Connect with us

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. New England Revolution: Player Grades and Man of the Match

How did your favorite Lions perform in Orlando City’s win at home against the New England Revolution?

Published

2 years ago

on

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City hosted the New England Revolution and won 3-0 to claim its 11th victory of the season. Rafael Santos, Facundo Torres, and Duncan McGuire all found the back of the net, and the defense did its part to secure a shutout in front of the home fans.

It was definitely a team effort, but let’s take a look at how each Lion individually performed in another dominant win at home.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 6.5 — The Peruvian goalkeeper didn’t have to come up with a save until Carles Gil tested him in the 60th minute from a free kick. Gallese was up to the task and made a phenomenal save to his right after Gil bent his shot around the wall. He also made a big stop late on Emmanuel Boateng, who got behind the defense. It was otherwise a pretty quiet night for Gallese, as he finished the match with 26 touches and just two saves, albeit very good ones. As for his distribution, he completed 89.5% of his 19 passes and two of his four long balls were successful. A clean sheet was a nice cherry on top for El Pulpo’s night.

D, Rafael Santos, 7 — The left back scored one of the best goals of Orlando’s season, curling a shot into the top left corner from distance. The opportunity came from a short corner, with Angulo teeing him up in a well-worked set piece that left him with time and space to pick out his target and beat Aljaz Ivacic. Defensively, he had two tackles and two clearances to limit New England’s attack on his side of the field for the most part. His only cross was inaccurate, two of his six long balls found their mark, and he had 46 passes at a 73.9% success rate. His goal was a game changer and future opponents will have to take him into account moving forward.

D, Robin Jansson, 7 — The Beefy Swede put out fires when needed to help secure Orlando’s clean sheet, contributing a clearance and blocking a shot. He only had 32 touches in the match, anchoring the defense while his teammates built momentum through possession. His presence kept New England from developing anything in terms of transition. Jansson attempted six long balls, completing three of them, and he was successful on 85.7% of his 28 passes overall. It wasn’t the busiest night for Jansson, but he excelled when called upon and stayed home when Orlando was on the attack, allowing his central defense partner to join in the possession higher up the pitch.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 6 — Schlegel had two clearances in this one and often cleanly got the ball out of danger without allowing rebound opportunities. There were a couple of instances in which he didn’t close down Giacomo Vrioni quickly enough, but Schlegel helped manage to keep the Italian-Albanian forward from causing too much trouble. The Argentine center back also allowed Boateng to get in behind on goal late, so it wasn’t a perfect night by any means. However, he led the Lions with eight long balls and five of them were successful, sparking some opportunities for the offense. Schlegel’s 52 passes were also the most on the team and he completed a strong 90.4% of them. It was a good overall outing for the center back, but there were a couple of lapses.

D, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, 7 — Thorhallsson was a force up and down the wing, coming up with important stops on defense and giving the Revolution headaches when he went on the attack. He provided three key passes, including a nice lob into the box in the first half that Ramiro Enrique couldn’t bury. Defensively, he had two tackles, an interception, and a clearance. While none of his three crosses found their target, he attempted 43 passes at an excellent 95.4% success rate and one of his two long balls was accurate as well. Thorhallsson also won a foul from a good position late in the match. Neither of his two shots were on target, but it was still a dynamic performance from the right back.

MF, César Araujo, 6.5 — Araujo also had three key passes in this match, doing his part to set up opportunities for the team’s attackers to work their magic. The Uruguayan midfielder’s only attempted cross was successful, three of his six long balls found their mark, and he was successful on 87.2% of his 47 passes. His only shot in the match was deflected, but went out for a corner kick. Araujo also helped out on the defensive side of things with a pair of tackles and helped keep Gil quiet. It’s worth noting that Araujo avoided a yellow card that would have suspended him for Orlando’s next match as well.

MF, Wilder Cartagena, 6.5 — Returning from international duty with Peru, Cartagena had a strong defensive performance and rotated well to provide coverage when the team’s fullbacks joined the attack. The 29-year-old led the Lions with five tackles and had an interception as well. Cartagena had four shots, but only one of them ended up on target and it didn’t trouble Ivacic. All four of his long balls were successful and he completed 85.1% of his 47 passes. He also had a lovely key pass to slip the ball past defenders and give Torres a great opportunity in the box. Although he picked up a yellow card, it was a professional foul to cut off a potentially dangerous counterattack.

