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Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Player Grades and Man of the Match

How did your favorite Lions perform in Orlando City’s 3-0 win over Atlanta United?

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1 month ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Jeremy Reper

Orlando City poured it on in the second half to defeat Eastern Conference rival Atlanta United 3-0 at Inter&Co Stadium Saturday night. After not scoring in three straight matches, it was very satisfying to have the team dominate Atlanta on both sides of the ball. This was an important win with the club heading back out on the road next week.

Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated individually in the victory over rival Atlanta United.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 6.5 — Gallese did not have much to do in this match, thanks to the defense. While Atlanta took 12 shots, none were on target. El Pulpo made the right decisions on when to come out of goal to gather the ball before the offense could pounce. He had an 83.1% passing rate on his 16 attempts while completing three of his six long-ball attempts. This result makes it four straight clean sheets for Gallese.

D, David Brekalo, 6.5 — With the suspension of Rafael Santos, Head Coach Oscar Pareja moved Brekalo back out to left back. Brekalo touched the ball 87 times and completed 90.9% of his 66 passes including one of his three long-ball attempts, and one key pass. Defensively, he recorded one tackle, recorded a team-high six clearances, and suffered one foul. Like many on the team, he was active in pressing the attack but making certain that the defense recovered to keep a numerical advantage over Atlanta’s attack.

D, Robin Jansson, 6.5 — Orlando City’s captain led the defense to another clean sheet. He was his usual solid self, making important defensive plays, like a great tackle in the 33rd minute to stop a potential Atlanta breakaway. He logged a team-high 94 touches, completed 91.7% of his 84 passes, and completed two of his eight long-ball attempts. Defensively, he made four clearances and blocked two shots. He even made one of his patented long runs up through the defense, where no one seems to want to stop him.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 6.5 — Rodrigo Schlegel returned to the starting lineup from his red card suspension. Despite earning a yellow card late in stoppage time, it was a solid outing from the center back. He logged 82 touches and completed 97.4% of his 77 passes and one of his three long-ball attempts. Defensively, Schlegel recorded four clearances and committed one foul. It was good to have him back next to Jansson, and even better that he kept his head to assist in another clean sheet.

D, Alex Freeman, 7 — Freeman played well against Atlanta. The highlight was his perfectly placed goal in the 51st minute. He took a through ball from Pasalic on the right side of the six-yard box, put the ball on his right foot, and fired it across the goal into the bottom left corner. He touched the ball 55 times, completed 83.8% of his 37 passes, and had one successful cross. Defensively, the young Lion contributed one tackle and three clearances. Offensively, Freeman took two shots, with one (his goal) on target.

MF, Kyle Smith, 6 — Smith moved from the back line to the midfield with Cesar Araujo still out due to personal reasons. El Soldado had a few errant passes but nothing that ultimately harmed Orlando City. He did a workman’s job in one of the many positions he was asked to play. Smith touched the ball 50 times and completed 85.4% of his 41 passes, including one of his two long-ball attempts. Offensively, Smith took two shots with one on target, and suffered one foul. Defensively, he made one tackle, contributed one clearance, and suffered two fouls.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 7 — Atuesta returned to his starting role and quietly had an excellent match. He did exactly what the team needed of him by connecting the defense to the offense and contributing on both sides of the ball. Atuesta logged 85 touches and completed 87.1% of his 70 passes, including three key passes. He logged one shot, which was just off target, and drew a team-high four fouls. Defensively, he logged an interception, three clearances, and a blocked shot. He was active and was able to go the full match.

MF, Ivan Angulo, 6 — Angulo wasted too many offensive chances but still helped the team in other ways. He managed two shots, with one on target. It was a one-on-one with Brad Guzan, but he wasn’t able to put it past him. Angulo did well tracking back on defense, contributing two interceptions and generally getting in the way of Atlanta. He touched the ball 36 times and completed 83.3% of his 24 passes, including two key passes and one of his three long-ball attempts. He made way for Nico Rodriguez in the 86th minute.

MF, Luis Muriel, 7 — Muriel dropped into the attacking midfield in the spot usually occupied by Martin Ojeda. Muriel does well when playing a little deeper, and it ultimately paid off when he won a penalty in the 37th minute. He then confidently put the ball in the back of the net, sending Guzan the wrong way for Orlando City’s first goal in 312 minutes. Muriel logged 50 touches, completing 71% of his 31 passes, including one key pass. He took four shots with two on target. Defensively, he logged one interception and committed one foul. After Duncan McGuire was subbed off, he moved back up into the striker position.

