Connect with us

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Final Score 1-0 as Lions Again Can’t Find the Net Against United

Orlando just can’t finish off a number of opportunities as the Lions again can’t force this series into rivalry status.

Published

6 years ago

on

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

Orlando City is apparently Phil Connors on Groundhog Day, as for the third time this season the Lions were shut out against Atlanta United. The Lions (9-12-7, 34 points) played their best game of the three meetings this season but were wasteful in front of goal, as they fell 1-0 to the Eastern Conference leaders (15-9-3, 48 points) at Exploria Stadium. The loss snapped Orlando’s 2-0-2 unbeaten run and dropped the Lions to 0-6-2 in the all-time series in league play and 0-7-2 in all competitive matches.

The crowd of 23,014 saw the Lions play assertively from the jump and created the better chances in this one, but too many shots were off target or driven right at Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan. Defensively, the Lions didn’t allow many good looks, but one was all it took in the second half for Josef Martinez to run his goal-scoring streak to 12 straight games and net the game-winning goal.

Orlando created an incredible 17 chances in the game but somehow failed to find the net at the end of any of them — a fact Orlando City Head Coach James O’Connor lamented in his postgame press conference.

“I think unfortunately for us tonight we’ve played very well, we’ve had exceptional chance creation, we just weren’t able to take our chances, which is just very hard to swallow. Very painful for us,” O’Connor said after the match. “Sometimes you have a game where you have a lot of shots and they’re maybe outside the box. They’re shots that maybe are difficult chances. I think when you look at the areas we got into, we should have either shot sooner or punished them.

“We can say we were unlucky, but for me, we were the architects of our own downfall, because when you have that many chances, you have to capitalize, and you have to take those chances — especially against a team like that, because they get a couple of chances and bang, it’s in the back of the net.”

O’Connor inserted Mauricio Pereyra into the starting lineup for the first time, pushing Sebas Mendez out of the starting XI. Nani moved to the left wing and Tesho Akindele replaced Dom Dwyer from Saturday’s lineup at Minnesota.

The Lions played their best half against Atlanta this season in the opening 45 minutes but couldn’t put the ball in the net. The visitors did well to deflect and block shots, but Orlando was also wasteful with chances, with Carlos Ascues in particular firing right at Guzan twice with a lot of net at which to shoot. Pereyra’s first home start began with a couple of early fouls that earned him a lecture from referee Nima Saghafi, but he was brilliant in the opening half, pulling the defense apart and finding teammates all over the attacking third.

Ascues’ first opportunity was blocked just five minutes in, as the Peruvian’s movement was good throughout the half and Atlanta’s defense concentrated more on Akindele. Ascues then tracked back well to block a shot on the other end seconds later.

At the seven-minute mark, Ascues again found himself with a good scoring opportunity but fired his shot right at Guzan.

A minute later, Benji Michel won a race to the end line and turned inside the defense, but he then grew impatient and fizzed a cross through the area to no one in particular.

Atlanta scored in the ninth minute but the play was offside. After Lamine Sané cleared a ball out to the right, Kyle Smith had his pass blocked over top of everyone to Martinez. The striker beat Brian Rowe but was well behind the back line when the ball was played and the flag nullified the goal.

In the 10th minute, Akindele beat Miles Robinson on the right and fired from a tight angle, only to see Guzan make a save at the near post, giving the Lions a corner.

Sané forced another Guzan save on the ensuing corner with a header on frame off Pereyra’s cross.

Nani sent Benj in behind in the 13th minute. He went down under contact but the flag had come up (though I’m not sure it should have).

Atlanta’ got a decent look in the 17th minute but Pity Martinez fired over the bar.

Pereyra sent Ascues in again in the 22nd minute, but Darlington Nagbe poked the ball away from behind at the last second to prevent a scoring chance. Nani took the ensuing corner short and it ended up on Michel’s foot. The rookie fired but saw his shot deflected, giving Guzan an easy ball to collect.

