Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC: Player Grades and Man of the Match
How did your favorite Lions perform in Orlando City’s 1-1 draw/4-1 shootout win in Game 3 against Charlotte FC?
The Cardiac Cats were back again as Orlando City conceded its first goal of the postseason in the 81st minute, equalized on a rebound from a saved penalty with almost the last kick of the game, and won on penalties. Before we begin to look forward to the Eastern Conference semifinal against Atlanta United, we’ll look back at how the team played in its 1-1 draw and 4-1 shootout victory against Charlotte FC.
Let’s take a look at the individual performances in this memorable playoff battle.
Starters
GK, Pedro Gallese, 7 — The Lions dominated the chances in this game, so there wasn’t a lot for Gallese to do in the 90 minutes. He saved two of the three shots on target, and the goal he conceded took a deflection that sent the goalkeeper the wrong way. Gallese’s moment came in the penalty shootout with everything on the line. He saved the first two penalties to give his team a commanding lead, helping the Lions advance. He also guessed correctly on the third penalty, although he couldn’t quite get to Ashley Westwood’s shot. In addition to his shot stopping, Gallese completed 80% of his 10 passes but neither of his two long balls. He also recorded two clearances. Although he had a quiet game in regulation, he did what was needed in the shootout.
D, Rafael Santos, 6 — Santos had a team-high 86 touches, completed 87.7% of his 57 passes and two of his three long balls, and had two key passes. While he only completed one of his seven crosses, he should have had an assist when Kyle Smith failed to convert right in front of the goal in the 90th minute. Defensively, the left back recorded two tackles, two interceptions, and four clearances, leading the team in all three statistics. He also converted his penalty, sending the Lions through to the conference semifinals.
D, Robin Jansson, 6 — Jansson touched the ball 69 times in this game while completing 92.1% of his 63 passes. He had one key pass, completing five of his 10 long balls, and put his lone shot on target. Defensively, Jansson was less active than usual, recording three clearances and a blocked shot. He got caught on a high bounce on the attack that ultimately led to Charlotte’s only goal, which was his lone mistake of the night.
D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 6 — Schlegel had 42 touches in the game and completed 87.5% of his 32 passes, including two of his three long balls. Like Jansson, Schlegel took one shot and put it on target. The center back recorded one tackle, two interceptions, and three clearances. He was replaced by David Brekalo in the 89th minute.
D, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, 6 — Touching the ball 49 times in this game, Thorhallsson completed 87.9% of his 33 passes, including two key passes, one of his three crosses, and his lone long ball. He didn’t take any shots in the game and didn’t record any defensive statistics before being replaced by Kyle Smith in the 79th minute.
MF, Wilder Cartagena, 6.5 — Cartagena came into this game with two yellow cards, leaving him one short of a suspension. However, the defensive midfielder did well to stay out of the book while touching the ball 84 times and retaining his grit in the middle of the pitch. He completed 88% of his team-high 75 passes, including four of his six long balls. He recorded two interceptions and a clearance, but his biggest impact was a good ball into the box that contributed to Djibril Diani pulling down Duncan McGuire, resulting in the penalty that set up the equalizer.
MF, Cesar Araujo, 6 — Araujo took 70 touches and was back to his stellar passing, completing 93% of his 57 attempts, including one of his two crosses and six of his seven long balls. He was also credited with a key pass in the game. His two shots were off target, but he added three clearances defensively.
MF, Ivan Angulo, 6 — Angulo’s 37 touches were the fewest of Orlando City’s midfielders. However, he completed 93.3% of his 30 passes, the highest pass completion percentage of his position group. His only shot was off target and he didn’t record any defensive statistics before being replaced by Luis Muriel in the 65th minute.
MF, Martin Ojeda, 6.5 — Ojeda touched the ball 62 times and completed 83.8% of his 37 passes, including four of his five long balls and a team-high four key passes. However, he only completed three of his team-high 14 crosses. One of the midfielder’s two shots was on target and he didn’t have a defensive impact before coming off for Nico Lodeiro in the 79th minute. For much of the first hour of the game, most of Orlando’s offensive chances and most dangerous attacks came via Ojeda’s forays up the left and interplay with Santos.
MF, Facundo Torres, 7 (MotM) — Torres had 68 touches and completed 88% of his 50 passes, including two key passes. He didn’t complete any of his seven crosses but all of his three long balls. While only two of his six shots were on target, he hit the post and crossbar in the first half. More importantly, he converted on the rebound after Kristijan Kahlina saved his penalty for the equalizing goal. He made up for the penalty save by converting his spot kick in the shootout.
F, Ramiro Enrique, 5.5 — Enrique wasn’t very involved in this game, touching the ball 20 times and completing 90.9% of his 11 passes. While he completed his lone cross, none of four shots were on target, including a free running header on a corner kick when he was left completely uncovered. The forward was replaced by Duncan McGuire in the 65th minute.
