hold onto the point the Lions had earned on the road. Felipe won an aerial duel and added a tackle in his time on the pitch. He completed eight of his 10 passes but was inaccurate on his only long ball attempt.

MF, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson (83′) N/A — Dagur Dan was able to muster one shot and a tackle in his brief time on the field. Aside from that, he completed six of his eight passes.

That’s how I saw the performances in a draw against the Seattle Sounders on quick turnaround. It was great to have our Peruvians back, with one of them getting my personal Man of the Match honors. Be sure to cast your vote for this game’s Man of the Match in the poll below, and tell us your thoughts about this one down in the comments.

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Lion Links: 4/4/25

Orlando City gets ready for the Philadelphia Union, OCSC partners with Footy Access, USWNT prepares for Brazil, and more.

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5 hours ago

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April 4, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

Happy Friday! It may feel a bit like the calm before the storm today, as Orlando City, Orlando City B, and the United States Women’s National Team are all in action on Saturday. It all makes for a fun next few days and I’m looking forward to it and also watching some kart racing on Sunday. Let’s get to the links!

Orlando City Gets Ready For the Philadelphia Union

The Lions are back in action Saturday with an away game against the Philadelphia Union at 7:30 p.m. Orlando has won its past two games and leads the league with 15 goals this season. The Union remain near the top of the Eastern Conference, but have lost two of their past three games. Duncan McGuire detailed how healthy competition and a willingness to defend has the offense firing on all cylinders heading into this match.

This will also be a rematch of the season opener on Feb. 22 when the Union won 4-2 at Inter&Co Stadium. Philadelphia Union Head Coach Bradley Carnell spoke on how Orlando is a different team compared to that match due to changes on offense and center back Robin Jansson’s recovery from a knock.

Orlando City Partners With Footy Access

With the Generation Adidas Cup set to take place later this month, Orlando City has partnered with Footy Access, which is a media company focused on youth soccer. This collaboration means fans will be able to enjoy highlights and interviews from Orlando’s academy as it progresses through the tournament. I’m pretty excited about being able to see how well Orlando’s academy is doing.

MLS NEXT also announced that new rankings focused on development rather than results will be used for its U-13 and U-14 age groups. These rankings will use an analytical formula that measures game play and the caliber of offensive and defensive actions. There will also be encouragement for teams to have their own identities on how they want to play.

USWNT Prepares to Face Brazil in Friendlies

The United States Women’s National Team will take on Brazil on Saturday in the first of two friendlies this international break, with the second match set for Tuesday. These friendlies will be rematches of last year’s Olympic gold medal match, which the U.S. won 1-0. Marta has retired from international soccer, but Pride midfielder Angelina was called up for these friendlies, along with former Pride forward Adriana. Lorena, who has only conceded one goal in three games for the Kansas City Current this season, will likely get the start in goal for Brazil behind a talented back line anchored by Tarciane. The USWNT will need to find ways to limit attacking threats like Kerolin and Gabi Portilho as well. These should be matches, with familiar faces on both sides for Orlando fans.

U.S. Set to Host 2031 Women’s World Cup

It looks like the 2031 Women’s World Cup will be held in the U.S., as FIFA President Gianni Infantino stated that the only bid came from the U.S. and potentially other Concacaf nations. The U.S., which withdrew from hosting the 2027 World Cup, would be the first country to host the tournament three times and last hosted it in 2007. The United Kingdom was also revealed as the lone valid bid to host the 2035 World Cup and it would be the first time the tournament is hosted there.

Free Kicks

  • Shout out to Orlando City’s U-19 team for its title win and securing a spot in the MLS NEXT Cup playoffs.

That’s all for this fine Friday, I hope you all have a fantastic day and a relaxing weekend!

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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.

Published

24 hours ago

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April 3, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

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!

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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?

Published

1 day ago

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April 3, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

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!

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