Pity Martinez sent a shot just inches wide of the back post in the 24th minute and Ezequiel Barco had a shot deflect easily in for Rowe in the 31st.

Orlando’s last good look of the half was another excellent pass from Pereyra to Ascues, who fired right at Guzan again.

The teams went to the locker room scoreless, with Orlando leading in shots (9-6) and shots on target (4-1). Atlanta blocked five of City’s efforts. Atlanta held 58% of the possession and was more accurate in passing (84%-76%) but you’d have to say the Lions had the better opportunities.

The teams were a little less sharp to start the second half but 15 minutes after the break the visitors took the lead. After winning a ball in the midfield, Atlanta broke in with numbers and Sané was caught upfield. Barco sent the ball left to Josef Martinez, who beat Rowe to make it 1-0.

“I think on their goal, quick transition and then Josef gets half a yard inside the box and it’s a goal,” O’Connor said. “His record speaks for itself.”

“I feel we were pushing numbers forward and maybe got too comfortable leaving ourselves 1-v-1 there,” said rookie defender Kamal Miller. “I got back late and it ended up a 2-v-2 and just they took their chance and that how it goes sometimes.”

Orlando fired 12 shots toward Atlanta’s net in the second half but not one of them was on target. Nani sent a shot just wide in the 62nd minute, then saw a dangerous cross almost knocked into the net for an own goal by Robinson. The captain then sent a beautiful chip pass to Ascues in the 65th but the Peruvian sent his shot just wide of goal, rippling the outside netting.

“I thought (Ascues) had some wonderful opportunities to score tonight,” O’Connor said. “I thought his understanding of space was excellent. Perhaps maybe could have shot a little quicker with a couple of those opportunities.”

Two minutes later, Nani fizzed a shot just wide of net.

Atlanta had a chance to double the lead in the 68th minute as Orlando got caught pushing forward for the equalizer. Martinez went for his brace by chipping Rowe but hit the left post. The ball came back to him and the Atlanta striker fired over the bar.

Uri Rosell got onto a Nani pass and fired off target in the 75th as the Lions continued to create but also continued to fail to put the final ball in the net.

Rowe made a huge mistake in the 80th minute but was able to clean up his own mess. His pass was picked off and gave Atlanta a 2-v-Rowe. Hector Villalba crossed over to Martinez but Rowe was able to come off his line to smother the chance.

A couple of more misses by both sides and the game was over. Before the final whistle, Nani got in a tussle with Julian Gressel and went down behind the play. Nani had been tugging Gressel’s shirt and the Atlanta star took exception, swinging at Nani’s head and making light contact. Gressel saw a yellow card for the infraction.

The Lions out-shot Atlanta, 21-15 (4-3 on target) but were wasteful with all of those efforts. Atlanta held a slight edge in possession, with 51%, and out-passed Orlando (82%-77%).

“When you look at the game overall, we’ve had enough chances to win two or three games,” O’Connor said. “You look at the guys. They’ve given everything tonight. On another evening you win four or five-nil or four or five-one.

“The biggest thing we have to do is keep creating the chances, keep getting the same level of commitment, the same effort, and persevere. If we do start taking those chances, we’ll start to give teams a good whack.”

“We created a lot of chances today,” said Pereyra, who stated after the game that he thought he might be able to go a full 90 minutes in the next match. “Against Atlanta you need to score on these chances. If not, they will have one and they will score and you lose this important game.”

Orlando City returns to the road for its next match, visiting the San Jose Earthquakes next Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Orlando City

Orlando City Relies on Starters More Than Any Other MLS Team

An analysis of Óscar Pareja’s early lineup choices and substitution patterns and how that compares to the 2024 season.

Published

3 hours ago

on

April 3, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Legendary swordsman Inigo Montoya, a man who is not lefthanded, once opened a conversation by asking the Dread Pirate Roberts if, by any chance, he had six fingers on his right hand. Nobody will need to prepare to die by the end of this column, but I will ask a similar question: I don’t mean to pry, but did you by any chance happen to realize that we are already more than one-sixth of the way through the MLS regular season? Six fingers, one-sixth of the season…close enough. Let’s go.

