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Orlando City

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

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6 years ago

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Orlando City hosted Inter Miami CF for the first time in Exploria Stadium to finish Phase 1 of the MLS restart. The Lions finally got more than a few days to rest in between matches, while Miami had a Wednesday match against Atlanta United FC. In the end, the rest paid off as the Lions earned all three points, defeating their Ft. Lauderdale rivals, 2-1. Óscar Pareja gave iron man Uri Rosell a rest after an exhausting five-game stretch. Robin Jansson and João Moutinho were also absent from the 18, as the former picked up a knock in training, and the latter is out for a few weeks with a groin injury. Otherwise, Pareja went with his typical first-choice lineup.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 6.5— El Pulpo made two saves and three clearances against Miami, and the header that former Lion Brek Shea scored just went past Gallese’s outstretched body. He was fouled twice and the goal post almost took him out, but he did enough to give the Lions the win. He attempted 22 passes, had a 72.7% passing rate, and completed four long balls. 

D, Kyle Smith, 6 — Smith actually had one of his better matches as a Lion. I’m not sure what was worked on in training, but he pushed forward like Moutinho usually does and was generally able to track back on defense. He made a great clearance in the 57th minute that kept Miami off the scoreboard. Defensively he made three tackles and two clearances. Smith attempted 45 passes, had a 75.6% passing rate, and completed one long ball. 

D, Antônio Carlos, 7 — I’m not sure if Carlos has been watching Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon, or Bruce Leroy in The Last Dragon but he had two kung fu kicks to stop a pair of dangerous long balls put forward by Miami. Carlos continued to show his quality despite missing his usual center back partner, Jansson, although he did get beat in the air by Shea for the goal. He made one tackle, four interceptions, five clearances, one block, and committed one foul. Carlos attempted 50 passes, with a 76% passing rate, and completed two long balls. 

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 6 — Schlegel got the start since Jansson picked up a knock in training on Friday. The entire drama late in the second half surrounding Schlegel might be the oddest thing I’ve seen all week. A non-call turned into a foul that resulted in a second yellow for Schlegel, before it was overturned as the player he fouled was ruled offside before the tackle was made. It was an interesting few minutes for the young defender. The entire sequence is sure to be a brick in the building of this new rivalry. Aside from that, Schlegel played well. He made seven clearances, one block, committed three fouls, and earned only one yellow card. Schlegel attempted 47 passes at a 93.6% passing rate, and completed four long balls. 

D, Ruan, 5.5 — While Ruan did his usual speed things on the right side, he also gave up the ball in the 67th and 83rd minutes in Orlando’s half, creating opportunities for Miami. It certainly isn’t what we usually see from the young defender, and as such he didn’t earn as high a grade as he usually does. On defense he had seven tackles, four clearances, and one foul. Ruan attempted 25 passes and had an 84% passing rate.  

MF, Sebas Méndez, 5.5 — Sebas was effective in the midfield with Junior Urso, and for the first half the pair did well in controlling Miami’s attack. While it broke down a bit after Miami made some changes, he still played pretty well if not spectacular. He made four tackles, committed four fouls, and suffered two fouls. He attempted 54 passes and had a 90.7% passing rate. Mendez attempted one shot but it was off target.  

MF, Junior Urso, 6.5 — Urso put in a very good shift. He did well connecting the defense to the offense, helping to create chances, and harassed Miami throughout the midfield. He attempted 47 passes with a 91.5% passing rate. He made one key pass, and completed five long balls. Urso attempted two shots, though one was from distance and skipped low along the grass for Robles to make the easy save. On defense he made two tackles, and committed one foul.

MF, Chris Mueller, 7— Mueller’s assist was nearly perfect, as he split two defenders and put it past another to set up Pereyra’s goal. The Money Badger showed his usual energy in Orlando City’s offense, making several good passes and helping to create opportunities for his teammates. Mueller had one assist, and took one shot that was on goal. Defensively, he suffered two fouls, made one tackle and one interception. Mueller only attempted 22 passes with a 90.9% passing rate and one key pass. 

MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 7.5 (MOTM) — Pereyra continues to show why he is one of the best in MLS with the ball at his feet. He consistently eludes multiple defenders, recovers the ball, and puts his teammates in positions to succeed. He took the free kick that resulted in Andrés Reyes’ own goal that gave Orlando City the lead in the 34th minute. He then completed his run to put away a goal for himself off of Mueller’s assist in the 69th minute. His goal came on one shot. Defensively, he ended with one tackle, two interceptions, one clearance, and committed two fouls. His second foul resulted in a yellow card, though it looked a bit light to me. He attempted 30 passes with a 63.3% passing rate, and completed two long balls. 

MF, Nani, 6.5 — The captain continued his free kick woes, as he once again hit one off the crossbar, and the other was kept out by an outstanding save from Luis Robles. While he was supposedly only fouled once, Inter Miami made sure to put as much pressure on Nani as possible, and frankly there could have been more calls go his way. It is good to remember that when teams feel the need to focus on Nani, it can open up chances elsewhere. Statistically he took two shots, made one tackle, and committed no fouls. Nani attempted 44 passes with an 81.8% passing rate, with two key passes and four successful long balls.  

F, Daryl Dike, 6 — Dike played well with his back to goal, and was able to turn well when he received the ball. It is telling how clubs are trying to deal with Dike by putting multiple players on him. Dike had a nice advancing header on a long ball to Mueller during a counter attack. His one shot, was unfortunately when he was falling down and he couldn’t get his power behind it. Despite being fouled four times, he probably deserved more, but they weren’t called. He also committed one foul and made one tackle. He attempted six passes with a 66.7% passing rate. 

Substitutes

MF, Andrés Perea (79’), 6 — Perea came on for Dike, but his greatest impact was on defense. His block in the 80th minute kept Shea from getting a brace, and helped preserve Orlando City’s lead. Statistically, he made two clearances, and attempted eight passes with an 87.5% passing rate, in addition to the block.

F, Benji Michel (79’), N/A — Benji completed two passes, had one tackle, had one foul, and was caught offside once. There wasn’t enough time or involvement to give a grade. 

MF, Alex De John (84’), N/A— Despite being on the pitch for over 10 minutes De John only touched the ball twice. 

F, Tesho Akindele, (90’+2), N/A — Tesho connected on his only pass, though he wasn’t really in the match long enough to have an impact. 

MF, Joey DeZart, (90’+2), N/A — DeZart managed one touch in his MLS debut after coming on late in the match.  

That was how I saw it. Vote for your Man of the Match in the poll, and comment below.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Mauricio Pereyra83
Antônio Carlos4
Junior Urso2
Chris Mueller5
Nani0
Other (put in comments)1

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Orlando City

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

The Lions welcome San Diego FC to Orlando for the first meeting ever between the two clubs.

Published

10 hours ago

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September 5, 2026

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Image of Joran Gerbet playing against Minnesota United.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match preview and live thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (7-11-4, 25 points) and San Diego FC (8-8-6, 30 points) at Inter.co Stadium in Orlando (7:30 p.m., Apple TV). It’s the first-ever meeting between these two teams from different conferences

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

History

As mentioned above, tonight’s meeting between the Lions and San Diego is the first in the series history, so there is no history. The Lions are 2-2-1 against Western Conference teams this season, which means little to nothing in this particular match, and San Diego is going to be Orlando City’s final opponent from the opposite conference in MLS regular-season play this season.

Overview

The Lions are coming off a wild 3-3 road draw at Minnesota United a week ago, in which Daryl Dike and Antoine Griezmann scored on either side of halftime on Orlando’s first two shot attempts to put their team up 2-0 in the 64th minute. Minnesota stormed back with three goals off defensive errors in a four-minute span to take a late 3-2 lead. Just when the Loons appeared to be headed for all three points, Tyrese Spicer scored in stoppage time, forcing Minnesota to split the points. Orlando has a modest 1-0-1 unbeaten streak entering tonight, and the Lions are 5-4-2 at home in 2026.

San Diego is coming off a 3-1 home win over the LA Galaxy despite having Jeppe Tverskov sent off. Tonight’s visitors have won two straight games, but both were at home. They lost their last home game 3-1 at Portland on Aug. 19 and are 2-5-3 away from home this season.

