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

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2 years ago

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After a lengthy weather delay, Orlando City battled with Inter Miami and won 1-0 thanks to an own goal from Damion Lowe. The shutout was a nice response from Orlando’s defense after conceding five goals to D.C. United earlier this week. All three of Orlando’s Designated Players started, but the offense had a hard time against Miami. Let’s dive into how each individual Lion performed in this win at Exploria Stadium.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 6.5 — His first and only save of the match was a huge one, making himself big and blocking a shot from Indiana Vassilev with his face in the seventh minute. It was a crucial stop to ensure Orlando didn’t fall into an early hole like it did Monday night. The rest of the night was fairly quiet for Gallese beyond coming out to collect dangerous balls from Miami into the box. His distribution was stellar, completing all but one of his 17 passes for a 94.1% success rate and connecting on four of his five long balls. This clean sheet was Gallese’s seventh of the year and first since May 14.

D, Kyle Smith, 6 — Playing at left back, Smith struggled at times to contain both DeAndre Yedlin and Vassilev. He wasn’t able to recover quickly enough after a turnover, leading to Vassilev’s shot on Gallese at point-blank range early in the match. He settled in a bit and received some help from Benji Michel to help keep Yedlin in check. Smith played every minute of the match and finished with two interceptions, a tackle, and a clearance. He also won three of his four aerial duels. Only one of his three attempted crosses connected, but it was a key pass that found Tesho Akindele late in the match. None of his four long balls were successful and he completed 83.9% of his 56 passes. The versatile defender has played everywhere along the back line this year, so let’s not forget he’s naturally a right back and is often playing out of position to fill gaps. After a rough game on Monday, this was a nice, albeit unspectacular, response from Smith.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 7 — The Argentine defender’s 88 touches were tied with Robin Jansson for the most on the team. The pair of center backs did well rotating the ball around so that Orlando could find new ways to attack. While he was only successful on one of his five long ball attempts, he did complete 90.5% of his 74 passes. He was solid on defense, contributing four clearances, three tackles, three interceptions, and two blocked shots. His tenacity helped him chase down attackers who got past him and step up and challenge players before they could make a play.

D, Robin Jansson, 7 — With Miami putting pressure on the team’s playmakers, Jansson completed 11 of his 16 long balls to help spark things on offense. The center back led the Lions with 75 passes, completing 88% of them, and contributed a key pass to break Miami’s lines and find Pereyra. His six clearances and three interceptions helped stop Miami in its tracks and he blocked a shot as well. It was a strong performance from the defender and he did it all without committing a foul or being booked for dissent.

D, Ruan, 6.5 — The right back was sprinting up and down his side of the field all night long and looked like the key to unlocking Miami’s defense in the second half. Ruan led the Lions with three key passes, using his speed to beat Christopher McVey and set up most of Orlando’s best chances. He should have had an assist after fizzing a ball in front of goal, but Michel couldn’t get his shot in the back of the net. Ruan made a nice run after a long series of possession from Orlando and got his head to the ball in the box, but Callender caught his attempt to center it. Both of his long balls were accurate and he was successful on 82.9% of his 41 passes as well. His quickness made him an asset in transition, but he could’ve done better during those opportunities with some better awareness to find an open teammate. His four unstable touches didn’t help matters on offense. Still, he was Orlando’s best weapon on offense. Ruan also showed plenty of hustle and had two tackles, even if his one-on-one defending could use some work.

MF, Cesar Araujo, 7.5 (MotM) — Araujo did a great job lending support on defense and frustrating opponents, leading Orlando with eight tackles and winning nine fouls. His role in the midfield was critical as he snuffed out plenty of Miami’s chances on the counter and hustled from start to finish. If Miami had the ball on Orlando’s side of the field, Araujo was usually there winning the ball back for his team. His passing could have been a bit better at times, but completing 83.7% of 49 passes isn’t terrible by any means and he had a key pass by finding Junior Urso in a dangerous spot at the top of the box. The 21-year-old is our Man of the Match for stopping Miami’s offense in transition and giving the midfield a needed edge.

MF, Junior Urso, 6.5 — The Bear had two shots and they were decent efforts. The first came in the first half and was blocked before going out for an Orlando corner. The second came after some great footwork to set up the shot, but Urso slipped on the wet field before shooting and couldn’t get it on frame. Urso saw plenty of the ball, playing every minute of the game and finishing with 75 touches and 63 passes at a strong 90.5% success rate. While he didn’t have a key pass or a cross, five of his six long balls found their target. He hasn’t scored in league play since March, but he did a good job setting up opportunities for himself to change that in this match.

MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 5.5 — Miami’s game plan was to smother Pereyra with constant pressure whenever the ball was in his vicinity and foul when needed. Lowe often came out to challenge him no matter how deep in the midfield Pereyra received the ball. He had a few miscues early on and made some uncharacteristic mistakes, including a bad giveaway that sent Vassilev in on goal. Pereyra’s only shot of the match was sent into orbit. He settled in a bit in the second half and finished with 41 passes at an 80.5% success rate. Pereyra had two key passes, a successful long ball, and one of his two crosses was accurate. He also contributed two tackles and a clearance to help out defensively.

MF, Benji Michel, 5 — In his 100th appearance as a Lion, Michel played on the left wing and contended with Deandre Yedlin throughout the match. Yedlin was aggressive on that side of the field and Michel often dropped back to help the back line deal with him. Michel had a golden opportunity to score in the 58th minute as he crashed the box and got on the end of a cross from Ruan, only to send the shot directly at Drake Callender. It was Michel’s only shot of the match and Orlando’s only shot on target. His only cross was unsuccessful, although he did a solid job beating his defender and whipping the ball into the box with his weak foot. He only had 20 touches and 11 passes at an 81.8% success rate in 69 minutes of action before being subbed off for Jake Mulraney. Time and time again, Orlando’s possession ended because of Michel losing possession and he finished with five unstable touches.

MF, Facundo Torres, 6.5 — The statistics won’t reflect just how active Torres was in this match. On offense, Torres worked hard to make sure he was an outlet for passes, constantly made runs to try unlocking the defense, and had his head on a swivel with the ball at his feet to find the open man. His two shots were tied for a team high, although neither ended up on target. The 22-year-old completed all but four of his 36 passes for a strong 88.9% completion rate. His only cross missed its mark and he didn’t have any key passes, but his one long ball was accurate. Torres supplied plenty of defensive pressure from start to finish and had two tackles. He wasn’t able to bend the game to his will and have the kind of performance needed to break the game wide open, but it was still a solid outing from the Designated Player.

F, Ercan Kara, 5.5 — It was a quiet night for the Austrian forward as he wasn’t able to make much of an impact. Kara didn’t receive much service due to Miami’s defensive pressure on Orlando’s playmakers and a lack of crossing from the wings while he was on the field. He also didn’t have any aerial duels at all in the match, although he did have a clearance during one of Miami’s corner kicks. Regardless of the service, Kara needed to find ways to get involved while the team hunted for a goal. It was the first time this season that Kara started a match and didn’t record a shot. He only had 14 touches and completed eight of his 11 passes for a 72.7% success rate before coming off in the 68th minute.

Substitutes

F, Tesho Akindele (68’), 6 — The Canadian forward made some nice runs in the lead up to his first shot of the match. Akindele made a well-timed dash out wide to receive the ball in space and then held up play for Torres and Ruan to catch up and set up a shot for him that he sent wide. His second shot was a headed effort from a good cross by Smith that Akindele couldn’t make clean contact on. He had seven touches, completed one of his two passes, contributed a tackle, and won both of his aerial duels. The 30-year-old is still on the hunt for his first goal this year, but he did well coming off the bench to use fresh legs and his size to win the ball up the field.

MF, Jake Mulraney (69’), 6.5 — Mulraney’s only cross of the match was technically unsuccessful, but it resulted in the lone goal of the match. The Irishman’s cross in stoppage shouldn’t have caused any problems for Miami, but Lowe’s desperate attempt to clear it resulted in an own goal. It’s hard to give Mulraney much credit, but plays like that can’t happen unless the ball is put into the box. Mulraney had nine touches and completed all seven of his passes. It was his first time coming off the bench since May, with Michel getting the start on the wing opposite Torres.

F, Alexandre Pato (78’), N/A — Pato came on for Pereyra late in the match and had five touches, all in the opposing half. He completed two of his three passes, including a nice headed pass to lay the ball off to Urso that eventually led to Mulraney’s cross and the own goal. There weren’t any flashes of brilliance after coming off the bench from Pato in this one as he had no shots or key passes.

D, Michael Halliday (86’), N/A — The 19-year-old came on late and had nine touches while completing all five of his passes. His only cross could’ve been better, but it came after he won the ball in the air and dribbled down the wing himself. After the own goal, Halliday did his part to kill off the game. Halliday looked good when on the ball in this one and a congested schedule this month could mean more minutes for him in the near future.

