Happy Friday, Mane Landers! Let’s all hope this weekend has more treats than tricks as both Orlando City and the Orlando Pride are in action. If you plan on celebrating Halloween this year, be sure to stay hydrated and safe while also having plenty of fun. Let’s get to the links!

Antoine Griezmann Makes MLS Team of the Matchday

Orlando City attacker Antoine Griezmann was the only Lion to make the MLS Team of the Matchday after the slate of midweek games. He scored a goal and added an assist in the club’s 2-2 draw on the road against the Chicago Fire as he continues to excel in the league since joining this summer. It was his 12th consecutive game with a goal contribution and he now has 14 goals and eight assists in 16 games this season. The Frenchman’s audacious strike from distance is also up for MLS Goal of the Matchday, though he faces tough competition from Kenji Mboma Dem, Kristoffer Velde, and Luis Suarez. Be sure to vote!

Orlando City’s 2027 Sprint Schedule Unveiled

MLS announced its schedule for the 2027 Sprint Season, which is formatted so that each club plays one game against each of the 14 other clubs in its conference. Orlando City revealed its slate for the shortened campaign for your convenience, and the Lions will open the season at home against the New England Revolution on Feb. 20, continuing the streak of hosting their season opener every year since joining the league in 2015. City will alternate playing at home and on the road throughout the season, with the final game coming on May 8 against Charlotte FC. The only games on Orlando’s schedule that don’t take place on a Saturday are a pair of Wednesday games at home against Toronto FC on March 3 and the Philadelphia Union on April 7. As for the postseason, eight teams will make the playoffs and compete in a single-elimination tournament to determine which team will represent the Eastern Conference in the MLS Cup final.

Orlando Pride Prepare for Decision Day

The Orlando Pride will play their final game of the season on the road Sunday against the Seattle Reign. While the Pride are already eliminated from the postseason, they can potentially spoil things for the Reign with a strong showing to close out the year. Interim head coach Yolanda Thomas spoke on how the team has embraced that role and has prepared to match the intensity it will face from the Reign. It’s been a rough year for the Pride, so hopefully they can end things on a high note.

U.S. Beats Spain to Advance in FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup

The United States U-17 Women’s National Team won 2-1 against Spain in the FIFA U-17 World Cup to advance to the quarterfinals. Deus Stanislaus got the scoring started with a goal right before halftime and Maddie DiMaria doubled the U.S. lead in the 48th minute. Spain rallied back with a goal from Vera Molina, but the U.S. was able to hold on for the win. The U.S. will play Korea DPR in the quarterfinals on Sunday.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City can clinch a spot in the playoffs with a win against Charlotte FC on Saturday. It can also qualify with a win or draw depending on how the New York Red Bulls, Toronto FC, and New York City FC fare this weekend.
• Washington Spirit midfielder Hal Hershfelt tore her ACL and was placed on the season-ending injury list. She made 31 appearances for the club across all competitions this year, helping the Spirit reach third in the NWSL standings.
• Nashville SC goalkeeper Joe Willis announced that he will retire at the end of the season. He’s been with Nashville since the club’s inaugural season in 2020.
• A high school soccer referee was body-checked by a player during a game in Ohio, sustaining broken ribs and a collapsed lung. It’s a pretty shocking video and there’s absolutely no place for it in soccer.
• CAF announced that the Africa Cup of Nations will go back to taking place every two years rather than every four years.
• Jack Grealish wasn’t available for Everton’s English League Cup game due to a breach of club discipline. Everton beat Newcastle 3-1 regardless and will face fourth-division club Fleetwood Town in the quarterfinals.

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

Orlando City blew yet another lead on Wednesday, allowing two second-half goals and dropping two points because of it, in what ended as a deuces are wild 2-2 draw in Chicago. Despite playing on the road on short rest, and having another road game on Saturday, the Lions did not sub until there were only 15 minutes remaining in the game, and they were probably lucky to leave Chicago with even a point after how the Fire dominated the second half.

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 opponent.

