Orlando City
Orlando City vs. New York City FC: Five Takeaways
What did we learn from Orlando City’s 1-1 home draw against NYCFC?
Orlando City was riding a four-game winning streak when the Lions returned home for their second match of the season against New York City FC. The Lions were looking to avenge their most recent loss, which coincidentally came against the same opponent, however, despite taking the lead in the second half, the team was unable to gain to all three points at home.
The good news is that Orlando City kept its unbeaten streak alive. What follows are our five tawkways from a 1-1 draw.
Squad “Rotation” on the Wing
Despite Orlando playing its third game in eight days, Head Coach Oscar Pareja only made a single change to the lineup, substituting Nicolas Lodeiro for Facundo Torres. This did not cause much of a change in game plan as the veteran midfielder slotted into Torres’ usual position. Lodeiro provided a few quality runs in the first half but was otherwise ineffective in the buildup with his fellow attacking players against a compact and organized NYCFC defense. He was substituted off for Torres in the second half and the Orlando City attack appeared to show a bit more bite with the youthful Designated Player back on the pitch, but that may have less to do with the personnel change than figuring the opponent out, as Lodeiro and Torres finished with virtually the same number of touches (the official stat packet had both with 29, while whoscored.com gave Torres 31 to Lodeiro’s 29). Both players finished with one key pass, while Torres had one off-target shot, while Lodeiro did not record an attempt.
Defensive Struggle
The match wasn’t an advertisement for the excitement of the game of soccer in the first half. There were few shots and even fewer decent chances in the opening 45 minutes. Whether this was an intentional cagey start from both teams, the fact they were playing in the Florida heat in their third matches in eight days, or both, the opening 45 minutes produced only six total shots, and none of them were big chances. Pedro Gallese had to make two saves to Matt Freese’s one. The game was a bit more open in the second half, but both teams’ defenses played well. Cesar Araujo stood out by dispossessing NYCFC’s most dangerous attacking threat, Santiago Rodriguez, on multiple occasions. Araujo finished with four tackles and nine ball recoveries.
Red-Hot Ramiro
Ramiro Enrique kept up his hot streak by putting the Lions ahead in the second half on the slightest of touches. The age-old adage of ‘put the ball on target and good things will happen’ rang true in the 52nd minute on the breakthrough goal of the match. Martin Ojeda drove toward the top of the penalty area and fired the ball on target. A shot that looked to be heading toward an easy block by the defender or a save by Freese deflected off Enrique’s foot, catching the NYCFC goalkeeper leaning the wrong way. The goal gave Orlando a 1-0 lead at the time. Enrique has now scored in four straight matches and the Lions are undefeated over that stretch (3-0-1). While Duncan McGuire is away representing the United States in the Olympics, and with a potential transfer looming during the MLS secondary window, Enrique’s surge couldn’t come at a better time.
Cartagena Coughs Up the Lead
Orlando City didn’t lead long. Just five minutes after Enrique’s opener, the Lions gifted the visitors a tying goal. NYCFC had pressed Orlando high much of the game, and although the Lions mostly figured out how to deal with it, it was Wilder Cartagena’s blind pass just outside his own area that proved costly. The usually secure Peruvian took the ball while facing goal, turned, and sent a blind pass to the right, looking for fullback Dagur Dan Thorhallsson. However, he didn’t account for Rodriguez, who didn’t even have to move to intercept the ball. Rodriguez switched the play quickly to Alonso Martinez on the right, creating an overload against an Orlando defense that thought it was transitioning forward. Martinez played in Hannes Wolf on the right. Pedro Gallese tried to come out and pressure the shot, but Wolf calmly chipped it over the goalkeeper and inside the far post to tie the match in the 57th minute.
