Lion Links: 3/18/21

Hey there, Mane Landers. I hope you’re all doing well after Saint Patrick’s day. From my perspective, there is an abundance of pressure on redheads like yours truly to put in a solid performance in the night’s festivities. However, I opted for a more quiet evening. While my day and night may have been laid back ones, there was a ton of news within the soccer-sphere, so let’s get on with the links.

Daryl Dike Called up to USMNT Roster

Orlando City striker Daryl Dike has been called up to the USMNT roster. The loanee will be linking back up with the side for training camp, and also for a pair of friendlies against Jamaica and Northern Ireland. Gregg Berhalter stated that it’s great to see Dike prospering and developing further with Barnsley in the ever-contentious Championship.

“It’s been great to see him compete in the English Championship. It’s a difficult league where physicality is a priority and he’s doing a great job with that…It’s great to see a player continue to learn and develop.”

Dike Scores Brace in Victory over Wycombe

Speaking of the big man, Dike has continued in his rich vein of form for Barnsley. The 20-year-old scored a double to help see his side past Wycombe Wanderers. It was his first brace with Barnsley and his fourth and fifth goals in the last seven matches.

“The 20-year-old forward has been at the forefront of Barnsley’s move up the league table, helping them to a current fifth place spot in the heart of the promotion playoff race.

Up next for Dike and his teammates is a home date against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.”

Here’s Dike’s first goal from Wednesday’s match:

The second one was even better.

Along with the double, Dike also had a tremendous performance overall as well. It’s no wonder why the promising striker is attracting interest from an abundance of suitors.

OCSC Draft Pick Derek Dodson Scores in Dramatic 3-2 Georgetown Victory

Eighth overall SuperDraft pick Derek Dodson scored for Georgetown in a dramatic 3-2 victory over Villanova on Wednesday afternoon. The 23-year-old helped get his side back into the match with a 57th-minute strike that saw his side behind by just one. Prior to the comeback-inciting goal, Georgetown was behind by a margin of 2-0. 

Eventually, Georgetown went on to come from behind, winning the match in the 98th minute. Dodson took part in the buildup for the winner. Let’s hope the incoming college forward can be just as potent when he takes the step up to MLS. 

Christian Pulisic Bags Assist in Chelsea Victory 

While this time last week saw the end of the road arrive for some USMNT stars, the same fate did not come for Christian Pulisic. The 22-year-old snapped up an assist late on to help see Chelsea past Atletico Madrid. The American attacker started on the bench, but was called upon in the 77th minute to help see his side across the line. His assist to Emerson in the 94th minute was the cherry on top of a dominant Blues side over two legs. Chelsea will now wait to see which side it takes on in the quarterfinals. 

Free Kicks

• Pato and the rest of the Lions are getting to work.

• Bayern Munich beat Lazio 2-1. The Bundesliga champions soared into the quarterfinals by a margin of 6-2 on aggregate.
• According to FiveThirtyEight, Manchester City is the far and away favorite to win the Champions League. Can City win its first ever Champions League trophy?

That’s all for this Thursday’s set of links, folks. Don’t forget, the Lions are back in preseason action today against New York City FC and the U.S. U-23 squad (with Benji Michel and Andres Perea) begin World Cup qualifying against Costa Rica.

As ever, thanks for reading. I’ll catch you on the flip side.