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

The Lions had opportunities to get on the board first but wasted them in a 1-0 home loss to Houston. Orlando City had a good amount of possession, keeping the ball 56.7% of the time to the Dynamo’s 43.3%, but Orlando’s best chance clanged off the post from a tap-in distance by Tiago. Martin Perelman used many of the roster’s younger players, either starting or as replacements.

There aren’t many good grades to give, but that’s the story of the season. Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated individually in a matchup with Houston.

Starters

GK, Maxime Crépeau, 6.5 — While he didn’t have a lot to do in the first half, when the moment came, he was ready. Felipe Andrade put his head on a corner, sending it toward the top of the net, but Crépeau reacted well to tip it over at the 40-minute mark. Crépeau didn’t face another shot on goal until it a mad scramble in the 75th minute, when the ball was pinging everywhere, and he had no chance of stopping Hector Herrera’s shot. Crépeau had three move saves in stoppage time to keep the Lions in it, but as is the curse of goalkeepers, all it takes is one to ruin a night. His distribution was fine with 83% passing accuracy.

D, Adrian Marin, 5.5 — Marin started on the left but found himself beat in transition multiple times by not reading the play right. He was a passive observer on the goal, watching the action from the top of the box after being beat down the field by Houston as he pushed forward more in the second half, leading the Lions in cross attempts. To put it bluntly, he started the transition almost even with Angulo but by the end was just watching from the top of the box when, with just a little more hustle, he could’ve been the one marking Herrera, preventing the follow-up. Marin had three blocks to go with a clearance, but the image of him watching the play unfold sticks in my brain. Of the six Lions in the box, he was the only one above the penalty spot, just watching.

D, Robin Jansson, 6.5 (MotM) — This will be a familiar refrain from the last MLS game against Columbus. Jansson started and played all 90 minutes while bringing a calm to the defense and an ability to erase mistakes others make (we’ll get to those others later). Not only does Jansson bring his own ability to defend, but he raises the level of those around him. Even if Houston isn’t one of the most dangerous attacks in MLS, the defense played better than most of the games we’ve seen this season. He contributed one interception, one block, and four clearances while completing 95% of his passes. He was beaten on the play that led to the goal, going to ground to block a shot from Lawrence Ennali that never came, and the captain owned that mistake in the postgame press conference.

D, Iago, 6 — In a familiar refrain from the Columbus game, the young Brazilian played maybe his best game as a Lion and I believe it’s because of the influence of having Jansson there. Iago cleared Ezequiel Ponce’s tap-in attempt off the line but couldn’t do anything to stop the follow-up from Herrera. As the Lions were chasing the game after the goal, Iago showed up more up front and had three attempts at goal by the end, putting just one on target. His best chances were a shot on a set piece scramble that was blocked by the defense in front and a header off another set piece that landed in the stands. He added two interceptions, two clearances, and a 66% success rate on his duels while passing at a 92% clip. It wasn’t a great game, but I’m giving him credit for improvement. If he continues to grow from here, he will fulfuill the promise that led to his signing.

D, Zakaria Taifi, 5 — Taifi got the start on the right side and, for better or for worse, was mostly invisible in the first half. That’s good for a defense that has been regularly exposed this season but doesn’t help contribute anything. He was behind the aforementioned Marin on the transition play and despite a good effort, he wasn’t able to quite prevent a cross from going to Ponce for the shot Iago blocked off the line, but he was at least able to affect the shot. He wasn’t able to recover and pick up the wide-open Herrera on the rebound, however. Taifi passed at a 79% rate, recorded one tackle and two interceptions, and presented a cross-field target that went largely ignored by Orlando City when the ball was on the left, but he just didn’t impact the game in a significant way. He was replaced by Harvey Sarajian in the 80th minute.

MF, Iván Angulo, 5.5 — When Tyrese Spicer was on the field, he and Angulo were well-synced and brought some danger to the Orlando city attack. They played off each other well and either made runs to be on the receiving end or cleared space for the other while making opposing runs. Angulo had a nice through ball to Martin Ojeda in the 24th minute that Ojeda failed to put away. He passed at an 85% success rate and attempted one shot that went over the crossbar early in the second half. He also hustled back, as is his tool of the trade, and tried to disrupt the fast break that eventually led to the goal — he started 15 yards behind and was level with Lawrence Ennali by the time they got to Orlando’s penalty area — but it’s fair to point out that his blocked cross attempt ignited that counterattack in the first place. That wasn’t the only instance of Angulo hesitating just long enough to spoil his eventual decision, but it was the most costly. He finished with two key passes, one tackle, and a yellow card drawn on the Dynamo when trying to initiate a break.

