Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew: Player Grades and Man of the Match

Orlando City will end the MLS regular season undefeated under the Friday night lights, as in their one and only Friday game, the Lions came from behind to defeat the Columbus Crew 3-1. The game started an hour late due to inclement weather and the Orlando City offense started an hour late due to reasons that they did not share, but once the game hit the final 30 minutes the Lions roared, scoring three goals in a 20-minute period and giving Columbus its first true home loss of the 2025 season.

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, 7 — El Pulpo probably should have added to his shutout tally during this game, because if not for a cross just barely grazing the hand of Marco Pašalić to give Columbus a penalty kick, he had the goal locked up, putting himself in the perfect position to collect all of the Crew’s non-penalty shots on target. With nearly two-thirds of the possession, Columbus threatened throughout, but Gallese was up to the task, starting in the second minute with a kick save and going all the way into the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time, when he saved a deflected volley, ending with six saves on the night. The Peruvian was quick to come off his line as well, playing an all-around solid game in net. He also completed 61.9% of his passes.

D, David Brekalo, 6.5 — The Crew attacked down their right side on 48% of their possessions, so Brekalo and left side partner Iván Angulo were frequently called on to step up defensively on Friday night. I thought the Slovenian was more good than great on the evening, as the Crew were able to play several threatening balls into the box after going down his side, but he also shut down several promising attacks and made some nice offensive runs up the left side, showing that Alex Freeman is not Orlando City’s only outside back who can contribute offensively. Brekalo was tied for second on the team with 29 completed passes, completing them at an 82.9% rate, and on the defensive side, he led the team with 10 clearances and contributed two tackles, two blocked shots, and one interception.

D, Robin Jansson, 6.5 — The captain was his usual solid self in the middle of the defense, but he did have one scary moment when he mis-hit a clearance and played a perfectly placed ball on the ground to Jacen Russell-Rowe, who is not a Lion, but thankfully Gallese was up to the task and that poor clearance did not come back to hurt Orlando City. Aside from that, the Beefy Swede delivered defensively, leading the team with three interceptions while logging three tackles, seven clearances, and one blocked shot. He was not as proficient as he usually is with his passes, completing only 81.8% of them, but because Orlando City had very little of the ball, that low completion rate only equated to six incomplete passes, and they did not hurt the team.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 6 — Jansson’s center back partner did not have any major misplays that created risk for the defense, but Schlegel did not make as many positive plays either, which is why I rated him a half point lower. He recorded two tackles and seven clearances, but most importantly, he had zero Schlegels, which contributed greatly to the Lions only allowing the one penalty kick goal. Offensively, he completed 90.3% of his passes, mostly short and medium passes, to change the point of attack. His overall collaboration with Jansson helped to keep Columbus from any goals from open play.

D, Alex Freeman, 6.5 — As regulation time was winding down, I was thinking that Friday night was going to be one of Freeman’s least impressive games of the season, but then the young right back showed why is so highly thought of, stepping up to intercept a pass, driving forward, and playing a perfectly weighted pass directly onto the left foot of a sprinting Martín Ojeda for the back-breaking third goal. That pass was so good that at first I thought it must have come from Eduard Atuesta, but no, it was the 20-year-old, and it was a beautiful assist. The rest of the game was only so-so for Freeman; Columbus attacked primarily down its right side but had good success down Freeman’s side, and there were several plays when he allowed Crew attackers to cut back inside and take dangerous shots, struggling to contain Max Arfsten. He did not have any tackles, but he contributed one interception and two clearances, and as usual, it was on offense where he made more of a mark, completing 84.4% of his passes with two key passes and one assist.

MF, Iván Angulo, 8.5 (MotM) — Columbus was done in by the Colombian, as Angulo was everywhere, leading the team in tackles with five while also getting the Lions back into the game, and then winning the game, with his two beautiful left-footed assists to Ramiro Enrique. This game was undoubtedly one of his best ever for the Lions, and it could have been even better, as he should have drawn a penalty as well, except that he forgot he was playing for Orlando City so he was never going to get that call. With how often Columbus attacked down the right side, Angulo was involved throughout his 89 minutes, and he delivered both offensively and defensively, helping Orlando City turn the game around after falling behind. He completed 84% of his passes, with both of his key passes becoming assists, and he also had two successful take-ons before coming off for Kyle Smith as Óscar Pareja put in some fresh legs to protect the lead.

