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

How did your favorite Lions perform in Orlando City’s 1-1 draw with D.C. United?

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10 months ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City was scheduled to play on Saturday night but the offense decided not to show up, leading to another incredibly disappointing 1-1 draw against one of the weakest teams in the entire league. The Lions dominated possession and played with an extra player for more than 30 minutes, but the offense could not take advantage and the team dropped another two points that it should have easily taken.

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 matchup with an Eastern Conference opponent.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 6 — Orlando City’s No. 1 had little to do during this game, especially after the D.C. United red card early in the second half, but he was unable to prevent United’s one big chance, and once again the Lions did not keep a clean sheet. It would have taken an incredible save for Gallese to keep Jackson Hopkins’ shot out of the net, as it was ripped from close range, but El Pulpo had saved shots like that in the past. Alas he could not predict near post vs. far post in that split second, and did not make the save on Saturday night. He subsequently played about 60 more minutes but was not called into action to do much more than play a few passes. He finished the game with two saves and a 93.3% completion percentage on his passes.

D, David Brekalo, 6 — D.C. United’s one goal came on Brekalo’s side, and twice he came close to breaking up the play but he could not get his foot on either pass, and then D.C. scored seconds later. The Lions spent most the rest of the game with the ball and attacking up their right side, opposite of Brekalo, so he did not have much to offer other than serving as a release valve as Orlando City tried to swing the ball back and forth while looking to create an opening. He made one tackle, had two clearances, and completed 93.2% of his passes.

D, Robin Jansson, 6 — Saturday night’s game was uncharacteristically poor from Jansson, both in his defensive play and also due to misplays out of the back. D.C.’s goal was not solely his fault, but the Beefy Swede had a chance to close down Hopkins and was not able to get to him in time to prevent his shot. Additionally, in the second half, once via the pass and the other time on the dribble, he gave away the ball far too easily, and both times D.C. had the opportunity to create an attack out of seemingly nothing. D.C. did not create a real threat either time, but the hosts never should have even had those two opportunities. The rest of his night was rather quiet, with one interception and two clearances on defense and simple passes to his back line teammates or defensive midfielders, which helped him finish with a game-high (among starters) 97.7% completion percentage.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 6.5 — Jansson’s center back partner almost opened the scoring with a diving header in the game’s first 10 minutes, but he hit the ball a little too close to Luis Barraza and the United goalkeeper palmed the shot away. Schlegel ended with with a career-high three shot attempts, putting two on target, and also finished just behind Jansson with a 96.2% completion rate on his passes. D.C. did not have much of the ball, so the Argentine had little to do defensively, but he also had one tackle, one clearance, and one blocked shot.

D, Alex Freeman, 7 (MotM) — There should be a catchy name or acronym for when a player scores a goal and an opposing player receives a red card on the same play, as there are hardly any more devastating occurrences than giving up a goal and having to play the rest of the game down a player. Freeman achieved this against D.C. United, nearly giving up his head (perhaps we could have called him the Headless Freeman?) in order to score the tying goal and get Orlando City back level. The USMNT player came just inches away from winning the game in the dying minutes as well, volleying a Martín Ojeda free kick just wide after getting himself open on the right side of the box. Orlando City played 42% of its attacks down the right third of the field and Freeman was in attack mode, taking four shots and playing two key passes, and finally scoring a goal after a summer-long drought that went back to May 31. He completed 86.7% of his passes, and he added two tackles and one interception on defense.

MF, Iván Angulo, 6 — Hindsight is of course 20/20, but this game was not one that necessitated a left side pairing of the defense-first Brekalo and Angulo. From the opening minute, D.C. was lying deep and bunkering in, and what Orlando City needed was a left wing player who could attack and unlock the defense. Once D.C. went a man down, the need was even more pronounced as the hosts sat back even deeper, and that is what led to Tyrese Spicer being the first sub off the bench to replace Angulo. Disappointingly for the defense-first Angulo, it was his overrun of Conner Antley that allowed Antley to cut inside and play the pass that assisted the D.C. goal, and even though the Colombian ended the game with a team-high five tackles, it is the one tackle that he missed that will be remembered the most. Angulo completed 92.1% of his passes and nearly assisted Ojeda in the fourth minute, but Barraza made a great save to keep it out.

