Connect with us

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Sporting Kansas City: Final Score 3-0 as Lions’ Unbeaten Run Crashes to a Halt

The Lions made Sporting Kansas City look like the team riding an unbeaten streak in a poor road performance.

Published

4 months ago

on

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Legendary Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes once said, “There’s nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you.” If that’s true, Orlando City’s soul should be clean as a whistle after tonight’s match at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City.

Orlando City’s eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions came to an abrupt stop in a lackluster 3-0 loss to Sporting Kansas City. Even after the hosts went down a man with 23 minutes remaining — a figure that doesn’t include 12 added minutes of stoppage time — the Lions (9-10-7, 34 points) couldn’t muster any attack whatsoever, and a golden opportunity to pick up points against a team low in the Western Conference table was squandered. Jake Davis, Daniel Salloi, and Remi Walter provided the offense for Sporting Kansas City (7-14-6, 27 points).

There weren’t even any positives to take away from the performance, which was substandard across the board.

“Obviously very disappointed (with the) result,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “A great opportunity for us to escalate on the standings and obviously continue with what we had in the last few games, but today was not a good day for us.”

Pareja’s lineup included Pedro Gallese in goal behind a back line of Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson. Cesar Araujo and Wilder Cartagena started in central midfield behind an attacking line of Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, and Facundo Torres, with Ramiro Enrique up top.

Sporting went for goal on the opening kickoff, with Erik Thommy trying a shot from the center circle, trying to catch Gallese off his line. The effort wasn’t bad, just clearing the crossbar, but Gallese had it covered anyway had it managed to dip.

After the Lions snuffed out another foray into the attacking third by the hosts, they wasted a few good early opportunities to take the lead. The first of those happened in the second minute when Torres sent a long ball for Enrique to track down in the right corner. Enrique cut inside and found Angulo at the top of the box and the Colombian found Torres on his left. The shot from Torres was a poor one, with little pace on it and well wide of the right post.

A minute later, a turnover by the hosts gifted Enrique a chance inside the box, but the Argentine fired his shot straight at goalkeeper Tim Melia. Cartagena fired wide from the top of the box in the fifth minute as Orlando’s bright start continued. A minute later, Ojeda sent a good free kick from distance to Smith making a run at the far post. Smith’s header was off line and went back across the six. Enrique tried to get to it at the left post but it was just beyond his reach with an empty net in front of him.

Ojeda got down the left in the eighth minute and made a great cutback pass into the area for Torres, but it was blocked by defender Tim Liebold and went out for a corner. The service on the ensuing set piece was overhit, ending the threat. Those missed opportunities were costly, eventually allowing the hosts to take a lead into halftime, but the most badly squandered chance came late in the half.

“We started the game sharp,” Pareja said. “Had a few options to score, but after that, I thought we didn’t have a good game. We were low in energy. I didn’t think we had the intensity that has characterized this group all the time.”

“After those first 10 minutes, they started to press us. We weren’t able to to really come out of that pressure clean as much,” Torres said. “And then, once they started to do that, they added more and more. And then at that point, we had trouble kind of finding ourselves back into the game and and they took over from there.”

After all the open play in the game’s first 10 minutes, things settled down a bit. Neither team was able to create a chance for the nesxt 15 minutes. Eventually, the Lions fashioned a chance from the right with Araujo smashing a shot from outside the box in the 26th minute. However, Andreu Fontas blocked it in front.

The Lions got loose with the ball after that, giving up multiple chances. Thommy beat Smith and worked his way for a clear shot from the right, but Gallese made a terrific reaction save in the 27th minute to keep the game scoreless. Angulo then gave the ball away cheaply in the 30th minute, leading to a good long-distance try from Salloi that Gallese parried away.

It looked like the Lions had something going in the 34th minute when an outstanding ball from Cartagena found Torres over the top, but before the winger could gain control, Liebold recovered and knocked the ball off of him and out for a goal kick.

Orlando City caught a break a minute later on another turnover by Angulo — this time deep in his own end. The quick counter ended up with Stephen Afrifa on the right but he fired badly wide of the near post in the 35th minute. Five minuts later, Angulo made another ill-advised pass in his own half. This time he got it to a teammate, but he led Enrique into traffic, where he was easily dispossessed. The ball ended up with Thommy outside the box but he sent his shot just inches wide of the far post, although Gallese may have had it covered anyway.

