Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC: Player Grades and Man of the Match

Orlando City clawed its way back from a two-goal deficit Saturday night, earning a point after yet another draw on the road in Charlotte. The Lions looked listless during the first 65 minutes but sharp and formidable in the final 25, but with Charlotte missing several key players, the team probably should have done better than just a draw. That said, coming back from two goals down showed heart and pride, and math is math (I love math), and one point is better than zero points.

I have my purple pen out and 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 Eastern Conference matchup.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 6 — Orlando City’s No. 1 conceded the free kick that led to Charlotte’s second goal after coming way outside the box and trying to clear a ball with his head. The header did not go far enough, so he followed it up, committing a foul and giving Charlotte a free kick, which it took advantage of to double the lead. Conceding a free kick, however, is not the same as conceding a goal, and if the back line hadn’t been beaten over the top both on that play and multiple earlier ones, Gallese would likely not have felt the need to intervene. It is not Gallese’s fault Bill Tuiloma was not properly marked on the set piece, and there was little he could do to prevent the second goal from point-blank range on the free kick. The goal that put Charlotte on the board in the first half was not one that I think he should have saved, as Pep Biel’s shot was placed perfectly into the inside netting at the far post while curling away from Gallese’s outstretched fingertips. El Pulpo controlled the box and made three saves during the rest of the game, including a big stop on a rocketed volley by Kerwin Vargas halfway through the first half. He also completed a season-high 30 passes during this match, only misplaying one pass, for a 96.8% completion rate.

D, David Brekalo, 6.5 — Brekalo was by far the most active Lion during his 45 minutes on the field, and was unlucky to receive what I believe was an inappropriately given yellow card, on a play when Charlotte’s Brandt Bronico actually fouled him. The foul knocked Brekalo off balance, and his arm flailed out as he tried to avoid falling, catching Bronico. That yellow card put him at risk of a second yellow. He was Orlando City’s most potent offensive threat in the first half, with three shots taken, including the team’s best opportunity — a header on a great ball from Marco Pašalić that forced Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina into a reaction save. Brekalo was also engaged defensively, making one tackle and four clearances, but he was slow to close down Nick Scardina on Charlotte’s first goal and owns some of the blame for the Lions falling behind late in the first half. He completed 86.1% of his passes during the first half, and came off for Rafael Santos at halftime, in an effort to get a wide player outside of Martin Ojeda, allowing the team’s No. 10 to move from the left flank to the channel between the wing and the middle, where he was able to pull the strings much more effectively.

D, Robin Jansson, 6 — The captain came off injured in the second half, making Saturday night’s game the first time all season that he did not play the entire game. Prior to that, he had been solid, but he was bailed out by Gallese in the first half when he was caught way upfield and Charlotte played a ball over the top that turned into a great scoring opportunity. Jansson completed 91.4% of his passes, including six accurate long balls, and contributed his usual variety of defensive actions, including two tackles, one interception, and three clearances. He also picked up a yellow card, which means whether injured or not, he will be out for Orlando City’s next game due to suspension for yellow card accumulation. Kyle Smith came on almost immediately after Jansson went down. Oscar Pareja said after the match that he believes Jansson’s knock is not serious, and hopefully the Beefy Swede returns to his customary place after sitting out just the next game.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 6 — Schlegel was the only starter on the back line to play the full 90 minutes, and by the time the game ended he was flanked by an unlikely back line partnership of Santos and Smith on his left and Iván Angulo on his right. The Argentine came close to a season high for completed passes, finishing with 71 on the night at a 93.4% completion rate, but with Orlando City trailing for most of the game and throwing the outside backs forward, most of those passes were simple redirects, as Schlegel was dropped deep next to Jansson or Smith. He added three tackles, one clearance, and one blocked shot on defense and was a calm quarterback for the back line for the final minutes of the game after Jansson had to go off due to his injury.

D, Dagur Dan Thórhallsson, 6 — The Icelandic defender made it bookend outside backs who did not go the full 90 minutes, as he came off after Charlotte’s second goal, having only played 65 minutes. This was not one of his better games, as although he completed 91.2% of his passes, he did not really contribute any threatening plays offensively. Defensively, Charlotte played more down the right than its left when he was on the field, so he did not have many chances to make tackles or interceptions and start a counterattack. He made one tackle but that was his only defensive action, and aside from that it was a relatively quiet evening for Thórhallsson before he was subbed out for Angulo with the Lions chasing a two-goal deficit.

MF, Martín Ojeda, 7 — The Argentinean Designated Player racked up another two assists in this game, taking him to 18 goal contributions on the year with an even split of nine goals and nine assists. With Angulo starting on the bench, Ojeda shifted out to the left wing, and when Santos came on, he drifted inside more on the left, and that really opened up the team’s offense. In the first half, Ojeda really only created one chance, a driving ball across the middle that got past Kahlina but found no teammates at the back post, but in the second half he created many more opportunities, finishing with a game-leading six key passes and bringing Orlando City back into the game. He completed 84.6% of his passes and partnered well with Santos on the left side, a combination we may see again next week.

