Lion Links: 4/10/22

Salutations on a beautiful Sunday morning, Mane Landers! A win always makes getting up the next day much better, and with an expected U.S. victory, it feels like the best Sunday morning in quite a while. Let’s get to the links.

Orlando City Extinguish the Fire

The Lions welcomed the Chicago Fire to Exploria Stadium on one of the nicest days in weeks, and managed to earn all three points in a 1-0 win. Orlando City’s pressing style of play did a very good job of getting into the attack and recovering the ball when lost. Chicago’s Brian Gutiérrez earned two yellow cards and was sent off in the 43rd minute, giving Orlando City a man advantage the remainder of the match. Ercan Kara scored his first goal in purple and the Lions got their first set piece goal in the 59th minute.

Check back for our player grades and five takeaways later today.

USWNT Wins Easily vs. Uzbekistan

The U.S. hosted Uzbekistan in Columbus for the first of two friendlies, defeating the visitors, 9-1. It took 26 minutes for Andi Sullivan to get the U.S. on the board, but the Yanks scored an additional three before the half with a goal from Mallory Pugh, and two from Sophia Smith. The team went on to score five more, with Smith completing the hat trick, and goals from Jaelin Howell, Catarina Macario, Ashley Hatch, and Ashley Sanchez. Uzbekistan’s Aziza Norboeva scored a consolation goal in the 70th minute. The two teams will meet Tuesday night at Subaru Park in Pennsylvania.

Results from Around MLS

Inter Miami CF finally won a match, defeating the New England Revolution, 3-2. Of course, this was a competition between the two last-place teams in the Eastern Conference. In Philadelphia, the Union benefited from an own goal by the Columbus Crew’s Eloy Room in the second minute. That was the extent of the scoring, as the Union won, 1-0. In the last of the early matches, CF Montréal completed a comeback win over the New York Red Bulls, 2-1, thanks to second-half goals from Rudy Camacho and Romell Quioto. In El Trafico, the LA Galaxy nearly blew a 2-0 lead before holding on in desperation for a 2-1 win. LAFC appeared to score the second of its goals deep in stoppage time through Latif Blessing but Chris Penso overturned it on video review. Toronto FC went to Rio Tinto and went down a man but returned home with a 2-2 draw. FC Dallas won 3-1 at home over the Colorado Rapids, while the Houston Dynamo won a wild, back-and-forth 4-3 match over San Jose. Nashville SC claimed a 2-1 road victory at Sporting Kansas City. In a Cascadia rivalry match, the Portland Timbers went on the road and defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-2. The Caps missed a penalty in the match.

Around the EPL

It was a wild day in the English Premier League on Saturday starting with Everton defeating Manchester United, 1-0. The Toffees are trying to stay out of the relegation zone, and Manchester United is trying to climb back into the top four. Everton’s home win keeps it afloat, but Manchester United’s hopes for a top-four finish are fading.

It’s been a little over a month since Jesse Marsch took the reins at Leeds United, and on Saturday United took care of business , drubbing Watford 3-0 at Vicarage Road. Watford boss Roy Hodgson is also trying to avoid relegation. If he can’t turn Watford around, it will be the first time one of his clubs has dropped.

Chelsea might still be 10 points behind Liverpool and Manchester City, but the Blues decimated Southampton by a score of 6-0 on Saturday to shore up third place. Mason Mount and Timo Werner contributed two goals apiece, with Marcos Alonso and Kai Havertz each with a goal of their own.

Arsenal’s very bad, not-good week culminated with a 2-1 loss to visiting Brighton & Hove Albion FC. Brighton’s first half goal from Leandro Trossard gave the Seagulls the lead and they never gave it up. Enock Mwepu put Brighton up by two and only a late goal from Arsenal’s Martin Ødegaard kept the visitors from registering a clean sheet. The loss just made it tougher for the Gunners to break into the top four, and a Champions League spot.

Tottenham kept hold of fourth place with a 4-0 win over Aston Villa. An early goal from Son Heung-min put Spurs up in the third minute. Dejan Kulusevski added the second goal five minutes into the second half, and Son added two more for a hat trick on the day. Steven Gerrard will have plenty of film for his squad to study after this one.

Free Kicks

• If you’re like me, you’ll be tuning in to watch what could be the match that decides whether Liverpool or Manchester City wins the EPL this season. The two titans meet with City sitting one point over the Reds in the standings. Here are three key battles between the sides to look for in the match.
• If you’re looking for a gift idea for the soccer/Ted Lasso person in your life (or say your favorite Mane Land PawedCast co-host/senior columnist), you could do worse than these excellent candles.

• Pato is just a good dude.

That will do it for today. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Watch TML later today for a recap on OCB’s trip to South Florida.