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

The Lions jumped out to an early lead against Atlanta United on Saturday, but a late equalizer came calling again to square the match, resulting in a 1-1 draw between the two rival clubs. Let’s take a look at how the Orlando City players performed individually in this match.

Starters

GK, Maxime Crepeau, 6.5 — Crepeau’s best save came in the 39^th minute as Saba Lobjanidze fired a shot from the corner of the box that the Canadian saw late through traffic. He had no chance on the late tying goal. Crepeau finished with five saves, a 76% passing rate, and a yellow card in the 83^rd minute for time wasting that was maybe a bit harsh without a warning.

D, Adrian Marin, 6 — Usually, if a player is invisible on the field for a majority of the game, that’s a negative. For Marin, who seems to stack up bad plays at times, they just weren’t there in this game. He started the play that led to the Orlando goal and had no major visible lapses. Marin registered a tackle and four clearances, won four out of five duels, and completed 87% of his passes.

D, Robin Jansson, 6 — Jansson held down the middle of the defense as usual but showed some discomfort in his leg after being knocked to the ground on a set piece toward the end of the first half and did not return for the second. Jansson exited with a 90% passing percentage and a single tackle.

D, David Brekalo, 6.5 — My preference for Brekalo is for him to be in the same role as last year — the de facto left fullback playing in a hyrbrid three-in-the-back formation with the right fullback forward in possession. Against Atlanta, the Slovenian was more central (but on the right when they played three wide), which is when he tends to get exposed, but he played a clean match. Brekalo was active all night with a team-high 14 defensive contributions, finishing with nine clearances, two tackles, and three blocks.

D, Griffin Dorsey, 7.5 (MotM) — The veteran dynamo who arrived just before the 2026 season from Houston is enjoying his best stretch of time in Orlando with two goals in the past week. He finished a tap-in on an assist from Ivan Angulo and sent a curling cross to Martin Ojeda in the 65^th that was blocked. He perhaps should have done better with his other shot in the 72nd minute, missing the target from a good position in the box. His one lapse was in the 71^st minute, when he misjudged a cross that could’ve created a dangerous shot but for a mistouch. Dorsey regularly made runs in front of goal and, while I usually criticize Zakaria Taifi for getting out of position, Dorsey does the same but shows significantly more effort getting back. He even had a potentially goal-saving clearance in the 75^th minute. Dorsey finished with one goal, two shots, one tackle, two blocks, three clearances, and an 88% passing rate to go with his goal.

MF, Ivan Angulo, 6.5 — Angulo was a little cleaner than last weekend against Montreal. His assist to Dorsey was spot on, but the duality of Angulo showed up in the 77^th minute. He lost possession on a bad dribble and then hustled and stole it back to cross it in. He finished with one assist and completed 89% of his passes, but he only won two of his nine duels.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 6 — Atuesta played the role of linking everyone together, with the second-most touches, behind only Brekalo. He had one moment of a lapse of concentration in the 34^th minute when he was marking Aleksey Miranchuk and let the Atlanta attacker slip by him to receive a pass for a one-on-one with Crepeau that the goalkeeper covered well. Atuesta followed the rebound with a dangerous block that might have brought a penalty. He was replaced by Luis Otavio in the 69^th minute to try to get some fresh defensive legs in. He completed 83% of his passes, was only dispossessed once, and added two tackles.

MF, Braian Ojeda, 6 — Braian Ojeda had one moment in the 24th minute when he intercepted a dangerous pass in the box. Other than that, he wasn’t memorable in this game. He was replaced at the 82^nd-minute mark by Wilder Cartegena. Braian exited with no tackles and passed at an 85% clip.

MF, Marco Pasalic, 5.5 — Pasalic started for the first time since returning from injury and looked a bit rusty. The Croatian is always going to be invisible for stretches, but his moments of brilliance often lead to goals. One of those moments almost came in the 21^st minute when Pasalic so confounded Elias Baez at the side of the box that the Atlanta man ended up on the ground, but there was no one available to pass to. He was booked in the 28^th minute for a sloppy tackle. Pasalic was replaced in the 59^th minute by Tyrese Spicer and finished with one chance created and an 84% passing rate but no shot attempts.

F, Martin Ojeda, 6.5 — Martin Ojeda showed a little of the inconsistency we’ve seen from him this season. On one hand, a brilliant secondary assist to free up Angulo for his assist to Dorsey. On the other, missed opportunities time and time again. Martin finished with two shots on target, two more that were blocked, an 80% passing percentage, and one wicked curling nutmeg to set up Angulo to pass it to Dorsey for the only goal.

F, Justin Ellis, 6 — Ellis’ best moment was in the 52^nd minute when he slipped a pass to Martin Ojeda that the Argentinean was unable to finish. It’s not unusual for an Orlando City striker of late to not have a big impact, as service has regularly been lacking, but Ellis spent a lot of this game floating back to get the ball. He was subbed off for Duncan McGuire in the 69^th minute. Ellis finished the game with one big chance created, an 81% passing rate, but no shots.

Substitutes

D, Iago (46′), 6 — Iago came on to start the second half in place of Jansson. My comment to myself at that moment was “let’s see how much he’s grown.” When he was thrown into the lineup to start the year, he was overwhelmed and out of place regularly. We’ve seen improvement, but he’s also had Jansson to help cover mistakes and get him in the right spots. He let Miranchuk slip by him in the 61^st minute for a attempt at goal that the Russian pushed wide and was late to get to Jay Fortune for the tying goal, though it wasn’t necessarily his mark. Iago was perfect on his passes — 23 out of 23 — but that was literally his only stat.

MF, Tyrese Spicer (59′), 5.5 — Spicer’s usual pace and activity wasn’t as visible in this game. He finished with only 10 touches and was only two-for-four on his passes.

MF, Luis Otavio (69′), 5.5 — Unfortunately, I have Otavio as the primary player responsible for the Fortune goal as he drifted way out of position to double someone already covered. Otavio had one tackle, won both his duels, and passed at a 77% clip.

F, Duncan McGuire (69′) 6 — McGuire had a slick pass to Dorsey three minutes after joining the action but Dorsey couldn’t finish it. In his short time, he created one chance and completed six out of 10 passes, but he only had one touch in the Atlanta box.

F, Wilder Cartagena (82′) N/A — Cartagena wasn’t on long enough to garner a grade but was four-for-four passing and added a tackle, though he too was late seeing the danger on Fortune’s goal. Hopefully, these minutes before the break will help him round back into form.

That’s what I’ve got for grades as the Lions dropped points late in the draw against Atlanta. Let us know how you saw the game in the comments below, and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.