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Orlando City

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

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7 years ago

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Orlando City Head Coach Jason Kreis put it best: “For me this is the most disappointing night I’ve had since I’ve been here with Orlando.”

It was a highly embarrassing performance from the home side where there was no motivation and it was outplayed by an NASL team. All the credit goes to Miami FC, as the South Floridians were clearly the better team.

Here are the grades from tonight’s performance, or lack thereof.

Starters

GK, Josh Saunders, 5: Stefano Pinho was unmarked in the 6-yard box on the first goal. The second goal hit Saunders in his arms and he should have saved it. The third goal he was slow coming over on, but he never had a chance at saving it anyway as Pinho was again unmarked in the 6-yard box. Saunders had no help from his defense, and while he did not have an amazing game by any means — there were also a few poor distributions — he did what he had to do. The second goal he arguably should have kept out, but the end result is well off Saunders’ shoulders. 

D, PC, 5.5: PC had the most passes out of anyone on the field, and the second-most touches. Combined with his 87% passing accuracy, he was one of the better players for the Lions. He also created the most chances for Orlando City, including providing the cross for the first shot of the game for the home side, which did not occur until the final 10 minutes of the first half. 

D, Léo Pereira, 3.5: Pereira had the worst match of all the defenders, and that is saying something in a terribly disappointing 3-1 loss at home. His distribution started out poor, although he did improve as the game went on. Defensively he was slow getting up and left Miami attackers onside on multiple attempts. The final Miami goal was most likely his fault, too, as Pinho ran right past him to find the back of the net. 

D, Jonathan Spector, 4.5: Earning the captain’s band tonight, Spector tried to control the team and be that leader on the field. However, his defense failed to step up and let Miami play with the ball. Players were left unmarked, and there were holes in the defense all night. Spector’s man was the goal scorer on the second goal of the game, albeit on a perfect cross into the box. On the third goal of the game, Pinho was completely unmarked with both Spector and Pereira watching him ease the ball into the back of the net.  

D, Rafael Ramos, 4: Ramos’ biggest moment of the game came on Miami’s first goal of the match. Michael Lahoud had the ball down the Lions’ left-hand side looking to put a cross into the box. Ramos was completely focused on him and missed Pinho running straight by him. Ramos also had many turnovers in the game, and was caught up the field a few times. 

MF, Pierre Da Silva, 4.5: Da Silva played one minute for Orlando City coming into this game, but after playing well for OCB had earned himself a start for Jason Kreis. He only lasted 45 minutes, and in that time it was evident that he just is not ready for first-team action quite yet. He had just 76% accuracy on his 21 passes, which was the least among all Lions besides Hadji Barry, and was slow to the ball on countless occasions. He also was out of position multiple times and through balls were played to where he should have been, resulting in turnovers. 

MF, Servando Carrasco, 5: On the offensive side of the ball, Carrasco was quiet, and did not have much of an effect. He stayed back most of the time and could have ventured forward a little more, particularly at the end of the match. However, he was one of the better defenders on for Orlando City and was not afraid to get stuck in on challenges. 

MF, Antonio Nocerino, 5.5: Nocerino controlled the game for the Lions to start. His 90% passing accuracy was one of the best in the game, and he had the most energy for the majority of the time. 

MF, Luis Gil, 5: Gil had the worst passing accuracy for the Lions (74%), and second-worst of any player in the match, and offensively he was bad. He did manage two shots, and his one shot on target — or half of Orlando City’s shots on target — was a long-range one that went right into the stomach of Daniel Vega. Defensively he was much better though, and forced some turnovers for the opposition. On a night where the entire team played absolutely awful soccer, Gil had moments to forget and moments of success, which is better than many of his teammates can say. 

F, Hadji Barry, 5.5: Barry did not have much of an impact in this game, but much of it was not his fault. The rest of the team could not connect any passes in the final third, resulting in just 11 first-half touches and nine in the second half. His one real chance of the game came in the 62nd minute, but he could not get on the end of the ball. He was very quiet throughout, and a little slow to some balls, but, there were some positive signs from the young forward. 

F, Giles Barnes, 6 (MOTM): Orlando City’s only goal scorer was the best player on the field for the Lions. In the second half, all the Orlando City players’ heads were down, they were standing still, and the body language showed that they had given up. All but Barnes, that is. He kept going right up until the final minute and was rewarded with a goal for his efforts. His two shots on goal could have been better but, just as with Barry, the midfield failed to get the ball to him. 

Substitutes

D, Tommy Redding (46’), 5.5 : Redding came in for Da Silva at halftime, and played on the right side of a three-man defense. While he has no experience playing with three defenders with Orlando City, he does for the USMNT youth teams. Considering his team was down two goals when he came on, and they were pushing up and in a new system, Redding did not do poorly. He had some crucial interceptions that led to Orlando City counter attacks. 

