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

How did your favorite Lions perform in Orlando City’s 5-0 away loss against Nashville?

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2 months ago

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Image of Martin Ojeda with the ball against Nashville.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City was taken behind the woodshed on Saturday night (there are definitely woodsheds in Tennessee, and Orlando City players will be able to describe one near Geodis Park in intimate detail), as they were flogged 5-0 by a rampant Nashville SC squad. There were not a lot of positives to take away from this game, but a lot of young players were forced to play due to injuries, so hopefully those minutes will pay off down the road. Thankfully, there is no relegation to worry about in Major League Soccer, and the Lions now have nearly two weeks until their next game to regroup and get on the same page.

I have my purple pen out but I am going with the red one again, so here we go. Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated individually in an Eastern Conference matchup.

Starters

GK, Maxime Crépeau, 5.5 — Crépeau went the full 90 minutes on Saturday night, but he may wish that he had been red carded again after facing wave after wave of Nashville attackers all evening. The Canadian was badly beaten for Nashville’s first goal, a Cristian Espinoza cross that was mis-hit and turned into a shot that beat Crépeau where you never want to be beaten as a goalkeeper — at the near post. Aside from that shot, Crépeau was basically hung out to dry by the “defense” in front of him, as he had little to no chance to save any of the other four goals that Nashville put into the back of his net. He made four saves on the night, with another two coming after offside calls so they were not counted in the stats. He completed 64.7% of his passes, including all of his short passes, and if not for some big saves, Orlando City could have set a club record for goals allowed with how poorly the team played defensively.

D, Adrián Marín, 4.5 — The Spaniard was ineffective on both sides of the ball on Saturday night, with his best contributions coming on loose ball recoveries (6) and clearances (3). He brought little to the attack, completing only 70.6% of his passes and most of those were the short or backwards variety. He completed one long ball and did not have any crosses, and even though Nashville made 48% of its attacks up his side of the field, he only had one tackle and one interception. It was not a surprise when he came off in the 59th minute, and he will need to improve his play in future weeks if he wants to hold down the starting left back spot.

D, Iago, 4.5 — Nashville dominated possession, took nearly 20 shots, scored five goals, and despite playing the full 90 minutes, Iago did not make a tackle and had his only defensive contributions as one interception and six clearances. It is clear that the big Brazilian defender is skilled and has a lot of potential, but he is too tentative and slow with his decision making right now on the field as he adapts to playing against veteran professionals instead of mostly youth players. With all the injuries Orlando City is dealing with, he is going to have to continue this trial by fire, and he was burned badly against Nashville. He completed a team-high 54 passes at a 90% completion rate, but aside from that it was a difficult night.

D, Nolan Miller, 4.5 — Miller’s evening was not much better than his center back partner’s, and arguably was worse as he directly created Nashville’s second goal with a silly shirt pull in the box that led to a penalty kick. The MLS SuperDraft pick made one tackle and logged four clearances while completing 87.5% of his passes, but the shirt pull and a lack of communication with Griffin Dorsey that led to both defenders playing the same man while leaving Sam Surridge (the league’s leading scorer) wide open will be brutal reminders of the difference between playing defense at the MLS level vs. the NCAA level. He left a clear path for Cristian Espinoza’s easy assist on Surridge’s third goal as well, closing on the man with the ball, who Iago was already tracking. Mistakes led to two goals, on a rough night for the young center back.

D, Griffin Dorsey, 5.5 — Dorsey’s best contribution on the night might have been the fire he showed in the post-game interviews (you can read his spicy comments in our game recap), but on the field he was also one of the top performers for Orlando City. He nearly scored a great goal after been put in by Duncan McGuire, but his shot hit the left post and came back into play. The right back made several driving runs up the field to try to create some attacks, but the partnership with Marco Pašalić still is not there, and no major chances came from those runs. On the defensive side, Dorsey had a game-leading four tackles while adding one interception and one block, and he completed 64.5% of his passes before coming off in the second half for Yutaro Tsukada.

MF, Iván Angulo, 6 (MotM) — The Colombian gave the best among a set of mediocre-to-decent performances, earning my Man of the Match for this game. His speed created several chances up the left side of the field, and his left-footed shot attempt in the first half was one of the best shots Orlando City took all game. After Orlando City made some subs he flipped over to the right side of the field as a wingback, and nearly had an assist on a great pass to Tiago, but the Brazilian was just barely offside. Angulo recorded two tackles and one interception on defense, and went the full 90 at full speed, even though by the game was far out of reach by the end. He completed 88.6% of his passes, including one key pass, and gave one of the few performances that looked like that of the Lions from the last few seasons.