MF, Marco Pasalic, 7.5 (MotM) — Pasalic, at times early in the match, was trying to force some passes into some tight spots. You could see the idea, but the execution wasn’t there. Fortunately, like many of his teammates, he turned it on later in the match. His first goal contribution was the assist on Freeman’s goal. It was one of those passes he tried earlier, but this time he found his target. Pasalic put the icing on the cake for Orlando City with his 67th-minute goal. It was an absolute stunner that froze Guzan in place and rocketed into the bottom right corner of the goal. He touched the ball 43 times and completed 84.9% of his 33 passes, including two key passes. Defensively, Pasalic contributed one clearance and one tackle. Offensively, he took two shots with one on target (his goal). Two goal contributions earn him our Man of the Match. He also set up Atuesta for a golden chance but the midfielder missed just wide of the right post on what could have been Pasalic’s second assist of the match.

F, Duncan McGuire, 6 — McGuire made his first start of the season, taking over for Muriel at the striker position. He was active early, making good runs, getting back on defense, and stretching the defense. McGuire managed one shot on the night in the 46th minute, but unfortunately he couldn’t take the shot quickly enough and it was blocked. It was a good run-out for the striker, who touched the ball 25 times and completed 70.6% of his 17 passes, including one key pass. Defensively, he contributed one clearance and drew two fouls. Duncan looked to be dealing with some tightness or cramping in his legs prior to coming off for Martin Ojeda in the 60th minute.

Substitutes

MF, Martin Ojeda (60′), 6 — Ojeda came on for McGuire, who is still working his way back into full fitness. He moved into his normal role, pushing Muriel into the striker position. The match was well in hand by the time he came on, but he did record 21 touches and completed 86.7% of his 15 passes, including two successful crosses and two key passes. He attempted one shot, but it was not on target.

MF, Nico Rodriguez (75′), N/A — Rodriguez made his second appearance of the season, coming on for Angulo. He showed plenty of energy, especially in defending, as Atlanta pushed late trying to make something work. He recorded 12 touches and completed 87.5% of his eight passes. On offense, he took one shot that was badly off target, suffered one foul, and won an aerial ball.

MF, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson (86′), N/A — Thorhallsson was one of three late subs brought on to see out the victory. He only managed three touches, completed his only pass, and contributed one blocked shot.

MF, Colin Guske (86′), N/A — Guske saw his first minutes since his one-minute debut against the Philadelphia Union. He had four touches, completed both of his passes, and drew two fouls.

MF, Gustavo Caraballo (86′), N/A— Like the other late subs, Caraballo only managed five touches, but he completed his only pass — a key pass — and suffered one foul. He also added a blocked shot on defense.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s excellent 3-0 victory. Let us know how you saw the game in the comments below, and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.

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Orlando City

Orlando City Striker Duncan McGuire Undergoes Shoulder Surgery

It’s the other shoulder this time, but Big Dunc is on the shelf for awhile again after undergoing surgery.

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23 hours ago

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June 6, 2025

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Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Orlando City announced today that Duncan McGuire has undergone arthroscopic surgery to repair the labrum in his left shoulder. The surgery was performed by Orlando City Chief Medical Officer Dr. Craig Mintzer of the Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute performed the surgery. Mintzer previously repaired the labrum and rotator cuff in McGuire’s right shoulder back in December for an injury he sustained in Orlando City’s playoff match against Charlotte FC Nov. 9 when he was pulled down by Djibril Diani.

The club’s press release said the 24-year-old striker’s return to play is expected “later this year.” The recovery given for his right shoulder surgery in late 2024 was listed as four to five months, but McGuire was able to come back and play much earlier than expected, appearing for the first time in 2025 in Orlando’s March 15 against the New York Red Bulls — at least a month before the earliest initial projection — however, this time there was no mention of damage to the rotator cuff.

Regardless, the Lions will be without the big target striker for a considerable amount of time.

McGuire had appeared in 12 matches during the regular season in 2025, starting three and scoring one goal and adding an assist. His goal came recently, serving as the game winner in Orlando’s 1-0 home victory over the Portland Timbers on May 24. He was recently listed as questionable on the club’s availability report ahead of the team’s most recent match against the Chicago Fire.

Orlando City drafted McGuire in the first round (No. 6 overall) in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft. After a breakout rookie campaign, in which the Omaha, NE native scored 14 goals, he was courted by several teams in Europe, signing with Blackburn Rovers, only to see the transfer rejected by the English Football League due to an administrative error by the EFL Championship club. After returning to Orlando, McGuire signed a new deal on Aug. 22 to remain a Lion. The new contract runs through 2027 with a club option for 2028. McGuire scored 10 goals and added three assists in 2024. For his Orlando City career, McGuire has appeared in 88 games (46 starts) across all competitions, scoring a total of 28 goals to go along with seven assists.

What It Means for Orlando City

McGuire appeared to be just finding his form, so this injury is unfortunate. The club didn’t put a timeline on McGuire’s recovery this time, but shaving a little off his 2024 recovery estimate, it’s likely that he’ll be out until at least some time in September.

