Happy Tuesday, everyone! Life always feels a little brighter after your team wins a soccer game, even more so when it’s against a hated rival, so I hope you’ve had as good a start to your week as I have. We have no time to rest on our laurels though, because Orlando City is straight back into action tomorrow with a U.S. Open Cup match at home against Nashville SC. Let’s get into today’s links.

Lions Earn Weekly Recognition

Several Orlando City players are getting some deserved plaudits following the team’s 3-0 win over Inter Miami on Sunday. Pedro Gallese has been named to the starting XI of the MLS Team of the Matchday, while Joran Gerbet is on the bench and Oscar Pareja is the coach of the side. Gallese made four saves while keeping a clean sheet and also assisted Luis Muriel on the first goal of the game. Gerbet did an excellent job of helping to minimize the impact of Lionel Messi, while Oscar Pareja was the man who who masterminded it all. Alex Freeman got some love as one of the standout young players of the matchday, and also had a nice piece written about him in The Athletic (paywall). All the Lions are deserving of their praise, and here’s hoping this isn’t the last time we see them getting some love.

Freeman Named to USMNT Preliminary Gold Cup Roster

The preliminary rosters have been announced for the 16 teams set to participate in this summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup. Most of the usual suspects are present for the United States Men’s National Team, with the exceptions of Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, and Gio Reyna, whose teams are participating in the FIFA Club World Cup this summer. Of note for Orlando City fans is Alex Freeman’s inclusion on the preliminary roster. That being said, this early list contains 60 names and will need to be cut down to 26 by June 4. With Sergino Dest and Joe Scally both on the 60-man list, Freeman is probably an outside shot to be included, but you never know.

Americans in Midweek Action

There are a number of Americans playing matches during the working week, so make sure you have everything marked down on your calendar. Chris Richards, Matt Turner, and Crystal Palace host Wolverhampton Wanderers in their penultimate Premier League game later today, while Tyler Adams and Bournemouth do the same against Manchester City. Wednesday has Jordan Pefok and Reims visiting Metz in a playoff to decide which team will play in Ligue 1 next season. Alex Zendejas and Club America take on Toluca in the first leg of the Liga MX Clausura final on Thursday, and Johnny Cardoso and Real Betis host Valencia in La Liga play on Friday.

Transfer Rumor Roundup

The summer transfer window will be upon us before we know it, so let’s take a look at what the transfer rumor mill is saying these days. Manchester United is said to be on the verge of signing Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers, and has reportedly agreed to terms on a deal. Man City has reportedly ended its interest in signing Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, and has instead turned the club’s attention to Barcelona’s Dani Olmo. Finally, Rodrygo is reportedly considering leaving Real Madrid in the summer, with some outlets saying that he “has one foot out of Real Madrid”.

Free Kicks

• Some of the takeaways from the recent round of MLS matches include Orlando City’s continued good play, Marco Reus stepping up, and the trio of strong teams atop the Eastern Conference.
• Kaká has said he is ready to join Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil staff if he’s asked to do so.
• Orlando City rose six spots to no.8 in ESPN.com’s MLS power rankings.
• The Orlando Pride held fast at no. 2 in ESPN.com’s NWSL power rankings.
• Enough said.

That does it for me today. Vamos Orlando!

Orlando City went on the road and claimed a huge three points against Inter Miami CF in Fort Lauderdale last night, winning 3-0. The Lions took advantage of Miami’s poor defending, getting behind the back line and scoring three times. It’s the club’s first win against the South Florida team in over two years.

Let’s take a look at how the individual Lions performed in this big win.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 8 (MotM) — Gallese was awesome in this game, keeping the Lions in it and maintaining their lead. The two most notable saves were a 22nd-minute, one-handed stop on Lionel Messi and a second big save in the 62nd minute on the same player from point-blank range. The Lions’ number one saved all four shots he faced for his sixth clean sheet this season. He touched the ball 36 times, completing 58.6% of his 29 passes and seven of his 19 long balls. His most notable pass came in the 43rd minute, when he assisted Luis Muriel’s goal on a long ball up field. Overall, it was a great night for Gallese.

D, David Brekalo, 6.5 — Brekalo is the more defensive of the two outside backs, allowing Alex Freeman to go further forward. The natural center back was terrific defensively, helping his team earn a clean sheet on the road. He had 45 touches and completed 90.9% of his 22 passes. The left back didn’t have an impact offensively, but he was great defensively. He finished the game with two tackles, a blocked shot, an aerial duel won, and a team-high eight clearances.