If all of those warning signs weren’t enough, Angulo turned the ball over yet again in the 43rd minute to ignite a quick counter, that ended up with a good ball to the back post for William Agada, who missed just over the net.

A minute later, the hosts got the goal that had been coming for so long, and it should never have happened. Somehow both Smith and Araujo failed to take the ball from a prone Afrifa and the referee kept his whistle in his pocket while he played the ball on the ground. It squirted beyond both defenders for Davis, who took it to his left and scored into the upper right corner to make it 1-0 in the 44th minute.

“Tonight was just another one of those games where, once they took that first goal, it kind of got into our heads a little bit, and we had difficulty coming back from that,” Torres said.

Orlando City should have pulled the goal right back two minutes into stoppage time, when Cartagena took the ball into the area and was bundled over. Enrique set a pick so Ojeda could get a free shot at the ball, but the Argentine missed badly over the bar from point-blank range. With that much time and space, and from that position, it was an egregious miss by Ojeda.

Agada missed just off target in the dying seconds of stoppage time and Sporting Kansas City took its 1-0 lead into the break. The hosts held the halftime advantage in possession (54.6%-45.4%), shots (9-8), shots on target (3-1), and passing accuracy (80.5%-75.3%). The Lions won more corners (3-2).

Pareja brought on Rafael Santos at the break for Smith, who had a difficult first half.

Orlando City got forward a couple of times early in the half but the second of those ended up biting them. A good ball down the left set up a cross into the box for Torres. The Uruguayan missed the ball going for a volley and the defense arrived before Thorhallsson could get there. The clearance ignited the break and it ended up with Salloi on the left, who scored to make it 2-0 in the 52nd minute with a powerful shot inside the near post that left Gallese no chance.

Pareja injected Duncan McGuire and Luis Muriel into the game, withdrawing Angulo and Ojeda, who both were well below their usual levels, but they weren’t the only ones by any means. McGuire had a chance to get Orlando back into the game moments after coming on, as the Lions got forward in transition with a 3-v-1 situation. However, he played the ball for an obviously offside Torres, who must have known he was off but never checked his run to re-establish himself, rather than sending it Enrique. Torres laid it off for Enrique, who scored with a great finish in the 65th minute, but the flag came up immediately.

Gallese kept it at 2-0 with a good save on Alan Pulido in the 67th minute, as the hosts continued to outplay Orlando, creating the only real scoring chances.

The Lions should have gotten a lifeline two minutes later when a horror tackle by Agada on Torres saw him initially pick up a second yellow card but Tim Ford changed his mind after reviewing the play and gave a straight red instead in the 67th minute. That gave Orlando City a man advantage for the final 23 minutes and stoppage time. However, Orlando struggled to generate a shot or even maintain possession in the attacking third after going up a man.

“We had time enough to equalize the game, especially when they ended up playing with 10 players,” Pareja said. “We didn’t have that resolution, that eagerness in the last 20 meters. We were moving the ball but we didn’t find spaces just to hurt them. It looks like we could have played longer without succeeding in the last part of the field.”

“Even when they went down to 10 men, and we had a one-man advantage, we still weren’t able to find that space,” Torres added. “We were tight. We were having issues finding each other.”

Kansas City was content to make defensive subs, stay compact and force the Lions to break them down, which Orlando could not do.

The night got more embarrassing in the second minute of stoppage time when Walter scored Sporting’s third. The Lions were badly out of position and several stopped playing completely. Walter’s blast from outside the box was a good one and picked out the upper left corner to put the game to bed.

Muriel had a poor free kick and an even worse shot from distance down the final moments of the 12 minutes of stoppage time and the whistle finally blew on one of the worst performances of Orlando City’s 2024 season.

Despite being up a man for 35 minutes, the Lions barely turned around the possession advantage in their favor (53.1%-46.9%), could only equal Sporting’s 13 shot attempts, and could not put a single effort on target against a team that had given up 52 goals on the season and was playing with 10 men. They managed to win more corners (6-3) and pass more accurately (81.7%-77.3%). Sporting ended the game with more shots on goal (6-1).

