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Orlando City

Intelligence Report: Orlando City vs. New England Revolution

Get the inside scoop on the Revs, courtesy of someone who knows them best.

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5 days ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

After a two-week break between matches, Orlando City is back in action Saturday and will try to make it two wins on the bounce after handily dispatching Nashville SC 3-0 during the team’s last outing. This week sees the Lions play their second game of the season against the New England Revolution, following the first meeting back in July when Orlando grabbed a first-ever victory at Gillette Stadium.

A date with the Revs means I caught up with Jake Catanese of the always excellent independent site The Blazing Musket. As usual, Jake was very helpful in getting us up to speed on New England, and I also answered some of his questions about OCSC, so make sure you check those out over at their place.

The Revs have tallied a perfectly balanced record of 1-1-1 since Leagues Cup ended. What’s been your general impression of the team’s play during those games?

Jake Catanese: About what the record has said, a true mixed bag. A blowout win in Montreal, where the Revs just hammered the counter and scored in bunches, a tough loss at RSL where they got outplayed but gave away goals on silly mistakes, and then a really interesting draw against St. Louis last time out that I think a lot of people heard about.

Overall, the Revs have really improved as the season has gone on, and a lot of that has to do with health but also a drastic shift in aggression. When the Revs are forced to sit in their own half and ping the ball around, they look really ineffective when they eventually do get the ball into the attacking half. But when New England catches you backpedaling, it’s only a matter of time before they find someone open in and around the box for a good shooting chance. I think New England is one of the best countering/transition teams in the league, but there’s still long stretches of play where they choose not to push the ball forward and that is usually playing into their weakness.

New England has conceded 51 goals in 26 games, which is third most in the Eastern Conference. Is there concern about the defense, and if so, how has coach Caleb Porter gone about addressing it?

JC: The defense has largely been fine. The goal difference makes things seem a lot worse because the New England just had a lot of trouble generating anything offensively in the first month or two of the season. There’s been a handful of blowouts where the Revs were dealing with heavy squad rotation and injuries, and playing without Carles Gil really hampers the Revs in the transition game, so largely when the Revs are playing at full strength they’ve been competitive. There have been a lot of glaring individual errors leading to goals, but a lot of those occur when the Revs are pinned back and passing amongst themselves, which as we’ve already stated, is a bad thing.

The Revs are facing a dilemma at center back though, with the Henry Kessler trade to St. Louis. He was their only CB under a guaranteed deal for 2025. That means they have decisions to make on Tim Parker, Dave Romney, and Xavier Arreaga, as well as veterans Matt Polster and Nick Lima, among others. Newcomer Alhassan Yusuf has yet to make his debut (international duty with Nigeria as soon as his visa cleared) and could add a lot of help from the central defensive midfield position. Right now there should be enough playing time down the stretch for the three center backs in particular to show what they can do and perhaps force the Revs into some tough decisions. 

Despite any defensive shakiness, statistical or otherwise, the Revs are only five points out of the last play-in place and have at least one game in hand on all of the teams in the East besides Columbus. What needs to happen for New England to get into the playoffs, and how far do you think they could go if they get there?

JC: Well, kind of a lot. The Revs only have three home games remaining and they dropped points to a not great St. Louis team at home that they really needed. Their final two games are at Columbus and at Miami, where they might force Messi to pry their 2021 Shield campaign single-season points record from their cold, dead hands. At this point, dropping any more points at home could be the final nail in the playoff coffin and the Revs are going to have to win probably two of their upcoming road games against Orlando, Charlotte, and Houston, which are all solidly in the midtable. 

At best, the Revs can get into the play-in game, but then they’re more than likely going to face Miami as the top-seed in a three-game series if they even advance in the one-off match. If the Revs get hot and Gil goes on a 2021 MVP-level heater and Luca Langoni and/or Giacomo Vrioni are finding the back of the net every week, they can absolutely scare someone, but I don’t see them getting past Miami or Columbus in the first round. So that means the Revs need to jump up 10+ points into Orlando/Charlotte range to be one of the middle seeds to make a deep run, and they’re just too far back to make up that ground, barring a massive win streak and probably a catastrophic collapse from a team or two ahead of them.

