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

How did your favorite Lions perform in Orlando City’s 6-0 away loss against LAFC?

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3 months ago

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Image of Ivan Angulo trying to dribble past an LAFC defender.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City was never really in the game on Saturday night, as the Lions were on the back foot from the jump and ended up flat on their backs in the fetal position by the end, losing 6-0 to a rampant LAFC. If there was any positive it was that the second half went better than the first half, but the Lions were still unable to put any shots into the goal, making it three straight away games without a goal scored. Yuck.

I have my purple pen out, though I am once again going to need to use the red one liberally, so here we go. Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated individually in a matchup with a Western Conference opponent.

Starters

GK, Maxime Crépeau, 4.5 — The Canadian might want to take a trip down to the Men In Black ride at Universal Studios to see if they have a Neuralyzer available, because he allowed six goals on seven shots on target and will want to forget this game ever happened. He did not play poorly, and none of the goals can be pinned solely on him for mistakes, but six goals on seven shots on target is yet another terrible six-seven reference, and possibly the worst one that is reasonably applicable to a soccer match. He completed 86.7% of his passes and he made two saves while collecting several other balls from dangerous areas, but it was a rough night for Crépeau and the entire Orlando City defense.

D, Iago, 3.5 — Iago started the game as a bit of a left back in a four-man back line / left center back in a five-man back line hybrid. That defense did not work well and he did not play well either. In fairness to him, he has played mostly center back in his young career, but he was repeatedly beaten by LAFC attackers going up the right side (Orlando’s defensive left) and he once again did not close down attacking players quickly enough. The Brazilian played much better in a traditional center back role in the second half, but the damage was done in the first half, and it should be clear to the coaching staff that Iago should stick to the center of defense in the future. He completed a game-high 73 passes at a 97.3% completion rate and was able to put one shot on target, but the fact that he made zero tackles while playing the full 90 minutes is indicative of his defensive performance in the game. He added two interceptions, one block, and two clearances, but he did not play well.

D, Nolan Miller, 3.5 — The rookie from the University of Michigan fared far worse than his former university’s basketball team did in its Final Four game on Saturday night, as LAFC owned the center of the box like Miller and the other defenders were not even on the field. Despite LAFC dominating the game in the first half, Miller did not make any tackles, and he only recorded one interception and three clearances. He completed a perfect 100% of his passes, but only one pass was in the attacking half of the field and most went directly sideways or backwards. LAFC had everything working on Saturday night, so it would have been difficult for anyone in central defense, and it was another “welcome to the pros” moment for the young defender who has been forced to play far more minutes than the team expected him to during the first six games of the season.

D, David Brekalo, 3.5 — Brekalo has far more experience than his central defense partner Miller, but it was hard to tell that by how he played during the first half of Saturday night’s match. Own goals frequently are more about luck than poor play, but the one scored by Brekalo came as he was trying to block a cross from going onto the foot of Nathan Ordaz and he just scuffed the clearance and put it right into his own goal. He timed the defensive run well and got into good position, and then just failed to deal with the cross. That poor play was indicative of the whole evening for Brekalo and the defense in general, and though he filled up the stat sheet with a 94.5% passing completion percentage, two tackles, two interceptions, three blocks, and seven clearances, the stat that matters most was six, which was how many goals LAFC scored. Four of the six goals came from Brekalo’s defensive zone, with a fifth being the one he put into his own net, and I think it is time that Orlando City looks at moving him back out to left back.

D, Braian Ojeda, 4.5 — The man we call Defensive Ojeda literally started in defense for this game, playing as the right back with Griffin Dorsey out injured. The Paraguayan was not terrible but he clearly is not a right back, and got caught out of position frequently. Denis Bouanga is a handful for even the best right backs, and while Ojeda gave his customary full effort, he should not play right back again this season. Ojeda returned to the middle of the field and was much better at his natural position in the second half, but the game was done and dusted at that point. He completed 91.4% of his passes and added one tackle, three interceptions, and two clearances on defense.

D/MF, Iván Angulo, 5 — Stop me if you have heard this before, but the Colombian once again stood out as one of the best Orlando City players on the field. Angulo played in his customary left wing position but he dropped all the way back as a left back in a five-man back line on occasion. He had a glorious chance to get Orlando City on the scoreboard early in the game when he broke out with the ball on a four-on-two counterattack, but his cross-field pass to Marco Pašalić was poorly hit, leading to a turnover. LAFC scored just minutes later and never looked back. It was one of the only truly poor plays by Angulo during the game, as he completed 94.4% of his passes, including two key passes, and also put both of his shots on target, but in a game against one of the league’s best teams that pass needed to be better to give his team a chance to take an early lead and completely change the tenor of the game.