MF, Braian Ojeda, 5.5 — Defensive Ojeda once again delivered a strong work rate, but aside from his hustle there was very little that stood out about his play. He completed 86.7% of his passes, including one key pass, and stuffed the defensive stat sheet with one tackle, three interceptions, one block, and one clearance. Nashville overran Orlando City’s defense whenever it wanted, however, and despite the hustle and work rate from Ojeda and the other midfielders and defenders, Nashville had 58% of the possession and it really felt like a lot more. Ojeda has not been able to develop any chemistry with his midfield partners because they keep changing every game, and until that can change Orlando City will be at risk of more games like Saturday’s, with Ojeda just in chase mode for his entire time on the field.

MF, Luis Otávio, 4.5 — Perhaps it is bad luck or perhaps it is that he has only started on the road against strong opponents, but in both of Otávio’s starts he has shown only flashes of potential and mostly seems to not be on the same page with his midfield partner or with the defenders he is supposed to be shielding as a defensive midfielder. The Brazilian completed 10 passes at a 66.7% completion rate and added one clearance during his 45 minutes, and even though Orlando City only gave up two goals while he was on the field and three while Colin Guske was on the field, the Lions looked much better with Guske than they did with Otávio. He nearly compounded the issues by picking up a card, as the referee had to stop the game to deliver him a stern talking to, and it was not a surprise to see him be substituted for the second half, especially after a terrible giveaway that nearly led to a goal during first-half stoppage time.

MF, Marco Pašalić, 5.5 — The Croatian was engaged and active, and nearly put one away early in the second half that could have cut the score to 2-1. It was partially blocked and went out for a corner, and a few minutes later, Surridge scored again and the Lions never were in the game again. Losing Alex Freeman certainly hurt, but the double whammy is that even though Dorsey has been pretty good, he has not been Freeman, and he and Pašalić have yet to figure out a symbiotic partnership, so Pašalić is struggling to contribute as well. The effort was definitely there even though the final product was not, and the Croatian was among the few somewhat bright spots on a dreary night. He completed 80.7% of his passes with one key pass and logged two interceptions and one clearance on defense while going the full 90 minutes for the first time this season.

F, Martín Ojeda, 5.5 — Saturday night was one of Ojeda’s poorest performances in a while, and even though the stat sheet shows that he completed 83.7% of his passes with three key passes, it did not feel like he had any real influence on the game. Both shots he took were off target, and while one would have been a spectacular goal off a bouncing ball, the other was on a free kick, and the Argentinean just did not aim it well enough and put it several feet wide. Even when he is playing poorly the offense generally runs through Ojeda, and it did against Nashville as well, but it is not a coincidence that a quiet and inconspicuous Ojeda led to a mostly quiet and inconspicuous offensive evening for the Lions.

F, Duncan McGuire, 5.5 — McGuire finally got a little bit of service on Saturday but he could not convert his one big chance, going high with his shot and putting it right into the hands of Brian Schwake. It was not a clear breakaway, but Big Dunc still could have done better with his shot, and had that gone in, the whole complexion of the game could have changed. McGuire also played a great pass to Dorsey to set up his shot that rocketed off the post, so while he had a goose egg on goal contributions, he was involved in some of the best chances that Orlando City had. In the end there were not enough chances and they did not convert the ones they had, and McGuire came off for Tiago for the final third of the game. He completed 92.9% of his pass attempts, with one key pass, put his one shot attempt on target, and did not have any defensive contributions.

Substitutes

MF, Colin Guske (46′), 5.5 — Guske did not play an outstanding half, but he played better than Otávio after coming on for him after halftime. We do not know what was asked of the two center midfielders by the coaching staff, but Guske held down the middle of the field better than the Brazilian did and was much more active when the Lions were in possession, completing 26 passes at an 89.7% completion rate to his counterpart’s 10 passes at 66.7%. The young midfielder perhaps could have dropped deeper and thwarted Nashville’s third goal, which happened a few feet in front of him, but that goal was not on him and neither were the other two scored by the home team while Guske was on the field.

D, Zakaria Taifi, (59′), 5.5 — The Homegrown defender came on for Marín with 31 minutes to go, and had a chance to show his abilities at left back for the first time this season. Taifi was active during his shift, completing 88.9% of his passes and making more threatening runs than Marín did during his time on the field, but he also was responsible for the turnover that led to Nashville’s fourth goal, when he was a little slow to corral a loose ball and then was muscled off the ball by Espinoza, who then made a driving run that led to a Nashville goal. I thought Taifi’s performance was decent overall, both offensively and defensively (one tackle, one excellent block, and one clearance) and after two straight good shifts off the bench he will be in serious contention to get a start for the Lions in their next game.

