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

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7 years ago

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Full disclosure, this is my first time grading our lovely Lions in the few years I’ve been here. I was pretty pleased with the result to be honest. Head Coach James O’Connor rested a lot of his players, walked into Providence Park with a game plan, and executed it well for a 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers. There were some questionable decisions in the lineup and O’Connor had to adapt on the fly but ultimately Orlando City walked out of yet another road game with a result. But enough about O’Connor, here are your player grades from a strong defensive effort in Portland.

Starters

GK, Greg Ranjitsingh, 5 — Ranjitsingh’s performance was worrying. Watching him get anywhere near the ball made me hold my breath in fear things were going to go wrong. He was late in clearing balls and had a very uneasy moment where he nearly had an own goal in the first half. That being said, he’s on the road playing against some of the best forwards in the league and held them scoreless until the 82nd minute when he allowed a goal he really didn’t have a chance to save.

D, Danilo Acosta, 4 — It wasn’t a great night for Acosta who honestly didn’t have much to deal with on his left side of the pitch. He was defensively stout when the ball did come his way, but was caught ball watching on the goal. On the offensive side of things he was abysmal. Between giving the ball away or just blindly dribbling forward into traffic, it was easy to see why O’Connor prefers other options at the position.

D, Alex De John, N/A — In his little time on the field, De John did well clearing a corner and using his height to really impose himself over the smaller forward of Portland. But in the eighth minute a scary moment came as he went in to clear a low cross and was struck in the head by Brian Fernandez’s boot, immediately falling unconscious. It was tough to watch and he was taken out promptly after.

D, Kamal Miller, 6.5— Portland’s goal really soured a strong performance by Miller, who was able to get his head onto practically every cross that Portland had in their arsenal. At just 22 years old, he led that back line with authority and completing 21 of 23 passes (87.5%) put him in a tie for second in passing percentage with Robinho, just behind Uri Rosell (88.4%).

D, Kyle Smith, 6.5 — After De John came off, Smith had to shift more to a central defending role since O’Connor decided to leave his other center backs at home and boy did Smith step up to the plate. He was a force in the air and on the ground, making things difficult for Portland’s forward and backing up Will Johnson well on the right side, which got hammered all night long. He and Johnson tied for a game-high nine clearances each. Yes, his marking could have been better on Portland’s goal, but it shouldn’t overshadow a stellar night adapting to center back in Providence Park.

MF, Dillon Powers, 5.5 — It was a quiet night for Powers, which is never a bad thing for a midfielder in a defensive game plan. He served as rescue in a lot of cases, either making himself an outlet for the defense or a safety net for Robinho and Santiago Patino when needed.

MF, Uri Rosell, 7 (MotM)— It was another quality performance for Rosell, who seems right at home in the defensive system O’Connor likes to run when rotating the squad. He gummed up passing lanes, made life difficult for Portland’s forwards, and was so imposing that the Timbers had to play around him in most cases. The loss of De John brought him back often to support Smith and Miller and the trio became a wall in the center of the defense that the Timbers had to shoot over or around, making them send 16 shots off target. He led the club in passing percentage as noted above, hit eight of his nine long ball attempts, and had a team-high four interceptions to go with six clearances.

MF, Sacha Kljestan, 5.5 — The captain led Orlando in both touches (74) and passes (50), but it still didn’t seem like he had much of an impact in the match. Given the lineup and lack of offensive weapons for him to use, it’s understandable how he was kept quiet for most of the game. After all, Orlando barely had a third of the possession. Regardless, he wasn’t able to unlock Portland’s defense when the opportunity did come along.

F, Robinho, 6 —  It was honestly a rough outing for the newest Lion in his first 40 minutes or so. He wasn’t a dangerous presence or a threat, but was a presence nonetheless late in the first half when he caught Portland sleeping, turned over Zarek Valentin, and served up the cross that led to Orlando’s goal. After that, he became noticeably more comfortable on the ball as he settled in. He seems like the type of winger who will take a mile for every inch given, but can struggle to make opportunities himself. It speaks well of him that he completed 87.5% of his passes to his brand new teammates in his first ever game as a Lion.

F, Santiago Patiño, 5 —  The goal scorer, Patiño did his job of being in the right place at the right time as center forward. Credit goes to him for doing his job and being the most threatening of the three forwards, but there wasn’t anything really spectacular from him. Which is more than fine, especially considering he scored. But it becomes less fine when paired with his turnover late that led to Portland scoring. He was a nuisance for the Timbers defense, but struggled to do much of anything with the ball at his feet.

F, Benji Michel 4.5— Michel must have gone to the Acosta school of offense because he dribbled into traffic on multiple occasions. Those failed attacks were coupled with being knock downs and hard falls as the Timbers defense was physical all night long. Maybe he thinks he’s faster than he actually is or maybe the turf hurt a little harder than he expected, but it was a tough night for the Homegrown product, who put in a full 90 on the road after doing the same on Saturday against Columbus.

Substitutes

D, Will Johnson (12’), 6.5 — Forced to come on for De John early in the game, his versatility was certainly leaned on as he filled a loose right back position. He did well for the most part, keeping the trio of Fernandez, Sebastian Blanco, and Diego Valeri from causing too much havoc. He gets bonus points for running hard to keep track of those quick Portland forwards, although his exhaustion started to show as the game wore on. He deserves a nice, long nap home after making nine clearances to go with two tackles, three interceptions, and two blocked shots. He also had one of Orlando’s two shot attempts in the game.