MF, Iván Angulo, 6 — Angulo earned his ninth assist of the season by setting up Santos in space off of a corner kick. He didn’t attempt any crosses or shots, but he did have two key passes in the match. His speed was most useful at stretching New England’s defense and then chasing down opposing players to win the ball back. Before coming off in the 74th minute, he had three tackles and 26 passes, but at just a 69.2% success rate. It wasn’t his best performance, but he played his role in the designed set piece and kept the Revolution on their toes with his threat on the counter.

MF, Martín Ojeda, 6.5 — Ojeda was credited with a secondary assist for his minor role in the short corner that led to Orlando’s first goal. The Designated Player played a part in Orlando’s second goal as well, with Gil committing a handball in the box while trying to defend Ojeda. He had a phenomenal switch in play that ignited the break on which Torres hit the post. He had three shots in the match, putting one of them on target and forcing a good save by Ivacic at the near post, and he also had a key pass. Ojeda led the team with six crosses, but only one of them was successful. He was accurate on two of his three long balls though, and attempted 29 passes at an 82.8% success rate. Ojeda was better in the second half and forced both attention and quick decisions from the Revolution’s defense before being subbed out in the 68th minute.

MF, Facundo Torres, 7.5 (MotM) — Torres scored his 11th goal of the season with a powerful penalty kick that Ivacic had little chance of stopping even if he didn’t guess the wrong way. He had a few other chances to score, but hit the post and just missed the target twice. Neither of his two crosses were successful. However, he still had two key passes, all three of his long balls were successful, and he completed 94.6% of his 37 passes. His role in Orlando’s third goal will be overshadowed by McGuire and Nico Lodeiro’s magic, but Torres deserves some recognition for his lobbed pass out wide for Lodeiro to get the ball in space away from the Revolution’s defense. He also made a lungbusting run on the play to provide McGuire a passing option and pull some of the defense’s attention away. Orlando looked dangerous whenever Torres was involved in the attack, but he also did well when pressing and made himself available all over the pitch for his teammates.

F, Ramiro Enrique, 6 — Enrique earned another start up top and did fairly well. He almost squeezed a ball in to Martin Ojeda at the near post early on after making a nice run on a break, but Ivacic snuffed it out. His first shot of the night was an audacious and acrobatic effort on the volley that went off target. Chesting the ball into the path of Facundo Torres was likely the smarter play, but it’s hard to put too much blame on a striker for trying his luck. His only other shot of the match was blocked. Although he didn’t win either of his two aerial duels, his hold-up play was decent and he completed 81.3% of his 16 passes. Enrique may not have scored, but he injected plenty of energy into the attack and had two key passes to go with a successful long ball.

Substitutes

F, Duncan McGuire (68’), 6.5 — McGuire scored his first goal since June in fantastic fashion. While his powerful strike that wound up in the net despite Ivacic getting contact on it was great, the most impressive part of his goal was his run from his own box that included staying onside and slipping between defenders for Lodeiro to find him. It was his only shot and he only had three touches, completing both of his attempted passes as well. He made some good runs here and there after his goal, but didn’t receive much service while the Lions enjoyed a three-goal lead.

MF, Nico Lodeiro (69’), 6.5 — Lodeiro put in a great shift off the bench, assisting on McGuire’s goal with a nice pass that slipped between defenders on a counter. His only shot was from a free kick and he sent it over the bar. The 35-year-old could have had another assist in the 85th minute, but his pass across the front of goal was deflected out for a corner before it could reach McGuire or Yutaro Tsukada. Lodeiro finished the match with 22 touches and 17 passes at an 88.2% success rate.

MF, Luis Muriel (75′), 6 — The Colombian forward’s only shot came in the final moment of the game, as he sent a free kick into the stands after he was fouled by the Revolution in what looked like a promising attack. He had a terrific switch of play to Thorhallsson that ended in Cartagena’s shot right at Ivacic in the second minute of stoppage time. Muriel had 14 touches and both of his attempted long balls found their target. He completed all but one of his 10 passes and did well carving out open space on offense.

MF, Felipe (79′) N/A — Felipe picked up where Cesar Araujo left off in the midfield, putting in a gritty performance to help see out the game. He had 21 touches in a short amount of time on the pitch and completed 94.7% of his 19 passes. The Brazilian also had a tackle to help out defensively and worked himself into good areas when the Lions went on the attack for more goals.