Foiled By Freese
Sometimes you simply have to tip your hat to a good performance by the opponent. Saturday night produced such a time, as Orlando City had a couple of good looks that New York City FC’s goalkeeper stopped. Cartagena and Enrique each had a good opportunity denied by good diving stops by Freese, who has excellent lateral movement. Enrique had a good shot at a brace when he blasted a shot from outside the area in the 67th minute. The shot was toward the right side of the net, and Enrique hit it with a lot of pace, but he didn’t quite get it far enough toward the corner. Still, Freese did well to get his left hand to it moving to his left, to keep it out. Cartagena nearly atoned for his giveaway on the tying goal in the 83rd minute, unleashing a cannon toward the bottom left corner in the 83rd minute. This time, Freese made an outstanding stop, fully extending to deflect it just wide of the post. The goalkeeper landed hard on his shoulder and needed treatment before continuing. A final opportunity in the last minute of stoppage by Luis Muriel again was saved by Freese, but the Colombian wasn’t able to generate a lot of power on his spinning shot and it was a more routine stop.
Freese’s performance not only prevented the Lions from taking all three points, but also stopped Orlando City’s streak of multi-goal games at seven, which is a club record.
Orlando City now heads into the All-Star and Leagues Cup break. The above items give the basics of what happened Saturday night in a tight, playoff-style match. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC: Player Grades and Man of the Match
How did the men in purple perform during Orlando City’s 2-0 victory over Charlotte FC?
Orlando City played a third straight game at home and picked up a third clean sheet win, beating Charlotte FC 2-0 in a match that ended up being a pretty comfortable affair for the men in purple. Facundo Torres and Duncan McGuire got on the scoresheet again, the defense played lights out, an the Lions picked up all three points.
Let’s have a look at how the individuals performed in Wednesday night’s victory.
Starters
GK, Pedro Gallese, 6.5 — It was a fairly quiet night in between the sticks for El Pulpo. Charlotte took four shots but only put two of them on target, both of which were placed comfortably close to Gallese, and were saved with no problem. At 72%, his passing accuracy could have been better, although he also completed two long balls and even picked up the secondary assist on McGuire’s goal. All in all, a nice, easy night’s work.
D, Rafael Santos, 6.5 — He was given the chance to try to replicate his stunning goal from the weekend, but Charlotte was wise to it and his shot was blocked. That was the only one the fullback took, but he also chipped in with two crosses and two long balls going forward. He had an excellent defensive night with a game-high four tackles, three clearances, one interception, and 91% passing accuracy. He’s been putting in vastly improved performances lately after a shaky start to the season, and Wednesday night was no exception.
D, Robin Jansson, 7.5 — Charlotte rarely threatened OCSC’s goal, and the Beefy Swede was a big reason why. He put in a composed and commanding performance at the back, and helped snuff out the few dangerous moments that the visitors did muster. He totaled four interceptions and five clearances, both of which were game highs, drew two fouls, and completed five long balls while passing with 89% accuracy. He did have a scary moment in the first half when he committed a silly turnover in his own half, but other than that it was the kind of performance we’re used to seeing.
D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 7 — Schlegel’s performance complemented Jansson’s perfectly. He stepped into the spaces the captain vacated the few times he ventured forward and did a good job marshalling his side of the back line. He recorded two tackles, one interception, three clearances, and eight long balls while passing with 93% accuracy. He’s another guy who’s been playing a lot better after having some difficult moments during the first few months of the season, and Wednesday was an example of what he can look like when he’s on form.
D, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, 6.5 — DDT provided exactly the sort of performance that won him the starting right back role, as he was steady, didn’t make mistakes, and combined well with Torres going forward, even though it didn’t show up on the stat sheet. He finished with one tackle, three clearances, four long balls, and 83% passing accuracy. He gets a black mark for picking up a yellow card, but frankly it was a soft one, so it’s hard to hold it against him too much.
MF, Cesar Araujo, 6.5 — Cesar did exactly what we’ve come to expect from him, as he ran a lot, did the dirty work in midfield, and took care of the ball. He even took a shot, which isn’t something you see every day, although it was blocked and didn’t come to anything. He recorded one interception, one clearance, drew a whopping seven fouls, completed eight long balls, passed with 87% accuracy, and committed two fouls of his own. The biggest downside of his performance was picking up a yellow card, which means he’ll be suspended for this weekend’s trip to Columbus due to accumulation.
