Orlando City vs. New York Red Bulls: Player Grades and Man of the Match

The Lions had chances to make it three wins, or at least three results, from their first three post-World Cup matches, but the defense let them down as they were swept by the Red Bulls this season, losing 3-2 on Saturday night. The second half was much better than the first half, in particular on the left side of Orlando City’s attack and defense, but the 2-0 halftime hole was too deep and Orlando City could not ever get back level after falling behind.

I have my purple pen out and am ready to issue some grades, so here we go. Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated individually in their matchup with an Eastern Conference opponent.

Starters

GK, Maxime Crépeau, 6.5 — Orlando City’s defense did no favors for the Canadian, as it would have taken world-class saves for Crépeau to keep out any of the three goals scored by New York. Perhaps he could have gotten a hand on the second or third third goal, but few goalkeepers, if any, save any of the chances that New York converted. On the whole, Crépeau was excellent, making four saves (most sites had him with five, but the official stats on the MLS website only credited him with four) and completing 90.9% of his passes. He gave the Lions the opportunity to get back into the game with his strong play throughout.

D, Adrián Marin, 4 — Marin’s lack of pace was painfully obvious during the first half on Saturday, and New York attacked repeatedly down his side to take advantage of it. The game’s first goal came via an attack on his side, and the Spaniard was probably lucky it took as long as it did for the Red Bulls to score, because they had been feasting on his area up until the goal. That feast continued after the first goal, and the Red Bulls’ second goal came after Marin failed to step up to Cade Cowell quickly enough and Cowell was able to find Emil Forsberg alone in front of goal. On the other side of the field, Marin got forward and helped to create some offense, but his final product was not impactful when he had chances to engage. He completed 85% of his passes and added one tackle and one clearance on defense, but it was not a surprise when he came off at halftime for Bernard Rhein, as the Lions needed to make a change on the left side of the defense.

D, Robin Jansson, 6.5 — The Beefy Swede came inches away from scoring a late goal to earn the Lions a point, and even though he could not convert that chance and the defense allowed three goals, it was still a solid night for the captain. Jansson cleaned up a few messes with sliding stops, including a great recovery run that prevented a breakaway for Mijahir Jiménez and actually turned into an Orlando City goal kick. He led all played with 85 completed passes, at a 91.4% completion rate, and his long ball over the top to Tyrese Spicer helped create Orlando City’s second goal. Jansson added one tackle, one interception, one block, and two clearances in a solid game in central defense.

D, David Brekalo, 5.5 —Brekalo stuffed the stat sheet with a team-high eight defensive contributions (one tackle, four blocks, and three clearances), but he was directly involved in both the first and third goals and could not contain Jiménez. He was not quick enough to get in front of the Red Bulls striker on the first goal and did not close down the Panamanian quickly enough on the third, and while he is not solely at fault on either, he definitely owns part of the responsibility. On the plus side, Brekalo’s four blocks were crucial and he completed 93.5% of his passes, including 22 into the attacking half of the field.

D, Griffin Dorsey, 6.5 — Orlando City’s right back bombed away against New York, with a heatmap that was much hotter in the attacking third of the field than defending third, despite Dorsey playing on the back line. His flicked header across the face of the goal helped to set up Orlando City’s first goal, and after timing his run perfectly to the back post, he scored the second goal with a tap-in, and he almost scored a goal in the first half as well, missing just wide from a shot on the right side of the box. Dorsey gave away the ball cheaply a few times in the attacking third, but he completed 81.3% of his passes and added two tackles, one interception, and one clearance on defense before coming off for Zakaria Taifi in the 72nd minute.

MF, Tiago, 4 — It was another start and another quiet performance from Tiago, who had a few chances to make plays but never was able to put anything together to really challenge New York. The official stats said he only completed two of his four passes, but he completed a few more than that, however every pass that he completed was toward his own goal, which is less than ideal from a wing player. He had one tackle and one interception on defense, and with New York repeatedly attacking Orlando City’s left side and finding great success, it was no surprise when Tiago came off at halftime for Tyrese Spicer.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 5 — Atuesta nearly opened the scoring early in the first half with a cannon shot off the underside of the crossbar, but aside from that near moment of magic, he brought little to the table on Saturday and actually took some things off the table on the defensive end. He completely lost Gustav Berggren on New York’s first goal, allowing the Red Bulls midfielder a free look to pick out a teammate across the box, and then he was saved by the offside flag after slowing down his recovery run and not getting all the way back to step in front of an uncovered Forsberg. In the second half, he again did not recover deep enough, allowing Jiménez enough room to sneak right in between Brekalo and Atuesta to score what turned out to be the game-winning goal. He came off immediately after that goal, having completed 86% of his passes and making one interception and one clearance, but really playing a mostly empty game.

MF, Braian Ojeda, 7.5 —Among the starting midfielders and attackers, Ojeda played the best all-around game, contributing three key passes, including an assist on a perfectly placed header to Spicer and a beautiful through ball that put Spicer in on goal, as well as two tackles, two interceptions, and one clearance. He also led all field players with 11 loose ball recoveries, while completing 72 passes at a 93.5% completion rate. The Paraguayan picked up all of the slack that he could from Atuesta while partnering with the Colombian and had a strong partnership with Luís Otávio when he came on to replace Atuesta for the final 30 minutes. “Defensive” Ojeda was everywhere, accumulating 93 touches while staying in perpetual motion on offense and defense, and despite a few loose touches in the attacking third, he was a strong contender for Man of the Match.