Time flies when you are having fun, and somehow Orlando City has already played 540 minutes of MLS soccer this season. I consider 500 minutes played to be a cutoff amount when looking at player and lineup performance, and with the conclusion of the most recent game in Los Angeles, the team has now surpassed that 500-minute threshold.

In looking at the opening 540 minutes, I was surprised to see how much continuity I found in the minutes played, considering how many injuries the Lions have had to work around during these first six games. In just the first six games, Orlando City has already had full games missed due to injury by César Araujo (1), David Brekalo (2), Robin Jansson (2), Duncan McGuire (3) and Nico Rodriguez (5). Brekalo and Pedro Gallese both missed a game for international duty as well. McGuire was not expected back during the first set of games, but all of those other players, with the possible exception of Rodriguez, were expected to contribute during the early part of the season.

These absences led to games where the substitutes list was full of players who will play big minutes for Orlando City B this year, but not players who Óscar Pareja was likely to turn to off the bench unless the game was out of hand or he was absolutely desperate. According to Opta’s tracking through the opening six games, Orlando City ranks last in MLS in the average minutes played by its substitutes, as the average amount of time per appearance for the players off the bench for the Lions is only 12 minutes. For context, 16 teams have an average amount of time per substitute appearance of 20 minutes or greater, and Inter Miami and Toronto are tied with a league-leading 27 minutes per substitute appearance.

The interesting thing about those two teams, Miami and Toronto, is that Miami leads the league in points per match with 2.6 and Toronto is second from the bottom with a scant 0.33 points per match. I think a lot of this data will even out over time, as right now there are several teams, including Miami, that are playing in multiple competitions and trying to keep players fresh for all of their matches.

When it comes to Orlando City, however, that is not the case, and thus far there has just been the standard one game per week on six consecutive Saturdays. The players are rested for each game. The issue has just been that Pareja has not had the depth and variety of players he thought he would have to bring off the bench to protect a lead or chase a deficit.

We often joke in articles or on The Mane Land PawedCast about how “Óscar gonna Óscar,” and once he finds a lineup he likes, he sticks with it. Even with all the injuries he has somehow managed to do this again this season, as you can see from the chart below. I started tracking lineup data last season, and even though the 2025 season is only six games old and there have been so many absences from key players this season, it was striking to see that the 11-man lineup that has played the most minutes together this season already outranks all but two lineups from the entire 2024 MLS season (including the five playoff games!):

Now, it is a little unfair to the one 2025 lineup on the above chart that it has such a negative goal differential per 90 minutes, because if it is only the 10 field players, with goalkeeper excluded, then that lineup has played 215 minutes together and has a +0.84 goal differential per 90 minutes. That group is +4 with Javier Otero in net in 74 minutes together, and removing the goalkeepers from the calculation turns that negative goal differential into a positive.

What that also tells us, however, is that when it comes to the 10 field players, Pareja has played the same unit in the field for 40% (215/540) of the team’s minutes already. Granted it is early in the season, but after six MLS games last season, the lineup that had played together the most had played a grand total of 74 minutes together (14% of all minutes). The top five most used lineups in last season’s opening six MLS games combined to play 302 minutes, or 56% of all minutes, and in 2025 it is 402 minutes, or 80%. My math, and everyone else’s math, says that is a much higher percentage and indicates that the team is focused on continuity early.

That continuity thus far this season has paid dividends, with the Lions earning 10 points from the first six games, twice as nice as last season’s five points after the first six games. Last year, the team was balancing midweek Concacaf Champions Cup games in addition to injuries and an international break during the opening weeks of the MLS season, so there were some good reasons for the lineup rotation and the slow start. This year’s squad will have to navigate two upcoming cup tournaments in the coming months, and so we likely will see a lot of new lineup configurations or more rotation once the U.S. Open Cup starts in May and then again when Leagues Cup starts in July.

