Lion Links: 4/24/22

Happy Sunday, Mane Landers! With a win today, Orlando can pull level on points with Philadelphia. Get down to Exploria Stadium today to witness the action for yourself. Before you do, though, let’s check out today’s links.

Red Bulls in Good Away Form

Orlando City hosts the New York Red Bulls at Exploria Stadium at 3:30 p.m. today. If the Red Bulls win the match, they will become the third-ever MLS squad to win their first four away matches of a season. The last club to accomplish the feat was the LA Galaxy in 1998. New York midfielder Dru Yearwood has a theory on why New York plays so well away from home, where they have yet to win this season:

“​​I don’t know why, but it just seems to me we play with much more freedom away, and that’s sort of something that we need to bring at home as well, is that freedom,” Yearwood said. “I think we just stick to our principles, and we stay together, and we have that real togetherness away from home, and I guess every game away from home seems to be the grind and we seem to want it more than any other team. And that’s sort of why we’ve got the three points everywhere we’ve gone.”

Pride and Gotham Draw 1-1

The Orlando Pride drew 1-1 with NJ/NY Gotham FC last night in their final NWSL Challenge Cup match-up to end a four-game losing streak. Pride midfielder Gunny Jónsdóttir’s 10th-minute header provided an early lead before Gotham midfielder Kristie Mewis buried a penalty in the 45th minute after Toni Pressley brought down Ifeoma Onumonu in the box. Goalkeepers Ashlyn Harris and Kaylee Collins — making her Pride debut — exchanged highlight-reel saves in the 64th and 65th minutes, respectively, to keep the game even.

U-17 USWNT Crush Grenada, 20-0

The U.S Women’s U-17 National Team covered the spread and then some in its opening game of the 2022 Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship in the Dominican Republic. The U-17s set a new record for the most goals in a single World Cup qualifying match by a U.S. women’s national team at any level. The champion, runner-up, and third place finisher of the competition will qualify for the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India in October.

Saturday’s MLS Results

FC Dallas scored two late goals to come from behind and beat Houston, 2-1, to take the Texas Derby. CF Montréal is now undefeated in its last four away matches after drawing Philadelphia, 1-1. Chicago did not allow Minnesota United a shot in the first 70 minutes, but things fell apart quickly and the Fire lost, 3-0. Taxi Fountas became the first player in MLS history to record two goals and an assist in the first half of his first league start as D.C. United held on to beat New England 3-2 and hand Chad Ashton his first win in his second stint as interim manager. Austin FC climbed atop the Western Conference behind Maxi Urriti’s brace in a 3-0 win over Vancouver. Sporting Kansas City and the Columbus Crew played to a scoreless draw. Charlotte FC earned its first point on the road with a scoreless draw at Colorado. Portland out-shot Real Salt Lake 14-4, but couldn’t do better than a scoreless draw. Cristian Espinoza’s hat trick highlighted a 4-3 come-from-behind win for San Jose over Seattle. Dejan Joveljic scored in the 85th minute to hand the LA Galaxy a 1-0 win over Nashville SC.

Bayern Munich Wins 10th Straight League Title

Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund 3-1 in “Der Klassiker” to win its 10th straight Bundesliga title. Serge Gnabry, Robert Lewandowski, and Emre Can scored to give Julian Nagelsmann his first title as Bayern’s manager. Before Bayern began its current streak, no club had won more than three league titles in a row.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City boasted the most players called up to various U.S. youth national teams this week, with eight.

• USMNT midfielder Yunus Musah missed his penalty for Valencia to give Real Betis its first Copa del Rey trophy since 2005.
• Paris Saint-Germain drew 1-1 with Lens to capture its 10th Ligue 1 title.
• In the understatement of the year, Frank Lampard called his Everton the underdogs in today’s Merseyside Derby with Liverpool.
• Cristiano Ronaldo became the fourth player in Premier League history to score 100 goals for Manchester United.

I’m feeling optimistic the Lions will end the Red Bulls’ current away form with a convincing win today. Why? Playing as Orlando City yesterday, my son beat his Manchester City-managing uncle in FIFA, 1-0. Yes, his uncle is obviously bad at FIFA, but it’s still a good omen. Vamos Orlando!