Starters

GK, Maxime Crépeau, 7 — Once again Crépeau was outstanding, as it took a stellar performance from the netminder to hold Chicago to only two goals. The Canadian made four saves, including a world-class diving save in the first half to deny a rocket from Anton Salétros that was headed for the upper corner. That save was only slightly better than the stop he made against Robert Lewandowski five minutes into the game, getting down to his right on a header from close range, but that save was erased from the record book due to an offside call. Crépeau also got down to deny a tap-in from Philip Zinckernagel, in what was a stressful game as the Fire had nearly 20% more possession and outshot Orlando 21-9. It is hard to fault Crépeau on either of Chicago’s goals, as both were from close range after poor marking by the defense, and if not for a certain teammate tallying yet another two goal contributions, the Canadian would have been my Man of the Match.

D, Vinícius Nogueira, 5.5 — Nogueira made it back-to-back games with an assist, as he played an incisive pass to Antoine Griezmann to set up Orlando City’s second goal. Aside from that pass, however, the Brazilian struggled, as he completed only 63.9% of his passes and lost possession of the ball 18 times, including several when he was not even under much pressure. Nogueira also allowed a little too much time for Leonardo Barroso to set up and play a cross into the box on Chicago’s first goal, and Barroso took advantage of the lack of pressure to play a perfect ball to the back post and get the Fire on the scoreboard. On the whole, Nogueira was engaged defensively, recording three tackles and three interceptions, but he will rue not closing Barroso down more quickly.

D, Iago, 6 — At halftime the announcers calling the game on AppleTV said Iago was the impact player of the first half, but while he was much better against Chicago than he was against New York City FC, he still had a lot of moments when he looked indecisive with the ball. He completed 94.1% of his passes, so eventually most of them got to a teammate, but he is still not playing as fluidly with the ball at his feet as a center back should and hit a few passes that were not even close to anyone wearing the Sunken Treasure kit. Speaking of gold, where the big man shined on Wednesday was with using his body to help get the Lions out of danger. Iago ended up with 11 defensive contributions, seven from clearances and four from blocked shots — the same number of blocks as the combination of all of the other players in the game. The Brazilian still has work to do to improve, but he was not at fault for either goal, and in fact came just inches away from heading the ball clear on the second goal, and he took a small step forward against Chicago.

D, David Brekalo, 6 — Brekalo was the better of the two center backs on Wednesday, but his partnership with Iago still needs work, as that pairing in the middle of the defense did not inspire confidence throughout the game. The Slovenian read the game well, making one tackle, one block, and a game-high eight clearances, and helped prevent Lewandowski from putting any of his six shots on target. Brekalo actually bested the Polish international in that department, as he got forward and put one shot on target himself, but his header was right at Chris Brady and did not trouble the Chicago goalkeeper. He completed 94.7% of his passes, primarily short passes in his own half, but after committing a few fouls that came close to earning a yellow card, he finally picked one up in the final 15 minutes, and will be suspended for Saturday’s game against Charlotte.

D, Zakaria Taifi, 6.5 — It was a gritty performance by the Homegrown defender. Both of Chicago’s goals came on crosses to his back post, but Taifi was not responsible for either. The young fullback put together one of his better games this season, tying Iago for the lead in defensive contributions with 11 (four tackles, three interceptions, and four clearances). Chicago’s first-half strategy was to attack down his side (48% of the team’s attacks were at Orlando’s defensive right side), but Taifi did well to help douse the Fire and keep them off the scoreboard. Chicago switched to focusing on attacking down the opposite side in the second half. He did not get forward as often as he had in prior games and completed only 19 passes (86.4% completion rate), with most of them in his own half and sideways or backwards. One of those sideways passes helped start the possession that turned into the second goal, however, as Taifi won the ball from a scrum on the sideline and got the ball over to Braian Ojeda, and several passes and a Griezmann laser later, the Lions were ahead 2-0. On the whole, it was a solid all-around game from the right back, as he was one of the better players on the night for Orlando City.

MF, Iván Angulo, 7.5 — Well, what do you know? Playing a winger at winger instead of at right back is a good idea! Angulo turned in another strong effort, scoring the opening goal by taking a pass from Griezmann and holding off Barroso as he sped down the left side and finished well into the opposite corner with his left foot. Angulo was active defensively, leading the Lions with five tackles and six loose-ball recoveries, though he also was dribbled past a game-high five times. The Colombian completed 88.5% of his passes and kept his trademark pace up until the final whistle, but frustratingly was just a half-step away from winning the loose ball that turned into Chicago’s second goal. While he deputized well at right back in prior games, Angulo clearly looked more at home and delivered more to the team back out on the left wing, in what was another solid performance.