D, Robin Jansson, 6.5 — Orlando City was on the back foot for much of the game, conceding a significant amount of possession. It put a lot of pressure on the center backs, including Jansson. The Swede had 35 touches in the game and completed 66.7% of his 24 passes, including three of his 10 long balls. He didn’t push into the attack at all but was part of a center back pairing that was excellent. He recorded a tackle, a blocked shot, and five clearances.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 7 — While Jansson was good in this game, Schlegel was the better of the two Orlando City center backs. He touched the ball 30 times and completed 89.5% of his 19 passes, but his lone long ball didn’t find its target. The Argentine also took one off-target shot, but it was his defense that shone. Schlegel ended the game with two tackles, an interception, three clearances, a blocked shot, and two aerial duels won.

D, Alex Freeman, 7 — This was one of Freeman’s best games since joining the first team. He had a team-high 64 touches and completed 83.8% of his 37 passes, including a team-high four key passes and three of his five long balls. The right back put one of his three shots on target and nearly set up a goal in the 88th minute, but Ramiro Enrique hit the post. Defensively, Freeman had an interception, four clearances, two blocked shots, and two aerial duels won while defending primarily Jordi Alba.

MF, Ivan Angulo, 6 — Angulo didn’t have much of an impact on this game, only recording 18 touches and completing 80% of his 10 passes. However, he did have a key pass and completed his lone long ball. His only shot was on target, though it was on a breakaway and he perhaps could have done better. He helped defensively with two tackles and a blocked shot before being replaced by Kyle Smith in the 61st minute.

MF, Cesar Araujo, 6.5 — The defensive midfielders played key roles in this game and were one of the team’s strengths. Araujo — the veteran of the two — had 52 touches and completed 85.7% of his 42 passes, including a key pass and two of his five long balls. He didn’t take any shots but was active defensively with a tackle, two clearances, a blocked shot, and two aerial duels won.

MF, Joran Gerbet, 7 — The rookie had a tough task defending Messi in this game and was terrific in doing so. He registered 47 touches and completed 90.9% of his 33 passes, including two key passes and his lone long ball. He didn’t take any shots but was excellent defensively with three tackles, an interception, four clearances, a blocked shot, and an aerial duel won.

MF, Marco Pasalic, 6.5 — Pasalic had 33 touches, completing 68.4% of his 19 passes. He was in the right place at the right time and had a little bit of luck in the 53rd minute, when a Martin Ojeda cross was deflected right to him. The midfielder sent a hard shot that deflected off Maximiliano Falcon’s leg and headed right at Oscar Ustari, who should’ve stopped it. But the ball slipped through and in to make it 2-0. It wasn’t a pretty goal, but it was an important one. Pasalic also helped defensively with an interception and was replaced by Dagur Dan Thorhallsson in the 70th minute.

F, Luis Muriel, 7.5 — Muriel had 35 touches and completed 78.6% of his 14 passes, including two key passes and his lone cross, but not his only long ball. He put two of his three shots on target and did well to finish the breakaway in the 43rd minute that gave the Lions the lead. He added a tackle, a blocked shot, and an aerial duel won before being replaced by Enrique in the 70th minute.

F, Martin Ojeda, 6.5 — Ojeda had a good game, touching the ball 37 times and completing 68.2% of his 22 passes, including three key passes, two of his four crosses, and three of his four long balls. He added a tackle and would’ve had a much higher grade if he hadn’t missed two golden opportunities to score. His night ended in the 89th minute when he came off for Duncan McGuire.

Substitutes

D, Kyle Smith (61’), 5.5 — Smith came on in the 61st minute for Angulo and made an impact. He had 14 touches but only completed 28.6% of his seven passes, missing on his lone long ball. However, he got a secondary assist by sending McGuire down the left on Thorhallsson’s late goal. Smith also didn’t record any defensive statistics in his 29 minutes of play.

F, Ramiro Enrique (70’), 5 — Enrique replaced Muriel in the 70th minute. He touched the ball 12 times, completing 60% of his five passes. The striker nearly had a chance in the 78th minute, but his touch was too heavy. In the 88th minute, his shot was saved off the post on what should’ve been the third goal. Overall, it was the missed chances that doomed Enrique’s performance in this game.

MF, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson (70’), 6.5 — Thorhallsson replaced Pasalic in a double substitution, entering with Enrique. He touched the ball 16 times, completing 90.9% of his 11 passes, though his lone long ball was incomplete. His big moment came in second-half stoppage time, when he placed a perfect McGuire pass behind Ustari to make it 3-0.

F, Duncan McGuire (89’), N/A — It was a short appearance for McGuire, entering for Ojeda just before stoppage time. But the big striker took advantage of his minutes, touching the ball four times. He only had two passes, but he completed both, including a perfect pass across the six-yard box for Thorhallsson, providing the fellow substitute with an easy tap-in. McGuire took one shot of his own, but it was off target.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s 3-0 win over Inter Miami. Let us know what you thought of the game in the comments below and don’t forget to vote on your Man of the Match.