MF, Yutaro Tsukada (79′), N/A — The young winger only had six touches, but he completed all four of his passes and contributed on defense with a tackle. Tsukada didn’t have any shots or key passes, but found decent areas when the Lions went on the offensive. It was a bit disappointing that he wasn’t given a crack at one of the team’s late free kicks, though it was still nice to see the rookie get some valuable minutes with the first team.

That’s how I saw the individual performances on Saturday night. What did you think? Be sure to let us know in the comments, and vote in the poll below for your Orlando City Man of the Match.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Lion Links

Lion Links: 7/6/26

Pride fall to Angel City, OCB draw Crown Legacy, World Cup roundup, and more.

Published

5 hours ago

on

July 6, 2026

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City B

Hello, Mane Landers! I hope you all had a great Fourth of July holiday weekend down in Florida. I was busy working over the weekend, but I got to check out a fireworks show at Wrigley Field. Let’s wish a happy belated birthday to Orlando City B goalkeeper Juan Rojas, who turned 18 Saturday. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.

Pride Fall to Angel City

The Orlando Pride fell 2-0 to Angel City FC at BMO Stadium Friday in their first match after the month-long World Cup break. Maiara Niehues scored the opener for Angel City in the first half. Sveindis Jonsdottir added another goal for Angel City to seal the win. With Barba Banda sidelined with a thigh injury, Orlando struggled to get anything going offensively and couldn’t get the ball out of its own end throughout the match. That result keeps the Pride in eighth, one point ahead of Angel City in the NWSL table. The Pride will look to bounce back at home Friday, facing the Kansas City Current at Inter&Co Stadium.

OCB Falls in Penalty Shootout After 1-1 Draw vs. Crown Legacy

Orlando City B overturned a 1-0 deficit to secure a 1-1 draw against Crown Legacy on the road at the Sportsplex at Matthews Sunday. After a scoreless first half, all the goals came in the second half. Crown Legacy struck first to take the lead, but Dylan Judelson leveled the match for the Young Lions. Crown Legacy won the penalty shootout 4-2 to earn a second point. OCB will be back on the road to take on FC Cincinnati 2 Sunday at NKU Soccer Stadium in Highland Heights, KY.

Crepeau and Canada Shut Out by Morocco in World Cup

The World Cup Round of 16 kicked off Saturday, with Canada falling 3-0 to Morocco at NRG Stadium in Houston. Orlando City goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau got the start for Canada. Former Lions Cyle Larin and Richie Laryea were in action as well. After a scoreless first half, Azzedine Ounahi scored twice in the second half for Morocco to take a 2-0 lead. Soufiane Rahimi added the insurance goal in stoppage time to put this match away as Morocco booked a spot in the quarterfinals, while Canada’s run in the tournament came to an end.

World Cup Roundup

In the other matchups from the Round of 16 over the weekend, Kylian Mbappe scored from the penalty spot for the only goal of the match in France’s 1-0 win against Paraguay Saturday. Orlando City midfielder Braian Ojeda was on the bench but did not play. On Sunday, Erling Haaland scored twice to help Norway edge Brazil 2-1 to reach the quarterfinals for the first time, and Jude Bellingham scored twice for England in a 3-2 win against Mexico. France will play Morocco, while England takes on Norway in the quarterfinals. Today’s Round of 16 matchups feature Spain facing Portugal and the U.S. Men’s National Team taking on Belgium.

Folarin Balogun’s Red Card Ban Suspended by FIFA

FIFA announced Sunday that the federation’s Disciplinary Committee suspended U.S. Men’s National Team forward Folarin Balogun’s one match red card ban. After being issued a one-match ban following his red card in the USMNT’s 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32, Balogun will be available to play in tonight’s Round of 16 match against Belgium at Lumen Field in Seattle. Balogun’s one-match ban will be placed on a one-year suspension status, but if he commits a similar infraction within that time, he will have to serve the ban. With Balogun back in play, it’s a huge boost for the USMNT attack, as he has scored three goals for the Yanks in the World Cup.

Free Kicks

  • Orlando City gave a shout-out on social media to Crepeau, Marco Pasalic, and Ojeda for their great runs with their respective countries, reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup.
  • Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is reportedly set to become the new manager of the German Men’s National Team.

That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday, and I’ll see you next time.

Continue Reading

Orlando City

Flashback Friday: July 4, 2023 vs. Toronto FC

Let’s rewind to an Independence Day affair that had plenty of offensive fireworks.

