Lion Links: 9/16/21

Morning, folks. Last night didn’t exactly go to plan for us Orlando soccer fans, but yesterday was certainly a busy one with a lot to recount, so let’s get to it.

Orlando City Loses 4-2 to CF Montreal

After a miserable 3-0 loss to Atlanta, the Lions followed it up with a bizarre and embarrassing 4-2 home loss to CF Montreal. The first half was chaotic, with a lackluster Orlando side conceding in the first 20 minutes before Nani was sent off for his second yellow card later in the half. Montreal made it two soon after, but right as all looked lost, Robin Jansson grabbed a goal off a set piece to breathe life into the Lions before the break.

The second half, which saw Chris Mueller, himself subbed on in the 41st minute, subbed off at the half, started off well, with Ruan finding Orlando’s equalizer before Montreal’s Lassi Lappalainen found a winner. The visitors added a late insurance goal before Andres Perea was sent off for denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity, bringing the Lions down to nine men. Second straight poor performance for the Lions, a worrying trend at a pivotal part of the season.

Midweek MLS Roundup

The schedule never stops, and the grind continues on. Outside of Orlando’s weirdness, 14 other teams were in action. In the East, Atlanta and DC thumped inferior opposition, with the former cruising to a 4-0 victory against Cincinnati and the latter thrashing Chicago 3-0.

Most of Wednesday’s action fell out west, with Sporting Kansas City rocking its “rivals” Minnesota United 4-0, LAFC went to Austin and won 2-1, Portland drew with Colorado 2-2, the Galaxy drew 1-1 with Houston at home, and San Jose lost a wild one RSL 4-3.

UEFA Champions League Group Stage Begins

The biggest club competition in the world started in earnest yesterday with Match day one of the group stages. There were a plethora of wild games and interesting stories, plus 28 goals across the eight matches. The biggest story of the afternoon was probably Lionel Messi and PSG drawing 1-1 with Belgian side Club Brugge in a monster upset. Manchester City won in a wild 6-3 goal fest over Jesse Marsch’s RB Leipzig. Moldovan side FC Sheriff, the first team from Moldova to reach the group stage, had a historic 2-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk. With all that, the game of the day was probably Liverpool’s 3-2 thriller over AC Milan in a back-and-forth affair.

USWNT Players Association Calls Latest USSF Proposal a “PR Stunt”

The lengthy debate and legal battle between the United States Soccer Federation and the United States Women’s National Team Players Association is running into yet another speed bump, with the federation’s latest proposal facing criticism from the USWNTPA, which called the move a PR stunt.

The USSF made a proposal earlier this week which it said would align the men’s and women’s team under one collective bargaining agreement, but the USWNTPA argues that the move isn’t actually working to bring equal pay or equitable working conditions.

Free Kicks

• The Pride’s Sydney Leroux was named NWSL Player of The Week after her goal and assist in a 3-1 over Louisville on Saturday

• The Philadelphia Union fell 2-0 to Club America in the second leg of their Concacaf Champions League semifinal. They lost 4-0 on aggregate.
• The USMNT released its latest “Behind the Crest” video, recapping the 4-1 win in Honduras last week.

• USWNT legend Carli Lloyd spoke to the Attacking Third podcast about her impending retirement.
• Inter Miami finally has a shirt sponsor, a cryptocurrency company I have never heard of.

• Paramount+ will feature upcoming UEFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers.

That’s all from me this morning. Have a great Thursday, y’all.