“The second half was heartless. I didn’t see us with that willingness that we all have,” Pareja said. “I take responsibility for us, of course, the preparation of the group and the reactions after these two weeks. Today we didn’t look the majority of the time like we are. So, (we’re) disappointed. We’re going to review, but we have to move on.”

“Obviously we’ve got a lot of negative thoughts right now. We leave today’s game with a with a sour taste in our mouths,” Torres said. “You know, the team thinks that that wasn’t us out there tonight. That’s not the the team that we are. That’s not the way that we like to play. We’re a team that has a lot of ambition and a lot of goals and drive together, and we just didn’t show that out there tonight. And so yeah, obviously, leaving this one with with some bad feelings.”

The Lions will look to bounce back when they home to face Nashville SC next Saturday night.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Lion Links

Lion Links: 12/25/24

Orlando Pride make everyone’s ‘nice’ list, the USMNT’s new attitude, Boxing Day matches, and more.

Published

22 hours ago

on

December 25, 2024

By

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah, Mane Landers! One of the great things about soccer is that unlike other sports, there are matches being played somewhere nearly every day of the year. It truly is something for which I’m grateful. That also means there’s soccer news even on a big holiday, making my job here a bit easier. As such, let’s get to the links.

Orlando Pride Still Tops

It doesn’t matter what list you mention when it comes to women’s soccer, the Orlando Pride will be on it. If you follow women’s soccer — and I don’t know why you wouldn’t — 2024 brought plenty of gifts. Obviously, Marta lifting a pair of trophies was big news in the world of women’s soccer. The arrival of Barbra Banda and Temwa Chawinga to the NWSL was also pretty significant. Enjoy all of this as long as you can. I know I will.

USMNT Savageness

Weston McKennie is loving the attitude that Mauricio Pochettino is bringing to the USMNT. Some have felt that the U.S. has played too timidly before his arrival. Now, McKennie feels he’s bringing a savageness and a bit of South American attitude to the team. Previously, the USMNT was known for being physical if not technical. Perhaps McKennie and his generation can bring both to the table.

Premier League Holiday Cheer

Thursday is a big matchday in the English Premier League. If you’re lucky enough to not have to go to work, there will be plenty of Boxing Day matches to enjoy. Liverpool is top of the table this Christmas, in large part to the efforts of Mo Salah, who became the first player in Premier League history to reach double figures for goals and assists before Christmas.

Given it’s the holiday season, I’m certain that all the EPL clubs want something in their stockings. Of course, if you’re not adding pieces you might fall behind. There are players that each club could add to help in the pursuit of glory.

Rioters Sentenced

Five of the 60 people detained after riots outside the UEFA Europa League match between the Dutch side Ajax and Israel’s Maccabi Tel-Aviv in November have been sentenced by an Amsterdam District Court. The perpetrators’ punishment ran from community service to six months in prison. The altercation took place between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli football fans. Five people were sent to the hospital and 20 others sustained minor injuries. I truly wish this type of thing would stop at soccer matches — or anywhere for that matter.

Free Kicks

That will do it for today. If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you had a wonderful time giving and receiving gifts this morning. If Hanukkah is your thing, enjoy all eight days and nights. Kwanzaa? Enjoy every day from Thursday through Jan. 1. Festivus celebrators, you should already have done your feats of strength and airing of grievances. If you don’t celebrate any particular holidays, I hope you had a peaceful, relaxing morning. Just know that we here at The Mane Land are grateful for the gift of your readership.

Continue Reading

Orlando City

Top 10 Moments of 2024: Facundo Torres Breaks Lions’ All-Time Goal Record

In our No. 8 moment of the year, Facundo Torres sets a new Orlando City career record for goals scored.

Published

2 days ago

on

December 24, 2024

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

As we count down to the new year of 2025 — which will be Orlando City’s 11th in MLS, the Orlando Pride’s 10th in the NWSL, and OCB’s third in MLS NEXT Pro — and say goodbye to 2024, it’s time to look back at the club’s 10 best moments of the year as selected by The Mane Land staff via vote.