Published

3 days ago

on

July 3, 2026

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

The United States Men’s National Team picked up a gritty, resilient 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32 on Wednesday, and will now face Belgium in a rematch of the 2014 World Cup Round of 16 next Monday. While we patiently wait for that game, it’s time to continue our Friday tradition of revisiting some classic Orlando City games from years past.

Last week, we rewound to a high octane affair against the Chicago Fire in late June 2022, that saw the Lions douse Chicago’s flames and pick up a much-needed 4-2 victory. Today, let’s hop in the time machine and travel back to Independence Day 2023, when Toronto FC came to town.

At the time of Toronto’s visit, things were going relatively smoothly for OCSC. The team was riding a three-match unbeaten streak and had scored five goals across those three games. Oscar Pareja lined up his team in its customary 4-2-3-1, with Pedro Gallese in goal; a back line of Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, and Kyle Smith; Wilder Cartagena and Cesar Araujo in the double pivot; Ivan Angulo, Mauricio Pereyra, and Facundo Torres in the attacking midfield; and Duncan McGuire up top.

Orlando very nearly got a goal a little under 10 minutes into the game. Former OCSC goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh knocked down a cross in front of the net, and while Pereyra was first to the ball, he could only blast it over the bar with the goal at his mercy. Fortunately, that miss would not come back to haunt the Lions, who bagged the game’s first goal in the 16th minute. Angulo sucked defenders toward him on the left edge of the box before releasing Santos out wide. The fullback played a peach of a first-time, curling cross to the back post, where Araujo was waiting to power a diving header into the side netting at the far post for his first league goal.

That goal broke the game open, and Orlando got another goal six minutes later to double the advantage. It initially looked like a carbon copy of the first goal, with Santos out in space on the left side of the box, sending in a curled cross. The ball deflected off a defender and came in low toward the goal. Ranjitsingh waited for the ball instead of going to claim it, and that allowed McGuire to nip in front of him and get a touch on the ball to sneak it in at the near post.

Orlando nearly got even more goals inside the half hour, with Torres and McGuire both going close in quick succession. Federico Bernardeschi smashed a shot off the post in the 28th minute, and the Lions seemed to be losing focus a little bit, with the hydration break a welcome pause in play when it came. OCSC came out of the pause well, and Pereyra put Angulo through in the 36th minute, but the Colombian couldn’t bring the ball under control and fashion a shooting chance.

Orlando led in every meaningful statistical category at halftime. The Lions had more possession (55.8%-44.2%), shots (6-2), shots on goal (2-0), corners (4-2), and passing accuracy (89.5%-85%). Most importantly, they led 2-0 on the scoreboard.

Toronto tried to change things at halftime by introducing three substitutes, but Orlando settled back into the game quickly and negated the efforts of interim TFC manager Terry Dunfield. Angulo and Torres forced Ranjitsingh into a pair of saves in the 53rd and 55th minutes, and the Lions tried to press their advantage by sending on Ramiro Enrique and Martin Ojeda in the 57th minute for McGuire and Pereyra.

The game then changed in a big way in the 62nd minute. Cartagena and Bernardeschi exchanged words after a turnover, and the Italian winger put Cartagena on the ground with the help of a little theatrics from the midfielder. Bernardeschi had already been yellow carded in the 47th minute for a foul on Smith, and the altercation with Wilder saw him receive a second yellow and his marching orders to go along with it.

With TFC down to 10 men, the Lions started to tee off at goal. Ojeda came close to getting the team’s third in the 69th minute, with Enrique doing the same in the 71st but missing just wide. When the goal finally came, it was from the unlikely foot of Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, who had been subbed into the game alongside Ercan Kara in the 68th minute.

Thorhallsson made a great run behind the defense in the 77th minute, and Araujo picked him out well. Ranjitsingh came out to try to play sweeper-keeper, but DDT beat him to the ball easily, touched it around the former Lion, and rolled it into the empty net to score his first MLS goal and make it 3-0.

Toronto had a halfway decent chance to pull one back in the 82nd minute, but Brandon Servania’s long-distance attempt at chipping Gallese ended up missing high and settling on the roof of the net. Kara then iced the game in the 84th minute. Araujo fired a pass to Ojeda at the top of the box, and even though he had trouble bringing it under control, he had the presence of mind to backheel it toward goal for the big Austrian to pounce on and fire a low, hard shot into the net for 4-0.

Ojeda nearly got a goal of his own two minutes later but had a great effort saved in what was the last truly dangerous moment of the game.

