Orlando City
Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Final Score 4-0 as Lions Blank Quakes in Griezmann’s Debut
Eduard Atuesta’s three assists power the Lions to a blowout win in San Jose.
It had been 59 days since Orlando City played its last MLS match, but the Lions came out of the break hot. They blistered San Jose 4-0 in a game that never looked in doubt, with Maxime Crepeau standing on his head and Antoine Griezmann, on his Orlando City debut, directing traffic and scoring his first OCSC goal. Orlando City (5-9-2, 17 points) picked up its first shutout in MLS play since June 14 of last year (at Colorado) tonight against the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-3, 32 pts) at PayPal Park.
Eduard Atuesta contributed heavily to the scoring with three assists: serving a corner cross to David Brekalo, leading Ivan Angulo to open space for his first goal of the year, and taking a short corner and crossing it into the box to Braian Ojeda. Griezmann picked up his goal off a takeaway and assist from Justin Ellis.
“Since the World Cup, the guys have been putting in a lot of shifts,” Crepeau said after the game. “We saw the tactical changes as well that brought us relief on and off the ball. We’re very happy and we just need to keep on going like this.”
With Martin Ojeda unavailable for the match with a thigh injury and Marco Pasalic not back from World Cup duty, the Lions rolled out a mostly familiar lineup with a new, exciting focal point. Crepeau started in goal after starting five games for Canada in the World Cup, where he conceded six goals with two clean sheets. He was also recently named as Orlando City’s representative to the MLS All-Star Game. Defending in front of him were Adrian Marin, Robin Jansson, Brekalo, and Griffin Dorsey. Atuesta and Braian Ojeda manned the middle inside of wingers Tiago and Ivan Angulo. Ellis started up top alongside new Designated Player Griezmann.
“I’m not going to discover anything about him as a player. Everybody knows,” interim head coach Martin Perelman said. “What I can tell you off the field is he’s amazing. He’s so humble, he brings good energy to all of us. It’s a pleasure and an honor not only for me, but for everyone in Orlando to share.”
Orlando City started out on the front foot with a lot of pressure from its fluid 4-4-2. Griezmann recorded his first Orlando City shot in the fourth minute when San Jose goalkeeper Angus Gunn played the ball about 30 yards away from goal but cleared it poorly. Griezmann picked up the clearance and tried to chip the goalkeeper from about 30 yards out but put it over the bar.
Braian Ojeda picked up a foul about 35 yards out down the right sideline, setting up a long free kick. Atuesta bent the ball to the top of the six, where an unmarked Brekalo was waiting and easily headed it home. It was a great opening goal to raise the spirits after the long break.
Timo Werner and Dorsey exchanged fouls over the next couple of minutes as they introduced themselves to each other. Orlando tallied five shots over the next six minutes, including a promising break where Griezmann turned Tiago loose with a through ball. Tiago had Ellis streaking down the right but opted to shoot and blasted the ball wide.
San Jose started pressing higher to break Orlando City down and generated some possession to alleviate the pressure. Ousseni Bouda was left at the top of the box at the 25-minute mark but couldn’t get enough on it to beat Crepeau. Two minutes later, Werner broke open on a breakaway and passed it to Preston Judd alongside him who scored it, but Werner was offside on the pass that opened him up. San Jose struggled to stay onside all night, partly because of Orlando’s defensive movement and partially due to simply being a bit off in terms of timing.
Orlando City picked up the offensive pressure again and, 30 minutes in, Atuesta took a pass from Braian Ojeda and picked out Angulo at the top of the box. The Colombian took one touch and, when no one came to close him down, rocketed the ball in. The Lions looked sharp passing the ball around on that possession and found the open man. It was Angulo’s first goal in MLS regular-season play since Oct. 5, 2024, and, for those of us who’ve seen Angulo miss more than his fair share of shots, it was a long time coming.