MF, Wilder Cartagena, 7 — The Peruvian isn’t exactly known for his goal scoring, but he really should have gotten things started in the fourth minute when the ball found him in the box with a clear shooting lane. He blasted the ball directly at Kristijan Kahlina though, and the chance went wanting. He played a good game otherwise though, helping Araujo control the midfield and distributing the ball well. He finished with two tackles, one clearance, two completed dribbles, three fouls drawn, three fouls committed, four long balls, and 89% passing accuracy.
MF, Ivan Angulo, 6 — His game isn’t well-suited to opponents who put men behind the ball and bunker, but he still had good moments on offense. He did well to steal the ball and start the break with 20 minutes played, and while nothing came of it that time, he played a smart pass to find Martin Ojeda in the second half and picked up the secondary assist on the opening goal as a result. He finished with two tackles, two shots that were both blocked, one completed dribble, one foul drawn, and 94% passing accuracy.
MF, Martin Ojeda, 7.5 — As has usually been the case lately, Ojeda was involved in a lot of what Orlando City did well. His Olimpico attempt landing on the roof of the net was a moment to forget, but he did a lot of creative work from open play, particularly when drifting out towards the left side of the field. That’s the area that he ultimately created the goal from, as he made a nice diagonal run into space, kept his head up after receiving the ball from Angulo, and then played a perfectly weighted ball to the back post for Facundo Torres to smash home. His night finished with two fouls committed and a yellow card, one shot that was blocked, two key passes, one assist, three crosses, and 92% passing accuracy.
MF, Facundo Torres, 7.5 (MotM) — Another game brought another goal for Orlando’s main man, and it really could, and probably should, have been two. Headers aren’t a strong point of the little Uruguayan’s game, but he’s scored them before and he should have done better with the free one that he got in the first half. He made up for it with a venomous volley in the second though, and he once again was a source of danger throughout the game. He got a well-deserved bit of rest with a substitution as the game wound down, and his final stat line read three shots (one on target and two off target), one goal, one interception, one clearance, one foul committed, one foul drawn, three key passes, one long ball, and 80% passing accuracy. He gets the Man of the Match award, although there were several worthy candidates in this one.
F, Ramiro Enrique, 5.5 — It was a pretty quiet night for the Argentine, as he only recorded 11 touches during the 45 minutes he was on the field. His biggest moment of involvement came during the 20th minute. The Lions broke down the left hand side and Ojeda found Enrique on the edge of the box with a great pass, but the striker’s first touch was far too heavy and he lost possession of the ball. Like Angulo, this type of game doesn’t really play to his strengths, and it showed.
Substitutes
F, Duncan McGuire (45’), 7 — Dunc entered the fray after the halftime break, and put in an efficient 45 minutes. He actually had fewer touches than Enrique as he finished with seven, but it’s what he did with those touches that made all the difference. He took his goal superbly, timing his run to perfection and splitting the Charlotte center backs with ease before executing a textbook chip to beat Kahlina and double the Lions’ lead. His run pulled plenty of Charlotte’s attention away from Torres on the back side of goal on the first Orlando City strike. He finished with 83% passing accuracy, one foul committed, one clearance, one goal, and two shots (one on target, one off target). The only improvement could have come if he’d scored on his second chance of the game, a free (albeit tricky) header.
MF, Nicolas Lodeiro (63′), 6.5 — On as a second half sub for Martin Ojeda, Lodeiro offered a different look going forward than his South American counterpart. He did an excellent job taking care of the ball as he delivered all 11 of his passes accurately, and provided a key pass and a long ball as well. He took one shot which was blocked, and chipped in on defense with a tackle and an interception.
D, Kyle Smith (79′), N/A — Smith came on for Dagur Dan to give the Icelandic defender a rest and help close out the game. He turned in a steady performance and completed 80% of his passes but didn’t record any other statistics. He didn’t spend enough time on the field to earn a grade.