Are there any players who will be unavailable due to injury, suspension, etc.? What is your projected starting XI and score prediction?

JC: Hehehe, well, we have a head coach who’s not available due to suspension, but I think everyone knows that. It was kind of hard to miss.

On the injury front, Tomas Chancalay is out for the year which is a bummer. Brandon Bye missed last week’s game but might be fit to be on the bench this week. Esmir Bajraktarevic, Arreaga, and Yusuf all return from international duty.

4-2-3-1: Aljaz Ivacic; Peyton Miller, Xavier Arrega, Tim Parker, Nick Lima; Matt Polster, Ian Harkes; Luca Langoni, Carles Gil, Dylan Borrero; Giacomo Vrioni.
About as solid of a starting group as the Revs can do, with Will Sands possibly starting again at fullback over Lima. If Yusuf is ready to start, he could feature next to Polster, and at some point Esmir should appear. Since he subbed on for Bosnia and had an assist to some guy named Edin Dzeko on his debut for them, I think he’s in good form.

The Revs need this one but the PawedCast gods demand their usual 2-2 draw.

Thank you to Jake for the helpful insight into the Revolution. Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando City

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

The Lions look for a third straight win at home before heading back on the road when Charlotte FC visits.

Published

8 hours ago

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September 18, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match preview and live thread for a Wednesday night matchup between Orlando City (11-10-7, 40 points) and Charlotte FC (10-10-8, 38 points) at Inter&Co Stadium (8:15 p.m., FS1, Apple TV). This is the second of the two scheduled meetings between the southeastern teams in the regular season.

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

History

The Lions are 2-1-2 in the all-time, regular-season series and 2-2-2 in all competitions. Orlando City is 1-1-0 at home in the regular season. Every game between the two teams (aside from the draws) has been decided by a single goal.

Tonight’s hosts have gotten the better of Orlando City recently, including a 2-0-2 mark in four meetings across all competitions since the start of last season. The teams most recently met on June 19 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and played to a 2-2 draw. The hosts struck first with an early Kerwin Vargas goal and the Lions pulled one back through Duncan McGuire in the second half. But despite Charlotte going down a man on Scott Arfield’s red card, Brandt Bronico restored the hosts’ lead shortly after McGuire’s strike. Facundo Torres struck back moments later but the Lions could not find a winner on the road.

The previous match was also a draw at Bank of America Stadium, finishing in a 1-1 draw on Aug. 30, 2023. Enzo Copetti’s late penalty appeared to wrap things up for the hosts on a rainy night in Charlotte, but Martin Ojeda’s seeing-eye set piece equalized just before stoppage time as the teams split the points.

Charlotte claimed a 1-0 “home” victory in U.S. Open Cup play on May 9 of last year. That game took place at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex in Matthews, NC, rather than at the club’s regular stadium. The first matchup of the 2023 season didn’t go any better for Orlando City, finishing as a 2-1 Charlotte win at Exploria Stadium on March 18. Copetti and Vargas put Charlotte up 2-0 by halftime. Ojeda pulled one back, but the Lions were wasteful in front of goal and couldn’t pull level.

The teams met at Bank of America Stadium on Aug. 21, 2022. After a scoreless first half, Ercan Kara put the Lions ahead on the road, only to see McKinze Gaines equalize just four minutes later. Tesho Akindele’s late goal lifted Orlando to a 2-1 victory.

Orlando City won the first-ever meeting between the sides on April 30, 2022 at Exploria Stadium. Ruan scored the opening goal and set up Torres on the counter for the second as the Lions took a 2-0 lead into the locker room. Christian Fuchs scored from the spot after Rodrigo Schlegel was called for a foul in the box in the second half, but that was as close as Charlotte got in what was ultimately a 2-1 Orlando victory.

Overview

Orlando City enters tonight’s match on a two-game winning streak, with both victories coming at home by 3-0 scorelines. The most recent came Saturday against the New England Revolution, following a victory over Nashville two weeks ago. The Lions finally climbed above .500 with Saturday’s win against the Revs and pulled level at 5-5-4 at home on the season.

