{"id":393395,"date":"2026-09-08T05:26:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T05:26:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/393395\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T05:26:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T05:26:36","slug":"orlando-city-vs-san-diego-fc-player-grades-and-man-of-the-match-the-mane-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/393395\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando City vs. San Diego FC: Player Grades and Man of the Match \u2013 The Mane Land"},"content":{"rendered":"

Orlando City\u2019s match against San Diego FC at Inter.co Stadium was the first-ever meeting between the two clubs, and the Lions made sure the inaugural meeting went their way. The Lions ground out a 1-0 win<\/a>, built around Antoine Griezmann\u2019s 28th-minute goal, and an organized, resilient defensive team effort. San Diego wasn\u2019t clinical by any means, but it is a dangerous team and has been in good form of late. In any case, for Orlando\u2019s defense \u2014 the second most porous in MLS this season \u2014 a 1-0 win with a clean sheet attached is a welcome result, and the visitors didn\u2019t create much danger (0.47 expected goals) thanks to a complete team effort defensively.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at how Orlando City\u2019s players rated in their matchup against San Diego FC.<\/p>\n

Starters<\/p>\n

GK, Maxime Crepeau, 6 \u2014 San Diego didn\u2019t test Cr\u00e9peau much, but he did what he needed to do when he was called on, making two saves and keeping a rare clean sheet. The night\u2019s biggest moment came in the 22nd minute, palming a close-range Anders Dreyer shot over the end line. He also closed down Dreyer well in the 38th (even though the play was offside anyway), and bravely stood his ground under pressure to disrupt a ball into the box and draw a foul in the 97th. He completed 76.2% of his passes and connected on six of 16 long-ball attempts. Crepeau did it all after losing his father earlier in the week. The stadium held a moment of silence for the keeper, and the Lions all wore black armbands in honor.<\/p>\n

D, Bernardo Rhein, 6 \u2014 Cleared to start after a recent thigh issue, Rhein had a quiet, competent, 51 minutes before Mart\u00edn Ojeda replaced him. His only real blemish was a poor pass out of a dangerous area in the 12th minute \u2014 outside of that, there\u2019s not much else to report in either direction, which is good, considering the teenager was tasked with keeping tabs on Dreyer. He completed 91.3% of his passes and added a clearance and a long ball that didn\u2019t find a mark.<\/p>\n

D, Robin Jansson, 6.5 \u2014 The captain had a solid night, along with the rest of the back line, but also contributed offensively, bypassing the San Diego defense with a great ball over the top in the 28th minute that started the move for Griezmann\u2019s goal. He showed presence of mind, staying composed under pressure, helping to play out from the back, shielding the ball and winning a foul, with Elias Achouri draped all over him in the 64th minute. Jansson marshalled the back line that kept San Diego from threatening Crepeau most of the night. He completed 92.7% of his passes, found a teammate on three of six long balls, and finished with three clearances.<\/p>\n

D, David Brekalo, 6.5 \u2014 Brekalo had a good night for the Lions. He made a great sliding tackle in the 46th minute and had a good read on a cross from Oscar Verhoeven in the 57th that he intercepted. Brekalo led the team with 84 touches, completed 93.5% of his passes, and finished with four clearances, a tackle, and a key pass.<\/p>\n

D, Griffin Dorsey, 6.5 \u2014 Dorsey was involved early and often \u2014 he attempted a cross that didn\u2019t find a teammate in the 14th minute, made a good defensive stop two minutes later, made a nice progressive carry through midfield in the 18th, had another good attacking run and cross in the 23rd, and a smart defensive stop just outside the box in the 32nd. He was a little bit quieter in the second half, but that appeared to have more to do with substitutions changing his role than anything on Dorsey\u2019s part. The biggest issue he had was in the attacking third, where he got forward but struggled to pick out the right pass or deliver the final ball with accuracy. He completed 85.7% of his total passes, put up a team-high five tackles, and added three clearances. Offensively he took one off-target shot, and connected on one of four long ball attempts.<\/p>\n

MF, Ivan Angulo, 5.5 \u2014 Angulo was a little quiet for most of the first half but got more involved after the break, helping snuff out a promising San Diego counter in the 55th minute, showing a slightly loose touch before recovering well 12 minutes later, and giving the ball away in a dangerous area again in the 70th minute. His best, and worst, sequence came in the 72nd minute, doing well to get in behind and onto a Martin Ojeda through ball. He took a bit of a heavy touch to round the goalkeeper, which allowed the defense to arrive and bother him so that he got nothing on his shot from point-blank range on an empty net. Kieran Sargeant blocked what should have been the Lions\u2019 second goal at the last second. Angulo closed the second half with excellent defensive work, though, and his usual relentless energy. He completed 92.1% of his passes, connected on one of two crosses, put the aforementioned shot on target, and added an interception. He loses points for missing the sitter and for getting a pointless yellow card for dissent.<\/p>\n

MF, Joran Gerbet, 6 \u2014 Gerbet was tidy in the defensive midfield role before making way for Wilder Cartagena in the 66th minute. It started early, with the Clemson product winning the ball with a good defensive stab in the fourth minute, fighting to win possession and draw a foul again in the 19th, and showing good composure under pressure in the 36th. His passing was the best on the team at 94.9%, and he chipped in an interception and a clearance defensively, adding an off-target shot on the offensive side of the ball.<\/p>\n