MF, Braian Ojeda, 6.5 — The defensive Ojeda was the better Ojeda on the night against Houston. He worked well to link up the back to the front and found himself starting the Orlando possession often, with 12 recoveries on the night. It didn’t show up in tackles, as he wasn’t an enforcer, but he always seemed to be in a lot of right places. He was on the end of the deflected cross in the 66th minute that he put on frame that was saved into Iago’s feet for another blast that was blocked. He passed at a 92% accuracy rate and had one shot. He was one of the players defending the play that led to the goal but couldn’t find the right place to be, so that takes the grade down a bit.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 5 — I’m probably grading Atuesta too high. Time after time, Atuesta found himself on the ground watching as the play left him behind because of a missed tackle. When the goal play started, he dove in to try to dispossess Herrera, but he whiffed and couldn’t make it back to his defensive third to have any impact on the play. He was blown by in transition multiple times and mishit at least two passes to Tiago when the forward had shaken himself loose. He earned his yellow card with a harsh challenge. We’re all waiting to see the Atuesta who can hit the magical passes and at least be present in defense, but against the Dynamo, as in most nights this season, he wasn’t that. The numbers show three tackles with an 88% passing rate. He was replaced in the 90th minute by Ignacio Gomez while showing some shoulder discomfort.

MF, Tyrese Spicer, 6 — The eyes and the stats tell two different stories. The numbers show a 64% passing rate, two shots (both off target), no successful dribbles, and no successful crosses. This is where the disconnect may be. Spicer whipped a blistering pass across the face of the goal in the 45th minute that reached Tiago, who was unable to tap it in. That was one of his two key passes on the night. It was the most dangerous Orlando had been and would be until the very end, so he gets a little tick up in the grade for it. As I mentioned on Angulo’s notes, when the two were on the same side, Spicer made some intelligent runs which don’t show up on the stat sheet either. He was replaced by Justin Ellis in the 58th minute, presumably for minutes management coming off injury.

F, Martín Ojeda, 5.5 — My notes say “Invisible,” which isn’t fair because Martin Ojeda is rarely invisible. However, he’s not living up to the standards of last year, whether that’s because of the composition of the team or him taking a step back. He’s developed a dangerous corner kick delivery that is consistently challenging goalkeepers, and the scramble in the 66th minute was initiated off another dangerous Ojeda corner. He passed at an 88% clip, had an xA of 0.56, which is significant, one key pass and one one shot on target, but we expect more out of the Designated Player.

F, Tiago, 5.5 — The physical skills are there. The young Brazilian is finding open space with his pace. While fast, most of his runs came to nothing. Sometimes, that’s because his teammates fail to connect with his open runs, but that’s the life of a forward. When he does get the ball, it’s got to end up in the back of the net, especially when it’s on the end of a great cross that opened up everything at the back post. Unfortunately, he missed his chance in the 44th minute by blasting his shot off the woodwork. His passing graded out at a 77% rate and he attempted two shots, but you have to get them on target and finish chances when they arrive.

Substitutes

MF, Justin Ellis, (58′), 5.5 — The scoresheet says Ellis subbed in at the 58-minute mark for Spicer. I know I saw a number 22 running around somewhere at times. However, there was none of the skill he’s brought to OCB or the U-20 USMNT and he was mostly invisible. He just didn’t impact the game in any way. His one shot was on target, but it was a soft effort right at the goalkeeper that only rated 0.11 xG and had no shot of going in as it was hit tepidly and easily saved. He also complete five of his six passes.

WB/MF, Harvey Sarajian, (80′), N/A — The rookie did not play enough minutes to fairly issue him a grade in his MLS debut, but what I saw was someone who killed two attacks by losing his dribble to opponents twice. He completed almost twice as many passes as Ellis in half the time, but it was disappointing to see him turn the ball over.

MF, Ignacio Gomez (90′), N/A — The Orlando sideline scrambled for a sub when Atuesta motioned to the bench that he needed to come off for a shoulder injury. Gomez got the call, making his MLS debut. In the six minutes of stoppage time, he completed five passes, which is decent, but he also missed an open Martin Ojeda which could’ve sprung him loose.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s 1-0 loss to Houston. 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.