Orlando City’s sloppy defense continued to play a part in the season as the right defensive flank play cost three goals in a 3-3 draw at Toronto FC. Martin Ojeda scored from the spot while Antoine Griezmann and Daryl Dike added goals to finish level with the hosts.

Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated in their matchup against Toronto FC.

Starters

GK, Maxime Crepeau, 6 — Crepeau’s save preceding Toronto’s third goal wasn’t deflected into a great area, but he was making a diving save and made an effort to push it wide. He had no help clearing the deflection. Otherwise, the Canadian stopped a 1-on-1 that eventually led to the second goal but the goal wasn’t on him. He had five saves on the night and completed 91% of his passes.

D, Vinicius Nogueira, 5.5 — Nogueira was unable to clear the follow-up action preceding Toronto’s second goal, but I don’t know that he had much of a chance at it. Otherwise, Nogueira was mostly unnoticeable, which is fine for a fullback. He did muscle Toronto plays off a ball or two showing us a bit of what he can bring. He picked up a yellow in the 82nd minute for a late tackle. He completed 82% of his passes and had two tackles.

D, Iago, 5.5 — Iago showed all of his youth with mistake after mistake but also showed his flashes of potential with his headed assist to Griezmann for the second goal. He wasn’t directly responsible for any of the goals but didn’t show up for them either. He was beaten for the shot that led to the second Toronto goal, but he was put in a bad spot by Ivan Angulo’s soft back pass that Niklas Dorsch picked off. Iago completed 95% of his team-leading 65 passes and had four clearances.

D, David Brekalo, 5.5 — When playing out of the back, your center backs are going to get a lot of action. Like Iago, Brekalo wasn’t directly responsible for any of the goals but also didn’t help. He had the most defensive contributions at 12, the most touches at 79, and passed at an 89% clip, but he recorded zero tackles. For someone who touched the ball as much as he did, he was mostly invisible, which is fine for a center back — except when the team gives up three goals.

D, Ivan Angulo, 5 — Angulo was responsible for Toronto’s second goal with an ill-advised back pass outside the 18 that Iago couldn’t get to and Toronto capitalized. Angulo slots in at right back when the lineup is pressed for bodies and rarely does it go well. He’s not great at it and, when Eduard Atuesta is his cover, it compounds the problem. It was also Angulo’s man who followed up Crepeau’s save to score the third goal. Throw that in with Angulo’s assist on Dike’s goal and we have difficulty picking a score. Angulo hit 85% of his passes, had one shot on target, and added two tackles and four recoveries. He was good in the attacking end and poor in the defensive end, and his score reflects that.

MF, Harvey Sarajian, 5 — Sarajian battled and made some runs but wasn’t able to convert his one chance early. He was perfect on his 18 passes but had the fewest touches by almost half. The rookie lost the ball five times but he completed his lone long ball. He was subbed out for Daryl Dike in the 67th minute.

MF, Wilder Cartagena, 5.5 — Cartagena had marks in almost every category on the stat sheet but did not stand out to the casual viewer. He connected well, completing 96% of his passes, and contributed on defense with a tackle, a clearance, and a recovery but did not make his mark on the game. He was subbed out in the 85th minute for Braian Ojeda.

MF, Luis Otavio, 6 — Otavio played a bit more of the enforcer role compared with Cartagena. He made his presence felt in the middle with four tackles and won 55% of his ground duels. He only completed 83% of his passes but helped manage the central midfield. Any problems came from the flanks and weren’t on him.

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 4.5 — For some reason, Atuesta was assigned to cover the right defensive flank when Angulo got forward. That proved to be a bad tactic time after time and nowhere more obvious than on the first Toronto goal. Atuesta failed to mark Lewis Morgan — the only attacking player nearby — at the back post, which gave Morgan a free header to put in the back of the net. The veteran midfielder only completed 84% of his passes, when that is arguably his main skill, had zero tackles, and recorded only one interception. He was subbed off in the third minute of extra time for Zakaria Taifi.

F, Martin Ojeda, 6.5 — Ojeda didn’t know much about it, but it was his cross attempt that led to the penalty that he converted himself to score Orlando’s first goal. His cross was a bit lucky to catch Matheus Pereira’s outstretched arm, but that’s why you put the ball into attacking areas. Otherwise, he’s still finding his fit with Griezmann as he wasn’t able to generate much else offensively. He completed 74% of his passes with two key passes, put one of his two shots on target, but had only two touches in the box. He added a clearance on the defensive end.