F, Tiago, (59′), 5.5 — The young Brazilian came on for McGuire, but he was not able to unlock Nashville’s defense either. He completed all six of his pass attempts and drew two fouls, but he could not get himself free to take any shots (aside from when he was offside, though that shot did go into the back of the net) and he did not create any good chances with his passes either. Orlando City’s offense created more chances with Tiago on than the field than with McGuire, but Nashville was also far ahead by that time and playing more of a prevent defense than playing with the same intensity as during the first two-thirds of the game.

MF, Yutaro Tsukada, (72′), 4.5 — Tsukada made his first appearance of the season and his first since 2024, completing all four of his pass attempts and attempting to create attacks with the ball every time he received it. He was only successful on one of his four one-on-one attempts but he brought some energy out on the left side of the field after coming on for Dorsey.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s ugly 5-0 loss at Nashville. Let us know what you thought of the game in the comments below, and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.

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Orlando City

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

How did your favorite Lions perform in Orlando City’s 6-2 away loss against FC Cincinnati?

Published

19 hours ago

on

May 25, 2026

By

Image of Martin Ojeda taking a shot against FC Cincinnati.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City gave up four consecutive goals after tying the game 2-2, turning a competitive game into a 6-2 blowout loss on the road against Cincinnati on Saturday night. The World Cup break may have arrived at the perfect time for the Lions, who clearly need to take a comprehensive look at the roster and the coaching staff and figure out a new plan for the back part of the season.

I have my purple pen out and am ready to issue some grades, so here we go. Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated individually in their matchup with an Eastern Conference rival.

Starters

GK, Maxime Crépeau, 6 — It may seem odd to see a grade of six when Orlando City allowed six goals, but Cincinnati tore apart the Orlando City defense during the last 60 minutes of the game and few goalkeepers would have kept out any of the six goals that went into the back of the net. Perhaps he could have gotten a hand on some, but Cincinnati shot the ball extremely well and I do not believe he should have saved any of the goals. The Canadian faced 11 shots on target, including nine from inside the box, and did well to make five saves and keep the team from becoming the first Orlando City team to allow seven goals in a single game. His distribution was solid, as he completed 88.9% of his passes, and once again he was one of the best players on the field for the Lions, despite the awful looking number of goals allowed.

D, Adrián Marin, 4 — The Spaniard made one great play, a sliding tackle from behind that robbed Kévin Denkey of a point-blank chance to score, but aside from that, he seemed to primarily be playing some kind of NBA-style drop coverage, where he just kept dropping and dropping as Cincinnati players attacked right at him, instead of stepping up to the ball. This allowed Marin to make three interceptions and to be in position to clear the ball twice, but it is telling that he had zero tackles in a game that was dominated by Cincinnati’s offense. Marin completed the second-most passes on the team (49, at an 87.5% completion rate), but most were of the very short variety and did not create anything offensively.

D, Robin Jansson, 4.5 — The Lions took an early lead thanks to a great ball over the top from Jansson to back line partner Griffin Dorsey, but after that play it was pretty much all downhill for the entire defense. The Beefy Swede put his body on the line, blocking three shots and heading the ball away for two clearances, but he made zero tackles or interceptions and was part of a Lions’ defense that allowed Cincinnati to repeatedly get open chances in the center of the box. He completed 90.4% of his passes, including a healthy amount of passes that moved the ball forward instead of just swinging it side to side, but the Jansson-led defense was far too soft on Saturday night and Cincinnati took full advantage.

D, David Brekalo, 4 — The one positive from Brekalo was that he stepped up and stepped in to make four tackles, but aside from that, it was a night to forget for the Slovenian. He was responsible for Kenji Mboma Dem on Cincinnati’s opening goal but he was beaten to the ball and allowed a free header, and then Evander just had his way repeatedly with the Orlando defense throughout the rest of the game, with the Slovenian often being isolated against the Cincinnati attacker and losing that battle. It is not a shame to be beaten by Evander, who is one the best attacking players in the league, but Brekalo’s name and number were repeatedly shown on the screen in the second half because he had turned his back and was chasing the Brazilian after getting beat. He completed 92.3% of his passes and hustled to get up into the attack more than fellow defenders Jansson and Marin, but he could not put either of his shots on target in what was a rough evening for the center back.