MF, Joran Gerbet, 6.5 — Gerbet deputized for the injured César Araújo and played a cool, calm, and collected defensive midfield for the full 90 minutes. The rookie is not the agitator that Araújo is, and he did not suffer or commit the amount of fouls that his teammate usually does, but he was a solid complement to Eduard Atuesta in the middle of the field, helping Orlando City dominate possession and the middle third. Gerbet completed 72 passes at a 90% completion rate, and on the defensive side he recorded two tackles, one interception, and one clearance.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 6 — Freeman’s goal is officially unassisted, since it came off of a rebound, but Freeman and Atuesta initiated that goal by combining on a pass before the Colombian found Marco Pašalić, and the Croatian’s shot turned into the rebound that Freeman headed into the net. Atuesta had four key passes and completed the third-most passes on the team, going 58/64 (90.6%) while pulling the strings for an offense that racked up 25 shots. He added two tackles and one interception on defense before making way for Dagur Dan Thórhallsson in the final minute of regulation time.

MF, Marco Pašalić, 6.5 — The Croatian’s lethal left foot created Orlando City’s only goal by being too hot to handle for Barraza, and Pašalić was as engaged as he had been in any game this season on Saturday night, taking a game-high seven shots and delivering a game-high five key passes. He completed 81.6% of his passes, including three successful crosses, and he and Freeman partnered together well on the right side of the attack. Unfortunately for Orlando City and Pašalić, all that volume he created resulted in only one goal and the Lions leaving the nation’s capital with only one point.

F, Martín Ojeda, 6.5 — All streaks eventually come to an end, and Ojeda’s goal contribution streak ended on Saturday night after he was unable to score or assist on a goal. It was not for lack of effort, as the Argentine took three shots and had four key passes, and both he and his teammates came within inches of keeping that streak alive. Ojeda left it all on the field, creating chances from the first few minutes through the last, and on another night he might have had a goal and an assist, or more. He completed 84.3% of his passes and added one tackle and two interceptions on defense.

F, Duncan McGuire, 6 — Big Dunc played more minutes than I thought he would, as even with a two-week break prior to Saturday’s game, I figured he would not extend past 60 minutes. Instead he played nearly the full 90, and while his two most impressive plays were wiped away by foul calls (he was just offside before playing a great pass to Ojeda for a point-blank shot attempt and the ball just grazed his arm before he smoked a shot into the net), he started to look more like the McGuire from last season in this game, just in time for the stretch run. There were still hiccups, and despite playing 87 minutes, he only was able to get 19 touches, but he had three key passes with those touches, completed 91.7% of his passes and came agonizingly close to scoring the game-winning goal.

Substitutes

MF, Tyrese Spicer (71′), 5.5 — Spicer entered the game for Angulo in an offense-for-defense switch, but his offensive contribution was minimal. He completed only five of his nine pass attempts, and he did not put either of his two shot attempts on goal. The Trinidad & Tobago international had several opportunities to put in dangerous crosses, but the quality was not there, and while he gave a maximum effort, the production was minimal.

F, Shak Mohammed, (87′), NA — The young striker made his 2025 debut in the final minutes of regular time, coming on for a clearly exhausted McGuire. He completed both of his pass attempts and won one aerial, and had Freeman hit more of a cross than a shot off of Ojeda’s late free kick, he might have scored the game-winner, as he was in position to connect with the ball but it was too high for him.

MF, Dagur Dan Thórhallsson, (90′), NA — The Icelandic utility man came on in the dying minutes of the game for Atuesta, but with so few minutes on the field, he did not contribute very much. He completed all four of his passes and hustled throughout his minutes on the field, but he was unable to help the team get a last-gasp winner.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s wasteful 1-1 draw with D.C. 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.

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Orlando City Trades Duncan McGuire to Houston Dynamo

The Lions send the 2023 first-round pick to Houston for a pile of Garberbucks.

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2 days ago

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July 10, 2026

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Image of Duncan McGuire playing the ball against New York City FC.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando no longer runs on Duncan as Orlando City has traded 2023 first-round draft pick Duncan McGuire to the Houston Dynamo. The big striker with the even bigger smile and the back flips joins the Dynamo, with the Lions receiving $600,000 in 2026 General Allocation Money (GAM), $400,000 in 2027 GAM, and $250,000 in 2027-2028 GAM. The return could also include up to $1.15 million in GAM add-ons if certain performance metrics are met. OCSC will retain a percentage of any sell-on by Houston.