MF, Colin Guske, 4.5 — The young defensive midfielder definitely was far more defensive than midfielder against LAFC, as his heatmap was heavily red in the defensive part of the field. Guske was fine in this game, as he completed 89.7% of his passes and added two tackles, three interceptions, and three clearances, but he could not help stem the tide of LAFC’s attacks. Orlando City went to a traditional back four for the second half and brought on players who actually play left and right back, and that allowed Braian Ojeda to return to the midfield, which meant that Guske came off after 45 minutes.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 3.5 — The former LAFC player did not have it against his former team, as this was one of Atuesta’s worst performances as a Lion. He was slow on the ball and turned it over repeatedly, losing possession 12 times in only 68 minutes. While he completed 90.7% of his passes, there were few incisive passes to unlock an attacking player, and he was frequently just a passenger as opposed to a driver on the field. Defensively he added one tackle and two clearances, and though he is nominally more of an offensive player than Guske, I was disappointed it was Guske and not Atuesta who came off at halftime.

MF, Marco Pašalić, 4.5 — Pašalić brought his dribbling shoes to Los Angeles but not much else, as he completed a game-high three dribbles but only took one off-target shot and completed 84.8% of his passes, while losing possession 17 times. He was also dribbled past three times, and his partnership with Braian Ojeda out on the right side was unsurprisingly poor, as those two had never played on the right side together before in a game. When Zakaria Taifi came on in the second half, Pašalić played a little better, but he did not bring very much to the table during this game, aside from one corner kick that should have netted him a secondary assist, but Luis Otávio was unable to put his header from point-blank range on frame.

MF, Martín Ojeda, 5.5 (MotM) — On another day against another goalkeeper Offensive Ojeda might have scored twice, but instead he was denied by Hugo Lloris on both of the well-struck shots he put on target. The Argentine’s first half was poor, while his second half was much more like the Ojeda from 2025, but alas, the final product was not fully there. He completed 85.3% of his passes, including two key passes, and was really the only Orlando City player who consistently seemed interested in attacking the net with aggression. All that aggression was for naught though, and the Lions desperately need Ojeda to not only look but finish like he did last season.

F, Tiago, 4.5 — Tiago got the start over Duncan McGuire, but with how poorly Orlando City played it would not have mattered who was starting up top for the Lions, as there was barely any service to the striker position in the first half. The Brazilian had 21 touches, but they were evenly split between the attacking and defending halves of the field, as he frequently had to drop deep to help defend. He completed 100% of his passes, but that was only over seven pass attempts and only one pass was in the attacking half of the field. The hustle was there, as evidenced by his two tackles and one clearance, but unluckily for him he received his minutes in the first half, when LAFC absolutely dominated the game and Orlando City rarely had the ball on the attack.

Substitutes

D, Tahir Reid-Brown (46′), 4.5 — Orlando City came out in its traditional back four alignment for the second half, and Reid-Brown slotted in at left back for the final 45 minutes. LAFC did not attack with the same venom as the first half but part of that had to do with a better back line performance, and the young defender played a role in helping to settle the defense. He completed 90% of his passes, though perhaps his best pass of the game was an unsuccessful cross attempt, which went incomplete but was one of the most dangerous balls played by an Orlando City player all game long.

D, Zakaria Taifi, (46′), 4.5 — The insertion of Taifi at right back was a catalyst for Pašalić, as it was not a coincidence that the Croatian looked a lot more lively in the second half than the first. Taifi is far more attack minded than Braian Ojeda, but that also left the right side exposed behind him on his forays up the field. LAFC’s only goal of the second half happened in front of Taifi, as the young defender did not close down Jacob Shaffelburg, and with extra time the LAFC man put a perfect cross into the middle that took the score to 6-0. Taifi completed 73.3% of his passes and added one clearance on defense, and though he allowed that assist, I thought it was a decent performance by the right back and one he can build on for the future.

F, Duncan McGuire (46′), 4.5 — Big Dunc came on for Tiago but created no more offense than the starter, even though Orlando City played much better offensively in the second half. McGuire brought his trademark hustle and effort, but he was not sharp with his touch, completing 100% of his pass attempts (13) but losing possession of the ball seven times. He should have had an assist to Otávio, as he made a near post run on a corner kick and flicked it right through the defense to the back post, but his teammate was unable to put the ball in the net. At some point the hustle and work rate is going to get McGuire going again, but it did not happen at LAFC.

MF, Luis Otávio, (68′), 5 — The Brazilian’s 22-minute performance was by far his best of the season, and it is probably not a coincidence that it came after a two-week break when he could finally really settle in after a shortened preseason due to injury. He completed all of his pass attempts and unleashed a wicked shot from long range that Lloris had to save at full extension, and he looked significantly more comfortable on the field. If he can consistently play like he did against LAFC, he will have a chance to move back up the central midfield depth chart.

MF, Yutaro Tsukada, (86′), N/A —Tsukada came on late for Angulo and looked to attack, but he was unable to create anything significant. He completed all five of his pass attempts but had little opportunity to contribute much else in his limited time on the field.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s disappointing 6-0 loss at LAFC. 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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