F, Luis Muriel (82′), N/A — Muriel entered the game to give Angulo some rest, and managed to be pretty involved during his short time on the field. On defense, he chipped in with one tackle and committed one foul, and also picked up a silly yellow card for kicking the ball away. Going forward, he completed one dribble, accurately delivered all eight of his passes, completed one key pass, and notched an assist on McGuire’s goal. He did so by bringing down Gallese’s goal kick, and played an excellent through ball to Dunc with his second touch to put his fellow striker through on goal. If Orlando can get regular goal contributions from him, it adds another dimension to an already dangerous offense.
MF, Luca Petrasso (82′), N/A — Petrasso made his first appearance of the season when he came on for Torres, as Oscar Pareja looked to simultaneously give his star man some rest while also closing down the game. Playing winger instead of fullback, Petrasso committed one foul, completed one cross, and accurately delivered the one pass he made, which was also a key pass. He was unlucky to not pick up an assist on that pass, as he picked out a great back-post ball for McGuire, who couldn’t put his stooped header in the back of the net.
That’s how I viewed the performances from another nice win by the good guys. What did you make of the game? Have your say down in the comments and be sure to vote for your Man of the Match. Vamos Orlando!
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC: Five Takeaways
Here’s what we learned from Orlando City’s 2-0 victory over Charlotte FC.
Orlando City hosted Charlotte FC in a midweek matchup at Inter&Co Stadium. It wasn’t the most enjoyable match to watch, especially in the first half, but ultimately the Lions earned all three points and a clean sheet with a 2-0 victory over the visitors. Here are my five takeaways from another important win at home.
Possession without Purpose
That’s a little bit harsh. Orlando City did have a purpose to go along with all of its 62% possession in the first half. That purpose was to score a goal. What the Lions didn’t have was very many good opportunities on goal in the first half. The Lions took seven shots, with only one on target. The Lions passed at an 89% rate in the first half, but were frustrated in the attack thanks in part to how difficult Charlotte is to break down.
Boring FC
I don’t know how Charlotte FC fans watch this team week in and week out. They don’t give up a lot of goals, but they don’t score many goals either. If I wasn’t covering the match I might have fallen asleep. Defensively, Charlotte is very sound. The addition of Tim Ream at center back only made The Crown more frustrating to play. It reminded me of those tedious matches against Nashville SC a few years ago. Thankfully, it didn’t stay that way the whole match.
Fantastic Facundo
It didn’t take long into the second half for the Lions to finally get on the board. The Lions did what they had done all game, possessing, working the ball into the attack, and crossing the ball into the box. The difference this time was the accuracy of Martin Ojeda’s cross, Charlotte not being in position, and Torres making the most of the chance. He took the ball in mid-air with his favored left foot and put the ball past Kristijan Kahlina to give the Lions the lead.
McGuire Magic
Many consider 2-0 to be the most dangerous score line in soccer. I disagree. I’m always more worried when my team is leading by only one goal. Thankfully, Orlando City got a second goal in the 89th minute. It would be hard to have a quicker buildup to the goal than this one. Pedro Gallese sent the ball up to Luis Muriel, who took one touch, turned, and sent a perfect through ball to Duncan McGuire. For his part, McGuire timed his run perfectly, split the defense, chipped the keeper, and the celebration was on. That’s two straight matches with a goal for Big Dunc. It’s seems he might be “back.”
Muriel Makes a Difference
I already mentioned Muriel’s exceptional assist on the McGuire goal, but that wasn’t all he did. Muriel looked much better on and off the ball for Orlando City in his limited time on the pitch against Charlotte just days after a good performance late against New England. He seemed to know better where his teammates were and would be. Muriel only made eight passes on the night, including the assist, but he completed all of them. There were other times when he was on the ball and was able to keep it away from Charlotte as Orlando looked to see the match out. He may have only played the last 17 minutes of the match, but he looked more comfortable than he has all season. Heading into the playoffs, that is a good thing.
It wasn’t always pretty, but three points is still three points. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and as always Vamos Orlando!
Lion Links
Lion Links: 9/19/24
Lions beat Charlotte FC, Pareja on Orlando City’s success, U-20 USWNT falls, and more.