It became clear that something was up with McGuire, as he did not dress for Orlando City’s friendly against Tampa Bay on Wednesday.

“Duncan has meant a great deal to this club since the day he arrived in Orlando,” Orlando City General Manager and Sporting Director Ricardo Moreira said in a club press release. “His resilience, determination, and willingness to fight through challenges both on and off the field have earned the respect of everyone throughout our organization. He has played a major role in our success over the last several years, and when the opportunity arose, we wanted to ensure it was a move that made sense for both Duncan and the club. We’re grateful for everything he has given to Orlando City and wish him and his family nothing but success in this next chapter.”

The Lions selected McGuire out of Creighton with the No. 6 overall selection in the first round of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft. Although he was not a Generation Adidas player, the striker had signed a pre-draft contract with the league, meaning Orlando City didn’t need to spend time agreeing to a contract. The 6-foot-1 forward quickly became a starter for the Lions during his rookie year, and put together back-to-back, double-digit goal-scoring seasons in his first two professional seasons. Now in his fourth pro year, McGuire has appeared in 85 MLS matches (45 starts) for the Lions, scoring 29 goals and adding eight assists. In all competitions, McGuire has contributed 32 goals and nine assists in 109 appearances (55 starts).

Once one of the most promising up-and-coming American strikers in any league after his 24 goals across his first two MLS campaign, Mcguire underwent surgery on both shoulders in separate procedures after the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs, which have restricted his availability, affected his form, and have limited him to just five goals and three assists in his last 29 matches. He has sat behind various other strikers starting in his place the last couple of seasons, including Ramiro Enrique, Luis Muriel, and Justin Ellis.

After his breakout rookie campaign, in which the Omaha, NE native scored 14 goals, he was courted by several teams in Europe. He signed with Blackburn Rovers in 2024, only to see the transfer rejected by the English Football League due to an administrative error by the EFL Championship club. Upon his return, the Creighton product signed his most recent contract on Aug. 22, 2024, locking him down through 2027 with a club option for 2028. That deal now belongs to the Dynamo.

McGuire’s hot start to his professional career had him climbing the U.S. Men’s National Team player pool. Gregg Berhalter called him up to the USMNT for the first time in January 2024 ahead of the team’s friendly against Slovenia. The striker made his first USMNT appearance in that match, coming off the bench to replace Brian White on Jan. 20, 2024, in a 1-0 loss. That is his only cap to date, although he had previously appeared nine times and scored one goal for the U.S. U-23 side.

The 2022 Hermann Trophy winner spent three seasons at Creighton, where he appeared in 24 games (23 starts) in his final (junior) season, logging 1,591 college minutes. McGuire scored 23 goals and added three assists in 2022.

What It Means for Orlando City

It makes sense to deal a striker making a base salary of $600,000 ($921,000 in total guaranteed compensation) if he can’t crack the starting lineup. While some of that comes down to coaching decisions and other players emerging, it didn’t help McGuire that he struggled to regain the consistent form he showed in his first two years in Orlando. In the end, this is a bit of a blow financially to the club, as the initial agreement with Blackburn was for a reported $4 million. He now departs for considerably less money, but his value understandably dropped with his production and the two shoulder surgeries.

McGuire is still just 25 years old, and sitting out after two surgeries means he has fewer miles on his legs than many players his age. He could still regain the form that saw him score 14 times in 2023 and 10 more times in 2024 and had the USMNT and European clubs paying attention. Orlando City will hope that he returns to form, because that will influence how much GAM the club eventually receives for this transaction.

A fan favorite since his arrival, McGuire will be missed, and while the Lions could perhaps have benefitted from getting a player back in return to bolster an area of need, the influx of GAM can help accomplish the same goal.

McGuire’s departure appears to solidify Justin Ellis’ position on the first team, although his play in the first half of the season likely already did that. It may also open up more minutes for Tiago. But the trade also tells us that unless a new striker is brought in, the Lions will play without a traditional target striker for the time being, allowing players who have typically either played as wingers, attacking midfielders, or false nines to have the freedom to fluidly change positions and force defenders out of their comfort zones when it comes to coverage. Martin Ojeda, Antoine Griezmann, Ellis, Ivan Angulo, Marco Pasalic, and the team’s fullbacks will be harder to keep tabs on under such a system.

Whether it will work or if it will further stress the team’s shoddy transition defense (or both) remains to be seen.