MF, Luis Otávio, 7 — The Brazilian returned from his yellow card suspension and went the full 90 minutes, delivering a strong performance for the Lions in his defensive midfielder role. Otávio made six defensive contributions — one tackle, one interception, and four clearances — but his biggest contributions were the two secondary assists he picked up, as he played the pass to Griezmann to set up Angulo’s goal and the pass to Nogueira that set up Griezmann’s goal. On the evening, he completed 86.5% of his passes, and looked completely comfortable on both sides of the ball for the Lions.

MF, Braian Ojeda, 6 — Martín Perelman put Ojeda under a lot of pressure, playing him nearly the entire game, even though the Paraguayan is still working his way back from a long-term injury and there were two replacement options on the bench. Ojeda gave his all, but he looked leggy in the second half and probably should have come off somewhere around the 60-minute mark. That would have been too late to prevent Chicago’s first goal, which came when he lost track of Jonathan Bamba and allowed him a free header at the back post, but it possibly could have helped after that, when Orlando City struggled to hold possession and create much of anything going forward. Ojeda led the team in pass completions, connecting on 38 passes at a 95% success rate, and added three tackles, two interceptions, and a block, but he was asked to do too much for a player still building his fitness level, though he gave everything he had all the way until he was finally subbed out in the final minute of stoppage time.

MF, Justin Ellis, 6 — After a muted performance against New York City on Saturday, the young midfielder looked much more lively against Chicago. He attacked off the dribble and passed well, completing 89.7% of his passes, including two key passes. He broke out some of his fancy passes as well, but it was another kick that was almost more memorable, as Ellis was lucky to stay on the field after kicking out at Jack Elliott after a foul. Thankfully, he did not kick with much force and only received a yellow card. As the second half wore on, he looked tired, but no subs came on, and it bit the Lions as Ellis did not track all the way back on the Fire’s second goal and was watching from outside the 18 when the ball came across to the back post to an unmarked Maren Haile-Selassie, who then scored the equalizer. Like many of his teammates, Ellis probably should have played about 10-15 minutes fewer than he was asked to play, and we will see what he has left in the tank for the Charlotte game on Saturday.

F, Antoine Griezmann, 8 (MotM) — Griezmann made it five straight games with a goal and 10 goals in his last 10 games with an absolute peach of a shot in the first half, curling a ball past Brady and into the upper corner from about 25 yards out. That goal doubled the lead, a lead that the Lions held because of Griezmann’s assist to Angulo a little more than 20 minutes earlier, when the French playmaker played a perfectly weighted ball ahead for the speedy winger to run onto, and Angulo did the rest to open the scoring. Unlike many of his teammates, Griezmann did not look visibly tired as the game wore on, and he continued to make plays into the second half. The French attacker added five defensive contributions — four tackles and one clearance — and also made five loose-ball recoveries. He completed 82.9% of his passes, including two key passes, and clearly won the superstar battle between himself and Lewandowski, as he was the best player on the field and my Man of the Match for the Lions.

F, Martín Ojeda, 6 — The Argentinean attacker did not play a major role on Wednesday, as he never really got involved in the game and did not offer much to the Lions attack or defense. Ojeda is usually one of the better attackers in the league at getting back and defending, but he made zero defensive contributions in his 83 minutes against Chicago. On the offensive side, he completed 86.4% of his passes with one key pass, but he only took two shots, putting one on target but that shot was not very threatening on a low set-piece effort.

Substitutes

F, Daryl Dike (76′), 5.5 — The Oklahoma native was the first sub off the bench for the Lions, coming in for Ellis to try to find a late winner. Orlando City could not muster much offense during his time on the field, however, so Dike’s main contributions were in his holdup play, as he drew three fouls during his short stint. Dike had one opportunity to score but mis-hit the shot with his left foot, but the flag went up for an offside earlier in the play and it would not have counted even had he scored. He made one clearance on defense and completed one of his two passes, but he was a bystander for most of his shift as Chicago dominated the ball during the second half.

