Lion Links: 1/11/21

Merry Monday morning, Mane Landers! Well, that was quite a week, wasn’t it? I’m not going to go into any of it or my personal thoughts about it, but suffice to say, it was unprecedented and shocking.

The other thing I noticed when I tore my gaze from the news was the NFL playoff games. Good for them. I don’t have a dog in that hunt, but as I grew up in Maryland, I’m happy that the Baltimore Ravens won their wild card game against the Tennessee Titans. Let’s get to the links.

Lions Featured in Best MLS Penalty Saves of 2020

Major League Soccer put out a video highlighting the best penalty kick saves of the year, according to them. It’s really a bit of a mixed bag for Orlando City supporters. It starts out nice with one of Pedro Gallese’s better saves, then turns bad with a few of the ones Nani wasn’t able to finish. Then, as you may have guessed, Rodrigo Schlegel makes an appearance as the only outfield player in goal in the video. Let’s face it, you’ll probably never get sick of watching it. I know I won’t.

Cyle Larin on a Hot Streak

Former Lion Cyle Larin scored another goal for Besiktas in a 2-2 draw with Hatayspor on Sunday. Larin is on a bit of a hot streak after scoring four goals against Rizespor in last Wednesday’s 6-0 win. Larin now has 11 goals in the Turkish Süper Lig. He also scored in the Champions League and Süper Lig Cup. It’s nice to see the Canadian finding success.

Zack Steffen is Stepping Up for Manchester City

Zack Steffen recently got the opportunity to start for Manchester City following Ederson testing positive for COVID-19. The American has taken full advantage of the opportunity and Pep Guardiola has said that Steffen can compete for the starting spot. Of course, Guardiola also said that Ederson is still the club’s number one goalkeeper on the roster.

Pulisic Too Good for Chelsea?

It might seem like there’s an article about Christian Pulisic each and every day, but he has done very well since the United States Men’s National Team’s loss to Trinidad and Tobago all those years ago. Evidently, he’s done so well that Alexi Lalas recently said this.

“I’ll say it right now, Christian Pulisic is too good for this Chelsea team. His talents are being wasted right now at Chelsea, with this Chelsea team that they have.”

I’m certainly not going to say that Lalas is completely correct given that part of his schtick is saying controversial things. However, he’s not wrong that in more than one match this season, Pulisic has been Chelsea’s best player, even when those matches have been losses. I don’t know that Pulisic is “too good” for a top 10 English Premiere League club, but it is nice that it’s even something that can be discussed.

Free Kicks

• This just in, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a lot of goals.

• Evidently, Sergio Aguero missed out on Manchester City’s 3-0 FA Cup win over Birmingham City FC due to someone close to him testing positive for the coronavirus. We hope that Aguero and those close to him are well.
• North Carolina FC is leaving USL Championship to compete in USL League One for the 2021 season.
• It seems that Mesut Ozil is not headed to MLS after all, according to Ozil’s brother’s Instagram.

• Holy moly, if you missed this (and you probably did), Crawley Town scored three second-half goals to take down top-flight Leeds United in the FA Cup this weekend. That is some Bad News Bears level stuff considering Crawley Town is in EFL League Two.
• Sometimes the little things make the biggest difference. Case in point, Tottenham Hotspur staff gave Marine manager Neil Young the analysis Tottenham compiled on his club following the Spurs’ 5-0 dismantling of Marine. Still, it was a nice gesture towards the eighth-tier side.

• This year, I’m trying to finish each links on a positive note. As such, I want to wish former Orlando City gaffer James O’Connor and his wife congratulations on becoming U.S. citizens. Talk about timing.

That’s going to be it for today, Mane Landers. I hope you all have a great Monday.