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Flashback Friday: July 10, 2022 vs. Inter Miami

Let’s rewind to a match against the Herons that featured the unlikeliest of heroes.

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2 days ago

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July 10, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

With both the United States Men’s National Team and Colombia suffering World Cup exits that were both agonizing in their own right, this summer’s tournament has lost a little luster for me. Don’t get it twisted, I’m still looking forward to the rest of the games, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t going to be a little bittersweet.

Fortunately, Orlando City will be back in action before we know it, and in the meantime we can continue our practice of looking back on Lions matches from years gone by. Last week we relived a 4-0 win over Toronto FC from July 4, 2023. This week we go a little farther into the past to July 10, 2022, and a visit from Inter Miami.

Going into the match with the Herons, OCSC was badly in need of a result. The Lions were in the midst of a summer slump and had won just one of eight matches since squeaking by Toronto FC 1-0 back on May 14. To try to turn things around, Oscar Pareja sent out a lineup of Pedro Gallese in goal; a back line of Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, and Ruan; Junior Urso and Cesar Araujo in the double pivot; Benji Michel, Mauricio Pereyra, and Facundo Torres in attacking midfield; and Ercan Kara up top.

Orlando’s effort to try to pick up a win had to wait a little longer than originally planned, as kickoff was postponed by close to two and a half hours due to lightning in the area. Once the game eventually started, both Orlando City’s fans and players probably wished it had been delayed a little longer. The Lions came out of the starting blocks slow and were guilty of a number of bad passes and miscommunication that made it difficult to get going offensively.

The bad start nearly cost the home side early, as Pereyra played a bad back pass in the seventh minute that was snagged by Indiana Vasilev, who promptly broke toward goal. Fortunately, his shot smashed into Gallese’s face and went wide of the net to spare Mauricio’s blushes. Speaking of the Uruguayan, Miami seemed to have keyed on him as a player to stop at all costs, because whenever the Lions started to get a rhythm in the final third, the Herons promptly fouled him to break up the flow of things.

It took half an hour for the first decent chances to finally surface for Orlando City. When those opportunities arrived, it was in the form of Urso taking a pop from outside the box that got blocked on the way through, and Michel nearly getting on the end of a training ground corner kick routine, only to be let down by a bad first touch.

That was mostly everything of note in a largely quiet first half. Miami had the more dangerous chances, but there wasn’t much to separate the teams in the end. Miami had a slim lead in possession (50.6%-49.4%), and also had more shots (6-3), shots on target (1-0), and corners (3-2). Orlando City was a shade more accurate in its passing (84.5%-83.6%).

Once the second half started, Miami very nearly got an early goal once again, but Robert Taylor didn’t get good contact on a header attempt and the ball went out harmlessly for a goal kick. Vassilev had a much more dangerous effort in the 49th minute, but he put his shot over the bar and wasted a nice passage of play from the visitors.

Orlando carved out an excellent chance of its own nine minutes later. Ruan played a clever cutback for Michel, but like Taylor, he didn’t get good contact on his shot and sent it tamely right to goalkeeper Drake Callender. Torres and Urso sent shots wide and high shortly afterward, before Miami really should have scored from a 72nd-minute corner kick. Aime Mabika found himself all alone in front of goal after the initial ball was played short, but he put his header wide right.

Tesho Akindele was one of the substitutes brought on, and he flashed his fresh legs by getting on a couple of chances as the game wound towards the 90th minute. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to convert either one, and things looked sure to end in a scoreless draw. Enter an extremely unlikely hero: Jake Mulraney.

In the second of four minutes of stoppage time, the winger sent a hopeful cross into the box with just two men in purple to aim for. The ball had relatively little chance of reaching Akindele, who was bracketed by two defenders, but Damion Lowe tried to clear it and instead sliced it off the underside of the crossbar and into the Miami net making it 1-0 to the good guys.

Unsurprisingly, given the state of the game up to that point, neither team managed to muster any real chances after that, and Orlando narrowly came away with three much-needed points.

OCSC ended the game with more possession (54.7%-45.3%) and better passing accuracy (96.6%-82.9%), while Miami took more shots (10-8) and won more corners (6-2). Both sides put just one shot on target, making the final score somewhat unsurprising.

Marcus Mitchell was at the helm for Player Grades in this game, and he gave the outstanding Cesar Araujo the Man of the Match award, with a grade of 7.5 out of 10. The midfielder racked up eight tackles, drew nine fouls, and played a key pass while snuffing out a lot of Miami’s danger before it could truly develop.