That’s how I saw each player’s performance in Orlando’s home win over Inter Miami. Make sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below and vote for your Man of the Match.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Cesar Araujo51
Rodrigo Schlegel5
Robin Jansson6
Ruan0
Other (Let us know who in the comments)2

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Orlando City

Orlando City at CF Montreal: Three Keys to Victory

What does Orlando City need to do on the road against CF Montreal to take home all three points ?

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8 hours ago

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April 18, 2024

By

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Orlando City opened the season against CF Montreal, playing to a 0-0 draw at Inter&Co Stadium back in February. Now, the Lions head to the Great White North to play the pesky Canadian club again. There’s no Concacaf Champions Cup competition to worry about this time, so hopefully Orlando City can get a victory.

What does Orlando City need to do to follow up the D.C. United victory with another win?

Just Say No

Outscoring your opponents while giving up two goals is all well and good, but outscoring your opponents while also keeping a clean sheet is much better. Orlando City has given up 13 goals over seven matches. It’s actually worse than that considering that the club has two clean sheets meaning those 13 goals came in just five matches. The Lions need to do better at not conceding goals.

Of course, one of those clean sheets came against Montreal to start the season, and the entire defense is seemingly healthy and ready to go. Our old foe Josef Martinez is always a threat and Matias Coccaro has three goals for Montreal so far this season. Stopping them is crucial. If Orlando City can maintain the same defensive discipline it showed in the previous match against Montreal, it will make earning points on the road much easier.

Designated Player Goals

Orlando City has scored seven goals so far this season. Duncan McGuire leads the team with three goals, thanks to his goal last week. Do you know who hasn’t scored yet? If you said any of Orlando City’s Designated Players, you would be correct. I’m not going to ring any emergency bells just yet, but it’d be a lot cooler if Luis Muriel, Martin Ojeda, or Facundo Torres scored a goal this week.

I think they are all close to breaking out. Torres has scored this year, just not in the MLS regular season. Muriel has been getting closer each match, and is still contributing in other ways. The same can be said of Ojeda. My point is that the goals are coming. Perhaps a trip to another country is exactly what they need to get off the mark.

The Battle on the Wings

Orlando City will be playing against former Lion Ruan. He lines up on the right for Montreal and will be a challenge for either Rafael Santos or Kyle Smith, depending on who gets the start. Of course, if Ivan Angulo is playing in his usual role on the left side of Orlando City’s attack, there could be some interesting races between the two speedy players.

I think that the other side of the field is where the match might be won or lost. Since Orlando City fell out of the Concacaf Champions Cup, the team has been on a more regular schedule. That has allowed Dagur Dan Thorhallsson to regain his form in the right fullback position for the Lions. He scored a goal last week, has an assist on the season, four crosses, and 10 key passes. He is an integral part of Orlando City’s attack and if he can win the battles against Raheem Edwards and Joaquin Sosa on the right side of Montreal’s lineup, he could have another big night.

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

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 4/18/24

Barbra Banda’s opportunity in Orlando, Omar Gonzalez’s mental health struggles, UEFA Champions League quarterfinals finish, and more.

Published

11 hours ago

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April 18, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

How’s it going, Mane Landers? I hope this week has been treating you well as we gear up for another weekend packed with Orlando soccer. It’s been a fairly busy week for me as I juggle work with keeping an eye on my cat. He’s a bit of a menace, but at least in a cute way. I’ll spare you my rambling on how great he is, and instead give you today’s links from around the soccer world.

Opportunity Knocks for Barbra Banda

Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda landed in the City Beautiful and spoke on how her first week with the team has been going. While there’s plenty of buzz surrounding the Pride on how Banda should improve the team’s offense, playing in the NWSL will also help the 24-year-old further develop her game.

“I think the league is quite good. I’ve been following it from way back,” she said. “I think it’s a very interesting league, very strong. All the teams are very physical, fast. So I think it’s good for myself to improve.”

Now that she’s with the Pride, soccer fans around the world will now have better access to watch one of the best forwards in women’s soccer. Banda also talked about the warm welcome she received at the airport and you can check out more of her reaction to that and some of her first few days in Orlando in the video below.

Portland Thorns Head Coach Reassigned

Mike Norris is no longer the head coach of the Portland Thorns after the club made him a technical director instead. The Thorns have never had a worse start to an NWSL season, losing three of their four games this year and still searching for their first win. Rob Gale will serve as the team’s interim head coach while the club does a global search for a replacement. I’m a bit surprised that Norris wasn’t given a few more weeks to turn things around, considering Portland is just a win away from being back in the thick of things. We’ll see if the Thorns will get that win with Gale at the helm when they take on the struggling Houston Dash Saturday.

