Connect with us

Orlando City

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

How did your favorite Lions perform in Orlando City’s 2-1 road loss to NYCFC?

Published

2 months ago

on

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

Orlando City hit the road for the first time in 2025, disappointingly dropping its first road match of the year to Eastern Conference rivals New York City FC 2-1. The small confines of Yankee Stadium proved to be too big of a stage for Orlando City on the 10th anniversary of the club’s first match in Major League Soccer.

Let’s take a look at the individual performances for Orlando City and see who impressed and who needs to improve.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 6 — Gallese faced more adversity this week against NYCFC than a week ago against Toronto. He made seven saves on the night, including a brilliant reaction save on a powerful shot attempt in the second half. For the second game in a row, Gallese conceded two goals, though the first wasn’t primarily the fault of the Orlando City keeper, as he dove to stop a Maxi Moralez shot that hit off the post and ricocheted out in front. Before he could react, the defense was beaten to the ball by Alonso Martinez for the easy goal. Gallese should have done better on the second goal, in which he left a big, juicy rebound for the second easy goal of the night. The Peruvian finished with six saves, completed 46.7% of his 15 passes, and was successful on five of his 13 long balls.

D, Rafael Santos, 5.5 — Santos touched the ball 58 times and completed 68.4% of his 38 passes. He was credited with two key passes but was only accurate with one of his four crosses and two of his nine long balls. The left back was fairly active on defense, recording one interception, two clearances, and three tackles. Offensively, the Brazilian did not register a shot attempt.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 5.5 — Schlegel touched the ball 57 times and completed 81% of his 42 passes, including two of his six long balls. He wasn’t involved in the attack at all but finished with two tackles, one interception, and six clearances. His positioning seemed off to the right too far on the second goal, and he was as culpable as the rest of the back line in not tracking runners.

D, Robin Jansson, 5.5 — The captain made his season debut after missing the first two matches and had 50 touches in the game. He completed 79.6% of his 44 passes, including five of his 11 long balls. Defensively, Jansson had one tackle and four clearances and blocked a shot. As with the rest of the back line, he was responsible for making sure free runners weren’t getting in behind and that’s how both goals happened, so it was far from a great start for the Swede. Offensively, Jansson did not contribute but it is certainly a welcome sign to see the Orlando City captain back on the field.

D, Alex Freeman, 6 — Freeman got his second career and had a team-high 78 touches, completing 70.5% of his 44 passes, including two key passes. He also completed two of his six long balls and was unsuccessful on both of his crossing attempts. Offensively, he was credited with one successful dribble, was dispossessed twice, and did not record a shot. He was involved in the buildup for Orlando’s goal, however, sending the ball forward that began the give-and-go with Luis Muriel and Marco Pasalic. Defensively, Freeman recorded a tackle and had a team-high nine clearances. There are still some nervy moments defensively for Freeman as he becomes more comfortable on the field, and he was getting beaten on the flanks at times even on the small playing surface, but his activity and effort cannot be questioned.

MF, Cesar Araujo, 6 — Araujo touched the ball 75 times, second only to Freeman, and completed 88.9% of his 54 passes, including a key pass and one successful long ball on two attempts. He recorded two shots, both of which were off target, and suffered a team-high four fouls. Araujo was also whistled offside once in the match, which on such a short field is impressive in its own right. Defensively, he had a team high six tackles, one interception, and two clearances. He kept Julian Fernandez onside when he dropped into the middle defensively, which helped NYCFC score the winning goal.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 6 — Atuesta slotted into his usual role in the midfield and recorded 51 touches. He completed 80% of his 30 passes, including a key pass, but only one of his four long balls. Offensively, Atuesta put one of his two shots on target and unfortunately was credited with a team-high three unstable touches. Defensively, he had one tackle, two interceptions, two clearances, and a blocked shot. Atuesta also committed a team-high four fouls in the match, a trend worth monitoring going forward as he has appeared quite foul happy over the first three matches. He was also booked.

MF, Ivan Angulo, 5.5 — Angulo had 52 touches and completed 77.4% of his 31 passes. For a player who loves to dribble 1-v-1, 1-v-2, or even 1-v-3 more than he should, Angulo was surprisingly credited with a team-high three key passes, and he completed three of his five crosses. Angulo did not attempt a shot against NYCFC and he contributed defensively with two tackles.

