Five Takeaways – The Mane Land

The city of Orlando defeat 5-0 against Inter Miami on Saturday at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale tied the Lions’ worst loss in club history. The Herons took an early lead, leading 2-0 after 10 minutes, and the Lions showed little bite from that point on. The difficult start to the 2024 MLS regular season continues, earning just one point from the first two games.

This is how I saw the individual performances in a shameful display by the Lions.

Starters

Goalkeeper, Pedro Gallese, 4.5 — Gallese allowed five goals on six shots in this game, the most he has given up since joining Orlando City. However, most of the goals were due more to poor defending than poor goaltending. Still, allowing five goals on six shots is a terrible day for any goalie. The Lions’ number one also completed 77.8% of his 18 passes and five of his nine long balls.

D, Rafael Santos, 5 — Santos’ 61 touches were the second most on the team in this game. He completed 81.8% of his 44 passes, third most on the team. He also completed one of his two crosses and failed to complete his only long ball. Defensively, Santos had an interception but no other defensive stats before being replaced by Kyle Smith in the 58th minute.

D, Robin Jansson, 5.5 — Jansson was the more reliable of the two centre-backs, although he did not have a great game. The Lions captain finished the game with two tackles, a clearance and a blocked shot. He completed 92.3% of his 52 passes and two of his five long balls. He was part of the fourth goal, but was unlucky when his clearance hit the crossbar, allowing Lionel Messi to score.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 4.5 — Schlegel was at fault for two of the first three goals. He took the lead early in the second goal, leaving Luis Suárez behind, and failed to get his head on the chip. He was also at fault for the third goal, keeping Robert Taylor on the scoreboard by going ahead late. Schlegel was active defensively with one tackle, six interceptions and five clearances, but his first two errors behind him put the game out of reach for him. Looking at the attack, the centre-back completed 90.5% of his 42 passes and two of his three long balls.

D, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, 5.5 — Thorhallsson was one of the few bright spots for the Lions in this game. Defensively, he had two tackles, two interceptions and two clearances. He completed 92.5% of his 40 passes, including one key pass, and made three successful dribbles later.

MF, César Araujo, 5 — Araujo led the team with 79 touches, but had a difficult game on defense. His early pass to Jansson bounced off Suarez and the defensive midfielder was unable to recover the striker’s run, allowing the Uruguayan to open the scoring. He also couldn’t keep up with Jordi Alba in the second half, contributing to Miami’s fourth goal. Araujo had five tackles and two interceptions. He completed 91.9% of his 62 passes and three of his four long balls, which raises his grade a bit.

MF, Wilder Cartagena, 5 — It was another brief appearance for Cartagena, who was replaced at half-time for the second consecutive game by Nico Lodeiro. During the match, the defensive midfielder made two tackles and completed 87.5% of his 40 passes. However, his four long balls did not find his target. He committed two fouls but did little else before leaving the game.

MF, Facundo Torres, 5 — Torres is usually an offensive force for the Lions, but he did little in this rivalry game. He was not very involved in the game, he recorded 46 touches and completed 86.7% of his 30 passes without any key passes. All three of his crosses were incomplete and he only fired one shot wide.

MF, Martín Ojeda, 5.5 — Ojeda was one of the few bright spots, starting as number 10. He made the most of his 50 touches, completing 86.2% of his 29 passes with three key passes. He only completed one of nine crosses from him, but four long balls from him. He also hit the target with his only shot, one of only three shots on goal for Orlando City. The playmaker played 73 minutes before being replaced by Felipe.

MF, Iván Angulo, 5 — Angulo was absent for most of the match, recording 40 touches and completing 84.6% of his 26 passes. He had a cross-field pass and a long ball, both incomplete. He also contributed once on defense with an interception. At least he was not at fault for any of the goals.

F, Duncan McGuire, 4.5 — Like Angulo, McGuire was barely in the game. He only had six touches and completed all four of his pass attempts. The striker shot wide and was replaced at half-time by Luis Muriel.

Substitutes

F, Luis Muriel (46′), 5 — Muriel was an improvement over McGuire at the top, even if he didn’t do much offensively. He had 26 touches and completed 79% of his 19 passes. He took one shot in his 45 minutes, being one of three players to actually hit the target.

MF, Nico Lodeiro (46′), 6 (MotM) — Lodeiro came on at half-time for Cartagena and did his best to make an impact. He touched the ball 56 times, the sixth most on the team and the most by an attacking player. He completed 79.5% of his 39 passes, including one key pass, four of his seven crosses and two of his four long balls. He didn’t take a shot but he did have a defensive tackle. Despite only playing the second half, Lodeiro gets my Man of the Match.

R, Kyle Smith (58′), 5 — Smith came on in the 58th minute for Santos and had 26 touches of the ball. He completed 87% of his 23 passes but did not complete his only cross. He had one clearance on defense, but no other statistic.

F, Ramiro Enrique (58′), 5 — Enrique replaced Angulo in the 58th minute, recording 15 touches in 32 minutes. He completed nine of his 10 passes (90%) from him, but did not complete his only cross. His only shot was on goal and one of three that were in the frame. Additionally, his three successful dribbles tied Thorhallsson for the most on the team.

MF, Felipe (73′), 5 — Felipe came on for the final 17 minutes, replacing Ojeda, and had 13 touches. The midfielder only completed 75% of his 12 passes, but had one key pass. He completed one of his three long passes and his through ball, the only one Orlando City attempted.

An honorable mention goes to backup goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar, who did not play but confronted Suarez when the Miami forward verbally attacked the assistant referee heading into halftime. It was one of the few moments of emotion on the part of the Lions.

This is how I saw the individual performances of the Orlando City players in a terrible match. Most players score around a 5 out of 10 because they were not to blame for the loss but contributed little to the success. Tell us what you think of the players and try to vote for your Man of the Match.