Orlando City did not play particularly well against CF Montreal, but the Lions still seemed more likely to take three points from the match than the hosts until Rafael Santos picked up a second yellow card. The lack of discipline on the back line the last couple of weeks has been shocking. Even if a card or two may have been soft, once a player has one, they need to walk the appropriate line to keep from putting their team in a bad situation. Rodrigo Schlegel and Santos have hopefully learned that lesson and shown it to the entire squad the last two weeks.

The sending off of Santos was ironic, considering he was only on the pitch because Kyle Smith had been sitting on a yellow card since the third minute, and Oscar Pareja decided not to risk a second booking for his left back in the second half. Instead, Smith’s replacement picked up two, and as a result, Orlando picked up only one point against what is currently the worst team in Major League Soccer. That’s three consecutive scoreless draws for Orlando, and that simply makes for a terrible stretch of soccer viewing.

We look back at our score predictions, chat about the game’s major talking points, and make our selections for Man of the Match.

The mailbagbox asks about our EPL teams, officiating, holiday treats, potential lineup changes, and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

OCB once again played Inter Miami II in Bradenton, and again it didn’t go well. The Young Lions were missing a few key players, but it was some uncharacteristically shoddy defending that did them in this week. Orlando City B also didn’t finish enough of its chances and now must regroup at home against New York Red Bulls II.

Orlando City returns home Saturday to face rival Atlanta United. The Lions won’t have Santos, but Schlegel returns from suspension, so it will be interesting to see if David Brekalo returns to left back. However, it’s the offense that has been troublesome of late, and the Lions must start getting something from the striker position again, and it would be optimal if the Designated Players in the attacking midfield would start scoring again. Or a central midfielder. Or even a defender. Goals, please, is I guess what I’m saying. We provide our key matchups for this Southeastern showdown match and offer up our score predictions.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

Here’s how No. 474 went down:

0:15 – The Lions are shut out for the third straight week but also shut out the opponent for the third weekend in a row. You have to continue to take the good with the bad, I guess.

23:08– The mailbagbox is a feisty one this week.

54:57 – OCB can’t solve the Inter Miami II riddle, while the Lions get another chance to remember how to score goals when Atlanta visits on Saturday.

The Orlando Pride returned from the break and picked up basically where they left off, playing well enough to beat the Seattle Reign on the road, while not exactly impressing with the performance that earned those three points. All wins in the NWSL are good, and none seem to come easily, but the Pride made things unnecessarily difficult on themselves in the second half with giveaways and inconsistent defending. Anna Moorhouse had to come up huge late in the game to preserve a 1-0 lead that Barbra Banda had supplied just before halftime.

We look back at another low-scoring Pride win, check our score predictions from last week’s show, and make our selections for Player of the Match.

This week’s mailbagbox wants to know how the Pride turned around their history of past failures, how smart USWNT Head Coach Emma Hayes is, narratives about the Pride-Spirit series, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

Following our mailbagbox segment, we look ahead to Saturday’s matchup between the Pride and the Spirit. Orlando may have won trophies with consecutive victories over the Spirit, but Washington got the last laugh by winning the postgame penalty shootout to claim the 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup at Inter&Co Stadium. The Pride will have to be sharper than they’ve been at both ends in recent games to hold off one of the league’s top contenders. We provide our key matchups and our score predictions.

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Here’s how Episode 82 went down:

0:15 – The Pride pick up just their second road win against Seattle in club history. It was anything but easy.

13:24 – Our listeners have many questions and we are always going to have some kind of answers.

33:00 – The Pride return home for a pivotal match against the Washington Spirit.

Orlando City played much better against the New York Red Bulls than it did on the road at Philadelphia, but a lack of finishing precision and two ill-advised yellow cards on Rodrigo Schlegel eventually turned a game full of promise into an exercise in protecting a point. To their credit, the Lions did that, but the way they’d been dominating play, it was a disappointing home result, despite running the team’s unbeaten streak to five games.

We look back at our score predictions to see if we came close, discuss the game’s big talking points, and make our selections for Man of the Match.

The mailbagbox asks about Orlando being a defensive-minded team now, our first dates, David Brekalo at left back, and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

OCB became the first team to score on New England Revolution II last week, as Shak Mohammed’s late goal lifted the Young Lions to a 1-0 home victory. The reserve team is off to a strong start, but may be shorthanded Tuesday night against Inter Miami after several OCB players took part in the Generation Adidas Cup group stage from Saturday through Monday.

Orlando City is right back on the road for its fifth away match in seven games Saturday night when the Lions visit Stade Saputo to face CF Montreal. We look at the series history, provide our key matchups to the game, and try our hand at making our final score predictions for the match.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

Here’s how No. 473 went down:

0:15 – The Lions are shut out for the second straight week but also shut out the opponent for the second weekend in a row. You have to take the good with the bad, I guess.

17:02– The mailbagbox is full, and OCB is playing well at home.

37:14 – Orlando City takes off to the Great White North looking for a beauty way to go as the Lions visit Montreal.