After dominating Tampa Bay in the U.S. Open Cup and now Inter Miami in MLS play, I think it is safe to remind everyone that, as we all have always known, Florida is purple. Orlando City thrashed the Herons 3-0 on Sunday night, and the Lions could, and probably should, have scored five or even six goals with all the breakaway chances they squandered during this game. Nevertheless, they still walked away from the greater Miami area with three big, beautiful points, and here are my five takeaways from the latest edition of Tropic Thunder.

El Pulpo Pulverized the Herons

Orlando City fans have come to expect great performances from Pedro Gallese in terms of keeping the ball out of his own net, but on Sunday night El Pulpo not only did that, but he also created the game’s opening goal with a perfectly placed bomb of a pass that looked like it might have been thrown by Dan Marino in his Miami Dolphins heyday. But this was Fort Lauderdale, not Miami, and it was Gallese, not Marino, who arced the ball through the night right onto the foot of Luis Muriel, and Muriel’s first touch was just as perfect as Gallese’s aim. Then the Colombian was off to the races before giving the Lions the lead with a well-placed shot to the far post. Gallese collected his second career assist with that pass and then went back to his standard practice of saving everything, stopping four shots and partnering with the stout back line to shut out Miami — only the second time all season Miami was held without a goal.

Miami Block Party

Speaking of that stout back line, Orlando City’s defenders looked more like the Orlando Solar Bears out there with how they were giving up their bodies all over the field to block shots. Our friends at fotmob.com tracked a season-high nine blocked shots by Orlando City defenders on the evening, and it felt like there were even more. Every starting defender had one block except Alex Freeman, who had two, and Iván Angulo, César Araújo, Joran Gerbet, and Muriel each chipped in one as well. Orlando City’s defenders did an excellent job of keeping their hands behind them or out of the way while blocking all of those shots, and the frustration on the faces of the Miami players was evident, as despite taking 21 shots, they were only able to put four on goal. Sunday night was definitely not the kind of Miami block party the Herons were hoping to attend.

Pašalić Goes Five-Hole

I did not plan to work in multiple hockey references when I started this article, but hey, at least Miami fans can be happy that their NHL team won on Sunday. Their, well, Fort Lauderdale’s team most certainly did not, and Marco Pašalić’s early second-half goal doubled Orlando City’s lead when he took a slightly deflected Martín Ojeda pass and powered it through the legs of goalkeeper Óscar Ustari. All three Designated Players participated in the goal, with Muriel showing some fancy footwork before playing it to Rodrigo Schlegel, who gave it to Ojeda, and then his deflected cross fell perfectly for the left foot of Pašalić, and Orlando City had a two-goal cushion.

Firepower From the Bench

Óscar Pareja has always been a coach who likes to ride a hot lineup, and the same is true for how he chooses who comes off the bench — the hot player gets the first opportunity. Ramiro Enrique had scored more recently than Duncan McGuire, so it was not surprising to see Enrique enter before McGuire in this game, and Enrique nearly made it three goals in his last four games, but a fingertip save by Ustari pushed his shot off the post. McGuire eventually entered in the dying minutes of the game, and he clearly showed his desire to get back up in the pecking order, because he was flying all over the field, and it paid off for him when he sprinted onto a ball from Kyle Smith and played a perfectly weighted left-footed cross to fellow substitute Dagur Dan Thórhallsson for the third and final goal, one where all three goal contributors (secondary assist, primary assist, and goal scorer) were substitutes.

Midfield Did Not Get Messi’d

It is hard to ever write about Inter Miami without writing about Lionel Messi, and while he played well and created opportunities, the Orlando City midfield duo of Araújo and Gerbet more than held their own against Messi. Miami dominated possession (64%), but it was Orlando City that created far more chances, creating eight big chances (defined as chances where the analyst could reasonably expect a player to score) to only two for Miami, according to Fotmob’s tracking. Messi’s heatmap shows a player who played most of the game attacking down the right side of the field, but Angulo, Araújo, Gerbet, and Smith, the four midfielders/defenders — Smith came on for Angulo but was essentially a fifth man on the back line — who played in the middle or on the defensive left all contained him and rarely let him get loose, despite his 97 touches. The Argentinean did take nine shots, but only two were on target, and of course, none went in the goal — a testament to the entire defensive unit. Gerbet continues to impress, not just for a rookie but as a player in general, and when Eduard Atuesta returns from injury, he may find himself coming off the bench if Gerbet continues this run of form.

Those are my takeaways from Orlando City’s 11th straight MLS game without a loss, an excellent and deserved road win that vaulted the team over Miami into fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

Let us know your thoughts about the Inter Miami match in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!