F, Antoine Griezmann, 7 (MotM) — It’s a little repetitive for Griezmann to be Man of the Match, but he finished with a goal and an assist, had a dangerous pass to Sarajian early, converted the headed pass from Iago for the second goal, and perfectly dummied the ball from Angulo (who had originally received the ball from Griezmann) to give Dike his goal. He hit only 63% of his passes, but three of them created scoring chances. He also made two successful crosses and completed 11 passess into the final third as he continues to pace Orlando’s offense. On the defensive end, he contributed a clearance off a set piece.

Substitutes

F, Daryl Dike (67′), 6.5 — Dike came on for Sarajian and started to show his physical presence. As the season has worn on, fans have started to get a little frustrated with his lack of impact, but that can be the life of a target forward at times. After all, clearing space for Angulo’s game winner Saturday against Columbus doesn’t show up in the box score. Dike finally showed his quality in the 83rd minute, finishing a good pass from Angulo with an unstoppable shot to briefly give the Lions the lead. He connected on six of his seven passes, won all but one of his duels, and had the same number of touches in the opposition box as Martin Ojeda at two in 67 fewer minutes.

M, Braian Ojeda (85’), N/A — It was good to see Braian Ojeda return to the field for the first time since Aug. 1. He was six-for-six passing and added a clearance. His time on the field wasn’t enough to garner a grade, but his return will help the team see out the rest of the season.

D, Zakaria Taifi (90+4′), N/A — Taifi subbed in for Atuesta in the fourth minute of added time to provide an actual right back in that slot, but by then Toronto had equalized. He recorded only two touches and missed his only pass in his brief appearance. There’s no grade for him on such a short cameo, but I’m fairly confident he would’ve earned a higher grade than Atuesta had Taifi started.

That’s what I’ve got for the players in a back-and-forth but eventually disappointing game. Let us know how you saw the game in the comments below, and don’t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.

Happy Friday, Mane Landers! Today is the 12-year anniversary of the groundbreaking at Orlando City SC’s soccer-specific stadium that took place in 2014. I was last at the stadium in September to see the Orlando Pride play and am still blown away about just how pretty the purple seats look on a sunny day. Let’s jump right into today’s links!

Justin Ellis Named  MLS NEXT Pro Pathway Player of the Year

Orlando City forward Justin Ellis was selected as the 2026 MLS NEXT Pro Pathway Player of the Year, an award that honors players who have excelled at multiple levels of the league’s development pathway. While part of Orlando City’s academy, Ellis was named 2025 U-19 MLS NEXT MVP after claiming the Golden Boot with 18 goals and was also the top scorer at the 2025 Generation Adidas Cup to help Orlando win the title. He recorded 12 goals and eight assists in 44 appearances with Orlando City B and made his MLS debut on May 14, 2025. As a Homegrown Player for the senior team this season, he’s racked up 10 assists so far and is one of the league’s top young players.

Antoine Griezmann Makes MLS Team of the Matchday Bench

Orlando City star Antoine Griezmann landed on the MLS Team of the Matchday bench after recording a goal and an assist in the team’s 3-3 draw on the road against Toronto FC. That’s back-to-back inclusions on the Team of the Matchday bench for Griezmann, who also had a goal and an assist in the 3-2 win over the Columbus Crew on Saturday. The Frenchman is the first MLS player to record a goal or an assist in 11 of his first 13 games. While a weirdly specific record to break, it’s impressive nonetheless as he builds a case for MLS Newcomer of the Year.

Ally Lemos Selected for NWSL Skills Challenge

Orlando Pride midfielder Ally Lemos was chosen to participate in this year’s NWSL Skills Challenge on Nov. 20 during the league’s NWSL Championship Week next month. There’s a $35,000 prize pool at stake for the players taking part in the event, which will take place at a high school in Virginia at 5:30 p.m. but won’t air on CBS and Paramount+ until 2 p.m. on Nov. 28. Lemos has played in all 27 of the Pride’s games this year, recording three assists and a goal along the way. Hopefully she has a strong showing at the event to give Pride fans something to cheer about after a rough year for the club.

Orlando Submits Bid to Host Women’s World Cup

The Greater Orlando Sports Commission has submitted a bid to host games for the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The proposal includes both Inter.co Stadium and Camping World Stadium. A joint bid led by the U.S. that also includes Mexico, Jamaica, and Costa Rica is uncontested to host the tournament and is expected to be voted on next month. Orlando hosted six FIFA Club World Cup games in 2025 and a bid was also submitted last month for the two aforementioned stadiums to host the 2031 Men’s Rugby World Cup as well. If all goes to plan, that summer could end up being an exciting time for sports fans in the City Beautiful.

