Orlando City vs. New York Red Bulls: Player Grades and Man of the Match

One half was brutal and the other was better, but unfortunately the half that was brutal was too much to overcome as Orlando City lost its season opener 2-1 to the New York Red Bulls. The one-goal loss was better than last year’s two-goal loss on opening day, but a loss is a loss and Orlando City will need to play much more of its second game like the second half of Saturday’s game, or else the Lions will be staring at a second straight loss to open the season.

I have my purple pen out and I am ready to issue the first grades of the 2026 season, so here we go. Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated individually in their season opener.

Starters

GK, Maxime Crépeau, 8 (MotM) — A goalkeeper tying the club record for saves in a game is not necessarily a good thing, especially when that record is a big number like 11 saves, but all credit is due to the new Orlando City starting goalkeeper as he made some phenomenal stops against New York. His distribution could have been better, not only the 76.1% completion percentage but also some of the decisions about who to attempt to pass to and when, but if the Canadian is going to be able to fly around the goal and get his hands or feet onto just about every shot, then he will be able to quickly put to bed the concerns about replacing Pedro Gallese. Crépeau also showed an infectious intensity as well, pumping his fists after saves and also constantly communicating with the defenders, and pumping them up after they made good plays. He could have done better to push Emil Forsberg wider on New York’s first goal and perhaps he could have gotten to the cross on the second, but in both cases he was stuck on an island and just was not able to make the play. It is rare that a goalkeeper who gives up two goals is the Man of the Match, but for my money Crépeau was the best Lion on the night.

D, Adrián Marín, 6 — The Spaniard was much better in the second half than in the first half, which perhaps may have been due to feeling the need to compensate for playing alongside a left center back in Iago who only just joined the team towards the end of training camp. New York attacked Orlando City’s left side relentlessly during the first half, and ended up with nearly 40% of its attacks going down that channel of the field for the full game. Marín won some tackles in the first half but was dribbled past twice, and was lucky that the Red Bulls, in particular Cade Cowell, did not capitalize on the chances they kept creating on Marín’s side. On the positive side, he was strong in the air, and tied for the team lead in defensive contributions with two tackles, two interceptions and five clearances. He also got forward a lot more than David Brekalo did at left back for most of the 2025 season, contributing two key passes while completing 82.3% of his passes.

D, Iago, 4.5 — There is no sugar coating it, Iago’s debut was not a great one. Or even close to it. The big Brazilian was strong in the air, winning several headers and leading the game in clearances during his 45 minutes on the field, but aside from that he looked like a young player who had just joined the club recently and was thrust into a starting role with no time to gel with his teammates, which is exactly what he is. That does not excuse his mistakes, and he was majorly at fault for both of New York’s goals, but he will improve with time and will benefit greatly from the early minutes when he was thrown into the fire. It is a long season, and the MLS U22 Initiative player deserves the chance to adjust to a new country and a new team. That said, he will need to improve quickly, or he might find himself on the bench during this adaptation period instead of learning on the job. Iago completed 84.4% of his passes and added one interception and five clearances.

D, David Brekalo, 5.5 — The Slovenian international, like many of his teammates, had a rough first half, but improved quite a bit during the second half. Brekalo got beaten badly by Forsberg for New York’s opening goal and was beaten again by Adri Mehmeti on the second goal, so even though he was much better during the second half, he still was not great overall because of how poor the opening half was. Perhaps he too felt like he had to compensate some for Iago, but that does not excuse some of the poor one-on-one defending and getting dribbled past twice in dangerous areas. Brekalo tied with his left back partner Marín for the team lead in defensive contributions, with two tackles, three blocks, and four clearances, and he completed the second-most passes on the team (37) at an 86% completion rate.

D, Griffin Dorsey, 6.5 — Orlando City’s most recent acquisition nearly had a dream debut, but the shot he put into the back of the net early in the second half came after the ball had hit his arm, and so it was correctly, although disappointingly, waived off. It was still a strong debut performance for the former Houston Dynamo player, especially considering he only arrived in Orlando just days prior to the season opener. Dorsey got forward frequently and was dangerous when he did, though he did not track back quite as well as Alex Freeman was doing by the end of last season. Dorsey needs time to integrate into the team’s system and develop chemistry with his teammates, both those who play further forward on the right side of the field as well as those who play with him on the back line, and if he can continue to attack up the right the way he did on Saturday while also ensuring that the opposition cannot take advantage of his forays forward, Orlando City will be in good shape. Dorsey’s almost-goal did not officially count, but he was able to put another shot on target, one that required a fantastic save by New York’s Ethan Horvath, while completing 74.3% of his passes and adding three tackles and one interception on defense.

MF, Tyrese Spicer, 5 — Saturday night was a rough night for Orlando City’s starting left wing. While he was on attack mode throughout his minutes on the field, he missed wide-open teammates multiple times while going for goal himself. Being that his passing completion percentage was only 53.9%, perhaps he would not have completed those passes anyway, but Duncan McGuire was wide open on two occasions and Spicer never even looked in his direction while the Lions were on the break. The Trinidad & Tobago international’s work rate was strong, as he led the team in tackles with four while also adding one clearance, but according to sofascore.com’s tracking, he lost the ball 25 times during the game, which was by far the most of any player, and that, combined with some tunnel vision when he had the ball, hurt the Lions as they tried to climb back into the game.

MF, Braian Ojeda, 6 — The man we call “Defensive” Ojeda played, like so many of his teammates, much better as the game went along. However, as one of the two central midfielders, he was responsible for Forsberg, one of the most dangerous players on New York’s roster, being wide open in the middle of the field for the game’s opening goal. Mistakes happen, especially with defensive groups that have not played together before, but that was an egregious one and he will need to work with his partners in the middle to ensure those mistakes are few and far between. Aside from that, Ojeda was solid, though not spectacular, in the middle, completing a team-leading 42 passes at a 91.3% completion rate, and adding three tackles on defense.

