Lion Links: 5/8/22

Hello, Mane Landers and happy Mother’s Day to all the moms. Hopefully you are able to spend with time with the family and the special mother in your life. As for our Lions, they did not do so well north of the border and were defeated pretty handedly. Let’s see if our Pride can bring back a win to Orlando as they will be playing out west later today. With that, let’s get in to the news.

Lions Defeated on the Road

Orlando City traveled north to Montreal for the team’s first away trip of the month and the Lions struggled throughout, finishing the game in a 4-1 defeat to CF Montreal. Joao Moutinho’s header ended up being the only goal for Orlando but CF Montreal was not finished, capitalizing on the Lions’ poor giveaways for another two goals and putting Orlando away. Thomas Williams started in place of the suspended Robin Jansson and taking Williams’ spot on the bench was OCB defender Brandon Hackenberg, who moved up on a short-term loan. Keep it here as our coverage continues later today with our five takeaways and player grades.

Orlando Pride Sign Canadian Midfielder Jordyn Listro

The Orlando Pride announced the signing Canadian international Jordyn Listro on Saturday. The former-and-again Pride midfielder spent last year with the Kansas City Current. With this signing, the Pride have strengthened their midfield depth for the 2022 NWSL season. This move provides the Pride with depth in a key position but will not be enough to raise the level of the Pride in a significant way. It is great to see Listro back in the fold for the club and makes the transition easier since she has previous experience playing for the Pride.

Pride Set for First Match Against Angel City FC

The Orlando Pride are out west this weekend and are set for their first-ever showdown against Angel City FC tonight. The club site has posted its match preview. After starting out the NWSL season with a defeat at home, the Pride will aim for points on the road for the second game of the season. Head Coach Amanda Cromwell will have the squad focused on competing hard and keeping Angel City’s quality players such as Christen Press and Jun Endo in check. Our match preview will be up later in the day as well as full coverage of the match.

Scores Around MLS

It was a packed Saturday of MLS action. Charlotte FC hosted Inter Miami and got the game winner from Andre Shinyashiki in his club debut in a 1-0 win. Atlanta United defeated the Chicago Fire 4-1, behind a first-half Ronaldo Cisneros hat trick. Two goals from Taxi Fountas lifted D.C. 2-0 over Houston. Visiting FC Cincinnati took all three points by defeating Minnesota United, 1-0 in stoppage time. Home side FC Dallas took advantage of the tired Seattle Sounders coming off their CCL Championship and won the match, 2-0. The New England Revolution and Columbus Crew played to a 2-2 draw. The two matches in the New York area saw New York City FC and Sporting Kansas City end in a scoreless draw and the Red Bulls and Portland Timbers splitting the points, 1-1.

There were a couple of late matches on the west coast that weren’t yet finished at the time of this writing.

Notable Results in Europe

Over in Europe, the Premier League is starting to wind down but there are still games to be played. Romelu Lukaku scored two goals but it was not enough to lift Chelsea, which finished in a 2-2 draw against Wolverhampton. Playing at home, Brighton & Hove Albion put on a four-goal performance against a struggling Manchester United squad to win 4-0. Title hopes for Liverpool took a hit when the Reds played Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 draw. In La Liga, Barcelona secured Champions League qualification after a late Jordi Alba game-winning goal and defeated Real Betis, 2-1. And in the German Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund defeated Greuther Furth, 3-1 to seal their spot in second place.

Free Kicks

• USMNT and Atlanta United center back Miles Robinson suffered a leg injury in the 14th minute against the Chicago Fire.
• Another USMNT player, forward Jordan Pefok, went down down with an injury in his match for BSC Young Boys.

• Former OCB goalkeeper Mark Ridgers earned his 68th clean sheet for Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC, which is a new club record.

• Manchester City has expressed their interest to sign Paul Pogba.

That will do it for today. I hope you all enjoy your Sunday and I will see you next time.