MF, Eduard Atuesta, 6 \u2014 Aside from a couple of minor giveaways and over-hit attempts to send players in behind, Atuesta had a solid night, before Luis Ot\u00e1vio replaced him in the 75th. He was slow to connect with his teamates resulting in a needless giveaway in the sixth minute but did well to hold the ball under pressure and draw a foul in the 26th. He contributed to some buildup play in tight spaces in the second half as well, something not really showing up in the stats. He was also an integral part of a stout Orlando defense in the middle of the pitch. He misfired on all four of his long-ball attempts and completed 86.7% of his passes, adding a key pass and an interception.<\/p>\n

MF, Justin Ellis, 6.5 \u2014 The Homegrown Player was one of Orlando\u2019s most involved players all night. He combined well early, finding Dorsey with a good touch in the 14th minute to trigger an attack, and slipping him in behind again in the 23rd. He then helped to deliver the moment of the match in the 28th minute, controlling a pass from Daryl Dike in tight space, before setting up Griezmann\u2019s goal. He kept working after the break \u2014 showing excellent footwork under pressure to spark an attack in the 49th, but had a rare lapse in the 51st when he decided not to pass to Dike in the box, choosing instead to try to play through three defenders, and losing possession. Ellis showed his control again though, winning possession, advancing the ball, and this time sending a feed to Dike in the 53rd, which ended in a blocked shot and a corner. He sent a brilliant back-heel to Atuesta in the 59th to help threaten the San Diego box, again ending in a corner. He finished with two shots (both off target), two key passes, one assist, one completed long ball, and he hit on one of three crosses while adding two tackles and an interception and passing with 86.7% accuracy.<\/p>\n

F, Daryl Dike, 6.5 \u2014 Dike\u2019s best moment came in the buildup to the opening goal, showing great control on Jansson\u2019s long ball before deftly playing it through a defender to Ellis, picking up a secondary assist on Griezmann\u2019s goal in the 28th minute. He also had a decent chance in the box in the 53rd that was blocked and held the ball up well when called on before Tyrese Spicer replaced him in the 66th minute. He took two shots (both off target), completed five of his eight passes for 62.5% accuracy, chipped in a key pass, missed on his one long ball attempt, and contributed a tackle, an interception, and a clearance on the defensive side.<\/p>\n

F, Antoine Griezmann, 7.5 (MotM) \u2014 Griezmann scored the only goal of the match in the 28th minute, and was Orlando\u2019s string puller throughout the night. He drove toward the box from the right for an early shot in the seventh minute. All three of his shots on the night were on target. He was just as involved without the ball, winning it back with smart defensive interventions in the 31st, 58th, 83rd, and 86th minutes, and he nearly turned provider himself with a ball in behind for Ojeda in the 64th that was just slightly overhit. He completed 78.4% of his passes, chipped in a key pass, connected on two of his seven crosses, and added three tackles and a clearance at the other end.<\/p>\n

Substitutes<\/p>\n

MF, Mart\u00edn Ojeda (51\u2032), 5.5 \u2014 On for Rhein and making his first appearance at home since May, Ojeda\u2019s best moment came in the 59th minute with a good buildup sequence and a shot on goal. An overcooked pass to a charging Ellis in the box in the 67th minute and another loose touch in the 86th kept him from contributing more. Still working his way back to full sharpness after a long injury layoff, he completed 66.7% of his passes and had two key passes, a missed cross attempt, and three incomplete long-ball attempts to his name with no defensive stats to speak of.<\/p>\n

MF, Wilder Cartagena (66\u2032), 6.5 \u2014 Cartagena made an immediate defensive impact after replacing Gerbet, with a great sliding tackle to snuff out a cutback in the box in the 71st minute and another good tackle just outside Orlando\u2019s box in the ninth minute of stoppage time that the referee controversially whistled as a foul. He nearly scored in the 88th minute, pinging the ball off the crossbar, for it to bounce off of Manu Duah and the goal line, but the spin took it away from goal. He completed 92.9% of his passes, added an interception, contributed a key pass, and connected on one cross and one long ball.<\/p>\n

F, Tyrese Spicer (66\u2032), 6 \u2014 On for Dike, Spicer\u2019s best sequence came in the 87th, getting past the San Diego defense and cutting the ball back for Griezmann, whose shot from a tight angle was saved by the goalkeeper and knocked out for a corner. He took one shot, although it was not on target, and had no other offensive or defensive stats to speak of. He passed at 66.7% accuracy. As usual, he made his presence felt through buildup play and high energy.<\/p>\n

MF, Marco Pasalic (75\u2032), 6 \u2014 Pasalic\u2019s short cameo after coming on for Ellis was tidy if unspectacular. He did well to fight for posession throughout his time on the pitch. He shepherded the ball out of bounds under pressure and suffered fouls to keep Orlando in control. He blocked a shot, completed all four of his passes, and took two off-target shots.<\/p>\n

MF, Luis Ot\u00e1vio (75\u2032), 6 \u2014 Ot\u00e1vio\u2019s cameo for Atuesta was brief but positive. He calmly played out from the back and found Griezmann with a good pass through the middle in the 82nd minute, then read the game well enough to make a smart tactical foul to stop an attack in the 85th minute. He completed 80% of his passes and added a tackle and a clearance defensively.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how I saw the individual performances in Orlando\u2019s clean sheet win. Let us know how you saw the game in the comments below, and don\u2019t forget to vote for your Man of the Match.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orlando City\u2019s match against San Diego FC at Inter.co Stadium was the first-ever meeting between the two clubs,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393396,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-393395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}