M, Kaká (63’), 4.5 : Kaká did what only he could do when he came in — brought the crowd to its feet when the home team is down three goals. Every time he was on the ball, The Wall got louder and tried to help bring the Lions some energy. It did not happen, though, and Kaká was underwhelming at best. He attempted to force the ball into the box over and over, and Miami’s defense had no trouble with defending him. He had two shots, but both were long-range and blocked. He mostly stayed on the left side of the field, and did not create the impact that the game needed. 

F, Carlos Rivas (69’), 5 : Well, he played a perfect ball in off a corner that led to Barnes’ goal. For that his rating goes up, but other than that Rivas did not have any impact. He may have been standing around more than he was running, and it looked like he had given up on the game by the time he entered. He did not have a single shot, and as a forward that is not OK. He also had no forward passes in the final third, and just three successful passes in the final third. 

That’s the way I saw the individual performances. Let us know what you thought in the comments section and vote in our poll.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Antonio Nocerino15
PC3
Giles Barnes26
Tommy Redding6
Other21

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Toronto FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Lions welcome an improved Toronto side to Orlando for an Eastern Conference battle.

Published

31 mins ago

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April 27, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (2-3-3, 9 points) and Toronto FC (4-4-1, 13 points) at Inter&Co Stadium (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+). It’s the first of the two scheduled meetings between the Eastern Conference rivals this season, with the Lions set to make the return trip to Toronto on July 3.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.

History

Orlando is 8-8-3 in the evenly split all-time, regular-season series. However, the Lions have won the last four meetings, sweeping the season series in 2022 and 2023. At home, Orlando is 5-4-0 against the Reds. City is currently on its longest ever unbeaten run in the series, compiling a 6-0-2 record in the last eight meetings.

The most recent meeting came on Decision Day of last season on Oct. 21, when Duncan McGuire came off the bench at BMO Field, scoring twice to beat Toronto 2-0. The teams last met in Orlando on July 4, 2023, with Orlando City putting the Reds to the sword on Independence Day, beating the Canadian side, 4-0. Cesar Araujo, McGuire, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, and Ercan Kara scored for the Lions, and Toronto finished with 10 men after Federico Bernardeschi was shown his second yellow card just past the hour mark.

Orlando City also romped 4-0 over the Reds in the previous meeting, Sept. 17, 2022 at Exploria Stadium. Facundo Torres, Kara, and Tesho Akindele scored for the Lions to go along with a Lukas MacNaughton own goal. The Lions won on May 14, 2022 at BMO Field, 1-0, thanks to a 92nd-minute goal from Kyle Smith, who flicked a header from a corner kick cross inside the far post to lift the Lions to victory.

The Lions went 2-0-1 in three meetings with Toronto FC in 2021. The teams played to a 1-1 draw at BMO Field on July 17, 2021. Jozy Altidore came off the bench to score the opener but Nani equalized from the penalty spot minutes later. Benji Michel drew the penalty, which was originally ruled a foul on the Orlando winger but was overturned after video review by referee Marcos de Oliveira.

The other Toronto “home match” in the 2021 season series came on June 19 at Exploria Stadium. The Reds were dealing with pandemic restrictions in Canada that forced the team to play home games in the United States. Orlando City built a 2-0 early lead on goals by Akindele and Nani, only to see Toronto tie the match by halftime on goals by Ayo Akinola and Jonathan Osorio. Junior Urso scored late to lift the Lions to a 3-2 victory. The teams first met that year on May 22, with Orlando City claiming a 1-0 win on Akindele’s goal.

The teams did not play in 2020 due to the pandemic affecting the schedule. Prior to the MLS stoppage for the pandemic, the teams met most recently in Toronto on Aug. 10, 2019, with the Lions grabbing a point at BMO Field in a 1-1 draw. Michel opened the scoring in the 69th minute but the Reds equalized off a scramble following a set piece in the 77th. The other matchup between the sides that season came on May 4, 2019, when the Reds walked out of Orlando with a 2-0 win on goals by Osorio and Jay Chapman.

The teams split their season series in 2018. Orlando City captured a 2-1 win at home in James O’Connor’s first home game as head coach of the Lions on July 14, 2018. Chris Schuler and Dom Dwyer staked City to a 2-0 lead and Nick Hagglund ruined the shutout in the 94th minute off a Sebastian Giovinco free kick delivery. The 2018 meeting in Toronto saw the Reds get a 2-1 win at BMO Field on Ryan Telfer’s 87th-minute goal.

Toronto shredded Orlando in a 3-1 win on July 5, 2017. Altidore and Giovinco combined to score Toronto’s three goals. Carlos Rivas gave Orlando a consolation goal. In the first meeting of 2017, Orlando out-possessed, out-shot, and out-passed the hosts, and played like the better team on the night. However, the Lions could not overcome a two-goal deficit and Giovinco’s first-half brace led Toronto to a 2-1 win.

