Lion Links: 5/2/22

Merry Monday morning, Mane Landers! That was exactly the type of bounce-back performance Orlando City supporters were hoping for against Charlotte FC. Wins at Exploria Stadium have been hard to come by so far, but the Lions were able to secure all three points in front of the home crowd. Let’s get to the links!

Montréal Up Next for Orlando

Orlando City’s first of three straight league matches on the road will start this weekend at Stade Saputo against CF Montréal. Montréal started the season a little rough but is now unbeaten in six straight with four wins in that stretch. Montréal sits just behind Orlando City in the standings, trailing by three points with a game in hand. The Lions will be without Robin Jansson due to yellow card accumulation, but Montréal is in a similar situation as midfielders Victor Wanyama and Ismaël Koné are both out for the same reason. The match is this Saturday at 4 p.m.

Pride Fall in NWSL Season Opener

The Orlando Pride played some nice pressing soccer for the first 28 minutes of the match against NJ/NY Gotham FC, and then the wheels came off. Gotham scored three goals in 12 minutes in the first half to put the game away as the Pride fell 3-0. The Pride continued to create chances, but the final product was missing even when Sydney Leroux came on in the second half. It’s as bad of a start to the regular season as to be expected. I hope that it can only get better, but I’m not certain that is the case.

MLS Sunday Roundup

New York City FC won 3-0 against the San Jose Earthquakes. All three of the goals came late in the second half, with Keaton Parks scoring in the 74th minute, Gabriel Pereira in the 78th minute, and Chris Gloster in the 88th minute. This particular match was held at Yankee Stadium, though NYCFC has been rotating its home matches between Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, and Red Bull Arena.

The Philadelphia Union traveled to GEODIS Park to take on Nashville SC. The Union are at the top of the table in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand over Orlando City, but dropped points late against their Western Conference opponent. The Union struck first on Mikael Uhre’s 66th-minute goal and then gave it away on a penalty in the 85th minute. The result leaves Orlando City only one point behind the Union.

EPL Clubs Compete for Top Four Finish

Chelsea is fighting for a Champions League spot while Everton is fighting off relegation at the other end of the table. The two clubs met yesterday with the Toffees surprisingly coming out on top with a 1-0 victory over Chelsea. Richarlison’s 46th-minute goal was exactly what Everton needed as it tries to climb out of the relegation zone. Despite the loss, Chelsea kept hold of third place though the club is now only three points ahead of Arsenal.

Arsenal maintained the fourth spot with a 2-1 win over West Ham United thanks to goals from Rob Holding and Gabriel. Jarrod Bowen scored for the Hammers, but it wasn’t enough as West Ham dropped its second straight league match.

Tottenham kept pace with Arsenal while chasing the top four, defeating Leicester City 3-1. Harry Kane started the scoring for Spurs, and Son Heung-min added a brace. Kelechi Iheanacho pulled one back for the Foxes in stoppage time.

Free Kicks

• Inter Miami CF’s Leo Campana was injured in the 2-0 loss to the New England Revolution. There is not a timetable for his recovery or return.
• Cade Cowell and his younger brother Chance are reportedly in the process of obtaining Mexican citizenship and may switch from the USMNT to El Tri.
• Christian Pulisic’s father took to Twitter to address the lack of starts for his son at Chelsea despite having scored five goals. He later deleted the post.
• You and I know how great the experience is at Exploria Stadium, but there are plenty around the world who don’t. One Englishman helped change that with this video.

That will do it for today. Enjoy the start of your week and vamos Orlando!