Tally Hall 6.0: To be fair, Hall’s night wasn’t as bad as the four-goal deficit would suggest, but Orlando’s ‘keeper was on high alert all afternoon as the Sounders pummeled him with 21 shots. Three excellent first half saves kept Orlando in the match early, and his denial of Martin’s penalty attempt was excellent. The goals resulted from Seattle’s excellent build-up play and some pitiful defense by Orlando’s back line. Hall never had a chance.
Luke Boden 4.0: Boden’s up and down season hit a downswing on Sunday. His delivery into the box was subpar and several poor giveaways kept Seattle on the front foot. It’s fair to say that Boden hasn’t looked nearly as good since his stint at left wing in early August.
David Mateos 5.0: It was Mateos’ Orlando City debut and the Spaniard impressed at times. His tackles were clean and he showed some excellent moments of composure amid heavy pressure. But ultimately, like his fellow defensive battery mates, he wasn’t prepared to handle Seattle’s high-octane attack. He appeared to be ball-watching on several of Seattle’s goals, and his blatant takedown of Chad Marshall handed the home team a first half penalty try.
Aurelien Collin 4.5: Collin’s penchant for stepping up early on charging attacking players is the Frenchman’s weekly high wire act. When he pulls it off —which he often does— Orlando’s tidy counter-attack usually unfolds rather effortlessly. But when he fails, as he did on several occasions Sunday, he leaves his defensive colleagues entirely exposed. When your starting back line contains a 19-year old fullback (Turner) and a centerback making his league debut (Mateos), Collin would have been better served to play conservatively and just hold down the fort.
Tyler Turner 2.0: The young right back had a nightmare game. His throw-ins were poor. He looked weakly defending Fisher and Neagle. We’ll give him a pass for his slow reaction to Martin’s brilliant penetration which resulted in Seattle’s first goal, but there’s no excusing the two entirely unnecessary yellow cards which resulted in the Homegrown prospect’s ejection in just the 40th minute.
Darwin Cerén 5.5: The El Salvadorian didn’t shine quite as brightly in this match. Cerén’s usually crisp passing looked unsteady, and he never provided a reliable conduit through which to break out of Orlando’s defensive third. Several giveaways nearly cost City dearly, including one which should have been Seattle’s 3rd goal but for Lamar Neagle’s miss.
Servando Cerrasco 4.5: It was a homecoming of sorts for Cerrasco but City’s new midfielder still seemed lost. There’s no faulting Cerrasco’s energy but until he gains an understanding of Orlando’s offense most of that running will continue to be toward his own goal. He was essentially a non-factor on attack and was stripped of the ball on several occasions sending any Orlando momentum lurching in the opposing direction.
Cristian Higuita 6.5: Unquestionably Orlando’s best outfield player on the afternoon, Higuita continues to impress with feisty play and strong attacking soccer. He was arguably the only player in City’s midfield who looked willing to sacrifice himself for 50/50 balls. Unfortunately there were too few attacking outlets for the Colombian to truly shine.
Kaká 4.5: It’s hard to deny this was the captain’s worst performance of the season which is all the more worrying considering the magnitude of the match. Kaká was unable to hold the ball in possession. His passing was uncharacteristically poor. And he seemed unwilling to go to the air to fight for any 50/50 balls which could have relieved some of the pressure from City’s overworked defense.
Adrian Winter 5.5: In his first start for Orlando City, Winter showed why Adrian Heath wanted to bring the Swiss national into the fold during the summer transfer window. He’s got an exceptional workrate and was one of the few bright players in City’s attack. As he gains a better understanding of Heath’s offense —especially once right back Rafael Ramos returns from injury— one can expect Winter to become an integral piece of a right flank attack which has been invisible of late.
Cyle Larin 5.5: Despite not scoring on the night Larin didn’t have a poor offensive match. The service to him was just deplorable. On a couple of occasions the Canadian international showed flashes of his generally excellent hold-up play. The one time he found himself in front of goal with a legitimate scoring opportunity Seattle did well to close him down and stifle his usually quick trigger. Where Larin struggled on Sunday was defensively. A bout of horrible marking in the early part of the second half resulted in Seattle’s second goal off the forehead of Nelson Valdez, and at that moment any chance Orlando City had of toughing out an important result on the road was eviscerated.
Bryan Rochez, Lewis Neal and Pedro Ribeiro also made late appearances in the match to little impact.