It may be a Thursday, but Orlando City’s win Wednesday night makes it feel a little bit more like a Friday. It’s been pretty great seeing all three of Orlando’s soccer teams performing well over the past few weeks. Let’s dive right into Orlando City’s win and more in today’s links!
Orlando City Beats Charlotte FC at Home
The Lions hosted Charlotte FC in a midweek matchup and took all three points in a 2-0 victory. Orlando’s attacking stars showed up when needed, resulting in a nice pair of goals in the second half. The defense also took care of business to secure the team’s third consecutive clean sheet. With another win under their belt, the Lions are now fourth in the Eastern Conference standings with 43 points and a tiebreaker (wins) over the New York Red Bulls. The result was also Head Coach Oscar Pareja’s 171st regular-season win in MLS, putting him in sole possession of fifth on the all-time list.
Oscar Pareja Discusses Late Season Surge
After a sluggish start to the season, Orlando City is parlaying another strong summer into a great run to close out the season. The Lions have won seven of their last nine league games and are on a nine-game unbeaten streak at home across all competitions. Head Coach Oscar Pareja is no stranger to getting an MLS team performing at its best this time of year.
“I do feel that urgency to start heating up better for us to win games. It is a part of the season where you start feeling kind of the smell of autumn,” the Colombian said in a recent one-on-one conversation with MLSsoccer.com. “And that is related to competition, with not much mistakes, and winning the games that you must win. So that is really what we feel now.”
He also spoke on the reasons behind Orlando’s slow start, improvements by Martin Ojeda and Luis Muriel, and how the team is juggling multiple options at forward. It’s a great interview from Pareja that details some of the team’s decisions this season.
Breaking Down the NWSL Awards Contenders
With only six games left for each team in the NWSL season, it’s becoming clearer which players are contenders to win an award at the end of the season. The MVP race looks to be between Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda and the Kansas City Current’s Temwa Chawinga, and it may just come down to if Banda can close the gap some in the Golden Boot race. Pride center back Emily Sams is the frontrunner for Defender of the Year for her role in an Orlando defense that’s only allowed 12 goals in 20 games this season. That defense is partly why Anna Moorhouse isn’t the favorite for Goalkeeper of the Year, despite 11 clean sheets this season. Seb Hines is nearly a lock to win Coach of the Year, although Kansas City’s Vlatko Andonovski has a shot depending on how the rest of the season shakes out.
U.S. Falls in U-20 World Cup Semifinals
The United States U-20 Women’s National Team wasn’t able to pull off a comeback in the U-20 Women’s World Cup semifinals, losing 1-0 to Korea DPR. Pride midfielder Ally Lemos started for the U.S. and played every minute of the game. Choe Il Son scored the only goal of the game in the first half , and the U.S. wasn’t able to find an equalizer despite some decent chances. The U.S. will miss out on Sunday’s final, but will take on the Netherlands to close out its tournament in the third-place match on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Free Kicks
- Orlando City B duo Justin Ellis and Colin Guske both scored in the United States U-18 National Team’s 2-0 win over Peru in a youth tournament in Japan. Ellis also scored in a 4-3 loss to Japan as the U.S. went 1-1-1 in its three matches.
- Lionel Messi won MLS Goal of the Matchday, beating out Orlando’s Rafael Santos and LA Galaxy pair Edwin Cerrillo and Riqui Puig. Santos’ impressive strike from distance deserved more than the 7.6% share of the vote it received.
- Toyota Stadium, home of FC Dallas, is set to undergo major renovations that include adding a roof to provide more shade to fans and increasing seating capacity.
- In Champions League action, Manchester City and Inter Milan played to a scoreless draw in England while Paris Saint-Germain needed an own goal to win 1-0 over Girona. Borussia Dortmund and Celtic also enjoyed wins to start their campaigns.
- AS Roma sacked Daniele De Rossi just four games into the Serie A season and hired Ivan Juric.
- French striker Anthony Martial landed in Greece to sign with AEK Athens on a free transfer.
That’s all I have for you today. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!
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