Orlando City vs. Chicago Fire: Player Grades and Man of the Match

The 2025 season came a close on Wednesday night, as the Lions once again forgot to pack their offense when they flew to Chicago and fell flat on their faces, losing 3-1 in a game that was really not even that close. All eyes will now turn to the front office as the club reviews 2025 (started brightly, ended unsightly) and starts to plan for 2026. Before we at The Mane Land move on to our season in review pieces we have one final order of business though, which is our final player grades for the 2025 season.

I have my purple pen out and I am ready to begin, so here we go. Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated individually in the Eastern Conference wild card match.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 6.5 (MotM) — Playoff Pulpo showed up on Wednesday, and while it may be strange, and a little sad, to see that I chose him as the Man of the Match when the team gave up three goals, I thought he was excellent and was the only reason the Lions did not get laughed off the field. Gallese showed his full range, coming off his line (and even out of his box) to make saves with his feet and going horizontal and getting down low to push away well-struck shots. He was credited with six saves but it felt like more. While the second goal came directly off of his attempted clearance, he was put into a terrible position by César Araújo playing a late and soft back pass, and I think it was more bad luck than a bad play. He was No. 1 in the program and No. 1 in my gradebook, and I just wish his teammates had been as on as he was.

D, David Brekalo, 5.5 — With the return of Robin Jansson to the starting lineup, Brekalo moved back to left back. While he did not make any tackles, he gave up his body to try to keep the Lions in the game, blocking a game-high four shots and leading Orlando City with six loose ball recoveries. On the flip side, he also allowed Chicago attackers to dribble by him six times, and got caught too far inside on the back-breaking third goal. With Jansson not at 100%, his left side partner had to compensate to help, and it just was not sustainable for 90 minutes. The Slovenian completed 92.2% of his passes on the night but offered little offensive threat, and we all will be left wondering if Orlando City would have been better off had he shifted inside and partnered with Schlegel.

D, Robin Jansson, 4.5 — Credit is due for the Beefy Swede, an Orlando City legend, for gutting out a quick return from a nasty-looking injury, but what he brought in leadership he could not match in fitness. Jansson gave everything he had, but he was perhaps at 80% of his speed and athleticism. His slip that helped Chicago score its first goal was not his fault, as multiple players were falling on the SeatGeek Stadium turf throughout the game, but it kept him from preventing the cross to goal scorer Brian Gutierrez. He went down in apparent pain shortly after the first goal and did not appear able to engage in the way that he normally would. In a game in which he played the full 90 minutes and the opposition dominated the ball, he only recorded one tackle, and that tells you all you need to know about how healthy he was. He completed a team-high 49 passes at an 84.5% completion rate, and while I am sure the team appreciated his effort, the Lions probably would have been better with a replacement for at least some of his minutes on the field.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 5 — The burden was larger than usual for Jansson’s partner in the center of the field, and while Schlegel led the team in tackles with three, it was not one of his better performances. Chicago’s attacking group dominated in Orlando City’s defensive third. and Schlegel was caught upfield multiple times, taking unnecessary chances that left his defensive partner vulnerable on counters. The Argentine was active, logging two interceptions, one block, and a team-high five clearances to his three tackles, but he also picked up a yellow card, so despite being far more healthy than Jansson, it was Schlegel who came off with the Lions chasing from behind and needing to bring on a more attacking player. He completed 95.6% of his passes and was credited with Orlando City’s only shot during the first half (on a set piece cross that grazed his head and skipped out of play well wide of the goal), but it a frustrating final game for one of Orlando City’s spiritual leaders.

D, Alex Freeman, 5.5 — The meteoric rise of Freeman’s season came to a crashing halt, as he brought very little to the table on defense (one interception and two clearances) and on offense (72.2% completion rate, zero key passes). He played the pass to Adrián Marín that led to Marín’s assist. It was a nice turn and switch of the field, but the goal was really more about Marín’s pass than Freeman’s. Orlando City’s right back had multiple opportunities in the box but clearly seemed to be looking to pass instead of shoot, and while there is no guarantee he would have scored, at least he would have given his team a chance. It was an unfortunate end to the season for one of the most impressive young players in Orlando City history, but the final product just was not there for Freeman in Chicago.

MF, Iván Angulo, 5 — Both of Orlando City’s wing players struggled offensively against Chicago. While offense is rarely Angulo’s strong suit, he combined his usual limited offensive contributions with minimal defensive successes as well, and it was of little surprise when he came off early in the second half for Tyrese Spicer. Angulo failed to close down Jonathan Dean on the Fire’s opening goal, allowing him enough space to whip in a dangerous cross, and throughout the game he did not look like his usual electric self. When he is on, the Colombian is usually the fastest player on the field, but he constantly looked to be stuck in the mud, tracking back slower than usual and only once breaking out with an attacking run off the dribble, but even then he didn’t create enough separation for his crosses to get into the box. He completed only 14 passes (77.8%), and with Orlando City down two goals early in the second half, the Lions went offense for defense and brought Spicer on to take over on the left wing.