Thus far though, Pareja has been able to stick with his starters deep into matches, and has only given playing time to 20 players, which is tied for third fewest across all of MLS. Fan bases often clamor for the coach to “play the kids,” but while Pareja has had young and inexperienced players on the senior roster for every game, he really has only given significant minutes to Alex Freeman from the group of players that could be referred to as “the kids.” Gustavo Caraballo has played nine minutes, which is incredible for a 16-year-old (15-year-old Cavan Sullivan of Philadelphia is the only player younger than Caraballo to have played this season, and he has also played only nine minutes), and new signing Nico Rodriguez (20 years old) has played 11 minutes, but the next three youngest players to play are all at least 22 and were with the senior club last season (Otero and Ramiro Enrique) or came to the club after four seasons of college soccer (23-year-old, but nearly 24-year-old, Joran Gerbet).

The team’s record thus far shows that Pareja has been right to limit the minutes to the small group of players he trusts, and with one game per week for the next six weeks it will be interesting to see if the early trend of starters playing long minutes and only a few players getting all the minutes off the bench continues. The next match is on the road against Philadelphia, which so rudely came into Orlando and defeated the Lions 4-2 in the season opener, and my expectation is that while we likely will not see any players make their season debut in this game, I do think we will see a different starting lineup than the season opener and probably a different one than the game last weekend against the Galaxy.

No matter who the Lions go with, I am sure they will want to avenge the season-opening loss and bring three points back home to Orlando.

As we wish.

Vamos Orlando!

Continue Reading

Orlando City

Orlando City at Philadelphia Union: Three Keys to Victory

What do the Lions need to do to earn all three points on the road against Philly?

Published

4 hours ago

on

April 3, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City is on the road yet again, this time heading to Pennsylvania to take on the Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park Saturday night. The Lions will look to get a second road win in a row after the smash-and-grab victory against the LA Galaxy. Things don’t get any easier with the Union sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference, but a win would catapult Orlando City above Philadelphia in the standings. Here’s what Orlando City needs to do to earn all three points against the Philadelphia Union.

Tie up Tai

Tai Baribo leads the way-too-early-to-call Golden Boot race with six goals in five matches. The Union striker has taken 13 shots, putting eight on target and the aforementioned six in the back of the net. He scored a brace in the season opener against Orlando to bag a third of those goals. It’s a pretty easy call to say stopping the league leader in goals is an important part of shutting down the Philadelphia attack.

It will be up to Cesar Araujo and whichever center back pairing we get to shut Baribo down. Of course, he’s not the only one the Lions need to worry about since the Union also have striker Mikael Uhre, and midfielders Daniel Gazdag and Jovan Lukic providing goals and assists. The point is that Philadelphia is second only to the Lions in offensive production with 13 goals compared to Orlando City’s 15 goals.

Formation Change

In the last match against the LA Galaxy, the Lions struggled to get things going with Luis Muriel up top, Ojeda at the No. 10 spot and Ivan Angulo on the left. Once Duncan McGuire came on, Muriel shifted back, Ojeda went wide, and Angulo subbed off. That really opened up the attack and allowed the Lions to get the two goals needed to secure the victory.

Perhaps Oscar Pareja could start things off like that against Philadelphia. Angulo hasn’t been great the last few matches, and perhaps some time on the bench will get his head straight. McGuire is still early in his return from injury, but Ramiro Enrique can start up top with Big Dunc coming in later as he has the last few matches. I think making this change could help Orlando City get an early goal on the road.

Vengeance is Thine

When the two teams met on opening day, the Union dropped four goals on Orlando City in Inter&Co Stadium. You would think it a completely dominating performance, but the Lions actually had more shots, more shots on target, and more possession than the Union. Philadelphia simply put each of its four shots on target past Pedro Gallese. That type of luck is unlikely to happen again.

Since that time, the Orlando City defense has stiffened — at least a little bit — and the team has been more difficult to break down. I’m not saying the defense is as stalwart as last season, but it has improved. Orlando City needs to use that four-goal drubbing at the hands of the Union to galvanize the defense to enact revenge with a multi-goal victory of its own.