MF, César Araújo, 6.5 — The Uruguayan was a quiet contributor against the Crew, playing his role well as he sat in front of the defense and helped connect the defense to the offense. With both Brekalo and Freeman venturing forward, Araújo often looked like a third center back alongside Jansson and Schlegel, and while that prevented him from making any threatening runs on offense, he still led the team in completed passes with 33 on 35 attempts to finish with a 97.1% completion rate. He added one tackle, one clearance, and one blocked shot on defense, playing a solid two-way game.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 6 — Friday night’s performance was not one of Atuesta’s best, but even when not at his best, he still brought more to the table than he took off. The Colombian completed 85.3% of his passes, and on a different day his two key passes to Luis Muriel and Marco Pašalić could have turned into goals. He also added two tackles defensively, but the Crew’s domination of the ball meant he played deeper and more defensively than usual, and on this night he was not able to kickstart any major counterattacks from that defensive position.

MF, Marco Pašalić, 6.5 — The newly minted MLS All-Star created several chances, but he was unable to convert any of his four shots and was unlucky that Ojeda did not do better after he set him up in a dangerous location right at the end of the first half. Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte made a great save on a Pašalić rocket from close range in the second half, and even though he did not contribute a goal or an assist, I thought he played well. While the Croatian is not the defender that his opposite winger Angulo is, he still did well to track back and engage, which unfortunately came back to bite him when a cross just barely tipped his hand in the box, not even changing the flight of the ball, but it was deemed enough to give Columbus the penalty kick that put the Crew on the board. He completed 85.7% of his passes with one key pass before coming off for Zakaria Taifi in the 84th minute.

F, Luis Muriel, 5.5 — I imagine that Muriel must feel like he is cursed, as game after game he comes so close but just cannot find the back of the net. On Friday night he burst onto a deflected ball and had only Schulte to beat, but the Columbus goalkeeper made a great save after Muriel just could not get his shot wide enough. The Designated Player did not let it get him down though, continuing to make darting runs and trying to unlock the defense with his passes, but the final product was lacking during his 64 minutes on the field. He completed 64.7% of his passes and contributed one tackle and one clearance, but while he gave a worthy effort, he was not successful, and coincidence or not, the offense did not really get going until he came off for Enrique.

F, Martín Ojeda, 8 — It says a lot about Angulo’s night that Ojeda, with two assists and one goal, was not my choice for man of the match. Ojeda was outstanding though, delivering secondary assists on both of Enrique’s goals, and his through ball that set up Angulo’s second assist was one of the best passes by any Lion this season. The Argentine then received a pass from Freeman that was almost as nice as the one he played to Angulo, and he salted the game away with a blast that beat Schulte to the near post. Ojeda now has 25 goal contributions this season, a club record, and that is with nine games still remaining in the season. He completed 76.7% of his passes, including the two assists, and also added two tackles, one interception, and one clearance.

Substitutes

F, Ramiro Enrique (67′), 8 — Enrique came on and delivered everything a coach could hope for when subbing in a striker in the second half, scoring two goals and completely changing the tenor of the game. The Argentine’s first goal came by getting himself to a dangerous location and using his aerial ability to win the cross and flick it toward the uncovered far post. Just minutes later, he made another perfectly timed run, tracking Angulo’s second straight left-footed cross and finishing it from three yards out. The 24-year-old striker’s pace and energy were contagious, and with respect to Muriel, who played hard and gave his all, the Lions would not have won this game without Enrique changing the game.

MF, Zakaria Taifi, (84′), N/A — Taifi appears to have jumped up on the depth chart, as Friday’s game marked two straight matches in which he was the first choice to come on for one of Orlando City’s wing midfielders to help see out a win. He seemed confident and poised, completing three of his four pass attempts and hustling throughout his minutes on the field.

D, Kyle Smith, (89’), N/A — The Accountant came on in the final minute of regulation, entering for Angulo but playing more of a left back in a five-man back line. He completed one of his three pass attempts and recorded one tackle and two clearances.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s 3-1 win over the Columbus Crew. 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.