Oscar Pareja has been favoring a 4-4-2 with Luis Muriel and Martin Ojeda up top in recent weeks, with Ramiro Enrique — who is also finding his form — typically spelling one of them when needed. Not having McGuire will affect Pareja’s late-game substitution pattern when Orlando is trailing, as he likes to put Enrique and McGuire both on the field when chasing the game. It also takes the team’s best target striker option out of the lineup when dealing with back lines with lots of height.

McGuire brings size and strength and an ability to occupy center backs that others on the roster can’t replicate. There are times when Enrique’s game is better suited to the opponent, but without McGuire there will be no ability to pivot. With Jack Lynn’s off-season retirement, that leaves the striker pickings mighty slim on the Orlando City bench. That might change Ricardo Moreira’s approach to the MLS Secondary Transfer Window.

Losing a scorer of McGuire’s caliber is always difficult, but this season it could be the difference between finishing high in the table and simply getting into the postseason in a strong Eastern Conference field.

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Opinion

Orlando City Must Learn from May’s Mistakes

The Lions can learn some valuable lessons from the three losses they suffered in May.

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1 day ago

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June 6, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Jeremy Reper

Orlando City hadn’t quite achieved juggernaut status as the Major League Soccer season turned from April to May, but a 12-match unbeaten run in the league is nothing to sniff at, despite there being a healthy number of draws interspersed with the victories. Things turned sour as May drew to a close though, as the Lions lost three of their final four matches of the month and entered a two-week break with a whimper rather than a roar.

Losing is never fun, but in this case those three defeats don’t need to be entirely negative experiences, and there are plenty of lessons to be learned from those three bitter losses that will hold Orlando in good stead if it can implement the proper solutions.

More Squad Rotation

One of the biggest factors in Orlando’s rough finish to May was a lack of squad rotation. Oscar Pareja has always been a coach that likes to find his first-choice XI and stick to it almost religiously. He doesn’t normally tweak his lineups or tactics according to whatever opponent is on the slate, and very much values consistency. In periods of fixture congestion, that tendency can be to Orlando’s detriment, and that was very much the case against both Nashville SC and the Chicago Fire.

After beating Inter Miami 3-0 in an emotional rivalry match on May 18, Pareja made just one change for a U.S. Open Cup match against Nashville SC three days later. Ramiro Enrique slotted in for Luis Muriel up top, but every single other starter from the Miami game also got the nod midweek. With Nashville deploying a heavily rotated lineup mostly filled with backups, the gamble was a simple one: hope that OCSC’s A-team can open up a big first-half lead against Nashville’s B-squad before bringing mass changes in the second half to get guys some rest. Hindsight is, of course, 20/20, but the strategy backfired badly as the Lions lost 3-2. Orlando started well with Marco Pasalic’s 17th-minute strike, but the team faded badly afterwards and gave up a couple of very uncharacteristic goals to lose the game. Lapses in concentration and tired defending cost OCSC the game, and that isn’t something we can normally say about this team.

Then, after losing to Atlanta United 3-2 on May 28 due in no small part to Cesar Araujo’s red card, Pareja made two changes for a match against the Chicago Fire on May 31, with Muriel coming in for Enrique, and the other change being a forced one, as Eduard Atuesta replaced the suspended Araujo. Those starters looked noticeably gassed during the resulting 3-1 loss, and the fatigue manifested itself by players missing chances that would normally be converted or in sloppy, mistake-ridden defending.

May was a packed month with a whopping nine matches in 31 days, and most months won’t be that busy. August is set to be the busiest remaining period of the year with six games in 31 days, although that number could rise higher if the Lions make a run in Leagues Cup. The bottom line is that guys are going to need more rest as the season goes on. If the coaching staff doesn’t trust some of the guys currently available as backups, then they need to dip into the transfer market in one way or another and get some players that they do trust, because if the starting XI gets run ragged during busy periods it’s going to cost Orlando, plain and simple.

Cool Heads Usually Prevail

Orlando City has received three red cards on the season, which is tied for the second-most in the league. Unsurprisingly, the Lions are winless in games in which they’ve had a man sent off, with draws against the New York Red Bulls and CF Montreal and a loss to Atlanta United. The results against the Red Bulls and Atlanta were particularly difficult to swallow, as before going down to 10 men, Orlando had looked on track to get three points in each game.

Araujo’s red card against Atlanta was especially frustrating, as he allowed Mateusz Klich to get under his skin, grabbed him by the throat, and reduced his team to 10 men when OCSC was nursing a 2-1 lead on the road. It was completely unnecessary and was also the sort of thing that Orlando had looked to put in the rearview mirror after keeping its collective composure and not picking up any bookings in the 3-0 road win against Miami, while the Herons picked up four and looked noticeably rattled in the process.