F, Tesho Akindele (80’), N/A —  It’d be a little unfair to grade Akindele on just 10 minutes of work (plus stoppage time) but he provided just what Orlando needed to see the game out. With height, a talent for holding the ball, and a willingness to put his body on the line, he gave a nice boost to Orlando.

MF, Sebas Mendez, (64’) 6 — Coming on for Robinho, Mendez was a needed boost to the defense on the right side. He helped slow down the tempo of the game and eased some of the pressure off Johnson. Like most players last night, Mendez’s contributions were quiet and understated given how much defense was focused on.

I think that’ll do it! Who was your Man of the Match? Be sure to vote in the poll and let us know why in the comments!

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Uri Rosell61
Kyle Smith27
Kamal Miller23
Santiago Patino12
Will Johnson36
Other (tell us who in the comments!)1

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Orlando City

Flashback Friday: July 4, 2023 vs. Toronto FC

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

Published

3 days ago

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July 3, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 7/3/26

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

Published

3 days ago

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July 3, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

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

Orlando Pride Take On Angel City FC Tonight

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

Top NWSL Free Agents to Watch

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

Portugal and Spain Advance in World Cup

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

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

Columbus Crew Sign New Designated Player

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

Free Kicks

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

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

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 7/2/26

USMNT shuts out Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kat Asman loaned to Denver Summit FC, MLS transfer news, and more.

Published

4 days ago

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July 2, 2026

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Image of Pride goalkeeper Kat Asman
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

Wednesday nights are starting to feel magical. Orlando City has thrived this year when playing on Wednesdays, and now the United States Men’s National Team has provided us with a reason to tackle this Thursday at full force. Before we dive into that result and the rest of today’s links, let’s all wish a happy birthday to Orlando City defender Tahir Reid-Brown!

USMNT Survives Red Card to Advance

The U.S. won 2-0 against Bosnia and Herzegovina in an emotional rollercoaster of a match in the World Cup’s round of 32. Folarin Balogun got the U.S. on the board at a crucial time right before halftime by scoring his third goal of the tournament. But the game flipped on its head in the second half when Balogun was shown a harsh red card by the referee after video review for a foul when he accidentally came down on the back of an opponent’s foot. The Yanks fought hard to make up for the difference of being down a player and doubled their lead after earning a free kick right outside the box. Malik Tillman’s shot went up and over the wall and into the net for a goal U.S. fans will be replaying over and over again.

The U.S. did well to grind out the win after that second goal, with former Lion Alex Freeman doing his part on defense to help shut out Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was a memorable win, and now the U.S. will turn its focus to its round-of-16 matchup against Belgium on Monday.

Pride Loan Goalkeeper Kat Asman to Denver Summit

The Orlando Pride loaned goalkeeper Kat Asman to the Denver Summit for the remainder of the 2026 NWSL season. Asman is coming off of a loan with Lexington SC in the Gainbridge Super League, where she played every minute of the season to help Lexington win the title. She posted 11 clean sheets with Lexington last season and won the league’s Golden Glove as well. Asman has yet to make an appearance for the Pride since joining prior to the 2025 season, and her contract expires at the end of the season. She now heads to Denver, where Abby Smith has done well in goal as the expansion team’s starter.

MLS Transfer News Roundup

Real Salt Lake sent $625,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) to Atlanta United in exchange for winger Saba Lobjanidze and a third-round pick in the 2028 MLS SuperDraft, with another $100,000 in GAM going Atlanta’s way if he re-signs with Real Salt Lake. The Columbus Crew fully acquired defender Andres Herrera from River Plate after an extended loan, signing him to a contract through the 2028-2029 season. The LA Galaxy transferred defender Mauricio Cuevas to Santos Laguna, the New England Revolution added forward Wilson Harris, and Sporting Kansas City signed center back Moises Mosquera from FC Juarez. The San Jose Earthquakes are reportedly close to signing Scottish goalkeeper Angus Gunn, with Daniel heading to FC Dallas in a trade if that happens. It’s somewhat surprising considering Daniel has done well to help San Jose only concede 15 goals this season.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Sources: San Jose Earthquakes closing in on a deal to sign Scotland int'l GK Angus Gunn.🇧🇷 Sources: FC Dallas has agreed to a deal to acquire GK Daniel from San Jose.➕ Daniel trade is contingent on Gunn signing being formalized.

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert.bsky.social) 2026-07-01T16:34:02.297Z

European Nations Move On After Dramatic Comebacks

This World Cup continues to deliver thrilling games during this new round-of-32 phase. Senegal looked certain to go through to the next round until Belgium scored a pair of goals after the 85th minute to knot the game at 2-2 and send it into extra time. The game was decided by a penalty, but not in a shootout, as a foul in the box resulted in Youri Tielemans scoring from the spot to give Belgium the victory. In Atlanta, Harry Kane scored twice to rescue England in a 2-1 win over the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Brian Cipanga gave the Congo an early lead, but Kane struck twice in the second half, with his winner being one of the best goals of the tournament so far.

England is now set to face Mexico at the Azteca on Sunday in what should be a great game. As for today’s action, Orlando City winger Marco Pasalic and Croatia will take on Portugal in a matchup between European heavyweights. The winner of that match will face whoever prevails today between Spain and Austria, with Switzerland and Algeria squaring off in the late night match.

Free Kicks

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

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