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

Orlando City finally managed to score more than two goals thanks to a 4-1 victory over visiting Charlotte FC. If I’m being honest, I wasn’t looking forward to writing or even watching this game, but boy was I wrong. As a whole, the team played well, and there are some good grades for many, unlike the last several weeks. Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated individually in a matchup with Charlotte.

Starters

GK, Maxime Crépeau, 6.5— This was a pretty good match for the Orlando City keeper, though it almost wasn’t. He made three saves, two of which were difficult. He got big and cut off the angle in the 28th minute on the first save. He got caught inside on Charlotte’s goal, but Braian Ojeda also made a mess of defending Morrison Agyemang at the back post. In the 64th minute, he celebrated a block by Tiago a bit early when he thought the ball had gone out, but it hadn’t. Fortunately, Iago was there to make a play and Charlotte was offside anyway, so the third attempt didn’t count. He made a point-blank save in the 81st and another leaping save deep in stoppage time to keep Charlotte at bay.

D, Adrian Marin, 5.5 — Marin almost got the Lions off to a bad start when he lost a 50/50 ball in the sixth minute but Charlotte couldn’t capitalize. After that, he settled in, though he still scares me a bit. He completed 87.7% of his 65 passes, including three of his seven long balls. Defensively, he contributed four tackles and four clearances. Again, he wasn’t bad, but he also wasn’t impressive.

D, Robin Jansson, 7 — Jansson continues to show excellent form after his return from injury. The captain is a calming presence that keeps the defense organized. Since his return, Orlando City has allowed only three goals. He did his usual job of stopping attacks up and down the field. He completed 92% of his 50 passes, including one of his four long balls. Defensively, he logged one tackle, one interception, and a team-high eight clearances. It was the same type of performances that has earned him Man of the Match honors before, but this time the Lions created some offense.

D, Iago, 6 — Iago seems to be settling in now that he has Jansson next to him on the back line. He made some key defensive plays, including a clearance while Crepeau was celebrating too early. He completed 83.3% of his 36 passes, including one of his four long balls. Defensively, he logged one interception, three blocked shots, and two clearances. Thankfully, he didn’t lead Orlando City on shot attempts in this match.

D, Zakaria Taifi, 6 — Thank goodness Taifi muffed his shot attempt in the 21st minute. That’s not something one would normally say, but since it ended up as a Luis Otavio goal, it’s all good. Technically, it didn’t count as a shot, but he did get credit for the assist. He did take one other shot that was on goal, but it was easily saved, and he had two key passes. The Homegrown fullback made a good toe poke to stop an attack in 14th minute and a good recovery run in the 43rd minute to deflect a cross out for a corner. He finished with two tackles, an interception, and two clearances on the defensive side, passing at a 95.2% success rate. He was subbed off for Ignacio Gomez in the 78th minute.

MF, Iván Angulo, 6 — This was a very Ivan Angulo performance, by which I mean he did some good things, some bad things, and some inexplicable things. He did well tracking back on defense and occasionally taking the ball back in the midfield. He earned a yellow card in the 23rd minute keeping breaking up a counter off Braian Ojeda’s blocked ball into the box on a corner kick. He also missed an excellent opportunity after Ojeda put him in on goal in the 56th minute. It’s the type of play that he should at least put the shot on frame, but he was unable to even come close. He made up for it a bit with his excellent pass for the assist on Gomez’s late goal. He completed 91.7% of his 36 passes, including the one key pass. Defensively, he contributed two tackles. He subbed off for Harvey Sarajian in second-half stoppage time .

MF, Braian Ojeda, 5.5 — Braian Ojeda made one really bad play in this match that cost Orlando City a clean sheet. He was bowled over by Agyemang while defending the back corner on Charlotte’s lone goal. Other than that, he wasn’t too bad. He completed 91.3% of his 46 passes, including one cross. Defensively, he made three tackles and one clearance, while committing two fouls. He was more aggressive in the midfield this match, and that made a difference in limiting Charlotte’s attack.

