Lion Links: 8/8/16

Good Monday morning, Mane Landers. It’s a great time to be a Lions fan. I like to use Monday morning to reflect back on the weekend. Really, anything to put off the grind of work and extend the weekend just a little longer. The weekend started great with Orlando City B winning and the Olympics going on, including the men’s and women’s soccer tournaments. Hopes were high going into Sunday’s match, but we’ll get to that in a minute, along with the other links we have for you today.

Orlando City Falls to Seattle, 3-1

All good things must come to an end, and apparently that includes a 17-game home unbeaten streak for the Lions. The match started with promise, with Seb Hines heading home another Kaká corner. However, from that point on it did not go the way we all hoped. Still, there’s much to look back on from the game, including:

• Gavin Ewbank’s match recap.
• Michael Citro’s player grades and Man of the Match.
• The opposing team’s view from Sounder at Heart.

And check back later for more fallout from a tough home loss, including our five takeaways, photo gallery, and more.

Nocerino Eager to Put Slow MLS Start Behind Him

Midfielder Antonio Nocerino has seen the pitch more often of late, partially due to his hard work in Jason Kreis’ first week as Orlando City’s head coach. Although he was a favorite target of Orlando fans almost since his first minutes on the pitch, the Italian has worked hard to get a hold of the MLS game and build match fitness. In this piece by mlssoccer.com’s Simon Veness, Nocerino said becoming the fans’ punching bag got to him.

“[Last Sunday] was very important for me,” he confirmed. “It did bother me that I hadn’t been able to prove what I could do in the first couple of months here and I obviously painted a bad picture of myself among fans up until recently.

“But I am going to continually work towards changing my image with the fans and try to gain some continuity in playing week in, week out and build a form that will ultimately be a vital [image] changer.”

If he continues to play like he has since Kreis took over, Nocerino won’t have to worry much about being on the fans’ bad side.

Manchester United Win Silverware

The English Premier League season is right around the corner, but Manchester United already has won a new piece for their trophy case when the Red Devils beat Leicester City in the Football Association Community Shield, which is the contest between the EPL winners taking on the FA Cup holders. The winning goal was scored by none other than the man himself, Zlatan Ibrahimović, who plans to make his mark on the EPL once league play begins Aug. 13. United’s first action will be against Bournemouth on Aug. 14.

Jacksonville Armada Taking On Water

Orlando City’s U.S. Open Cup fourth-round opponent, the Jacksonville Armada, announced the firing of former U.S. Men’s National Team goalkeeper Tony Meola. Meola filled the role of both head coach and technical director. The Armada have been near the bottom of the table in the North American Soccer League and will be on their fifth manager since starting play in spring of 2015. Mark Lowry is named interim head coach. Lowry was a coach at Orlando City SC’s U.S. Soccer Development Academy program and coach for Orlando City’s U-23 PDL squad.

Those are all the links I have for today, Mane Landers. As we turn the page on the weekend, I wanted to let everyone know the Orlando Pride are hosting Equality & Pride Night when the team returns to action at Camping World Stadium on Friday, Aug. 26 against the Washington Spirit. August hasn’t started out great, but the Lions will look to bounce back against the Fire next weekend.