MF, Iván Angulo, 6 —The Colombian had two decent chances to bag a goal and continue his hot streak coming off the World Cup break, but it was not his night. Justin Ellis found him with an incisive pass early in the game, but Angulo had his shot blocked. Late in the game, the Colombian freed himself for a left-footed shot from the top of the box but hit it straight at New York goalkeeper Ethan Horvath. He completed 95.5% of his passes and led all players in tackles with four, but there were moments when he looked like early season Angulo with wayward touches and passes instead of the player from recent games who had looked like another number 10 on offense. Angulo’s pace and hustle were there, but overall he regressed from how he played last week, as it was more positive than negative, but only moderately positive.

F, Antoine Griezmann, 6 — The spotlight will always be brighter on Orlando City’s highest profile player, and while he was by no means poor, he did not deliver on Saturday. There were moments that could have changed that, in particular when Griezmann found Spicer with a beautiful ball but the winger’s shot went just wide, but while he was credited with an assist on a ball he barely touched on its way to Dorsey, the French superstar was not majorly involved in either goal (he took the corner kick that led to the first goal, but that ball eventually went all the way across the goal and then back before it went in). Late in the game, Griezmann showed his unselfishness by dummying a ball to allow it to go to Angulo, but with respect to the Colombian, the better play for the Lions would have been for Griezmann to make an attempt himself. He completed 86.4% of his passes, including two key passes, and tried to create all over the field, but it was not his night.

F, Justin Ellis, 6.5— The young attacker roamed the field looking to create attacks, with equally hot spots on his heatmap from both the right and left sides of Orlando City’s attacking third of the field. Ellis led the team with five key passes and completed 83.6% of his passes overall, but despite his great vision, in particular on passes to Angulo in the first half and Spicer and Taifi in the second half, none of his key passes turned into assists. Ellis also dropped deep to help Orlando City connect passes to get the ball out of its own defensive third and made one slaloming run on his own to progress the ball out himself. Saturday night was devoid of dribbling flash, but Ellis was solid and his class was evident. His teammates just could not turn their shot attempts into goals against New York.

Substitutes

MF, Tyrese Spicer (46′), 7.5 (MotM) — Spicy T did it again, coming off the bench hot to score a goal and contribute an assist. If there was an MLS award similar to the Sixth Man Award in the NBA for the best contributors who rarely start, he undoubtedly would be a major contender, and he nearly contributed even more, because he ripped a right-footed shot right at Horvath and a left-footed just off the outer part of the post, and with slightly better placement, both of those might have gone in. As it was, he got himself into a dangerous position early in the second half and nodded in a header to get Orlando City on the board, and then pulled the Lions within one goal once again a few minutes later after whipping in a nice cross that Dorsey finished with a tap-in. Spicer has outplayed Tiago on the left wing since the season resumed in July, perhaps during Leagues Cup we will see how he does as a starter. He put four of his five shots on goal and completed 93.8% of his passes and nearly turned the game completely around after entering at halftime.

D, Bernardo Rhein (46′), 5.5 — The Homegrown left back was an upgrade over Marin at left back during his minutes on the field, and while he still has a lot of room to grow, he made his case again that he should be the starting left back going forward. Going forward is what Rhein does best at the moment, as he likes to get into the attack and create chances and did so against New York, completing 88% of his passes, including one excellent cross to Dorsey for a big chance that was blocked, while also pushing way forward and getting a shot blocked himself as well. Rhein’s swashbuckling offense partnered well with fellow sub Spicer’s, and the left side looked much better offensively in the second half. The young left back learned a few hard lessons on defense, however, and he was culpable for New York’s third goal, as he failed to clear a ball that he, pardon the pun, clearly should have been able to extricate from danger, and the Red Bulls punished him for his mistake for the game-winning goal. His defensive partners helped him escape a second punishment later in the half, and while these lessons and reps will pay dividends later in the season, the mistake that led to the goal was costly on Saturday night.

MF, Luís Otávio (62′), 6 — Otávio was excellent off the bench, outperforming the man he replaced (Atuesta) and nearly getting the Lions back level. He competed 84.4% of his passes and doubled Atuesta’s defensive contribution tally in approximately half the minutes, logging one tackle, two interceptions, and one clearance in only 29 minutes. The Brazilian went all out throughout his shift, and with the Lions stretched trying to find an equalizer, his hustle and backtracking were key in keeping the team at only a one-goal deficit.

D, Zakaria Taifi (72′), 5.5 — The Homegrown Zak-of-all-trades came on at right back in this one, and just as Dorsey did, he made a great effort to get deep into the attack while also recovering well to get back on defense. Taifi’s one big chance came just minutes after he entered, as Ellis found him alone in the box with a cross-field pass, but Taifi’s first touch was not ideal and he was unable to recover and get his shot on target. He completed 80% of his passes and added two interceptions, one critical block, and one clearance, but his big moment was on that shot attempt, and he was unable to convert it to tie the game.

F, Harvey Sarajian (87′), N/A — The rookie came on late for Ellis but did not have many opportunities to influence the game. He completed one of his two pass attempted and hustled around the field, but nothing came of it. He picked up a yellow card for a rough aerial challenge on a 50/50 ball just moments after entering the game.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s 3-2 loss on the road at New York. 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.