MF, César Araújo, 5.5 —Araújo joined the aforementioned Jansson in pushing himself to return from an injury. While he too deserves credit for giving his all, he probably had 45 good minutes in his legs, but instead was asked to play 75. The Uruguayan rarely played his aggressive brand of pressing defense (no yellow card and only two fouls committed), and looked a step slower than usual, which of course makes sense since he was coming back from a medium-term injury. He completed 91.9% of his passes, though most were of the short variety, and made way for Colin Guske in a like-for-like substitution with 15 minutes left in the game. His most memorable play won’t be for good reasons, as his soft, short back pass to Gallese led to the second Fire goal when a safer play would have been to send the ball out of play.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 5.5 — The Lions had very little connectivity between their defense and offense against Chicago. With Araújo a step slow it fell on Atuesta to take on more in the center of the field, but he was unable to shoulder that burden. The Colombian was unable to orchestrate much of an attack, completing only 37 passes (88.1%) with only one completed long ball. He led the team with two key passes, a stat that is telling about the Orlando City offense, and when he had the ball on his feet, it never felt like the next play might turn into a moment of magic. The work rate was strong but the execution was not, continuing a pattern from many recent games.

MF, Marco Pašalić, 5.5 — There were two specific moments when Pašalić looked like the player he had had been for most of the season — a well-struck volley that forced Chicago’s Chris Brady into full extension to palm the ball away and a perfectly placed cross from out on the wing that Duncan McGuire headed on goal. Aside from those two moments, however, Marco was off the marc, sorry, mark, and offered so little that even with the Lions trailing in an elimination game it was he who came off for Luis Muriel with 21 minutes remaining. He only attempted 16 passes, completing 12 (75%) and was not involved for most of the game.

F, Martín Ojeda, 5.5 — The player who made Orlando City go for much of the season never got it going, taking only two shots (both from long distance) and contributing season-lows of one shot-creating action and zero key passes. The interplay that often happened between Angulo and Ojeda on the left side of the attacking third never happened against Chicago, and after such a bright start to the season it is unfortunate that the final memories of his year will be frustrating ones. Ojeda completed 83.9% of his passes and gave 100% effort, but like so many of his teammates, he was unable to unlock the mojo that had made the team go-go for the first two-thirds of the season.

F, Duncan McGuire, 5 — Chicago dominated the ball for most of the game, and while the overall completed pass numbers were similar between the two teams, Orlando City completed nearly 100 fewer passes in the attacking half of the field and had half as many touches in the opposition box as Chicago did. The combination of those two things meant that McGuire had little chance to influence the game. Big Dunc only touched the ball 28 times, the fewest of any starter (and only two more than Spicer, who played only 34 minutes) and was only able to get one shot off, a headed attempt that he put on goal but that never really troubled Brady in Chicago’s net. He completed 80% of his 15 pass attempts, and as always, he played with maximum intensity, but he was starved of service and could not create anything on his own either. He also had trouble knocking long balls down to his own teammates, allowing Chicago to quickly recover and go back on the attack.

Substitutes

MF, Tyrese Spicer (56′), 6 —Spicer provided the only offense for the Lions, blasting a missile past Brady in the final minutes of the game to avoid a shutout. The Trinidadian scored that goal but did not offer much more, completing only seven passes at a 63.6% completion rate and creating zero chances for any of his teammates. He deserves credit for finishing his one opportunity, which is more than any of his teammates can say, but he did not bring enough game-changing offense off the bench as Óscar Pareja might have hoped.

F, Luis Muriel, (69′), 4.5 — The Colombian came on as the Lions were desperately pushing for goals, but he brought little to the game, completing only 10 passes and creating zero shots for any of his teammates. Perhaps I am holding him to unfairly high standard, but he did not play like a Designated Player coming off the bench. For most of his 21 minutes on the field he was invisible, ending the game, and his season, with a whimper.

D, Adrián Marín, (75′), 6 — Marín combined with fellow summer acquisition Spicer to produce the only goal, playing a perfectly weighted through ball to set up his teammate for his howitzer of a shot. The Spaniard was energetic and attack-minded during his 15 minutes, begging the question of why Pareja waited so long to bring on a more threatening player to play out of the back. He completed 10 of his 11 pass attempts, including his assist, and was one of the few bright spots for Orlando City on Wednesday night.

MF, Colin Guske, (75′), N/A — Guske played his longest shift in MLS play, replacing Araújo both physically and spiritually, as evidenced by the team-leading three fouls he committed in only 15 minutes. He completed eight of his nine pass attempts, adding two interceptions on defense and showing that even though he was Orlando City’s youngest player on the field, he was not in over his head.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s season-ending loss against Chicago. 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.