Substitutes
F, Duncan McGuire (65’), 6 — McGuire came on for Enrique in the 65th minute, but only touched the ball five times. He completed all four of his passes and didn’t take any shots, but had the most impactful play of the night. In the final seconds of the game, he went down after a tug on the back of his jersey by Diani, drawing the penalty that resulted in the equalizing goal. Unfortunately, he injured his shoulder on the play and didn’t take part in the shootout.
F, Luis Muriel (65’), 6.5 — Muriel replaced Angulo in the 65th minute and touched the ball 28 times. He completed 76.5% of his 17 passes, including a key pass, one of his two long balls, and one of his two through balls. Only one of his three shots were on target, with his free kick effort deflected by the defense, but he converted the first penalty in the shootout, getting the Lions off to a good start. His introduction allowed the Lions to maintain possession and create chances as time wound down.
MF, Nico Lodeiro (79’), 6 — Lodeiro came on for Ojeda in the 79th minute, touching the ball 19 times in his short appearance. He completed 83.3% of his 12 passes, including a key pass and two of his seven crosses.
D, Kyle Smith (79’), 5.5 — Smith came on for Thorhallsson in the 79th minute, touching the ball seven times and completing one of his three passes. Santos found him for a tap-in at the back post in the 90th minute, but the defender completely messed up the golden opportunity stepping over/onto the ball and going to ground. However, he made up for it with the best penalty of the shootout, in my opinion. He didn’t end up with any defensive statistics in the game.
D, David Brekalo (89’), N/A — Brekalo replaced Schlegel in the 89th minute, as Oscar Pareja wanted his aerial presence on the field for the final push. He touched the ball seven times and completed all of his five passes. He didn’t record any defensive statistics in his short appearance.
That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s playoff win over Charlotte. Let us know how you saw the game in the comments and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.
Orlando City
More Spice or Less? Tyrese Spicer as Starter vs. Substitute
Tyrese Spicer’s performances as an OCSC starter and substitute, and how he ranks as against offensive subs in MLS.
Back in 2015, I worked for a company that assigned me to a project for a company in Trinidad & Tobago, and I spent about half a year traveling back and forth from Orlando to Port of Spain, the capital city. I loved everything about my time in Trinidad & Tobago, and while I promise this will move to soccer shortly and not become a travelogue or a food blog, I have to briefly mention my discovery there of a food called “doubles.”
Doubles are often eaten as a breakfast food but are delicious at any time of the day. Much like with cheesesteaks in Philadelphia, there is a language associated with ordering them. A doubles order usually consists of how many you want and how hot you would like them to be. I do not have a high tolerance for heat, so I often ordered mine with “no pepper,” (tell me you are an American without telling me you are an American), but Trinis generally go with at least slight pepper and often medium or heavy pepper.
All of that discussion of Trinidad & Tobago and pepper brings us to a man who comes from the twin islands and literally has spice in his last name — Tyrese Spicer.
Spicy T was the Man of the Match in our player grades from Orlando City’s most recent MLS game after contributing a goal and an assist. He scored his fourth goal of the MLS season, which ranks second on the team behind Martín Ojeda’s 11. Spicer scored that goal after coming off the bench to replace Tiago, and his bench goal was the seventh for the Lions this season, which ties them for the league lead in goals scored by substitutes:
| Team | Substitute Goals | Total Goals* | Substitute Goal % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orlando City | 7 | 30 | 23% |
| Cincinnati | 7 | 44 | 16% |
| Seattle | 6 | 20 | 30% |
| Miami | 6 | 44 | 14% |
| Portland | 5 | 32 | 16% |
| Dallas | 5 | 31 | 16% |
| St. Louis | 5 | 23 | 22% |
| Nashville | 5 | 35 | 14% |
*Excludes opposition own goals
All four of Spicer’s goals in MLS play have come as a substitute, and he is tied for the league lead with Cincinnati’s Tom Barlow in that category:
| Player | Team | Substitute Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Tyrese Spicer | Orlando City | 4 |
| Tom Barlow | Cincinnati | 4 |
| Christian Ramirez | Austin | 3 |
| Samuel Sarver | Dallas | 3 |
| Peyton Miller | New England | 3 |
During the entire 2025 MLS season the league leaders in substitute goals scored only four goals off the bench, and Spicer has already reached that tally through Orlando City’s first 18 league games.
Extrapolating those 18 games to the full season would put Spicer on pace for 7.56 goals, and since he has scored all of his goals off the bench, the extrapolation for goals as a substitute would also be for that same amount, which would be the most in MLS since Dejan Joveljić scored eight goals as a substitute for the LA Galaxy in 2022.
A logical question would be: If Spicer is scoring all these goals in limited minutes as a substitute, should Orlando City just make him a starter?