The Lions got their first victory in the series on June 25, 2016, winning 3-2 at Camping World Stadium. Kaká scored from the spot in the 10th minute of stoppage time to win it. Cyle Larin and Adrian Winter each gave OCSC leads in the game, only to see Jordan Hamilton and Justin Morrow equalize until the captain’s late winner. The Reds took the second 2016 matchup in Orlando with a 2-1 victory, scoring late through Altidore. Tosaint Ricketts gave Toronto an early lead but the Lions fought back on a Larin goal. The teams also drew 0-0 on Sept. 28 of that year, with Toronto able to fend off the Lions with 10 men over the final 20 minutes of the match.

In 2015, Toronto took home all nine points in the three meetings, beating Orlando by a combined score of 11-1.

Overview

Orlando City enters on a four-game unbeaten run (2-0-2), including last Saturday’s 2-2 draw at CF Montreal. The Lions are 1-1-2 at home in 2024, but the win and one of the draws came in the two most recent matches at Inter&Co Stadium.

Toronto FC has shown tremendous improvement under John Herdman early in the season despite missing several key players with injuries. The Reds, however, are 3-1-0 at home but just 1-3-1 on the road in 2024. The team had lost three straight matches overall before knocking off New England last week. Now the Reds are on a two-game winning streak in all competitions, having beaten Rovers FC 5-0 in the Canadian Championship Wednesday.

The Lions will have to track forward Prince Owusu, who paces Toronto FC with four goals on the season. No one else on Toronto has more than two goals, and sitting on two is Lorenzo Insigne, who is out for tonight with a thigh injury. Orlando will need to be aware of Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, who leads the Reds with two assists.

But perhaps the sleeping giant is Bernardeschi, who leads Toronto FC with 37 shot attempts and 18 key passes, yet somehow has no direct goal contributions on the season. Even if he hasn’t been producing end product, the Italian has been dangerous.

“Looks like we’re getting more cohesiveness with the boys and they’re gluing more things together,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the game. “We’re reviewing things and have done in prior games, but since we’re not getting results it seems like it’s not happening. In the end, you have to win games, you have to get results, so the good things get magnified and the things that aren’t being done well, seem like you need more time to fix it. It’s indeed important to get results.”  

Orlando City will be without forward Ramiro Enrique (ankle). Toronto will be without Insigne (thigh), former Lions Richie Laryea (thigh) and Shane O’Neill (thigh), and Brandon Servania (knee). In addition, Deandre Kerr (foot) is questionable.

Match Content

Projected Lineups

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

Defensive Midfielders: Cesar Araujo, Wilder Cartagena.

Attacking Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Nico Lodeiro, Facundo Torres.

Forward: Luis Muriel.

Toronto (3-4-3)

Goalkeeper: Sean Johnson.

Defenders: Nickeson Gomis, Kevin Long, Sigurd Rosted.

Wingbacks & Midfielders: Tyrese Spicer, Alonso Coello, Deybi Flores, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty.

Forwards: Jonathan Osorio, Federico Bernardeschi, Prince Owusu.

Referees

REF: Armando Villarreal.
AR1: Cory Richardson.
AR2: Logan Brown.
4TH: Brad Jensen.
VAR: Kevin Terry, Jr.
AVAR: Jonathan Johnson.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.

Radio: Real Radio 104.1 FM (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).

Twitter: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow along at @TheManeLand, as well as Orlando City’s official Twitter feed (@OrlandoCitySC).

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Orlando City

Intelligence Report: Orlando City vs. Toronto FC

Get the inside scoop on Toronto FC ahead of Saturday’s match.

Published

1 day ago

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April 26, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Another Orlando City matchday is almost upon us, and the Lions will try to extend a four-game unbeaten streak Saturday night and finish off an undefeated month of April. OCSC will do so back in the comfortable confines of home, as Toronto FC travels south for the first of two games between the teams this season.

A visit from Toronto means I caught up with Tomas Karageorgos of Waking the Red. As usual, he was very helpful in bringing us up to speed on TFC ahead of the upcoming match.

This is John Herdman’s first year in charge of Toronto. What sort of style does the team play under him?

Tomas Karageorgos: John Herdman plays a variation of a 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 formation that prefers to build plays out of the back. Herdman also relies on his center midfielders to win possession back and push the ball to either flank. German striker Prince Owusu’s constant pressure on opposing defenses has caused some turnovers in TFC’s favor. Owusu’s style of play has not only helped his teammates but himself as well — he has scored five goals in the club’s last six matches.

Run me through some of the additions and departures that took place during the off-season. Who are some new faces to keep an eye on?