It should go without saying, but the Lions can’t afford to get key players sent off. Six extra points could make a big difference in the standings at the end of the year, and that number could rise even higher if OCSC can’t put its disciplinary issues to rest once and for all.

Focus for the Full 90

There were moments in each of Orlando’s three May losses that the team committed bad defensive lapses or mistakes. Whether it was not playing to the whistle on Nashville’s third goal, Atuesta’s bad turnover against Atlanta, or the Lions collectively allowing Chicago to stroll through midfield to score a third goal, there were plenty of examples of bad breakdowns that were largely absent during the team’s unbeaten run. Can some of that be attributed to tired minds and tired legs? Maybe so — it’s a lot harder to play crisp and focused when the minutes have piled up. Regardless, its something that can’t continue to happen going forward. It’s possible that having more rotation in the squad will help that a lot, but it’s also on the players on the field to stay as mentally sharp as they can when they’re out on the pitch.

Clearly, a recurring theme here is that fresh legs and balanced squad rotation are top of my list of things I want to see change. I’m all for riding the hot hands, but tired legs make for tired minds, and tired minds make mistakes and are easier to rile up. Whether reinforcements come from the bench or an outside source, using more bodies will go a long way towards solving some of the issues that we saw in May’s three losses. All we can do now is wait and see what happens once the team returns from its break. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/6/25

Alex Freeman called up for Concacaf Gold Cup, Orlando Pride get ready for the Houston Dash, Orlando City B plays tonight, and more.

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1 day ago

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June 6, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Happy Friday! I’ll be spending this weekend celebrating my birthday by beating my friends at mini golf with no mercy but still hope to catch some soccer over the next few days. I’ve also been on a bit of a movie kick and plan on catching Wes Anderson’s new flick at some point soon. But for now, let’s dive into today’s links!

Alex Freeman Called Up For Gold Cup

Orlando City defender Alex Freeman was officially called up by the United States Men’s National Team for the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer. He’s the only Lion who will be at the tournament and is one of seven uncapped USMNT players on the roster. The 20-year-old could receive more playing time than expected, as right back Sergino Dest is not on the roster so that he can recover over the summer. Left back John Tolkin was added to replace Dest, so Freeman has a real shot at making a claim for the position this month. The U.S. will take on Turkey Saturday in the first of two friendlies before its first Gold Cup match against Trinidad & Tobago on June 15.

Orlando Pride Prepares to Host the Houston Dash

With the international break for women’s soccer over, the Orlando Pride return to action Saturday with a home game against the Houston Dash. It should be a great opportunity for the Pride to ease back into the swing of things against a Dash team that’s only scored 10 goals this season. Pride midfielder Ally Lemos spoke on the benefit of being able to rest heading into this match while maintaining a winning mindset from a 3-1 victory on May 23.

Anna Moorhouse Called Up For 2025 Euros

Orlando Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse was named to England’s final roster for the 2025 UEFA European Women’s Championship. She’s one of three goalkeepers on the squad following Mary Earp’s surprise retirement from international soccer, and she will likely compete with fellow uncapped player Khiara Keating for the backup position behind Hannah Hampton. Moorhouse has started in every game for the Pride this season and was an NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year finalist for her record-breaking season last year. England’s Euro run will begin July 5 against France before other group matches against the Netherlands and Wales.

Orlando City B Takes On Huntsville City FC

The Young Lions are riding high after a 2-1 win over Chattanooga FC and will take that momentum into tonight’s road match against Huntsville City FC. Midfielder Noah Levis scored his first career goal in that home win, with Justin Hylton providing the assist in his OCB debut. Orlando’s offense has been hot and cold this season but has a variety of attacking talent that can create chances in different ways. The Young Lions have only won once on the road, but a win tonight would lift them to third in the Eastern Conference.

Free Kicks

  • FIFA Club World Cup action is coming to the City Beautiful this month and Orlando City legend Kaká spoke on how it’s nice for Orlando to host games.
  • San Diego Wave Head Coach Jonas Eidevall was named NWSL Coach of the Month. The Wave were undefeated in May, winning three of their four matches to climb to second in the league standings.
  • The NWSL will allow intraleague loans for all teams, with the players needing to consent to the move in order for it to happen. Denver and Boston’s expansion teams will have access to potentially over $1 million in Allocation Money starting on July 1 to build their rosters before the 2026 season.
  • Atletico Madrid is reportedly close to signing American midfielder Johnny Cardoso from Real Betis.
  • South Korea, Uzbekistan, and Jordan all qualified for the 2026 World Cup, while China was eliminated from contention. Australia beat Japan 1-0 and will qualify so long as it doesn’t lose heavily to Saudi Arabia on June 10.
  • Spain beat France 5-4 in a wild game to reach the UEFA Nations League final against Portugal on Sunday. Lamine Yamal continues to take the world by storm, but a late rally by France nearly completed a comeback.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!

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