MF, Martin Ojeda, 6 — Ojeda touched the ball 36 times and completed 84.6% of his 26 passes, including two key passes, two of his five crosses, and all three of his long balls. Offensively, Ojeda only mustered one shot attempt, which was not on target, as he scuffed a good opportunity from the top of the area in the first half. The Argentinian did not record a meaningful defensive statistic. He was sacrificed in the 75th minute for Ramiro Enrique as Orlando looked for an equalizer.

MF, Marco Pasalic, 6.5 — Pasalic touched the ball 40 times, completing just 69.6% of his 23 passes. He had one key pass — the assist on Muriel’s goal — and was unsuccessful on his lone long ball attempt. In the early moments of the match, Pasalic looked like a footballer playing his first game on a baseball field, and unfortunately for Orlando City, he never was fully able to showcase his technical abilities in tight spaces. He put one of his three shots on target, and his pass to send Muriel in behind was perfectly executed. While Pasalic failed to find the back of the net, he did not let a sluggish offensive night keep him from contributing on the defensive end, where he was credited with one tackle, two interceptions, and two clearances.

F, Luis Muriel, 6.5 (MotM) — Starting his first game of the season, Muriel touched the ball 27 times while completing 61.5% of his 13 passes. Two of his six shots wound up on target, including his first goal of the year, as he was able to get Orlando City level on a strike in the 69th minute. The six shot attempts were a team high against NYCFC. Defensively, Muriel added a tackle. It is an encouraging sign to see the Designated Player find the back of the net, and just a little disappointing that he didn’t have more as the Colombian had a few other close attempts which either were slightly off the mark or didn’t have enough power behind the shot.

Substitutes

F, Ramiro Enrique (76’), 5 — Enrique came on for Ojeda in the 76th minute, touching the ball seven times. He completed one of his three passes and unfortunately did not log a shot attempt over the final quarter hour.

MF, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson (80’), 6 — Thorhallsson once again entered in the waning moments of the match but was unable to recreate the magic that followed his substitution a week ago, when he scored with his second touch. Against NYCFC, Thorhallsson touched the ball 12 times, and completed all five of his passes. He did not record a shot but was credited with one tackle.

D, Kyle Smith (80′), 6 — Smith entered in place of Santos in an attempt to help Orlando City find an equalizer. He logged 12 touches and completed 90% of his 10 passes. He failed to connect on his lone crossing attempt but completed his only long ball. Defensively, Smith was credited with one tackle.

MF, Gustavo Caraballo (85′), N/A — Caraballo entered the match in the 85th minute replacing Atuesta and logged seven touches, was credited with one key pass, and recorded a shot that was off target.

That’s how I saw Orlando City’s first road loss of the 2025 season. Let us know how you saw the game in the comments below and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Orlando City

What Orlando City’s First 10 Matches May Indicate for 2025

How Orlando City has performed historically after the first 10 games and a projection for how the 2025 team will do in games 11-34.

Published

11 hours ago

on

May 1, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

There is no specific reason for why we use a base-10 number system, perhaps because most of us have 10 fingers that can easily be used for counting, but it is clear from many examples in all walks of life that people like to use nice round numbers whenever possible, and in particular like to use multiples of 10 for convenience. Top 10 lists or rankings abound, and often we hear about the performance during the last 10 events. As a mathematician, I like using 10 as a denominator, because it is simple to create a percentage out of 10 and most people can easily understand the significance of a high or low percentage when making an argument.

Significance is a loaded word in mathematics, as is power, as both have specific definitions as it relates to statistics (ask your nerd friends, or ask me, also a nerd, in the comments), but for this case, we are going to use the English major definitions of significance and power and take a look at Orlando City’s results during the team’s first 10 MLS regular-season games to see what the numbers might tell us about what we can expect during the rest of the season.

Below is a table of Orlando City’s points earned per game through games 1-10 during each of the club’s MLS seasons, with 2020 excluded due to the difference in that season due to COVID-19.

SeasonGames 1-10Games 11+
20150.901.46
20161.101.25
20171.900.83
20181.900.38
20191.201.09
2020N/AN/A
20212.101.50
20221.701.41
20231.401.85
20240.901.53
20251.60TBD (ideally, 3.00)

Looking at these comparisons, for the most part, the performance during the first 10 games seems to have little bearing on the results during the rest of the season. These are not even splits. The MLS regular season is 34 games long, so the third column is 24 games’ worth of data while the second column is only 10, but even though the games played totals are different between the columns, we see vastly different performance in the time periods. Hot early starts lead to cold periods later, or vice versa, and in seven of nine seasons, the difference in points per game between the first 10 games and the final 24 was at least 0.29. For context, a drop of 0.29 points per game this season would take Orlando City from eighth to 19th in the overall table, and an increase of 0.29 would move the Lion into fourth.