TK: The four major additions that the club made was signing defensive midfielders Deiby Flores and Matty Longstaff; Canadian fullback Richie Laryea is back for a third time; and Irish center back Kevin Long. Flores has been described as a dog in the sense of not being afraid to get stuck into tough challenges. Longstaff was signed from Newcastle United and is beginning to play consistent minutes — he still has room to grow as he’s a young player. Long was signed from Birmingham City and has been a rock in the center of the back three. A strong aerial presence and calmness has helped to contribute to Toronto’s six clean sheets across all competitions this season. There’s not much to say about Laryea that hasn’t been said, he’s arguably the best defender in MLS when healthy. Another underrated signing was French defender Nicksoen Gomis from Sheffield United, he has had quiet-yet-consistent performances. Notable departures include Salvadoran goalkeeper Tomás Romero, Norwegian striker Adama Diomande, and club legend Michael Bradley, who retired at the conclusion of the 2023 season.

TFC has quite the list of injured players at the moment. Who has been filling in for the missing faces, and how have they looked?

TK: Lorenzo Insigne, Richie Laryea, and Shane O’Neill continue to miss action due to thigh injuries. Midfielder Brandon Servania is slated to return during the middle of the season as he is recovering from knee surgery. First overall draft pick Tyrese Spicer has filled in for Insigne and has two goals in his account for the club — he has a high work rate on both sides of the ball. Canadian youngster Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty is gaining more experience on the right side while Laryea is sidelined. Gomis and Sigurd Rosted have been taking turns covering O’Neill, and Alonso Coello is continuing to build on an impressive first season with the club in the absence of Servania.

Which players will be unavailable due to injuries, suspensions, etc.? What is your projected starting XI and score prediction?

TK: The names I noted above who are injured will be unavailable. Also, attacker Deandre Kerr is listed as questionable.

Predicted starting XI: Sean Johnson; Nickeson Gomis, Kevin Long, Sigurd Rosted; Tyrese Spicer, Alonso Coello, Deybi Flores, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty; Jonathan Osorio, Federico Bernardeschi, Prince Owusu.

Score prediction: 1-1. 

Thank you to Tomas for his insight into Toronto FC. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 4/26/24

Orlando City gets ready for Toronto FC, Thiago Silva linked with Orlando, Marta announces international retirement, and more.

Published

1 day ago

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April 26, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

I don’t know about you, but I sure am glad it’s Friday. It’s been a bit of a brutal week for me, but the weekend is nearly upon us, and I plan on spending it with my family for my dad’s birthday. I’m also hoping to find some time to read the new book that came out this week from my favorite author, Emily Henry. For now though, let’s enjoy these links from around the soccer world!

Orlando City Prepares for Toronto FC

After a shaky start to the season, the Lions are unbeaten in their past four games and can make it five when they host Toronto FC Saturday night. Toronto has lost three of its past four games, but is coming off of a 1-0 win over the New England Revolution. In the time since Oscar Pareja took over as head coach, Orlando City has won six of its seven games against Toronto. It will be the first meeting between the two with John Herdman at the helm of Toronto, so we will see if the trend of recent Orlando dominance continues. It should be a great game and is another opportunity for the Lions to climb up the table.

Thiago Silva Linked With Orlando City

Brazilian defender Thiago Silva’s contract with Chelsea ends this summer and Orlando City was mentioned as one of many reported clubs interested in signing him. Beyond the surface-level facts that Silva is an incredibly talented defender and Orlando City is a popular landing spot for South Americans who want to play in MLS, the move would not make much sense. The club signed David Brekalo this off-season and Rodrigo Schlegel is a solid option off the bench as well. Even if Orlando does want Silva, there will be plenty of competition. Returning to Fluminense is the expected choice, but Silva could stay in Europe or make the move to Saudi Arabia.

Marta Will Retire From National Team After 2024

Orlando Pride star Marta announced that 2024 will be her last year playing for Brazil. You will need a translating tool for more of the details from her interview with CNN, but she spoke on how she’s at peace with her decision to stop playing at the international level once the year is over. She made her international debut in 2002 and has since played in five Olympics for Brazil. Marta may play in her sixth this summer, and there would be global attention to see one of the greatest players ever to lead Brazil one last time. Her contract with the Pride also ends after this season, but only time will tell if this is her final season in Orlando.

Orlando’s Academy Teams Get Results Against New England

With the Generations Adidas Cup behind them, Orlando City’s U-17 and U-15 teams earned some important points against the New England Revolution’s youth squads. The U-15 team dominated New England in a 4-1 result that included a hat trick from Jakob Garcia. The match between the U-17 sides was a closer affair, as they split the points in a 1-1 draw. Orlando’s teams will play again tomorrow, with a pair of home games against Nashville SC.

Free Kicks

That’s all I have for you today. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!

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