Orlando City vs. Sporting Kansas City: Player Grades and Man of the Match

Well, that was simply altogether unpleasant. With a chance to extend its unbeaten streak to six MLS matches and nine games in all competitions, Orlando City simply failed to show up to compete on Saturday night, and was dominated 3-0 by a Sporting Kansas City team that came into the match ranked 26th in the MLS standings. Yuck.

I usually like to grade with my purple pen, but after that performance I am going to have to dishonor the original Orlando City colors by getting the red pen out of storage, and I may run out of ink. I am ready to issue some grades, so here we go. Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated individually in their road matchup against a Western Conference opponent.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 5.5 — Saturday night’s match started brightly for El Pulpo, with a few big saves in the first half, but in the end, three goals did go by him into the net. He will likely feel that he could have saved all three, but I do not fault Gallese directly for any of the three goals. The first and third were in the corners out of reach, and the second goal was well struck with power from inside the box on a fast break. He passed at an 83.3% rate and connected on two of his five long balls.

D, Kyle Smith, 5 — The back-and-forth battle for the starting left back spot between Kyle Smith and Rafael Santos went to Smith for this match, but that win was short-lived, because Smith only played the first 45 minutes before coming off at halftime. He completed the most passes of any player on the field during the first half and he was active on both sides of the field. Smith created a great chance for the Lions with a header across the box that was almost tapped in, but also could (should?) have gone for goal from that position. However, he was burned by Erik Thommy, allowing a good scoring chance in the 27th minute that required a good save by Gallese. He also had a chance to stop the attack that led to the opening goal for Sporting but was unable to win the ball, even with help from Cesar Araujo. In the end, it was a middling night for Smith, and the left back battle will surely continue during practice throughout the upcoming week . 

D, Robin Jansson, 5.5 — None of the goals scored by Sporting KC were scored on or around Jansson. On the cross that led to the third goal, he was the primary defender, but he forced the cross to go all the way back to about 20-25 yards away from the goal, so I do not think that the goal was on him so much as it was the rest of the defensive grouping for not being able to stop that shot from happening while playing a man up. Despite being second on the team in touches (67) and completed passes (57), I felt like Jansson was mostly invisible in this game. He did not have any interceptions or blocked shots and he only won one aerial duel. He completed 85.1% of those 57 passes and gave his trademark effort, but Saturday night’s match was not one he will look back fondly on in the future.

D, David Brekalo, 5 — The Slovenian international got his first MLS start since June 1 but he did not play well enough to show that the decision to switch from Rodrigo Schlegel to him in MLS matches was the right call. All three goals happened around Brekalo, with the first goal happening after his lunge attempt did not thwart Jake Davis. The second goal happened after he slowed down Thommy but the Kansas City attacker was able to pass the ball into space for Salloi to finish, although that was more of a numbers game for the hosts. The third goal happened because Brekalo (and the other players in the middle for Orlando City) did not come out to close down Remi Walter and allowed him to tee up a blast into the net. Brekalo definitely deserves some of the responsibility for all three of these goals, but on none of them do I think he was singularly the reason why the goal happened. On the attacking side of the ball, Brekalo was third on the team in completed passes (at just a 79.7% rate) but contributed little else, and though he did work hard during his 90 minutes, with five recoveries, three tackles, two clearances, one interception, and one blocked shot.

D, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, 4 — Thorhallsson struggled to get into the attack on the right for much of the game, leading to a quiet night for Facundo Torres, who didn’t have his usual attacking flank partner to team up with, as Tim Liebold had a strong game. When the attack went up the left, Thorhallsson tried to push up and help on the back side, but then he was caught upfield as a result. This was particularly evident on the second goal, which started with a good cross in from Orlando’s attacking left that Torres couldn’t get a touch to. Thorhallsson attempted to get to the loose ball but was beaten to it by the defense, and the resulting clearance ended up with Salloi scoring from exactly where a right back should have been. Thorhallsson also had an uncharacteristically poor passing performance in this game at just a 64.3% completion rate, and he did not provide any offensive threat aside from one key pass. Not a game to look fondly back on for the Icelandic defender,

MF, César Araujo, 5 — It was a muted performance on the night for Araujo, as the midfield destroyer that we often see in the middle of the field for the Lions did not make an appearance in Kansas City. Araujo had fewer touches than every defender except Thorhallsson, and while he led the team in passing completion percentage (92.3%), few of his passes advanced the ball in any significant manner. Araujo also had zero tackles, a rarity for a player who came into the game averaging nearly three tackles per 90 minutes. He came off in the 72nd minute in an offense-for-defense swap for Nico Lodeiro.

MF, Wilder Cartagena, 6 — Cartagena had a few good moments in this game, but on the whole it was not one of his better games. It was, however, one of the better performances by any Orlando City player on Saturday night, which is indicative of the overall showing by the Lions. Cartagena made up for his midfield partner Araujo’s lack of tackles by leading Orlando City with four tackles, and he also added five recoveries, four aerial duel wins, four blocks, and two interceptions. He helped create one of the best chances on the night offensively as well, winning a ball in the box that then turned into a shot from Ojeda from close range, but unfortunately the left footed Carlos Rivas Ojeda put his shot high into the seats. The lasting image of Cartagena for me from this match though will be his slow walk during the sequence that led to the opening goal, as the action was happening right in front of him and he was just slowly walking and watching the play, and then shortly thereafter Sporting went up 1-0.

MF, Iván Angulo, 3.5 — This match will be one to forget for Angulo, as he struggled throughout, and I think he was lucky to not have been subbed off during the first half or at halftime. There were several uncharacteristically wayward passes from Angulo, including some deep in the defensive third of the field, and he did not seem to have his usual burst of speed available to him to create chances or win loose balls. He only completed 74% of his passes and did not contribute anything of note on offense. He will want time to fly to get to the next match, so he can put this one behind him. 