D, Griffin Dorsey, 4.5 — Dorsey’s three-game goal-scoring streak came to an end on Saturday night, though he nearly made it four with an acrobatic attempt to finish a cross with the outside of his right foot. He did not receive an assist, but he contributed directly to the game’s first goal, as it was his cross after a long run up the right sideline that led to a foul on Tiago and a penalty kick for the Lions. Orlando City probably should have looked to go up the right side more often than it did, as Dorsey only had 26 touches and was able to complete nine passes (64.3% completion rate). The man with the bun looked dangerous during the few times he had the ball, but those opportunities were few and far between. Like his other back line teammates, he bears responsibility for Cincinnati’s high-scoring output, as although he made two tackles, he did not have any other defensive contributions and was often caught too far up the field to help as Cincinnati went on the counterattack.

MF, Iván Angulo, 5 — It does not happen often but Angulo looked tired at points on Saturday night, the result of so many games in so few days, but he gamely pushed through it and went the full 90. The Colombian completed 81.5% of his passes but did not threaten often, though late in the game he shook loose and was able to put a shot on target that forced a diving stop from Cincinnati’s Roman Celentano. Angulo’s bigger contributions were, as they often are, on the defensive side of the field, as he made three tackles and intercepted two passes, with one of those interceptions snuffing out a Cincinnati counterattack on which Angulo was the last defender back. Overall, it was a middling game for Angulo, who probably needed a little more of a break in previous games or to come off the bench in this one.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 6 — Atuesta showed off the full range of his skills against Cincinnati, delivering on both sides of the ball. Defensively, he led the team with eight defensive contributions — a game-high six tackles and two interceptions — and he also led all field players with eight loose ball recoveries. On the offensive side of the ball, he completed a game-high 62 passes at an 86.1% completion rate with two key passes. He suffered four fouls, including the foul that led to the free kick goal that tied the game 2-2, and he showed off some nice dribbling moves to get free and hit a shot that just missed the far corner by inches, bouncing off the far post and back out onto the field of play. It was a solid all-around game for Atuesta, but his partnership with Braian Ojeda needs to improve as Cincinnati owned the center of the field for most of Saturday night.

MF, Braian Ojeda, 4.5 — The Orlando City coaching staff probably deserves responsibility for a portion of Ojeda’s grade, as the Lions played 10 games between April 18 and Saturday night, a period of 35 days, and Ojeda played in 96% of the possible minutes during those games. He did not have the burst to track back quickly enough to disrupt Cincinnati’s attacks, and with Dorsey pushed way up high, as usual, and Ojeda unable to get back, Cincinnati did pretty much whatever it wanted for the final two-thirds of the game. The effort was there but the legs were not, which helped lead to Ojeda committing four fouls as he was desperate to find any way to slow down the opposition’s attack. He made two tackles and added three interceptions and a clearance, and offensively he completed 86.8% of his passes, but only one Ojeda had a positive game on Saturday, and it was not Braian.

MF, Tiago, 5 — After a two-goal performance against Atlanta on Tuesday, Tiago got the start again out on the wing, but Cincinnati bottled him up and he did not create a lot offensively. What he did create he did with his pressing efforts, as he made a great play early in the game to win the ball in the Cincinnati 18 and set up Martín Ojeda for a shot that went into the back of the net, but unfortunately was called back as Ojeda was offside. Tiago then made another great play to earn Orlando City a penalty kick, as he hustled to dispossess Kyle Smith of the ball after Smith stepped in front of a Dorsey cross, and Smith then fouled him to give the Lions a penalty kick. Tiago was active on defense throughout his 45 minutes, with three tackles and an interception, but he brought little else to the attack (he had 25 touches but completed only 57.1% of his passes) and came off at halftime for Tyrese Spicer.

F, Martín Ojeda, 8 (MotM) — There should be little debate as to who the man of the match was for Orlando City in this one, as Orlando’s attacking Ojeda put the ball into the net three times, with two of them accounting for both of Orlando City’s goals. His best finish might have been the tight angled shot that went through Celentano’s legs after Tiago made a great defensive play to get him the shot, but that was the one that did not count as he was offside when the ball was played. The Argentine made up for it with a well-placed penalty kick in the first half and an outrageous free kick in the second half, and he probably should have completed his hat trick after that free kick but for Celentano making a great save on one shot and Ojeda channeling his inner Carlos Rivas (read: skying the ball way over the net) on a close-range opportunity right at the end of the game. Tincho completed 85% of his passes with two key passes, and he was by far the most dangerous Lion on the field throughout the game.