As was the case at halftime, when the final whistle blew, the Lions had created plenty of fireworks on both the scoreboard and the stat sheet. OCSC finished with more possession (59.6%-40.4%), shots (18-6), shots on target (9-0), corners (8-2), and passing accuracy (91%-84.8%).

Marcus Mitchell had Player Grades for this one, and he named Araujo the Man of the Match with a grade of 8 out of 10 for his one-goal/one-assist effort. The other high performers on the night were Antonio Carlos, and Cartagena, who each graded out at 7.5 out of 10.

That’ll do it for this week’s trip down memory lane. We’ve been getting spoiled lately, with Orlando putting up four goals in back-to-back time machine games, and it’s made for an enjoyable glimpse into years gone by. With any luck, next week’s edition will be similarly entertaining. Vamos Orlando!

Continue Reading

Lion Links

Lion Links: 7/3/26

Orlando Pride visit Angel City tonight, NWSL free agents to watch, Portugal and Spain advance, and more.

Published

3 days ago

on

July 3, 2026

By

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Happy Friday, Mane Landers! I don’t have many plans this holiday weekend beyond enjoying some soccer and indulging myself in a few hot dogs to celebrate. It should be a fun weekend, but make sure to stay safe out there if you plan on setting off any fireworks. For now though, let’s get to the links!

Orlando Pride Take On Angel City FC Tonight

The NWSL resumes today and the Orlando Pride will play against Angel City FC at 10 p.m. in their first match since a 3-1 win over Bay FC on May 29. That win capped off a six-game month for the Pride, including a stretch of three straight road games. Meanwhile, Angel City parted ways with Alex Straus over the break after only winning once in May, and tonight’s match will be Leif Gunnar Smerud’s first since being named interim head coach. It can be tough playing an opponent with a new coach, but hopefully the Pride can bring all three points back to Orlando.

Top NWSL Free Agents to Watch

Free agency is officially underway in the NWSL and the list of players with contracts expiring at the end of the year includes some of the league’s best players. Orlando Pride star Marta was listed as one of the top free agents to watch, though I would be pretty shocked if she plays for another NWSL club if she leaves Orlando after this season. Leicy Santos, Debinha, and Rose Lavelle are other skilled attackers who will become free agents, but Gotham FC goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger is sure to have plenty of clubs reaching out for her talents as well.

Portugal and Spain Advance in World Cup

This World Cup hasn’t been short on excitement and that continued with Portugal’s 2-1 win against Croatia. After a scoreless first half, Croatia took the lead thanks to a goal from Ivan Perisic, but Cristiano Ronaldo equalized from the penalty spot and the game was moments away from heading to extra time. Goncalo Ramos gave Portugal the goal it needed to advance deep in stoppage time, but Croatia nearly came back with a goal that was disallowed due to an offside call. Spain cruised to a 3-0 win against Austria to book its spot in the round of 16 as well. Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice for his second brace of the tournament, with Marc Cucurella assisting on both of his goals. Spain and Portugal will square off in the next round in what should be a fantastic match. Switzerland and Algeria kicked off late.

The round of 32 wraps up today with a trio of matches, starting with Egypt’s game against Australia. Cape Verde will then look to shock the world when it plays Argentina, and the late game will be between Colombia and Ghana.

Columbus Crew Sign New Designated Player

The Columbus Crew have signed Spanish midfielder Brais Mendez to a Designated Player contract through the 2028-2029 season with a club option for the 2029-2030 season. Mendez has spent the past four La Liga seasons with Real Sociedad, recording 33 goals and 24 assists in 166 appearances. He gives the crew some additional firepower as reports swirl regarding Diego Rossi’s departure for CF Monterrey. While maybe not in the same headline-grabbing tier of MLS summer signings like Antoine Griezmann or Robert Lewandowski, Mendez is a big addition to the league as the Eastern Conference arms race continues.

Free Kicks

  • CF Montreal sent $2.1 million in General Allocation Money to Austin FC in exchange for midfielder Dani Pereira. Selected with the first overall pick in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft, Pereira has contributed six goals and 23 assists in 165 appearances across all competitions for Austin.
  • Real Salt Lake reportedly rejected a transfer bid around $3.5 million from CF Monterrey for midfielder Diego Luna.
  • American winger Emma Sears reportedly requested a trade from Racing Louisville, although the club is not reportedly interested in a midseason transfer.
  • The United States Men’s National Team’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina had record viewership. Understandably so, too, as I spent most of the match pacing around my living room.

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

Continue Reading

Trending