Lion Links: 4/22/19

Merry Monday morning, Mane Landers! It’s a purple Monday, so I hope you’re wearing the colors, as both Orlando City and the Orlando Pride secured points over the weekend. I’ll take the points from both squads over some chocolate bunny ears every weekend. There was also a bunch of other stuff that happened, so let’s dig in to the links as soon as we wish former Orlando City captain Kaká a happy 37th birthday!

Orlando Pride Get First Point of 2019

The Orlando Pride headed across the country to take on Reign FC, and while the Pride were able to strike first, they were unable to take home all three points. Regardless, this was the best Orlando has looked so far this season, and the first result the team has managed. I’m not saying the Pride looked good, just that it’s the best they’ve looked so far given the result. Alanna Kennedy put the Pride on the board early with a bicycle kick goal in the sixth minute. The Reign equalized in the 21st minute on a blazing shot from Bethany Balcer. The Pride finally get some rest before hosting the Utah Royals this coming Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Orlando City Headed in the Right Direction

Orlando City now has three wins on the season which is more than the Lions managed under James O’Connor when he took over for the last 17 matches of the 2018 season. O’Connor wants change this season, and even though the results might not be everything he wants, there’s no doubt that progress is being made. New acquisitions like Nani, João Moutinho, and Ruan have made a positive impact and the team has shown that it will continue to attack with four goals coming from substitutes. There’s still plenty of room for improvement, but there are positives as well.

Coventry City Out?

A hundred years ago, Coventry City joined the EFL (English Football League). This Thursday, it may be expelled because the Mayfair-based hedge fund Sisu can’t stop suing the league regarding not playing at the Ricoh Arena. Ricoh Arena is the venue that the Coventry City council built for the team back in 2005. Sisu states that the lawsuits are the only way to protect the club’s “long term interests,” though I suspect that it is probably the hedge fund’s long term interests that Sisu is interested in protecting. Needless to say, this is the type of thing that can happen when the money behind a club has no actual interest in the club or city other than monetary gain.

European Leagues Roundup

The European leagues are winding down their seasons, so let’s check in. Paris Saint-Germain won the Ligue 1 title for the sixth time in seven seasons after second-place Lille was unable to defeat Toulouse. Not too far away, Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus secured the top position in Serie A for 2019.

Finally, the best title race in years in the English Premier League stayed the same as it has for weeks as both Manchester City and Liverpool won their respective matches. Manchester City passed one of its supposed tough hurdles by beating Tottenham Hotspur 1-0, while Liverpool easily dispatched Cardiff City 2-0. City has a game in hand, but arguably the tougher schedule. Regardless, it’s made games against teams like Cardiff City interesting to watch.

Free Kicks

• I don’t know if this is the worst example of flopping ever, but it’s certainly pretty bad.
• It seems former EPL player Darren Bent still thinks he’s playing the field. This time it got him arrested.
• Winning hardware solves problems for sure. There were questions regarding Cristiano Ronaldo staying with Juventus after the team crashed out of the Champions League against Ajax. However, now that Juventus has won the Serie A title, he is “1000 percent” staying. I suppose we’ll see, though someone should tell Ronaldo how math works.
• FIFA, the organization that is the source of all that is good and at the same time evil in the world, is asking you to figure out which Women’s World Cup goal is the greatest of all time. Yesterday, it put up a goal from the Pride’s own Marta for Brazil.

That’ll do it for this Monday morning. Hopefully you were able to catch Game of Thrones last night so you’re not worried about spoilers around the water cooler. For those that don’t watch GoT, well, get on with your regularly scheduled Monday.