...and I thought he had matured....

Playing a man down for thirty-five minutes, Orlando City holds on to draw New York Red Bulls.

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On a gorgeous afternoon and a national televised network telecast from Orlando's Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando City and New York Red Bulls played to a 0-0 draw in front of of a sunbaked crowd of 21,418. The match was broken apart due to Rodrigo Schlegel's 56th minute red card, but the Lions held on to earn the point and the shutout.

• A bit of irony with Rodrigo Schlegel. On Friday night an Orlando City supporter and I were enjoying a beverage and discussing the team's year-to-date performance. He commented that he would like to see David Brekalo start in place of Rodrigo Schlegel. My feedback was that Schlegel, over the last year, had not only improved his man-marking and tactical awareness, but he had matured as a player and was no longer allowing his emotion to control his level of performance. It is quite bizarre that only twenty-four hours later Schlegel proved me wrong, putting the Lions in a very tough predicament at home against the Red Bulls. While the second yellow Schlegel received could certainly be called into question, he was already playing on a yellow card he had been issued twenty-five minutes earlier, at the 31st minute of the first half. I have no answers or solutions for Schlegel other than he sits home next Saturday while his team travels to Montreal. Note: Manager Oscar Pareja did start David Brekalo on the back line.

• There were some positives from yesterday's match: Pedro Gallese's second consecutive shutout, his 50th clean sheet across all competitions as a Lion. Manager Oscar Pareja gave the recovering Cesar Araujo extended recovery time from injury, and only had to play midfield workhorse Edward Atuesta for eleven minutes. This again points to Pareja and Vice President Luiz Muzzi building a player pool that allows for rotation, especially in the center of midfield. Regarding player rotation and substitutes, Pareja does enjoy the ability to substitute high work-rate players late into the match. Yesterday, Ramiro Enrique, Kyle Smith, and Duncan McGuire came on late in the match, imposing their will with pace and physicality.

Orlando City, after eight games of the 2025 season, sit in seventh place. Now that Oscar Pareja has a full side to work with (sans Wilder Cartagena, who is out with a season-ending injury), there is a good bit of upside for the Lions. There are some questions that remain, including the best area of the field for Luis Muriel. After last season and the eight games this season, I do not feel he is a striker. I see him more effective as a false nine with his ability to collect the ball with his back to goal, his ability to turn, and his uncanny level of scanning. Another big question: Does Pareja and Muzzi look to the summer transfer window to bolster the roster? The Lions have a great opportunity this Saturday night, facing the the winless and last place Montreal side. Any less than three points from this match would be a disappointment.

Gary Levitt @gary1123 www.justmytake.net

Photo Credit: Orlando City Soccer Club