The sample size of this data is pretty small at just nine seasons, and the reality of sports is that despite the romanticism of teams from the past and how some teams allegedly have winning DNA while others are cursed by teams of yore, the performance of (for example) the 2018 Orlando City team has no bearing on how the 2025 team will perform, since there are no players still with this year’s team from that team and the coaching staff has changed as well. And thank goodness, because in 2018 it was all caps UGLY down the stretch — only two wins in the final 24 games and the Lions were outscored 58-23 in those 24 games. Yuck.

While 2018 thankfully has no bearing on today’s Orlando City, the 2024 team’s performance does have some impact. Many of the key players on this year’s team were also on the team last year, and with the same head coach in place, the team is playing a similar style as it did last season. There are differences in personnel and style though, and even among the players who are back some have improved and some have declined. Additionally, during the opening 10 games of the 2024 season, Orlando City was also playing in the Concacaf Champions Cup, whereas in 2025 the Lions have had a steady one-game-per-week pace since the season opener.

While I would like to see the type of improvement in 2025 that we saw from the Lions in 2023 and 2024, I have some concerns about the fact that based on their opponents’ average points earned per game, the Lions have had the easiest schedule thus far this season and the hardest remaining schedule left. The Lions have played teams that average earning 1.13 points per game so far, and haven’t yet played teams that average earning 1.52 points per game. In particular, Orlando City still has to go to Charlotte, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Miami — all of which average at least 1.90 points per game, and all of those teams and Vancouver (2.30, best in MLS) will come to Inter&Co Stadium before the end of the season.

That is nine games remaining against the teams in first, second, third, fourth, and fifth in MLS, and no other team has a harder set of nine games remaining. That said, even though it may not feel like it due to the recent run of draws, after 10 games, Orlando City is actually tied for eighth overall in MLS in points per game and is fourth overall in goal differential (+6). This early in the season, it also means there are a lot of quirks in the schedule that will be less impactful over time, such as the fact that 40% of Orlando City’s games have been against the New York Red Bulls and Philadelphia Union.

Óscar Pareja’s Orlando City teams have always played solid soccer during games 11-34, and although some seasons did see a slight decline from the performance during games 1-10, it was never a decline down to the level of a team that frequently loses. This year’s team is a strong team with a defense that is gelling already (436 minutes and counting without giving up a goal) and an offense that is one of the most prolific in MLS, even while dealing with a lot of injuries.

I am a little concerned about having dropped points against some teams off to cold starts and also with the difficulty of the remaining schedule, but I think those teams are concerned about having to play Orlando City too. And they should be, because the Lions do not have any glaring weaknesses and, if anything, have actually underperformed, as will happen when you receive two red cards and are forced to play with 10 players in eminently winnable games.

That brings us back to 10, and while I do not give the start to this season a 10 in the style of Billy Bob from Varsity Blues, I do think Orlando City has performed well and is definitely one of the better teams in the league. I do not think that the club’s historical performance in games 11-34 will play any role in where this club finishes, but I think the talent and depth the Lions have already shown will, and I am holding to my prediction from the preseason that this is a top 10 team.

Continue Reading

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Chicago Fire: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to secure a victory on the road against Chicago?

Published

12 hours ago

on

May 1, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City hits the road following the 3-0 beatdown of Atlanta United. This week, the Lions head to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Fire. Orlando City is coming off its best performance of the season, in my opinion, and has the opportunity to build on that. Standing in the way is a Chicago club coming off a 7-2 drubbing on the road at the hands of Nashville SC. The Fire will not want a repeat of that defeat. What does Orlando City need to do to take all three points on the road from Chicago?

Contain Cuypers & Co.

Hugo Cuypers has seven goals and two assists for Chicago this season. Not only is that good enough for best at Chicago, that’s good enough to lead the league. The current leader for the golden boot will face a club that hasn’t given up a goal in four matches. We need the Orlando City defense to maintain the current level of excellence against Cuypers.