F, Justin Ellis, 4.5 — The Homegrown player saw very little of the ball during his 57 minutes, recording only 20 touches and completing only seven passes at a 53.9% completion rate. Ellis is an adventurous attacker, so his passing completion rate is often low, but completing what amounts to every other pass is too low, especially against a team that can counterattack as well as Cincinnati. The young forward suffered four fouls but didn’t contribute much else, as he looked tired after so many games in a short amount of time and came off for Marco Pašalić with just over 30 minutes remaining.

Substitutes

MF, Tyrese Spicer (46′), 5.5 —Spicer came on at the half for Tiago and did not touch the ball for quite a while into the second half, before he finally got going and ended up leading the team with three key passes. He completed eight of his nine pass attempts and also ripped a shot from close range that forced Celentano to make a good save. Spicer is not the tenacious defender that Tiago is, but he generally creates chances when he is on the field, and although Orlando City did not finish those chances against Cincinnati, the team looked better offensively with him on the field during the second half.

MF, Marco Pašalić (57′), 4.5 — Pašalić was a passenger for the opening minutes of his shift, but he finally warmed up to the competition toward the end of the game, but it was far too little and far too late. He completed 75% of his passes, with eight of those advancing the ball and only one was a short pass, and he ripped a late shot from outside the box that reminded everyone of the lethality in his left foot. Unfortunately, his shot curled back just a little too far and was saved, but those are the shots Orlando City needs the Croatian to take to open up room for the rest of the offense. The team also needs him engaged throughout his time on the field, which he was not on Saturday night.

F, Duncan McGuire (72′), 5 — Big Dunc had very little opportunity to contribute, as he only had eight touches and spent most of his minutes chasing the ball as Cincinnati passed it around. He played in one dangerous cross but none of his teammates could get on the end of it, and he took one shot from outside the box but it did not threaten Celentano. He completed six of his eight pass attempts and hustled as he always does, but had nothing to show for it.

D, Wilder Cartagena (72′), 4 — Cartagena came on as a defender, but he still does not seem fully fit and ready to be back on the field at the MLS level. He got caught too far in front of Denkey and on the wrong side of the Togolese attacker, and Denkey just boxed him out and easily finished for a goal, and then late in the game he was not quick enough to get to Ender Echenique and prevent a cross, and Tom Barlow finished that cross to put a bow on Cincinnati’s dominance of the Lions. Cartagena completed 85.7% of his passes and made one tackle, but hopefully by the time the World Cup break is over he is able to get back the game speed he had before his injuries.

MF, Luís Otávio (85′), N/A — The Brazilian came on late and had a great chance to score but hit his shot right down the middle and Celentano made the simple save. He completed four of his six passes and added one tackle on defense.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s brutal 6-2 loss on the road at Cincinnati. Let us know what you thought of the game in the comments below, and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.

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Lion Links: 5/25/26

Lions fall to FC Cincinnati, Pride and OCB win, USMNT World Cup roster leaked, and more.

Published

23 hours ago

on

May 25, 2026

By

Image of Martin Ojeda fighting for the ball against LAFC.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Happy Memorial Day, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been busy at work over the holiday weekend, covering high school lacrosse playoff games. The Lions, Pride, and OCB were all in action over the weekend, and the World Cup is less than three weeks away. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get into the links.

Lions Suffer Heavy Defeat at FC Cincinnati

Orlando City fell 6-2 to FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium Saturday in another embarrassing road display. Martin Ojeda scored the opener for the Lions in the first half before Cincinnati scored twice to take a 2-1 lead into halftime. Ojeda equalized for Orlando early in the second half. However, it was all Cincinnati from that point as Evander scored his second goal of the match and added three assists as Orlando suffered a heavy defeat on the road for the fourth time this season. The loss snapped the Lions’ three-match unbeaten streak. Orlando City will be off until late July due to the MLS World Cup break. The Lions’ next match will be on the road against the San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park on July 22.

Payne’s Goal Lifts Pride over San Diego Wave

The Orlando Pride defeated the San Diego Wave 1-0 at Snapdragon Stadium Sunday and snapped their two-match losing streak. Nicole Payne scored the lone goal in the match for Orlando, which moved above the Seattle Reign on goal difference to eighth in the NWSL table with 14 points. The Pride will return home Friday to take on Bay FC at Inter&Co Stadium.