The 2024 season will always be a bittersweet one when it comes to remembering the contributions of Uruguayan winger Facundo Torres. He once again started the season slowly before locking in over the summer and dazzling crowds, befuddling opponents, and doing impressive things with a soccer ball on behalf of Orlando City SC.

He helped the team get to the second round of the Concacaf Champions League/Cup and to the Eastern Conference final — the first time the club accomplished either achievement. Then he left, transferring to Palmeiras just days before Christmas. He may be gone, but the transfer funds and open Designated Player slot the sale brought the club may yet make for even more success on the field in the seasons to come.

Torres put together another brilliant season, starting by scoring a brace in the team’s Champions Cup opener against Cavalry FC on Feb. 21. Here’s the first of those goals:

He added a nice header later to put the game away. The brace had many fans dreaming that he wouldn’t take until the summer to get into a groove during his third year in Orlando like he did in his first two seasons. But then he didn’t score again in the run of play until the fourth minute of a May 29 road game against the Chicago Fire. That isn’t to say he didn’t find the net in March or April. He scored from the penalty spot once in each of those months — at Tigres March 12 and at Montreal April 20 — but it wasn’t the hot start fans were hoping for.

Torres did, however, settle in eventually and had himself a season. In fact, he broke Cyle Larin’s club record for most goals in a season across all competitions, by hitting the net 20 times in 2024. He scored 14 times in the regular season, twice in the MLS Cup playoffs, three times in Champions Cup play, and once in Leagues Cup. That doesn’t even count his made penalties in the postgame shootouts against Cruz Azul or Charlotte FC (in Game 3).

As usual, he did most of his damage in the second half of the year, when he helped the club put together a remarkable run of form that lifted the Lions from near the bottom of the conference to fourth place by season’s end. During the team’s final 17 games, Torres scored 11 of his 14 regular-season goals and posted three braces. The light switch seemed to be flipped in the first game of the second half of Orlando City’s 2024 season. After just three goals in the first 17 games — one in the run of play and two from the penalty spot (he also missed a penalty for the first time in his career in Game 17 against LAFC) — Torres scored three goals in the next two matches, helping the Lions to a comeback draw at Charlotte and a 4-2 home win over the Chicago Fire, setting the tone for an 11-4-2 run in the second half.

His torrid run of form had him climbing the club’s scoring list all summer and that culminated in reaching the pinnacle of the team’s MLS era on Oct. 2, when he did this in the 57th minute at home against the Philadelphia Union:

As Torres goals go, it wasn’t one of his prettiest or most impressive, but it was his 45th as a Lion across all competitions, passing Larin’s career mark for Orlando City’s MLS era. It also helped propel the Lions to a 2-1 win over the Union, putting the team on the cusp of clinching home field in the first round of the playoffs. It was also Torres’ last regular-season goal with Orlando City. Bittersweet.

However, the Las Piedras, Uruguay, native wasn’t finished scoring in 2024. He notched the first goal of Orlando’s postseason run in the 32nd minute against Charlotte FC at home on Oct. 27 in a 2-0 win. Torres placed himself in the right spot at the right time, taking advantage of a deflected Rafael Santos cross that fell in front of him in the box. The winger blasted it off the underside of the crossbar and into the back of the net to open the scoring.

The goal drew him level with Dom Dwyer for the club’s all-time career goals mark when combining Orlando City’s USL and MLS eras.

He should have claimed that record for himself in Game 2 of the Charlotte series when he fired home in stoppage time on the road, but the flag came up for Nico Lodeiro being offside in the buildup — incorrectly, per the offside modeling Twitter account.

While the offside modeling site is hardly official, it illustrates how close the play was. Many teams tend to get the benefit of those types of calls and the flags stay down, but Orlando is generally not one of those teams.

However, he took sole possession of the record one match later, breaking the tie with Dwyer in the 12th minute of stoppage time of Game 3. The Lions trailed 1-0 and the season was on the brink when Duncan McGuire was pulled down in the box on a late set piece, injuring himself to the point he had off-season surgery to repair the labrum and rotator cuff in his shoulder. Torres took the ball and stepped to the spot to face one of the best goalkeepers in MLS, Kristijan Kahlina. The Croatian read Torres well and made the stop, but he couldn’t control the rebound. Torres got to it quickly, kept his composure, and fired it home to level the match.