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: 4/3/25

Martin Ojeda in the MLS MVP mix early, Orlando Pride players won’t play for Zambia this window, Tierna Davidson out for the NWSL season, and more.

Published

9 hours ago

on

April 3, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

How’s it going, Mane Landers? I hope this week has been going well for you as we gear up for a busy Saturday filled to the brim with soccer to enjoy. Despite my blender’s protests, I’ve finally figured out how to make frozen coconut mojitos and plan on having those get me through the rest of the week. Before we dive into today’s links, let’s all wish a happy 28th birthday to Orlando City legend Rodrigo Schlegel!

Martin Ojeda’s MVP Credentials

Orlando City’s Martin Ojeda placed second in Sacha Kljestan’s MLS MVP power rankings this week. With four goals and three assists so far this season, Ojeda leads the league in goal contributions and is a major reason why the Lions have scored a league-high 15 goals. It’s great to see the 26-year-old take the reins of the offense after Facundo Torres’ departure. Inter Miami’s Luis Suarez tops Kljestan’s rankings, despite only having a goal in five games this season. Tai Baribo, Evander, and Lionel Messi round out the top five in what could be an interesting MVP race this year.

Pride Players Won’t Join Zambia For International Duty

Zambia will be without four NWSL players when it takes part in the Yongchuan International Tournament in China this month. Along with Bay FC forward Rachael Kundananji, Orlando Pride trio Barbra Banda, Grace Chanda, and Prisca Chilufya were withdrawn from international duty, with the Football Association of Zambia stating it was due to additional travel measures by the current U.S. administration. FAZ General Secretary Reuben Kamanga expects the quartet to be available for future matches and both Banda and Kundananji played in friendlies in Zambia in February. Restrictions like this may limit the appeal of the NWSL to foreign players in the future.

Fan Banned For Hateful Language Towards Banda

NJ/NY Gotham FC announced that the fan who directed hateful language towards Banda has been banned following an investigation that included interviewing witnesses and reviewing security footage. The incident took place at the Pride’s match against Gotham on March 23 at Sports Illustrated Stadium. The fan was found to be in violation of the NWSL Code of Conduct and their season ticket was revoked as well. Gotham also encouraged fans to report inappropriate behavior through the team’s encrypted text message service to inform the stadium’s incident management team.

USWNT Defender Tierna Davidson Out for the NWSL Season

American center back Tierna Davidson will miss the remainder of the 2025 NWSL season after tearing the ACL in her left knee in the club’s draw against the Houston Dash. It’s tough news for her, Gotham, and the United States Women’s National Team, as she captains the NWSL club and featured heavily in the Olympics last year. Davidson sustained an ACL injury in her right knee back in 2022, which contributed to her missing out on the 2023 World Cup. Gisele Thompson replaced Davidson for the USWNT’s upcoming friendlies with Brazil, and Pride defender Emily Sams will likely receive more playing time as the team prepares for the 2027 World Cup.

Free Kicks

  • Orlando City received $100,000 in General Allocation Money in exchange for former academy goalkeeper Zack Campagnolo’s Homegrown Player rights. The Lions will receive another $100,000 in GAM if conditions are met, and they retain a sell-on percentage if Campagnolo is transferred.
  • San Diego FC added Milan Iloski on loan from FC Nordsjaelland in Denmark through July of this year. Iloski is a San Diego native and won the USL Golden Boot for Orange County SC in 2022.
  • New England Revolution midfielder Carles Gil won MLS Goal of the Matchday for his free kick against the New York Red Bulls.
  • El Farolito SC, which is named after a burrito chain and bar local to San Francisco, has reached the third round of the U.S. Open Cup for the second straight year. The National Premier Soccer League side took down Monterey Bay FC to reach this point of the tournament.
  • Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 to book its ticket to the Copa del Rey final, where it will face rival Real Madrid on April 26.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a terrific Thursday and rest of your week!

Continue Reading

Trending