On the surface, it seems like an obvious no.
Put aside the fact that leading scorer Martín Ojeda is out injured but will command a starting spot when he returns, likely at the same left wing position where Spicer usually plays, another fact is that since joining Orlando City in August of 2025, Spicer has played demonstrably better off the bench than as a starter across all competitions (data from Opta’s tracking on fbref.com):
| Role | Minutes Played | Goals | Primary Assists | Goal Contributions per 90 mins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 457 | 2 | 0 | 0.39 |
| Subtitute | 557 | 5 | 4 | 1.45 |
In recent years, Orlando City has benefitted from “supersubs,” as Spicer’s four goals thus far in 2026 marks the fourth consecutive season in which a Lion has scored at least four goals in a season as a substitute. Duncan McGuire started the trend with five in 2023 and added four in 2024. Ramiro Enrique followed with four off the bench in 2025 (and likely would have scored more that had he not transferred in August; I really wish he had stayed. Sigh.), and now Spicer has four in 2026 with many games still to play. McGuire’s five in 2023 is the joint club record with Júlio Baptista, as The Beast lived up to that moniker when coming off the bench in 2016, but Spicer is hot on their heels.
Some players simply perform better off the bench, and Spicer, at least so far, seems to be in that Manu Ginóbili mold of a player with starter-level talent that is better at finishing games than starting them.
Orlando City General Manager and Sporting Director Ricardo Moreira noted this when the club acquired Spicer from Toronto, saying that the Trinidad & Tobago international player would “bring additional depth and energy” and that “his relentless work rate and ability to stretch the field will give us a much-needed boost and add another dimension to our attack moving forward.”
Spicer’s boosts off the bench have led to two game-winning goals this season, the fourth in the amazing 4-3 comeback victory over Inter Miami in May and the only goal in the 1-0 home victory over Nashville at the end of July.
August is a packed month for Orlando City, with at least eight games on the calendar and possibly nine, depending on how the Lions do in Leagues Cup. We’ll see throughout the rest of August (this article was written before the Leagues Cup game against CF Monterrey, which had Spicer in the starting lineup) if Martín Perelman is locked in to using Spicer as a supersub or gives him additional chances as a starter, as there will need to be some rotation with games every three to four days.
The numbers say that Perelman should keep looking for someone to hold down the left wing for the first portion of the game and bring in Spicer to close, but Orlando City’s poor play on the left side of the field in the first half helped dig a hole it could not climb out of against the Red Bulls, and this is a critical part of the season, so getting positive results is of paramount importance.
I’m looking forward to finding out if Perelman makes the call to go from no pepper to Spicy T as a frequent left wing starter, at least until Ojeda returns. The numbers are against it, as am I, but we shall see what Perelman orders.
Vamos Orlando!
Orlando City
Pasalic Remains in Purple
Marco Pasalic is staying. What does that mean for Orlando City’s season?
At least for the moment, it seems the Marco Pasalic to Hull City transfer is a bust. With the Croatian back in the mix for Orlando City, the team will have two of three Designated Players available. Unfortunately, we’re still waiting for Martin Ojeda to make it back from his injury. In the meantime, the return of the left-footed, Croatian rocket launcher is a good thing, right? Let’s take a look at the arguments for and against, and how it affects the rest of the squad.
More Firepower
Pasalic has the potential to contribute a significant number of goals for Orlando City. We haven’t seen what he can do when on the pitch with Antoine Griezmann, who can create space for Pasalic on the right side of the box. Griezmann can drag defenders to the left, allowing Pasalic more of an opening to unleash his signature top-of-the-box shot. Griezmann or Justin Ellis will be able to provide slick, no-look passes to a hopefully wide-open Pasalic.
Additionally, if Pasalic regains his form, the threat he poses will allow the left side of the attack some more space to move. There’s also the Daryl Dike factor. Once the big man is fully integrated back into the attack, there is a veritable smorgasbord of attacking options for an attack-oriented Martin Perelman to employ. He does seem to have an “all gas, no brakes, who needs defense” approach to tactics. Obviously, that is hyperbole, but not by much.
All of this is contingent on Pasalic resetting his mindset to give 100% to Orlando City. As a professional, I expect he will believe he is going to do so, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy, given he obviously wanted to make a move back to Europe. Recommitting to a team you thought you were leaving is never easy, no matter what anyone says.
Defensive Implications
If Orlando City had sold Pasalic, there would have been an infusion of cash available to help build the roster. I think it unlikely that a new Designated Player could be signed before the secondary window closes. That kind of money could be used on a decent left back, another veteran center back, or help in the defensive midfield. Maybe even all of the above.