The key for Orlando City tonight will be to mark Anders Dreyer, which is far easier said than done, as he has emerged as one of the league’s best playmakers. His eight goals and 11 assists give him 19 total goal contributions to lead his team. Marcus Ingvartsen is Dreyer’s favorite teammate to combine with, as the Danish forward has converted 11 times, leading San Diego in goals, and has added five assists. However, Ingvartsen is listed as out with a lower body injury. Midfielder Onni Valakari has chipped in four goals and seven assists.

“We respect San Diego, but as well we prepare our game,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said ahead of the match. “We know how strong we are, especially at home, so now we go.”

Orlando City will be without Braian Ojeda (foot) and Adrian Marin (thigh), while Bernardo Rhein (thigh), has been upgraded to questionable. San Diego will be without the aforementioned Ingvartsen (lower body) and Tverskov (suspension).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Bernardo Rhein, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Joran Gerbet, Eduard Atuesta, Justin Ellis.

Forwards: Antoine Griezmann, Daryl Dike.

Bench: Javier Otero, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Tiago, Marco Pasalic, Martin Ojeda, Tyrese Spicer.

San Diego FC (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: C.J. dos Santos.

Defenders: Kieran Sargeant, Ian Murphy, Manu Duah, Oscar Verhoeven.

Midfielders: Gabriel Pirani, Anibal Godoy, Alejandro Alvarado.

Forwards: Elias Achouri, Onni Valakari, Anders Dreyer.

Bench: Duran Ferree, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Christopher McVey, Bryan Zamble, David Vazquez, Ian Pilcher, Alex Mighten, Bryce Duke, Amahl Pellegrino.

Referees:

REF: Joe Dickerson.
AR1: Corey Parker.
AR2: Justin Howard.
4TH: Rodrigo Albuquerque.
VAR: Daniel Radford.
AVAR: Jeff Muschik.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Inter.co Stadium — Orlando.

TV/Streaming: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Diego FC: Three Keys to Victory

Here’s what Orlando needs to do in order to return to winning ways against San Diego.

Published

1 day ago

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September 4, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

After the disappointment of two dropped points against Minnesota on Saturday, Orlando City is back home with an opportunity to get things back on track. The Lions need to keep picking up points if they want to keep pace in an increasingly crowded Eastern Conference, and Saturday’s game is a good chance to start September off on the right note. San Diego FC stands in the way of that good start, and what follows are three things that I believe Orlando needs to do in order to emerge victorious from this game.

Stay Strong on the Left

The left side of the defense has been a question mark for the Lions for much of the year. Adrian Marin, Bernardo Rhein, and Zakaria Taifi have all spent time at left back lately and have done so with varying degrees of success. Regardless of who suits up there on Saturday, that area of the field will be under scrutiny once again, since they’ll be tasked with stopping San Diego right winger Anders Dreyer. He has eight goals and 11 assists in 21 appearances this year, has played 60 key passes during that time, and is generally the lynchpin through which the San Diego offense operates. He hasn’t quite been on the same pace that saw him bag 19 goals and 19 assists in the regular season last year, but with four goal contributions in his last three MLS appearances, he’s extremely capable of wreaking havoc from the wing. A lot of the goals OCSC has conceded lately have come down the left side of the defense, and if that area of the field can’t be taken care of better, the Lions will likely be in for a difficult night.

Do Damage in Transition

Orlando’s current style of positionless, fluid, attacking soccer is at its best when it comes up against teams that want to come out and play. It struggles mightily against defensive bunkers but shines when the Lions can get out and run, target open spaces, and combine with teammates in unexpected areas. Fortunately for OCSC (in theory), San Diego is a team that likes to have the ball, as it has the highest average possession in the league. That means the Lions will have opportunities to force turnovers and break the other way at pace. In order to make that happen though, OCSC will need to be both disciplined and effective when it comes to applying its press. Then, if/when the Lions win the ball, correct decision-making and clinical execution in the final third will be key to avoid letting any chances slip through their fingers (paws?).