MF, César Araújo, 6.5 — Like many of his teammates, Araújo was much better in the second half than the first, in particular because the first goal the Lions allowed was due to a late recovery run by the Uruguayan, who was caught ball watching and was unable to get back to prevent Biel from taking an unencumbered shot to put Charlotte on the board. With Orlando City chasing the game, Araújo stepped up though, initiating more offense from a deeper role and even playing as almost a third center back at times, due to how far Santos and Angulo were pushed up as Orlando City tried to get back into the game. He completed a game-high 85 passes at a sparkling 92.4% completion rate, and the reason it was sparkling is that he was not just playing short, easy passes. He completed 15 progressive passes (passes of 10+ yards in the attacking area of the field), the second most of any Lion in any game this season. Araújo also drew a game-high five fouls and took a yellow card on a professional foul to prevent Charlotte from executing a late counterattack with only minutes remaining.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 7.5 (MotM) — Despite not having a goal contribution, the Colombian midfielder was my Man of the Match (if you disagree I would love to know why in the comments), as he made play after play all over the field and should have had an assist on one of the best passes of the season when he played a wonderful through ball to Enrique, but a heavy touch allowed Scardina to sprint back in front of his goal and clear the shot off the line. Atuesta pulled the strings on the offense all game long, completing 94% of his passes, including five key passes and seven accurate long balls, while also winning five take-on attempts off the dribble. He put his only shot attempt on frame in the first half. On the defensive side of the ball, he made three tackles and added two clearances, and he added nine recoveries of loose balls as well. Late in the game his midfield partner Araújo started dropping deeper and deeper to help initiate the offense with the outside backs pushed way up, leaving Atuesta to fend for himself in the middle, and fend he did, as he bossed the middle just as much playing solo as he had been in tandem with Araújo. Atuesta was outstanding, and while I am sure some will quibble, I thought he was the best player on the field for the Lions.

MF, Marco Pašalić, 7 — Ho hum, another game and another goal for Pašalić, making that four goals in his last three games and an even 10 goals for the season. The Croatian did not bring his dazzling dribbling boots in this game, recording zero take-on wins, but he completed 90% of his passes, including one key pass and was a constant threat on offense. He showed once again that when he gets his shot off cleanly and on goal he is absolutely lethal. Pašalić does not seem to have the same chemistry with any of the right backs who have filled in for Alex Freeman while the young defender is with the U.S Men’s National Team, but that has not stopped him from contributing to the offense and tallying goals for the Lions. He looked threatening throughout the second half, and had Charlotte not blocked his shots, he may have scored more than once.

F, Luis Muriel, 7 — After a subdued first half, Muriel stepped up in the second half, assisting on both of Orlando City’s goals and looking threatening with the ball at his feet. The two assists he provided showed the depth of his abilities, as the first came on a perfectly placed one-two pass with Martín Ojeda, with Muriel spinning as he played Ojeda through, before his fellow Designated Player crossed the ball into the middle to Enrique get the Lions on the scoreboard. The second assist was likely one of the easiest of Muriel’s career but still required the perfect soft touch, as the Colombian laid the ball back to an onrushing Pašalić, who slammed the shot into the corner to tie the game. Muriel’s passing line was not great — only 24 completed passes at a 68.2% completion rate — but many of the passes that went incomplete were probing attempts to unlock the defense and that is a critical part of the Orlando City offense.

F, Ramiro Enrique, 6.5 — The Mane Land’s Sean Rollins apparently had his crystal ball out earlier this week when he wrote about Enrique’s inconsistency, as the Argentine showed a great nose for the goal with his perfectly timed run to end up in the right spot for Orlando City’s first goal, but he also had a heavy touch on a breakaway that put him too far wide and allowed a recovery run by Charlotte to prevent a shot into an open net. That miss was costly, as Charlotte scored just moments later, a two-goal swing. I thought Enrique was mostly nonexistent in the first half aside from one great pass to Ojeda that led to a dangerous cross, but he was much better in the second half, and on another day he might have had multiple goals. He completed 89.5% of his passes and was the only Lion to put more than one shot on target. His goal changed the game for Orlando City as from that point on the Lions dominated play.

Substitutes

D, Rafael Santos (46′), 6 — We saw the full Santos experience during this game, with some excellent offensive contributions in the attacking half of the field slightly offset by some abysmal marking in the box that led directly to Charlotte’s second goal. I thought Orlando City looked a lot more potent with him on the field, and it was his hustle to keep the ball inbounds that led to the team’s first goal. But his defensive performance, or lack thereof, meant that this was not a fully positive performance for the Brazilian left back. Santos played 45 minutes but did not register one defensive action, and while he was pushed way up the field and Orlando City had a lot of the ball, it is still not a great look to play 45 minutes at left back and have zero tackles, interceptions, and clearances. He was lively offensively though, completing 22 passes at an 81.5% completion rate while putting seven crosses into the box, and it will be interesting to see if he did enough to earn the start at left back next week with Jansson suspended and Brekalo presumably moving over to replace him.

D, Iván Angulo, (66′), 5.5 — After 55 straight MLS starts, Angulo came in off the bench in this match, and instead of his usual left wing position, he came in as the right back, replacing Thórhallsson. Back during the preseason I had wondered whether Angulo would be a candidate to play in a defensive role, using his speed in a way similar to how Ruan did when he was a Lion, and we saw that on display Saturday night when the Colombian came on and constantly pushed up the field with Orlando City chasing Charlotte. The Lions primarily attacked down the opposite side of the field while Angulo was on the field though, limiting him to only nine touches, but he used those touches to complete eight of his nine passes for an 88.9% completion rate.

D, Kyle Smith, (77’), N/A — Smith’s merry-go-round of defensive positions brought him to center back again during this game, coming in for Jansson after the captain suffered an injury. The Kyle-of-all-trades did what he always does, busting his butt on defense and playing solid soccer throughout his shift. Despite only playing 13 minutes, he completed more passes than Enrique and nearly as many as Santos, connecting on every one of his passes and going a cool 18 for 18. Orlando City had the ball for most of the final minutes of the game, so The Accountant was not called into action on defense at all, but he held his shape well in the middle of the field and helped the Lions salvage a point on the road.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s 2-2 draw against Charlotte FC. Let us know what you thought of the game in the comments below and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.