MF, Martín Ojeda, 5 — Ojeda was involved in several big chances during Saturday night’s match, but nothing came from any of them. He will particularly rue the shot he blasted over the net from close range in the first half, as a player of his caliber should at a minimum hit that on goal and he really should have put it away to give Orlando City an early lead. He also hit a wonderful free kick that Smith headed back across, just past the outstretched leg of Ramiro Enrique, inches away from garnering him a hockey assist from that free kick. Ojeda made way in the 60th minute as part of a double substitution that brought on Duncan McGuire and Luis Muriel, ending a night where the final product was just not good enough. 

MF, Facundo Torres, 5 — If you asked a random to fan to name the Designated Players on Orlando City’s roster just by watching this match, I do not think they would have selected Torres, as he struggled to demonstrate much of his skill. There were multiple chances for him to do so, but he failed on all of them, and his whiff on a cross in the second half led directly to to a counterattack and the second goal for Sporting. Torres also could not properly time his run on a 3-v-1 break, receiving a pass in an offside position that negated an Enrique goal that could have cut the lead to 2-1. He made an excellent pass to set up that goal, but it was for naught due to the offside call. I think a stat that tells you all you need to know about Torres’ night is that he had the same number of touches (49) as Smith, who only played during the first half. Torrs made way for Yutaro Tsukada in the 82nd minute and will probably wish that he could have had a few of those chances back when he watches the game film.

F, Ramiro Enrique, 6.5 (MotM) — The goal-scoring streaks for Enrique are now completely over, as he has not scored in his last two matches, so the all-competition and MLS-only streaks are both now done. Enrique was by far the most active Orlando City attacking player on Saturday though, but he was unable to finish any of his chances except one — the aforementioned offside play. It was a great shot, but if a shot happens after an offside situation, did it happen at all? Enrique led the team with five shot-creating actions and had the only shot on target (the team put only one of its 12 total shots on target, the math on that is bad). He was inches away from a sliding left footed finish on Smith’s header back across the box, but inches away does not show up in the stat line. I thought Enrique impressed in both his role as striker and then also when he shifted out the wing when McGuire came on, and I expect that we will continue to see him playing significant minutes here on out this season.

Substitutes

D, Rafael Santos (46′), 5 — Santos subbed in at halftime with the Lions trailing by one and he brought more of an offensive threat than Smith had in the left back position, but that threat was limited as opposed to major. Santos was third on the team in progressive passes attempted with 10, and he completed seven of those passes. He also had one key pass and one successful take-on where he beat his defender off the dribble. He had some culpability on the third goal as well, as the throw in that initiated the play went to the player he was marking and he allowed a pass that turned into the cross that was finished to put the game to bed at 3-0. I do not know who has the edge between Smith and Santos for the start next week. Neither seized the opportunity in Kansas City, but I thought Smith was slightly better. My prediction as of right now is…Luca Petrasso.

F, Duncan McGuire, (59’), 5 — Duncan was starved of service in this game, despite playing all of his minutes while Orlando City was trailing and most of his minutes with an extra man on the field. Duncan only had 11 touches during what amounted to approximately 42 minutes (including stoppage time) on the field, and with so few touches and no service he was unable to even get one shot off during his shift. He had a chance to change the game when he received a pass from Muriel and initiated a 3-v-1 counterattack, but he played the ball to an offside Torres instead of driving the ball himself or playing the onside Enrique. While I blame Torres more than McGuire for the offside call, that was a huge chance for Orlando City to get back in the game and the Lions squandered the opportunity. The ball was well played, but for all intents and purposes, it never happened. I do not think McGuire did enough in this game to supplant Enrique as the starter for next week’s match against Nashville, but Óscar Pareja did roll out a lineup that had both on the field at the same time for 30 minutes, so perhaps they will consider that for next week with Angulo, Ojeda, or Torres on the bench.

MF, Luis Muriel (60′), 5 — Muriel provided an excellent pass to McGuire that should have been a goal-initiating play, but he also had two needlessly launched 25+ yard shots that were well off target. That tells the story again for a player who simply has not consistently played well for Orlando City this season. There are moments of brilliance, and soccer is a game where it generally takes only a few moments of brilliance to determine a winner and loser, but it just has not been a good fit between his style and Orlando City’s style. Orlando City was up a player for most of his minutes on the field, and yet he could not unlock anything of real significance. He only completed 76.5% of his passes and had one shot-creating action. The expectations are high in MLS when you are a Designated Player, and the execution was not there on Saturday night.

MF, Nico Lodeiro (73′), 6 — Nico was one of the few bright spots for Orlando City during his limited minutes. From the moment he entered the match, he was completing passes and trying to initiate offense for the Lions. He completed 25 passes at an 86.2% completion rate, and though ultimately nothing came of it, he seemed more threatening during his minutes than some of the other starting attacking players were during theirs. It helped that he played all of his minutes in an 11 vs. 10 situation, but Lodeiro leads the team in assists in MLS play for a reason, and I thought he looked lively and effective on Saturday night.

MF, Yutaro Tsukada (82′), N/A — Tsukada came in for Facundo Torres and brought excellent energy to the field —so much so that he almost earned a grade from me rather than N/A, despite playing limited minutes. I thought he looked comfortable on the field, and he completed six of his seven passes and also beat one defender off the dribble.

That’s how I saw the individual performances on Saturday night. What did you think? Be sure to let us know in the comments, and vote in the poll below for your Orlando City Man of the Match.