It was not only an important strike, but it was also his 47th and final goal for Orlando City across all competitions, although he also calmly scored his penalty in the ensuing shootout to help send the Lions through to the conference semifinals against Atlanta United.

It’s fitting that Torres’ final Orlando City goal was such an important one, as he’s been such a big part of the team’s success over the past three seasons. He departed the club officially on Dec. 20 for a club-record transfer fee after scoring a total of 47 goals across all competitions. He added 25 assists in his time in purple, amassing a club-record 72 career goal contributions.

In a three-year Orlando career that was filled with highlight-reel plays, Torres brought a lot of joy to the club’s fans during his stay. His ascendance to the top of the club’s MLS and combined scoring lists is worthy of inclusion as one of our top moments of the season.

Come back through New Year’s Eve as we count down the remainder of the top 10 moments of 2024 for Orlando City, the Orlando Pride, and OCB.

Previous Top Moments of 2024

10. Orlando City’s massive second-half surge clinches top-four spot in Eastern Conference.

9. The Orlando Pride sign Zambian international striker Barbra Banda ahead of the 2024 season.

Continue Reading

Lion Links

Lion Links: 12/24/24

MLS transfer roundup, Americans in midweek action, NWSL news galore, and more.

Published

2 days ago

on

December 24, 2024

By

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Happy Tuesday and merry Christmas Eve, everyone! I hope you’re all having a good start to your week and have some fun stuff planned for the upcoming holidays.

Before we get started with today’s links, we here at The Mane Land want to give a special shout out to Joe (a.k.a. fldatadude) for signing up for a Homegrown Player-level membership on our Buy Me a Coffee page. By signing up at one of our three levels of support, our readers and podcast listeners can enjoy added benefits in addition to keeping our bills paid so we can continue doing what we do.

Now we do have plenty of items to get to today, so let’s get into today’s news.

MLS Transfer News Roundup

Several MLS teams have been busy at work in the transfer market, so let’s break down the recent moves. LAFC signed free agent forward Jeremy Ebobisse to a three-year deal with an additional option year, adding more firepower to an already strong squad. The Portland Timbers also got some business done via free agency, as they signed winger Ariel Lassiter. FC Dallas acquired forward Anderson Julio from Real Salt Lake, with defender Sam Junqua and up to $500,000 in General Allocation Money going to RSL in exchange. Finally, Lorenzo Insigne has teased on his Instagram that he will play another season for Toronto FC in 2025.

Americans in Midweek Action

There are a number of Americans playing this week, so get everything marked down and enjoy some festive footy. Thursday’s Boxing Day slate features Americans heavily, with Chris Richards, Matt Turner, and Crystal Palace traveling to take on Tyler Adams and Bournemouth in Premier League play. Antonee Robinson and Fulham will play Chelsea that same day, while Brenden Aaronson and Leeds United face an unenviable trip to Stoke City to round things off on Thursday.

Keeping Up With NWSL Happenings

Let’s start our NWSL roundup with the San Diego Wave, which have reportedly hired Jonas Eidevall as their new head coach. The Swede most recently spent time coaching Arsenal and has reportedly been the Wave’s top choice for several weeks. We now move to the realm of fact, where Angel City FC has signed midfielder Macey Hodge to a two-year deal with an option for the 2027 season. Finally, expansion team BOS Nation FC agreed a lease with Boston Public Schools and the City of Boston that will allow the team to use White Stadium as its home ground starting in 2026.

European Transfer Rumor Mill

Europe’s club teams can’t do business quite yet, but rumors are flying thick and fast with January just around the corner. First up, Manchester United is said to be exploring a deal to sign Victor Osimhen in January, particularly with Marcus Rashford indicating that he wants out of the club. Staying in the Premier League, Christopher Nkunku’s agent has reportedly offered the forward’s services to Barcelona, as he hasn’t been starting for the Blues and wants a larger role. Finally, Bayern Munich is said to be closely monitoring Borussia Dortmund’s Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, which would add him to a long list of Dortmund players snapped up by the Bundesliga giants.

Free Kicks

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a very merry Christmas Eve!

Continue Reading

Trending