Lion Links: 4/16/18

Merry Monday morning, Mane Landers! Well, it was a bit of a mixed bag this weekend with a victory for the Lions and another loss for the Pride. At the very least, we certainly had plenty of soccer to watch and enjoy. Let’s get to the links!

Pride Fall to Portland Thorns, 2-1

The Orlando Pride traveled to Portland to take on the Thorns in a rematch of last season’s playoff match. With all of the Brazilians and Australians away (plus Rachel Hill injured), the Pride had to rely on newfound depth to try and steal some points on the road. Unfortunately, they were unable to overcome a strong Portland side. It wasn’t all bad, as Christine Nairn was able to get an assist on Chioma Ubogagu’s lone goal.

Higuita Lives up to Expectations

As the last remaining player from Orlando City’s inaugural MLS squad, Cristian Higuita has often shown flashes of promise without ever truly reaching his full potential. However, against the Philadelphia Union, he finally showed exactly why he can be the midfielder that Orlando City needs. He didn’t come into the season at the fitness level that Head Coach Jason Kreis expected, but through hard work, he eventually worked his way into the lineup to face the Union. Hopefully Higuita will continue to show not just the form he did in that match, but also the lack of temper that allowed him to not get a yellow card.

Americans Playing Abroad

Despite the notion that America doesn’t produce players that can compete on the international level, there are a ton that are doing just that all over the world. This past weekend, over 100 players contributed to squads outside the U.S. DeAndre Yedlin had an assist in Newcastle United’s win over Arsenal, and Christian Pulisic played a full 90 minutes for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga. Check out what all the rest did here.

Manchester City Clinches Premier League Title

It hadn’t been a very good week for Manchester City. Liverpool beat City 3-0 in the first leg of its Champions League match, and crosstown rival Manchester United beat it to keep the title out of its hands for a bit longer. Then Liverpool beat City yet again 2-1 to eliminate it from the Champions League. There was no doubt Manchester City would eventually win the the Premier League, but it wasn’t the kind of week Pep Guardiola imagined. Instead, he decided to go play some golf and let Manchester United hand its rival the title by losing. Fortunately for Pep and the boys, United wasn’t able to handle bottom of the table West Bromwich Albion, and City clinched.

Free Kicks

• Let’s be honest, you wish you had skills like this guy:

• Everyone has thoughts on what is wrong with U.S. Soccer, but not everyone writes a letter to the editor to give their thoughts. What do you think about the points brought up?
• Famous birthdays for today include Martin Lawrence (54), Akon (46), Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (72), Bill Belichick (67), Wilbur Wright (1867-1912), and Jon Cryer (54).

That’s going to do it for today. Don’t forget that Orlando City takes on the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, and the Orlando Pride take on the Houston Dash on Sunday. There’s plenty of stuff to read before then, so make sure you check back with us daily.