Omar Gonzalez Shares His Mental Health Journey

American defender Omar Gonzalez discussed the difficulties he’s had over the course of his year and the toll it has had on his mental health. His own goal in the USMNT’s loss to Trinidad & Tobago that cost the team its chance to qualify for the 2018 World Cup would be rough for any player to overcome, but Gonzalez stated that head injuries made a stressful few years of his life much more difficult. Gonzalez admitted that he had daily suicidal thoughts until he reached out for needed help while with Toronto FC. Things have since improved and he’s currently with his hometown team, FC Dallas. I think it’s helpful for players like Gonzalez to be open about the mental health problems athletes face. Hopefully this lets other athletes know they aren’t alone in these struggles and encourages them to reach out for help if needed.

UEFA Champions League Semifinals Are Set

Only four teams are still standing in the UEFA Champions League after the quarterfinals wrapped up with plenty of dramatic soccer. The matchup between Real Madrid and Manchester City lived up to expectations with a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw in England. Real Madrid prevailed and ended City’s run, with Andriy Lunin making two saves in the shootout. In the other quarterfinal, Bayern Munich advanced after beating Arsenal 1-0, thanks to Joshua Kimmich’s head.

It all sets up for a thrilling pair of semifinals and potential storylines for the final. Will Bayern and Borussia Dortmund reach the final for a rivalry match for the ages? Can Kylian Mbappe finally give Paris Saint-Germain a Champions League title, and will it be at the expense of Real Madrid? If the semifinals are anything like the quarterfinals, it will be great soccer to enjoy.

Free Kicks

  • Orlando City Director of Equipment Operations Charles Raycroft received some deserved recognition after reaching an impressive milestone in his career.
  • Romario, who was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1994 after helping Brazil win a World Cup, has registered himself as a player for America Football Club. The 58-year-old has been the president of the club since 2009 and now has the chance to play alongside his son Romarinho.

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

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 4/17/24

Orlando City rises in power rankings, Orlando Pride waive two players, Champions League results, and more.

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1 day ago

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April 17, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. Time to start your day with some tasty links. It’s shaping up to be an exciting weekend with Orlando City, the Orlando Pride, and Orlando City B all playing. Last week, Orlando’s teams ended up with seven out of nine possible points. Here’s hoping we see nine out of nine this weekend. Let’s get to the links.

Orlando City Moving On Up

Starting the season 0-3-1 is a good way to be in the cellar of the utterly meaningless MLSsoccer.com power rankings. Orlando City is now starting to climb up the rankings thanks to three straight results. The Lions moved up four spots to 21st after the 3-2 victory over DC United. It was Duncan McGuire’s goal that secured the win, and his performance off the bench was a talking point for this week as well.

Farewell Kaylie Collins and Tori Hansen

The Orlando Pride announced that goalkeeper Kaylie Collins and defender Tori Hansen were waived on Tuesday. Both players were on loan in Australia’s A-League Women ,with Collins at Western Sydney Wanderers FC and Hansen with Melbourne Victory FC. Collins and Hansen were both NWSL draft picks for the Pride, though neither saw significant minutes with the club.

Barbra Banda Begins Training

Barbra Banda participated in her first training with the Pride Tuesday. It’s uncertain how much playing time she may get this week, but it’s possible she makes her first appearance against the San Diego Wave this Friday. Please remember that it sometimes takes new players time to get used to a new club, a new city, and a new league. Of course, I’m still hoping she comes on and scores a brace against the Wave.

Wild Matches in Champions League Quarterfinals

Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund both overcame deficits in the first leg to advance to the UEFA Champions League semifinals. PSG dropped four goals on Barcelona to win 6-4 on aggregate. Barcelona scored first, but made things hard on itself when Ronald Araújo was sent off.

Borussia Dortmund also scored four goals, defeating Atletico Madrid 5-4 on aggregate. Dortmund gave up an own goal, but battled back to take the lead in the match and then the lead in the tie thanks to goals scored in the 71st and 74th minutes. It was a wild, fun match to watch. Dortmund and PSG will meet in the semifinals.

Free Kicks

  • MLS will now start implementing the new rules for off-field treatments, timed substitutions, and in-stadium VAR announcements. The idea is to maximize effective match time.
  • The International Football Association Board (IFAB) will test new time limit rules during the 2024-2025 season for how long keepers can hold the ball with potential consequences including giving the opposing team a corner or a throw-in.
  • Finally, our thoughts are with the friends and family following the passing of Joel McKell.

That will do it for today. Check back later in the week as we get you ready for the Orlando City, Orlando Pride, and OCB matches this weekend. Vamos Orlando!

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