Free Kicks

• The Pride are all but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention and it could become official on Saturday if the Denver Summit win against Angel City FC or if the North Carolina Courage win or draw against the San Diego Wave. Of course, the Pride failing to win against the Houston Dash on Sunday will officially end things as well.
• Speaking of the Wave, they signed midfielder Lia Godfrey to a three-year contract extension through 2029. She’s scored six goals and added five assists in 27 appearances for the Wave so far in her rookie season.
• Here’s an insightful dive into the United States Women’s National Team’s struggle to find consistency in the midfield as it prepares for next year’s World Cup.
• Following a pair of losses to Paraguay in friendlies, El Salvador Women’s National Team Head Coach Eric Acuna made contentious comments questioning the players’ commitment. El Salvador is set to face the USWNT next month in the Concacaf W Championship quarterfinals.
• For those of you into weird fun facts, a striker named Justin Seven-Seven scored in the 77th minute for West Brom’s U-21 team in a National League Cup game against Sutton United.
• We’ll end our links with a new contender for worst penalty kick of all time, courtesy of Trayvone Reid in the Concacaf Caribbean Cup. If you hate stutter steps, this may ruin your whole day.

That’s all I have for you this time around. Thanks for reading and have a fantastic Friday!

Orlando City traveled to Canada for an important Eastern Conference match against Toronto FC. The Lions kept the offensive production from last match going but were also their typical porous selves on defense, drawing 3-3 with Toronto. It was another wild back-and-forth match for the Lions. Here are my five takeaways from the match.

Soccer Pitch or Hockey Rink?

I lost count of how many times players slipped on the pitch Wednesday night. There were definitely more Orlando City players sliding around than Toronto players. If Harvey Sarajian had not slipped in the box, he may have been able to beat the keeper to the ball and put a shot on goal. Martin Ojeda fell when he slowed down to receive a pass on a counterattack, giving the ball back to Toronto. There were a dozen more in just the first 20 minutes of the match. It wasn’t just in the offensive half either. Defenders were unintentionally going to ground as well.

What’s a Right Back?

Theoretically, Ivan Angulo started at right back. Of course, he ranged up and down the pitch working into the attack. If Toronto countered, it was Eduard Atuesta that covered the position. Atuesta has difficulty on defense in the midfield on occasion, and is most definitely not a fullback. It was Atuesta that had to defend Lewis Morgan when he came into the box on an early cross by Toronto. I’m certain you can guess how effective he was, given Morgan easily headed the ball into the right side of the goal to give Toronto the first-half lead. Angulo also contributed a boneheaded play that gave Toronto its second goal. He tried a back pass that Niklas Dorsch pounced on. Theo Corbeanu eventually scored to give the Reds their second lead of the match. Finally, Angulo was too passive in the 90th minute at the back post, so when a rebound from Djordje Mihailovic’s shot deflected that way, Matheus Pereira stepped past Angulo and tied the game late.

A Hand(ball) Up, A Record Broken

I assume that Toronto felt bad for Orlando City in the first half. The Lions held a massive advantage in possession but had barely sniffed a shot on goal. In the 45th minute, Pereira stuck his arm out on a bouncing cross and the ball hit it, giving Orlando City a penalty. Ojeda stepped up, hesitated, and then buried the ball in the bottom left corner past Luka Gavran. The goal was Ojeda’s 48th for Orlando City making him the club’s all-time leading scorer across all competitions, surpassing the previous mark of 47 goals that had been held by Facundo Torres.

Griezmann Pounces

Antoine Griezmann is a very smart soccer player. As such, he conserves his energy and puts himself in good positions to make impactful plays. He did so again when Orlando City needed it the most. Ojeda put a free kick into the box in the second half that the defense deflected to Orlando’s attacking right, where it eventually ended up where Iago could head it over to a wide-open and onside Griezmann, who calmly equalized for Orlando City. Griezmann now has goal contributions in nine consecutive MLS matches.

Cardiac Cats Giveth and Taketh

Following Griezmann’s goal, the Cardiac Cats showed up, scoring a third goal to give the Orlando City the lead for the first time in the match. Angulo took a pass from Griezmann and then sent it back toward the Frenchman in the box, Griezmann dummied the ball, which ended up with Daryl Dike, who finally got another goal for Orlando City. It’s been a while coming for the big man, and the timing was perfect. Unfortunately, the Cardiac Cats stayed on the field and gave up the equalizer in the 89th minute. Some draws feel good, but this one feels like a lost opportunity on the road.

Those are my takeaways from Orlando City’s draw with Toronto FC. The Lions play again Saturday at home against D.C. United in the third of three matches in an eight-day span. Let us know your thoughts about the Toronto match in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!