Those three points didn’t exactly galvanize the Lions in the short term, as they won just one of their next six games in all competitions, not counting a friendly loss to Arsenal. Fortunately, better times lay ahead in the U.S. Open Cup.

That’ll do it for this week’s edition of Flashback Friday. We’ve only got one more of these before Orlando City returns to action on July 22, so enjoy the reminiscing while you can. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links: 7/10/26

Duncan McGuire reportedly being traded, Orlando Pride host Kansas City tonight, Steve Cherundolo named U.S. U-23 men’s coach, and more.

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2 days ago

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July 10, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

Happy Friday, Mane Landers! The Orlando Pride are in action tonight and we also have an Orlando City B game on Sunday to look forward to. It’s been a bit of a hectic week on my end, but it’s at least helped make the U.S.’s World Cup loss feel like old news. Orlando City putting the Tampa Bay Rowdies to the sword in a friendly didn’t hurt either. Let’s get to the links!

Orlando City Reportedly Trading Duncan McGuire

Forward Duncan McGuire is reportedly being traded by Orlando City to the Houston Dynamo in exchange for $1.25 million in General Allocation Money, with another $1.15 million heading Orlando’s way if performance metrics are reached per Tom Bogert of The Athletic.

🇺🇸🟠 BREAKING: The Houston Dynamo to acquire forward Duncan McGuire from Orlando City, per sources.Orlando acquires $1.25m GAM + $1.15m GAM add-ons. ORL retains sell-on clause.Houston acquires new goal scorer, will fit seamlessly in Dynamo attack. www.nytimes.com/athletic/743…

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert.bsky.social) 2026-07-09T15:25:31.373Z

Selected by Orlando with the sixth overall pick in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, McGuire has scored 29 goals across four seasons with the Lions. Injuries have plagued him in recent years, but let’s hope he can have a renaissance of sorts with Houston and hit those performance requirements if this move comes to pass. Orlando would be even lighter on options up top, but the money could help the club improve at a few positions.

Orlando Pride Host the Kansas City Current Tonight

Following a 2-0 loss to Angel City FC, the Orlando Pride will look to bounce back tonight when they host the Kansas City Current in the first meeting this season between the past two NWSL Shield winners. The Current are on a three-game win streak, with Michelle Cooper scoring twice in a 3-0 win over the Denver Summit last week. Temwa Chawinga also scored in that match to bring her tally to eight as she closes the distance on Pride forward Barbra Banda in the Golden Boot race. Hopefully the Pride can keep Kansas City’s offense in check and get back on track with a win at home.

Steve Cherendulo Named U.S. U-23 Men’s National Team Coach

U.S. Soccer appointed Steve Cherendulo as the head coach of the United States U-23 Men’s National Team as preparations begin for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Cherundulo is no stranger to success in the City of Angels, leading LAFC to a league title and MLS Cup victory in 2022 before winning the 2024 U.S. Open Cup as well. He represented the U.S. as a player starting at age 18 and played in three World Cups, which should be valuable experience to get these younger players ready to make an impact with the senior team. Tahir Reid-Brown, Justin Ellis, and Colin Guske are a few Orlando City players to keep an eye out for as possible Olympic roster candidates as they develop their games.

France Advances to World Cup Semifinals

France became the first team to secure its spot in the World Cup semifinals, beating Morocco 2-0. After a scoreless first half, Kylian Mbappe scored his eighth goal of the tournament to give France the lead and then provided the assist on Ousmane Dembele’s goal a few minutes later. While the offense is understandably grabbing headlines, the defense has now had a clean sheet in three straight games during this knockout phase. In the semifinals, France will take on whichever nation advances from today’s match between Spain and Belgium.

Free Kicks

  • Less than 24 hours after scoring for Orlando City in a friendly, Antoine Griezmann was in Boston for France’s World Cup match.
  • Crystal Dunn, who set records at Florida State University before her storied professional career, joined the Tallahassee Reckoning’s ownership group. The organization aims to provide more opportunities for youth soccer players and improve the pathway towards playing professionally.
  • English defender Jarell Quanash was given a two-game suspension for the serious foul play that earned him a red card against Mexico. He’ll miss Saturday’s quarterfinal against Norway and also England’s semifinal if it advances.

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

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