The teams traded possession over the next few minutes with no promising moves. Atuesta picked up a yellow card in the 36th minute with what looked like a worse foul from far than it did up close, as he lightly raked Nick Fernandez with his studs. Two minutes later, Crepeau stopped a Beau Leroux shot from the top of the box. Just four minutes later, Crepeau made a big save off a Leroux header to the top 90, although the play was ruled offside anyway, giving the Lions a free kick. Crepeau came up with another save on a breakaway that was eventually ruled offside. Crepeau looked inspired from his World Cup run early.
Werner picked up a yellow card one minute into stoppage time with a high tackle on Angulo, followed by falling on him instead of going over him. It was really the only action of the added time as the half came to a peaceful end.
At halftime, Orlando City led in shots (9-5), possession (50.2%-49.8%), corners (1-0), and passing accuracy (81.6%-81.2%), while tying San Jose in shots on target (3-3).
San Jose subbed Jack Skahan in for Fernandez at the break and came out attacking. The Earthquakes generated a shot in the first 90 seconds that went wide and, say it with me, was ruled offside anyway.
Two minutes later, Ellis picked off a pass from Jamar Ricketts deep and slotted the ball to Griezmann in the box, who beat Gunn inside his near post. It was exceptional work from Ellis and a clinical finish from the Frenchman on his debut. In addition to being his first Orlando City goal, it was the 300th of his storied career.
To keep the excitement going, Werner worked himself free in the box 60 seconds later by cutting inside Brekalo and firing a bender to the far post, but Crepeau came up once again with a great save to push it wide.
Ronaldo Vieira pulled Griezmann back after he was beaten and picked up a yellow card at the 52-minute mark. On the ensuing play, Tiago, who wasted several chances on the night, took a feed from Atuesta on a midfield breakaway and, inexplicably slowed, took too many touches, and was dispossessed at the top of the box.
In the 57th minute, Crepeau added two more saves to his total — one by Skahan and one by Werner — fending off the San Jose attack. Off to the side of that, Tiago was down after a missed tackle, holding his ankle. He was unable to return and was replaced by Tyrese Spicer.
At the 63-minute point, Griezmann crossed the ball over the top of the box to Spicer, who blasted it high. The Earthquakes started to look like they’d had enough of the game by that point and Judd picked up a yellow card for dissent in the 67th minute.
Atuesta did a bit of dribbling work at the 72nd-minute mark and fired a shot that was deflected, which forced Gunn into a stretched save at the crossbar. On the ensuing corner, Atuesta picked up his third assist of the night off Ellis’ short corner when he crossed the ball into the upper half of the box and Braian Ojeda came on a run to head it past Gunn to make it 4-0.
That marked the end of the competitive part of the game as both sides started substituting heavily. Ricketts and Werner made way for Paul Marie and Darius Johnson in the 74th minute. The Lions responded in the 79th by taking off Marin, Atuesta, and Angulo, replacing them with Bernardo Rhein (just signed to a short-term deal in the same day), Luis Otavio, and Harvey Sarajian.
Sarajian rewarded Perelman by picking up a yellow card a minute later for simulation when he touched the ball around Gunn and went down to try to draw a penalty. Vieira was taken off 60 seconds later for Johnathan Gonzalez. Ellis pulled up with a cramp in his leg and was subbed out for Zakaria Taifi at the 84-minute mark. Leroux took a seat two minutes later and was replaced by Ian Harkes for San Jose.
The only remaining action that wasn’t a San Jose offside was another shot by Spicer on a breakaway, again sparked by an excellent pass from Griezmann. Marie picked up a yellow in the fourth minute of added time for a tactical foul against Sarajian.
“It was a really good start for the second part of the season. We hope we can keep and maintain this level and these results,” Perelman said. “This is not the end. We didn’t win anything today, just a game, which is very important, but the season is not over.”
It was a free-flowing, complete performance by Orlando City and the Lions stormed out of the break to knock out San Jose, which was looking to take sole possession of the lead in the Western Conference. Orlando City only led in one of the major categories, shots (15-11), while San Jose led possession (52%-48%) and passing accuracy (82.0%-80.2%). The two teams tied in corners (3-3) and shots on target (7-7).
Orlando City will return to Inter&Co Stadium on short rest, hosting Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC on Saturday.