Lion Links: 10/17/22

Merry Monday morning, Mane Landers! I know we were all wishing the Lions managed to advance in the playoffs, but I’m still grateful for all the accomplishments made by the club in a rebuilding year with several injuries. As Ted Lasso says, “Let’s all be goldfish,” and start dreaming of the next season. Let’s get to the links.

Orlando City Out of the Playoffs

Orlando City traveled to Stade Saputo to take on CF Montréal in the first round of the MLS playoffs. Despite playing cagey defense for most of the match, the Lions conceded in the second half and had to chase the match. Montreal scored on a penalty kick late in stoppage time to put the nail in Orlando’s coffin. As disappointing as it is to get bounced 2-0 in the first round, it was still a successful year for the Lions. Playing Montreal was always going to be a tough challenge. Michael Citro has your match recap.

MLS Teams Begin Their Playoff Campaigns

The playoffs started this weekend with two matches each on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, FC Cincinnati defeated the New York Red Bulls 2-1. The Red Bulls showed everyone why it is so important to make an effort, even on the little things like throw-ins.

FC Cincinnati’s reward for winning the club’s first playoff match is meeting the Philadelphia Union in the next round.

In Saturday’s other match, the LA Galaxy defeated Nashville FC 1-0 to set up a playoff edition of El Trafico in the next round as the Galaxy meet the Supporters’ Shield winner, LAFC. Nashville was unable to get Hany Mukhtar involved in the attack, with the 2022 MLS Golden Boot winner only managing one shot in the match.

On Sunday, Austin FC and Real Salt Lake went the distance. RSL took a 2-0 lead within the first 15 minutes, but was unable to see it out after going a man down in the 53rd minute. Austin equalized on a late penalty and the match went to extra time. RSL held on to force penalty kicks. Brad Stuver made two saves and Austin scored all of its kicks to beat RSL and advance. Austin will play the winner of tonight’s match between Minnesota United and FC Dallas.

Americans Can’t Stop Scoring Abroad

Josh Sargent has eight goals for Norwich City in the English Football League Championship so far this season. He is in the race for the Golden Boot and is getting noticed by Gregg Berhalter ahead of the World Cup. His latest goal came in the 45th minute of Norwich’s 2-1 loss to Watford. Sargent had a rough time last season, so it is good to see him thriving.

Tim Weah came on in the 65th minute of Lille’s Friday match against Strasbourg. Lille was up 1-0 at that point, but Weah provided two assists to give Lille a 3-0 victory. Meanwhile, Haji Wright was Antalyaspor’s only bright spot in a 3-2 loss to Alanyaspor, scoring two goals for his club to take his total to seven on the season.

Finally, Malik Tillman decided to take on six Motherwell defenders during a long solo run to score Rangers’ first goal in a 2-1 win. Don’t take my word for how impressive it was, take a look for yourself.

Results from the English Premier League

Arsenal extended its lead in the EPL standings with a 1-0 win over Leeds United thanks to Bukayo Sako’s goal in the 35th minute. Mason Mount scored a brace for Chelsea in its 2-0 win over Aston Villa. The victory kept Chelsea in fourth place. Manchester United was chasing Chelsea for that fourth-place spot, but had to settle for a 0-0 draw with Newcastle United. Further down the standings, West Ham United and Southampton drew 1-1 in a match that saw Declan Rice end his goal drought while Romain Perraud scored a controversial goal.

Of course, the match of the day was the showdown between Manchester City and Liverpool. With how the two clubs have been playing, one would have expected City to run away with it, but that isn’t what happened at Anfield. City had an early goal waved off, and Mo Salah put the Reds ahead in the 76th minute to give Liverpool the 1-0 victory. The refereeing wasn’t appreciated by either Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp. In fact, Klopp was so upset by a missed foul on Salah that he was shown a red card following his yelling at the sideline referee.

“I went over the top in the moment,” Klopp admitted after the game. “I don’t think it was disrespectful to anybody. But I know myself, and the way I look in these moments is already worth a red card.”

Free Kicks

• The Orlando Pride’s Erin McLeod led all Canadians in appearances and minutes played in the NWSL.
• Former Pride forward Alex Morgan scored in extra time to lift San Diego Wave FC to a 2-1 win over the Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL playoffs.

• In Texas, the Kansas City Current went on the road and found a late winner to beat the Houston Dash 2-1 and reach the semifinals as well.
• It shouldn’t be a surprise, but there are no Orlando Pride players up for an NWSL award this year. However, here is a nice take on the frontrunners for each award.
• The Christian Pulisic transfer rumor saga continues, with Eric Wynalda suggesting that the American ignore any offers from Leeds United, and transfer to Newcastle following the World Cup.
• Karim Benzema started the scoring for Real Madrid in its 3-1 win over Barcelona in another edition of El Clásico. The victory puts Real Madrid firmly at the top of the La Liga standings.

That will do it for me today. Keep your heads up and take care of yourself.