Charlotte enters with one of the best defensive records in Major League Soccer. Only Columbus (28) has given up fewer goals than the North Carolina side’s 31. Tonight’s visitors lost 2-1 at Montreal Saturday night and is 0-2-1 since returning from the Leagues Cup break. In an 0-2-1 road slump, Charlotte is 4-7-3 away from home in 2024.

Orlando City will need to be patient but also try to build a volume of shots against Charlotte’s stout defense, led by goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina, who has posted 100 saves on the season. That’s nearly double Pedro Gallese’s 54 saves on the year, but El Pulpo has played in five fewer games due to international duty. Still, the key to beating Charlotte is to get some goals on the board, as the visitors’ offense has found the net just 32 times this season — third fewest in the Eastern Conference.

“Charlotte is a team that we’ve played not long ago, but they have three or four additions to their squad, and we are making reference to them too,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the game. “We also know those new players and inclusions in the group change their dynamics. We are aware of how we can play them or how we can contend with them. Like any other game, we’re going to try and do our best and get our points. It’s our normal routine.” 

The Lions will be without Mason Stajduhar (lower leg), who started the match in Charlotte in June, and David Brekalo (thigh). Charlotte will be without Jahlane Forbes (hip), while leading scorer Patrick Agyemang (foot) is questionable.

Match Content

Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

Defensive Midfielders: Cesar Araujo, Wilder Cartagena.

Attacking Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, Facundo Torres.

Forwards: Ramiro Enrique.

Bench: Javier Otero, Luca Petrasso, Kyle Smith, Felipe, Heine Bruseth, Nico Lodeiro, Yutaro Tsukada, Luis Muriel, Duncan McGuire.

Charlotte FC (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Kristijan Kahlina.

Defenders: Jere Uronen, Tim Ream, Adilson Malanda, Nathan Byrne.

Defensive Midfielders: Djibril Diani, Ashley Westwood.

Attacking Midfielders: Pep Biel, Brandt Bronico, Kerwin Vargas.

Forward: Patrick Agyemang.

Bench: David Bingham, Jaylin Lindsey, Andrew Privett, Brandon Cambridge, Iuri Tavares, Junior Urso, Idan Toklomati, Liel Abada, Karol Swiderski.

Referees

REF: Marcos DeOliveira.
AR1: Logan Brown.
AR2: Ricardo Ocampo.
4TH: Lorenzo Hernandez.
VAR: Daniel Radford.
AVAR: Robert Schaap.

How to Watch

Match Time: 8:15 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium  — Orlando

TV/Live Stream: FS1, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

Radio: FM 96.9 The Game (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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Lion Links

Lion Links: 9/18/24

Duncan McGuire likes scoring goals, the Pride are impressive, Champions League results, and more.

Published

12 hours ago

on

September 18, 2024

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Jeremy Reper

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. It’s match day, so I hope you are hyped for a midweek showdown with Charlotte FC. So, put on your purple, and tell you boss you don’t care about the dress code. If you haven’t done so yet, there’s still time to listen to the latest episode of The Mane Land PawedCast to help get you ready after you check out today’s links. Let’s get to it.

McGuire Happy to Score

Duncan McGuire’s goal against the New England Revolution Saturday night was his first MLS strike since June. That kind of drought isn’t something he’s used to, and he was away at the Olympics for part of that time, but he said he’s just happy to contribute to the team winning. McGuire will look to continue his scoring in tonight’s match against Charlotte FC. The Lions will need McGuire and others to contribute in this crucial Eastern Conference match. If you’re unsure whether to attend in person, take a look at all the cool stuff the club is doing tonight. Check back later today for our match preview.

The Pride are Scary Good

The still undefeated Orlando Pride are very, very good. This is obvious to anyone that looks at the standings or the records being broken on a weekly basis. Still, it’s one thing to know it and another to see it. SBNation’s Southern Sylvs got a firsthand look at the team and the experience watching the Pride at the last match against the Kansas City Current at Inter&Co Stadium. Sylvs was impressed with the atmosphere and the club, despite what I thought wasn’t their best outing.