MF, Luis Otavio, 7 — This was easily Luis Otavio’s best match so far. He only took one shot, but it was on target and in the back of the net to start the scoring on the night. The ball fell perfectly to Otavio after Taifi’s errant shot attempt. He settled it and took a powerful shot with the outside of his right foot that froze everyone, including Charlotte keeper Kristijan Khalina, to give Orlando the 1-0 lead. It was a perfect time to score his first professional goal. Defensively, he compiled three tackles, two interceptions, and one bicycle kick clearance in the 29th minute. He earned a yellow card in the 42nd minute. Otavio subbed off in second-half stoppage time for Colin Guske.

MF, Justin Ellis, 6 — Ellis was a bit of a surprise start due to Tyrese Spicer falling ill on game day, but the young forward played well. He took one shot in the 12th minute, on which he tried to turn in the box, but it went wide right. His big moment came in the 50th minute, when he took a pass from Tiago, made his way into the box, and laid the ball off to Martin Ojeda for the second goal of the match. Ellis’ aforementioned shot was his only one, but he did have an excellent assist on what turned out to be the winning goal. He completed 82.8% of his 29 passes with three key passes. Defensively, he made one tackle and committed one foul, earning a yellow card in the 67th minute. He was subbed off in second-half stoppage time for Bernardo Rhein.

F, Martín Ojeda, 7.5 (MotM) — Welcome back, Martin Ojeda! The Designated Player took four shots and put two on target, both of which went in. The first was a perfectly placed shot into the top right corner from Ellis’ pass. The second was an absolutely beautiful set-piece shot from just outside the box. He completed 91.3% of his 46 passes, including three key passes, two crosses, and six successful long balls. He received a yellow card in first-half stoppage time for arguing about a soft foul he was called for. This was the type of match that Orlando City needs from Martin Ojeda.

F, Tiago, 6.5 — Tiago should have been credited with the secondary assist on Orlando City’s first goal, but he was not. He made a long run to the end line and then put the ball back across the box perfectly for Taifi, who clipped it out to the top of the box where Otavio put it away. Tiago took one shot that was on target and earned a secondary assist on Ojeda’s first goal. He completed 77.8% of his 27 passes, made one key pass, and had three successful crosses. Defensively, he logged three clearances, blocked one shot, and committed two fouls, earning a yellow card in the 67th minute. Like many of his teammates, this was one of his best showings this season. He subbed off in 74th minute for Tahir Reid-Brown.

Substitutes

MF, Tahir Reid-Brown (75′), 5.5 — Tahir Reid-Brown came on for Tiago, who was sitting on a yellow card, to help protect the lead. He didn’t do much with his time on the pitch, but he also wasn’t asked to with the two-goal lead the club had at the time. He didn’t hurt Orlando City, and had some critical interventions to break up Charlotte’s attack near the top of the area. He completed 66.7% of his six passes with one cross. Defensively, he contributed one clearance.

MF, Ignacio Gomez (78′), 6.5 — Gomez decided he was going to make sure he received a grade for his performance. Almost immediately after entering the match, he earned a yellow card for a tussle with Charlotte star attacker Wilfried Zaha. He made up for it in the 87th minute by scoring his first MLS goal. He helped set the play up by finding Angulo with a good pass to the middle and then continued his run, finishing like a veteran. It was his only shot of the match, and he completed all three of his passes. Defensively, he contributed one tackle and two clearances while committing two fouls.

MF, Colin Guske (90+3′), N/A — Guske was brought on for Luis Otavio as Martin Perelman decided that everyone should get to play in this match. Guske wasn’t on long enough, nor did he do enough, to earn a grade.

F, Harvey Sarajian (90+3′), N/A — Harvey Sarajian came on for Ivan Angulo. Like Guske, Sarajian wasn’t on long enough, nor did he do enough, to earn a grade, although he gave up a dangerous free kick in stoppage time.

MF, Bernardo Rhein (90+3′), N/A — Congratulations to Bernardo Rhein for making his first MLS appearance. He came on for Justin Ellis. Sadly, like the other two guys he came on with, he wasn’t on long enough, nor did he do enough, to earn a grade.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s 4-1 victory over Charlotte. 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.