Now, the money is tied up and the defense still has so many challenges. I don’t think Pasalic’s offensive production will be able to overcome the goals the defense will give up the rest of the season. Not losing a Designated Player at this point of the season is generally a good thing, especially with Ojeda being injured, though I’m not convinced things are actually better with Pasalic staying. Of course, even if he had been sold, there’s no guarantee that Ricardo Moreira would reinforce the defense in the transfer window.
I’m hopeful that Pasalic rededicates himself to Orlando City and starts to produce some goals for the Lions, because given this defense, the team will need as many goals as possible. Let us know your thoughts on how Pasalic staying plays out. Vamos Orlando!
Lion Links
Lion Links: 8/6/26
Orlando City beats Monterrey, Marco Pasalic reportedly staying in Orlando, Zambia ousted from Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, and more.
It’s Thursday, which means we’re celebrating an Orlando City victory. The Lions have been midweek monsters this season and it’s been a nice boost of energy to get through the week. If any of you are performing some sort of ritual on Wednesday nights, please keep it up. Let’s get to the big win and more in today’s links!
Orlando City Beats Monterrey in Leagues Cup
After a lengthy weather delay, Orlando City beat Monterrey 2-1 at home in its first match of this year’s Leagues Cup. The video review system was put through its paces in this match, overturning a Monterrey goal, a Monterrey red card, and a penalty on Orlando’s Robin Jansson in separate instances. Be sure to check out our recap of the win, which included a nice performance from Tyrese Spicer as a starter and the return of Daryl Dike off the bench. The Lions will be back in action on Saturday against Club Leon before wrapping up this phase of the tournament on Wednesday against San Luis.
Marco Pasalic Reportedly Staying in Orlando
There’s been buzz this summer regarding Marco Pasalic being transferred form Orlando City to Hull City, but the move is reportedly not going to happen according to Croatian sports newspaper Sportske Novosti.
Pasalic had 12 goals and five assists in his first MLS season last year after joining Orlando from HNK Rijeka. While the 25-year-old hasn’t quite had the same impact so far this season, he did play for Croatia in this summer’s World Cup and could benefit from the addition of Antoine Griezmann to the offense. Pasalic came off the bench for a late cameo on Wednesday to help see out the win over Monterrey.
Zambia Eliminated From WAFCON Despite Win
Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda scored in Zambia’s 2-1 win against Malawi in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, but it wasn’t enough for Zambia to avoid elimination. Zambia, Malawi, and Nigeria all finished with six points in the group stage, but Zambia was ousted due to the third tiebreaker of goals scored in matches between the three. It’s a rough way to go out for Zambia, which finished with the best overall goal differential in the group. As a result, Zambia will not take part in the 2027 Women’s World Cup. Banda finished the tournament with five goals and will return to a Pride team in desperate need of help on offense.
U.S. Qualifies for 2027 U-20 Men’s World Cup
The United States U-19 Men’s National Team beat Guatemala 3-1 to advance to the semifinals of the Concacaf U-20 Men’s Championship, qualifying for the 2027 U-20 World Cup and 2027 Pan American Games in the process. Guatemala struck first, but the U.S. found an equalizer right before halftime and went on to win the game with a pair of goals in the second half. Orlando City midfielder Colin Guske was a starter in the match as well. The U.S. will take on Costa Rica in the semifinals Friday at the Azteca.
FIFA Backs Gianni Infantino as Pressure Rises
As the soccer world reacts to FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s failed scheme to sell stakes in the World Cup, FIFA reaffirmed its support for him at a crisis meeting in Morocco over his presidency. There have been many calls for reform due to Infantino’s actions, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stating he does not have confidence in him and Portuguese legend Luis Figo calling for him to step down. FIFA also denied a report that Infantino offered Morocco hosting for the 2030 World Cup final in exchange for support.
Free Kicks
- Former Lion Nico Lodeiro announced his retirement from professional soccer and Orlando City General Manager and Sporting Director Ricardo Moreira wished him the best with one of his highlights as a Lion.
- The Columbus Crew added Chilean forward Gonzalo Tapia on loan from Sao Paulo through the 2027 MLS sprint season.
- Eva Olid was announced as the next head coach of Manchester United’s women’s soccer team, replacing former Pride head coach Marc Skinner. She has spent the past five years with Hearts and won the Scottish Women’s Premier League title last season.
- Wrexham signed midfielder Ben Whiteman, who has 200 EFL Championship appearances under his belt and was Preston North End’s captain.
- Mo Salah arrived in Istanbul as it appears he will sign with Trabzonspor after nine seasons with Liverpool. Does this make the Turkish Super Lig a retirement league or does that label only apply when it’s about MLS?
That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!
More Spice or Less? Tyrese Spicer as Starter vs. Substitute
Pasalic Remains in Purple
Lion Links: 8/6/26
Orlando City vs. New York Red Bulls: Final Score 3-2 as Poor Start Sinks Lions
Orlando City vs. New York Red Bulls: Player Grades and Man of the Match
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