The Lions should have a full-strength lineup for Chicago. Cesar Araujo should be back in the defensive midfield, with David Brekalo and Alex Freeman at the fullback positions. Most importantly, Rodrigo Schlegel and Robin Jansson must be in top form. Cuypers isn’t the only one who is a threat, with Philip Zinckernagel — that is a very fun name — with three goals and four assists. It’s a potent attack that has scored the same number of goals as Orlando City.

All Ahead Atuesta

What a difference Eduard Atuesta made in Orlando City’s 3-0 victory over Atlanta United. He is the engine that drives the offense, the stirrer in Orlando’s cup of coffee, or any other metaphor you want to use. His ability to connect the defense to the offense is a previously underrated aspect of his game. We now know how important he is to this team.

Atuesta will be dealing with a defensive midfield of Kellyn Acosta and Mauricio Pineda. Both are quality defenders, but with the assistance of Araujo behind him, Atuesta can be successful against the Fire. If he can unlock the Chicago defense, the Fire are vulnerable to giving up goals.

Pepper the Goal

Last match, Orlando City took 16 shots with six on target, and the Lions put three in the back of the net. If the Lions can generate a similar number of chances and finish them, then a road victory is more likely. Of course, the Fire allowed Nashville SC 18 shots, with 12 on target, and seven went in the back of the net. They won’t want to do the same two weeks in a row.

Assuming Atuesta is feeding the offense, Luis Muriel, Duncan McGuire, and Marco Pasalic will need to be clinical in their finishing. The more shots on target generated, the more Chicago’s Chris Brady will be likely to let one in. Orlando City broke the scoring drought last week and that needs to continue against the Fire.

That is what I will be looking for Saturday night. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!

Continue Reading

Lion Links

Lion Links: 5/1/25

Orlando Pride prepare for the Portland Thorns, Vancouver Whitecaps reach Concacaf Champions Cup final, Lorne Donaldson fired, and more.

Published

16 hours ago

on

May 1, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Welcome to May, Mane Landers! The months are flying by and I’m all for it. I was able to get some belated spring cleaning done this week and have been flexing my interior decorating muscles a bit as well. My cat’s not a fan of all of the furniture being shuffled around, but I’m sure he’ll get used to it. Let’s get this month started with today’s links from around the soccer world!

Orlando Pride Prep for Portland

The Orlando Pride are back in action Saturday in a road match against the Portland Thorns. Orlando is coming off of a dramatic 3-2 win at home against Angel City FC, which featured the team’s stars and substitutes linking up to come back and win. As for Portland, the Thorns are unbeaten at home so far this season and have scored seven goals across their past two games. Pride Head Coach Seb Hines spoke on Orlando’s preparations for this match and how the Pride will need to maintain momentum against a young Portland team that’s finding its groove offensively.

Vancouver Whitecaps Seal Spot in Concacaf Champions Cup Final

The Vancouver Whitecaps went on the road and beat Inter Miami a second time, winning 3-1 to advance to the Concacaf Champions Cup final. An early goal by Jordi Alba gave Miami life in the series, but Vancouver scored three unanswered goals in the second half to win 5-1 on aggregate. The star of the show was 23-year-old midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, who provided assists on Vancouver’s first two goals before scoring one himself to put the nail in the coffin. The Whitecaps have had a brutal path to reach the final, taking down Monterrey and Pumas UNAM in the previous two rounds. In the final on June 1, they’ll face whichever Liga MX team comes out on top tonight between Tigres and Cruz Azul.

Chicago Stars Fire Lorne Donaldson

Lorne Donaldson’s time as the Chicago Stars’ head coach has come to a close, with the Stars firing him just six games into the season. The Stars have lost five of their six games this year, including a 6-0 defeat to the Orlando Pride to open the season. Donaldson joined the club in December of 2023 and helped the team squeeze into the playoffs in his first year as head coach. Assistant coach Masaki Hemmi will serve as interim head coach while the club hunts for a replacement.

Brian White Wins MLS Player of the Month

Scoring in the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals capped off an impressive month for Vancouver forward Brian White, who was named MLS Player of the Month. The American had five goals in league games this April and became the first player in club history to score four times in one game when he did so against Austin FC on April 12. He’s been a major reason behind the club’s ascent to the top of the Western Conference this year. It will be interesting to see how his continued success this year factors into his role at the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer.

Free Kicks

  • In case you missed it, enjoy this full interview from Orlando City General Manager and Sporting Director Ricardo Moreira.

That’s all I have for you this time around. Make sure to stay hydrated out there, as this heat isn’t playing around. Have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!

Continue Reading

Trending