OCB Beats Inter Miami II

Orlando City B defeated Inter Miami II 4-1 at Osceola County Stadium on Sunday. The Young Lions got off to a flying start in the first half as Ignacio Gomez scored the opening goal. Bernardo Rhein added another, and OCB got an own goal by Miami defender Daniel Sumalla to take a 3-0 lead into halftime. In the second half, Zakaria Taifi scored for OCB and Miami pulled one back, but the Young Lions had the match wrapped up by then. OCB will take on Chattanooga FC Sunday at Osceola County Stadium.

USMNT World Cup Roster Leaked

According to Jeff Rueter and Pablo Maurer at The Guardian, the full 26-man U.S. Men’s National Team roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup was leaked over the weekend, just days before the official announcement. Former Lion Alex Freeman, Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams, and Tim Weah were notable mentions, while other players reportedly making the cut include Alejandro Zendejas, Gio Reyna, Sebastian Berhalter, Brenden Aaronson, Mark Mackenzie, and goalkeeper Matt Turner. Diego Luna, Tanner Tessmann, and Aidan Morris were left out of the squad. The U.S. Soccer Federation will officially announce the USMNT roster Tuesday, while the final deadline to submit the roster to FIFA for the World Cup is June 1.

Free Kicks

  • Wilfried Zaha will reportedly depart from Charlotte FC this summer when his loan deal expires.
  • Josef Martinez will reportedly become a free agent after reaching an agreement to part ways with Liga MX side Tijuana.

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

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. FC Cincinnati: Five Takeaways

Here’s what we learned from Orlando City’s 6-2 loss to FC Cincinnati.

Published

2 days ago

on

May 24, 2026

By

Image of Martin Ojeda taking a free kick against FC Cincinnati as Eduard Atuesta looks on.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City heads into the World Cup break having given up all the goals in a 6-2 road loss to FC Cincinnati. It started out pretty well, but I don’t think there was ever really a chance with how many matches the Lions had played in such a short time in the lead-up to this match. Now the team will have the opportunity to think about what they’ve done.

Here are my five takeaways from the match.

The Accountant Pays

So often it’s a former player that hurts an Orlando team. Fortunately, Kyle Smith would never hurt us — at least now that he doesn’t play for the Lions. One might think he was a Manchurian candidate thanks to the foul he committed in the box against Tiago. It was exactly the type of call that usually goes against Orlando City, so I was happy to see it called correctly in this case. Martin Ojeda put away the penalty to give the Lions the early lead. Thank you for your service, El Soldado.

Can’t Keeper it Clean

Let me be very fair from the jump. The header scored by Kenji Mboma Dem was perfectly placed, and I don’t blame Maxime Crepeau for not saving it. The second goal wasn’t really his fault either. His defense gave the ball away cheaply in their own half and the Lions paid for it. He wasn’t getting to the third goal either. Braian Ojeda was so far behind Evander in defense that I don’t think he made it into frame until the ball was in the back of the net. I don’t have the heart to go through the other three goals conceded.

OMG Ojeda

Orlando City needed to score the first goal of the second half if the Lions were to have any chance — they did not have any chance — to win the match. Orlando City pressed into the attack and earned a free kick outside the box. Martin Ojeda stepped up to take it. I knew he was taking it, you knew it, and Roman Celentano knew it. Knowing and stopping a perfectly placed free kick goal are two very different things, and this goal should be up for Goal of the Matchday. It won’t win because of Orlando City reasons, but it should.

Tired Legs

Five matches in 15 days takes a toll. That toll was six goals conceded by Orlando City. The Lions pressed effectively for the first 15 minutes or so of the first half. They also did well the first five minutes of the second half. Other than that, it was obvious that Cincinnati was the team with the fresher legs. If it wasn’t obvious, even Ivan Angulo couldn’t outrun the competition, begging the question of why there wasn’t more rotation over this brutal stretch of May. Once the team was down a goal and then two, and then three, the Lions did not have the legs to chase the match effectively.

Still No Defense

Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman has tried a few different formations, different lineups, and assorted player combinations, and he still hasn’t found an effective defense. I will concede — much like the defense — that shutting down an offense like FC Cincinnati’s is not easy, especially given the tired legs. However, it shouldn’t be hard to keep any team to — let’s say four goals instead of six. This was the fifth time this season the Lions have allowed an opponent to score four or more goals. They only did that three times in each of last two seasons, and in neither season did they allow six in a single match, which they have now done twice this season. It is unacceptable, and changes need to happen.

That is what I saw in the disappointing but predictable loss to FC Cincinnati. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!

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