Clean Up the Self-Inflicted Errors

Orlando has dealt with more than its fair share of general defensive struggles this year, but avoidable errors have been a particular problem in recent weeks. Whether it’s been an ill-advised challenge, passing to the opposition in the defensive third, or leaving men unmarked in the box, unnecessary mistakes have cost OCSC points time and again. Against lesser opposition it hasn’t always mattered, as the Lions were able to rescue three points against Real Salt Lake, but if Orlando wants to make a playoff push, it needs to make a habit of playing cleaner games, plain and simple. San Diego is a good team with dangerous offensive players, and Saturday’s visitors will very likely take advantage of any opportunities that the Lions gift-wrap for them. Keeping things mistake-free will go a long way.

We’ve got ample proof this season that nothing is guaranteed, but if the Lions can lock down the left side of the defense, make hay in transition moments, and limit unforced errors, then they should be in a good position to take all three points from Saturday’s game. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 9/4/26

Martin Ojeda details his recovery from injury, Anna Moorhouse loaned to Manchester City, Orlando City’s U.S. Open Cup journey, and more.

Published

2 days ago

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September 4, 2026

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Image of Martin Ojeda celebrating a goal against New England.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Three straight days of Orlando soccer starts tonight with Orlando City B’s road match against Inter Miami II at 7 p.m. Hopefully, Orlando’s teams do well over the next few days as crunch time is upon us when it comes to making the playoffs, especially for MLS NEXT Pro. For now though, let’s jump right into today’s links from around the soccer world!

Orlando City Prepares for San Diego FC

Orlando City will take on San Diego FC on Saturday in the first-ever game between the two clubs, and one of the storylines to keep an eye on is how much Martin Ojeda plays as he works his way back from injury. The Designated Player came off the bench late in Orlando’s 3-3 draw against Minnesota United in his first appearance since May 23. Not often injured, Ojeda spoke on how being off the field for over a month has shifted his perspective while training to return.

“You learn to value the moment much more. You learn to value every training session because, when you’re training on your own and you’re not available to your teammates, you feel uncomfortable,” Ojeda said. “You value being healthy more. It’s like everything in life. When you feel good, you live life almost on autopilot, so to speak. You go to work, you go home, you come back, you sleep. However, when you or someone close to you goes through an illness or something like that, you value the moment much more and become more conscious of what you’re experiencing.”

Pride Loan Anna Moorhouse to Manchester City

The Orlando Pride loaned goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse to Manchester City through January of 2027. Moorhouse joined the Pride prior to the 2022 season and helped the club win both the NWSL Championship and Shield in 2024. However, she has struggled this year alongside the rest of the Pride’s defense. Moorhouse hasn’t played in the past two games for the Pride, with Cosette Morche starting in her place. Her current contract with the Pride lasts through the 2027 NWSL season, so we’ll have to wait and see what her future with the club is when the loan ends.

Orlando City’s U.S. Open Cup Journey

Between the World Cup, regular season, and Leagues Cup this summer, it can be easy to forget that Orlando City is still in contention to win this year’s U.S. Open Cup. The Lions are in the semifinals of the tournament after crushing Atlanta United 4-1 in the quarterfinals back on May 19. The Lions won much tighter affairs prior to that win, with Javier Otero coming up with seven saves in a 1-0 win over FC Naples and Zakaria Taifi scoring in stoppage time to beat the New England Revolution 4-3 in the following match. Orlando will be on the road for its semifinal match against the Columbus Crew on Sept. 16, but the offense has received a boost due to the arrivals of Antoine Griezmann and Daryl Dike this summer.

MLS Transfer News Roundup

MLS signings continue to pour in as teams look to improve their squads for the rest of this season and beyond. The Colorado Rapids signed Ghanaian winger Ibrahim Sadiq from AZ Alkmaar, where he recorded 18 goals and seven assists in 85 appearances across three seasons with the Dutch club. San Diego also added an attacker by signing forward Cedric Bakambu, who joins as a free agent after playing at Real Betis. As for other notable moves from across the league, Real Salt Lake signed winger Dusan Zagar as an MLS U22 Initiative player, forward Lyle Foster joined the Houston Dynamo on loan, and the Columbus Crew continued to improve on offense by signing Moroccan winger Anass Zaroury on loan from Panathinaikos.

Free Kicks

  • Former Orlando Pride player Christina Burkenroad is retiring from professional soccer and Monterrey will have Saturday’s game against Toluca be a send-off match for her.

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

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