Banda Still in Contention

The Orlando Pride’s Barbra Banda hasn’t scored as many goals as the Current’s Temwa Chawinga but that doesn’t mean she’s out of the NWSL MVP race. She has contributed quite a bit in her time with the club, and I expect that she will start putting in goals and providing assists again soon. How well the Pride do in the regular season will also likely impact the MVP selection.

Americans in the Champions League

Liverpool may have defeated AC Milan 3-1 in the first of eight UEFA Champions League matches for each club, but Christian Pulisic did score the first goal of the match.

Why pass the ball when it’s so much easier to simply score the goal yourself? That was pretty much it for AC Milan as Liverpool scored three unanswered goals to secure the victory.

Earlier in the day, Weston McKennie scored in Juventus’ 3-1 win over PSV. It was very much a right place, right time goal for the American.

lt was a good day for the Americans, and plenty of other USMNT players will be in action this week across different leagues and competitions.

Free Kicks

That will do it for today. We will have your match recap after the game tonight. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 9/17/24

Rafael Santos up for Goal of the Matchday, Lions earn recognition, stories to watch around MLS, and more.

Published

2 days ago

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September 17, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

It wasn’t a perfect weekend for Orlando’s soccer teams, but it was close. Orlando City, the Orlando Pride and Orlando City B went undefeated, and combined to take seven of the nine points available, which is hard to complain about. There’s no time to rest though, as the Lions will be back in action tomorrow at home against FC Dallas. As always, we have plenty to talk about today, so let’s get into the links.

Santos Strike Nominated for Goal of the Matchday

Rafael Santos opened the scoring in spectacular fashion during Orlando City’s 3-0 win over the New England Revolution, and his left-footed blast has been nominated for MLS Goal of the Matchday. With 22 minutes played, the Lions worked a short corner and Ivan Angulo found Santos free outside the box. The fullback took one touch to set the ball up before unleashing a dipping, curling effort that left a fully stretched Aljaz Ivacic with no chance. It was a special strike and a very worthy nomination. Make sure you go cast your vote for him to win it!

Lions Earn Weekly Recognition

In addition to his Goal of the Matchday nomination, Santos was also named to the starting lineup of the MLS Team of the Matchday as one of three defenders, while Facundo Torres was included on the bench. Outside of his goal, Santos also recorded two tackles and two clearances while helping the defense keep a clean sheet. Torres converted his penalty kick with venom, had 94% passing accuracy, and generally looked dangerous. Marcus Mitchell awarded Santos a 7 out of 10 and Torres a 7.5 out of 10 and Man of the Match honors in his player grades from the match, so it’s nice to see the pair get some recognition on a larger scale. Here’s hoping the good work continues!

Stories to Watch in MLS

Some of the flashier teams in the league might grab headlines on a consistent basis, but there are plenty of other intriguing stories happening around MLS. For one, the Lions are on a 6-1-1 run that has them up to fifth in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand on the Red Bulls in fourth. Martin Ojeda playing through the middle and moving Facu back out wide is a big reason why. Then there are the Colorado Rapids, a team that has the second-largest points-per-game increase from last season to this one. At the other end of things you have Charlotte FC, which has won just once in its last eight games and is in danger of missing out on the playoffs altogether.

Mikey Varas Will Coach San Diego FC

San Diego FC has found its first head coach, as it named former United States Men’s National Team interim head coach Mikey Varas to the top job. Varas spent several years with U.S. Soccer, and also was an assistant coach at FC Dallas under Luchi Gonzalez for three seasons. Aside from being the head coach of the U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team from 2021 to 2023, this will be his only other gig as a full time head coach. Now that San Diego has that vacancy filled, it can do some serious work on building its roster ahead of its inaugural MLS season next year.

Free Kicks

  • The Orlando Pride held fast at the top spot of ESPN’s NWSL power rankings.
  • Orlando City had a big jump, as the Lions moved up six spots to ninth in ESPN’s MLS power rankings.
  • Former Orlando Pride coach Tom Sermanni has been named interim head coach of the Australian women’s national team.
  • NJ/NY Gotham FC has played on every day of the week at least once during this season.

That’s all I have for you this morning. Vamos Orlando!

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