MF, Wilder Cartagena, N/A — It was not the return that Cartagena had hoped for, as after just 14 minutes he was clutching his hamstring and walking directly into the tunnel with his hands on his head. Let’s hope that it turns out not to be serious. He completed six of his seven passes while on the field for an 85.7% completion percentage and also had one tackle and one clearance.

MF, Marco Pašalić, 5 — Orlando City struggled to keep any possession during the first half, and that rendered the Croatian nearly invisible while he was on the field. When he did see the ball, he was not on top form, losing 10 possessions and completing only 12 passes, at an 80% completion rate. Pasalic wasn’t the only one doing it, but he dribbled into double teams on multiple occasions, helping New York turn defense into transition opportunities. He put one shot on target but it was from distance, a little rushed, and fairly tame, and he was removed at halftime for Iván Angulo.

MF, Martín Ojeda, 6.5 — Although he, too, was mostly invisible in the first half Orlando City’s other Designated Player had a much better second half. The Argentine came inches away from getting the Lions on the board with a well-struck free kick that was just tipped wide. He also fired a thundering attempt from close range that was blocked. “Offensive” Ojeda led the team with three key passes, but he only completed 10 passes in total (71.4% completion percentage) and Orlando City needs him to have a lot more of the ball if the team is going to have a successful season. Credit New York’s marking in the first half for starving him of the ball, but that’s also partially a failure on the part of Spicer and Pasalic to find him before being closed down. Playing in an advanced position, Ojeda recorded zero defensive contributions, though he had six recoveries of loose balls and put in work on both sides of the ball despite not tallying any defensive statistics.

F, Duncan McGuire, 5.5 — Big Dunc went the full 90, and went hard for the full 90, but came out with nothing to show for it, despite making some of the game’s most impressive runs both offensively and defensively. Spicer missed him twice when he was alone and in a great position to score, and then Angulo played a ball over the top to him but he ended up needing to use his weaker left foot to get the shot off, and it was blocked. Despite playing the whole game, McGuire ended up with fewer touches in the box than second half substitute Tiago and the same amount of touches as midfielders Braian Ojeda and Pasalic, and he needs better service if he is going to be able to get back to his goal-scoring ways of 2023 and 2024. I thought the effort was supreme, especially some of the runs he made while tracking back on defense, but aside from that it was a quiet day for the former Creighton Blue Jay. He completed eight of his 12 pass attempts (66.7%) and added one interception on defense. But he could have done more to clear the ball prior to New York’s second goal.

Substitutes

MF, Colin Guske (14′), 6 — The Homegrown midfielder was thrust into action far earlier than anyone expected. With Eduard Atuesta out with hamstring tightness, Guske was on the bench and forced to come in just 14 minutes into the game after Cartagena went off injured. He showed once again that he is ready to play at the MLS level, and during the second half in particular he dropped back more to help out the defense, which in turn helped his teammates better link to the attacking players. Guske finished with the third-most completions on the team (34) and completed those passes at an 89.5% completion rate while also adding one interception and one clearance. He also made a couple of strong tracking runs in transition to prevent dangerous counters.

MF, Iván Angulo, (46′), 7 — The Colombian came on for Pašalić to start the second half and he played one of his best halves of soccer in his Orlando City tenure, making plays all over the field and really changing the game for the Lions. He did it despite playing more centrally than normal as part of the club’s tactical change at the break. The great pass he played to McGuire could have led to an assist and the pass he played to Zakaria Taifi in stoppage time did lead to an assist. Despite playing for only 45 minutes, he completed the same number of passes (18) as Martin Ojeda and McGuire combined, even though both went the full 90. Angulo completed those passes at an 85.7% completion rate with two key passes, and he nearly scored a goal himself after getting his head on a great cross from Dorsey, but it was just deflected by Justin Che and bounced harmlessly to Horvath. Angulo also added one interception and six loose ball recoveries, and after this performance, I expect we will see him back in the starting lineup shortly.

D, Nolan Miller, (46′), 6 — The rookie from the University of Michigan made his MLS debut, coming on for Iago to start the second half, and he looked completely comfortable on the field. His entrance onto the back line helped steady the ship, and while he did not produce any spectacular plays, he was steady, solid, and composed, helping the Lions deliver a significantly better performance in the second half than the first. Miller completed 80.8% of his passes and had one shot attempt, a header on a corner kick that went over the bar. Defensively, he added one tackle and one clearance, but his most important contribution was his cohesiveness with the back line, which played much better with him in the left center back slot.

MF, Tiago, (76′), 6.5 — Tiago entered late in the second half, coming on for Spicer, and he had a glorious chance to score a goal on his debut but he scuffed the shot, putting it on goal but weakly. He made up for it just moments later, making an excellent off-ball run to put himself in a perfect position to finish a pass from fellow sub Taifi, cutting the lead to 2-1. Aside from those two shots on target, he took a third shot that did not go on target, completed his only pass attempt, and added one tackle and one interception on defense.

D, Zakaria Taifi, (87′), N/A — The Homegrown defender came on late for Dorsey and kept the high level of play at right back trend going by creating Orlando City’s only goal after he made a great run up the right side, took Angulo’s through ball well, and one-timed a perfectly weighted pass across the goalmouth for Tiago to slot home. It was the only pass attempt he made on the night, but it was a key pass, literally and figuratively, as he picked up his first MLS assist and spoiled the shutout on one of the last touches of the match. Taifi made an impact, but he didn’t quite play enough minutes to fairly grade the performance.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s disappointing 2-1 loss against the Red Bulls. 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.