MF, Marco Pašalić (83′), N/A — Pašalić came on for fellow Designated Player Martín Ojeda, and got himself involved quickly, though nothing came of it. He was a step slow from being able to run onto a pass from Angulo that might have put him in on goal, and a few minutes later he was able to get a shot off but hit it well over the bar. Perelman probably should have brought him on earlier, especially with Ojeda struggling to make an impact and with everyone on short rest, but the Croatian was as active as he could be with the limited minutes he was given.

D, Adrián Marín (83′), N/A — Marín came on at the same time as Pašalić, as the two Europeans replaced two South Americans as the Spaniard replaced Nogueira at left back. In his limited minutes, he made two interceptions and added one clearance defensively, and completed two of his three pass attempts.

MF, Wilder Cartagena (90+2′), N/A — Cartagena came on for the final minute, replacing Braian Ojeda during a corner kick, and the Peruvian midfielder did not have the opportunity to contribute in such a short stint on the field.

That’s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando City’s 2-2 draw on the road in Chicago. 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.

Orlando City gave up two goals in the second half to draw the Chicago Fire 2-2 on Wednesday night at Soldier Field. That is three blown leads in four matches, and with the Lions trying to lock in a playoff spot, those lost points really hurt. Now, Orlando City will hope to secure that playoff spot on Saturday in Charlotte. Here are my five takeaways from the match.

A Fast Start

In the past, Ivan Angulo has been known to miss the goal on breakaways, fall down if touched in the box, or simply run into the defense. This year, things are different. Antoine Griezmann sent a great pass to the feet of a sprinting Ivan Angulo up the left side. The speedy attacker was able to stay ahead of Leonardo Barroso, turn toward goal in the box, and shoot past Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady and into the net. Did I mention it was the sixth minute when all of this happened? It was a great start for the Lions.

Good Grief, Griezmann!

If you haven’t figured it out yet, Antoine Griezmann is very good at soccer. The ease with which he scored Orlando City’s second goal speaks to his quality. Griezmann floated behind the center backs, drifted onside, received the ball from Vinicius Nogueira, turned, and calmly went top bins from distance. The beautiful goal was his 14th of the season and his 22nd goal contribution of the season. Griezmann now has a goal contribution in 12 straight matches and goals in the last five, adding his wonderstrike to his earlier assist on Angulo’s goal.

Max’s Magical Mitts

Maxime Crepeau was only credited with four saves in the match, but he made more saves than that. Offside calls took away a few from the official stats, but he still made them. The two goals were not his fault. If wasn’t as good as he was in the early going, Chicago would have scored early and then had the momentum, perhaps letting the game get out of hand. The Fire took 21 shots with six on target. The post also had one save. The point is that Chicago had opportunities, but Crepeau made it so the Lions were able to play with a lead for much of the game and at least earn a point.

Beware the Back Post

Orlando City was able to keep the Chicago Fire off the scoreboard for 56 minutes. Given the state of the defense, I found this surprising, despite Crepeau’s excellent efforts. When Chicago’s Jonathan Bamba scored in the 57th minute I wasn’t surprised that it came off a header at the back post. Crepeau made a valiant effort, but given there were at least two Fire players unmarked, there wasn’t really much he could do. Chicago’s second goal also came off a back-post play. The cross from Chicago’s attacking right came in to an open Bamba on the back post, it was headed out to Maren Haile-Selassie, who buried it to even the score. That side of the goal was the responsibility of the right side of the defense, but the left side of the defense did little to close down crossers on the other side. There was something the defensive players could have done, but they simply did not, and it’s a pattern that team after team is exploiting.

Another Lost Opportunity

I know I shouldn’t be surprised by this club’s ability to give up goals and give up points — especially on the road — and I’m not, but I am disappointed. There were dumb mistakes like Justin Ellis’ yellow card, David Brekalo being forced to take a yellow card to prevent a transition chance, and several of Iago’s supposed clearances. To be fair, I predicted a loss on The Mane Land PawedCast, but if the team jumps out to a 2-0 lead, three points are there for the taking, but the Lions said no thank you.

Those are my takeaways from Orlando City’s draw against the Fire. The Lions play again Saturday at Charlotte FC. Let us know your thoughts about the Chicago match in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!