Lion Links: 8/22/23

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Orlando City and the Orlando Pride ended the weekend in style with a clean sweep of their Chicago counterparts, tallying up an 8-1 aggregate victory. If that didn’t start your week off on the right note, then I don’t know what will. As usual, there’s plenty to discuss today, so let’s get after it.

Facundo Torres and Wilder Cartagena Honored

Facundo Torres made the starting XI and Wilder Cartagena is on the bench of the latest MLS Team of the Matchday. Cartagena scored the equalizer and had a great all-around game in Orlando’s 3-1 comeback win over the Chicago Fire. Torres had the assist on the tying goal and buried his penalty kick with conviction and no small amount of venom. The Uruguayan now has eight goals and four assists in league play this year, while Cartagena has a goal and an assist. In our player grades for the game, yours truly rated Cartagena a 7.5 out of 10, and he was only narrowly denied Man of the Match honors by Facu, who I awarded an 8. Congrats boys, keep up the good work!

Messiah Bright Wins Player of the Week Voting

Messiah Bright won the online NWSL Player of the Week voting for the sterling part she played in the Orlando Pride’s 5-0 demolition job of the Chicago Red Stars. The 23-year-old rookie scored the second and third goals of the rout and actually could have bagged a couple more. Her first came as she cut inside onto her right foot at the edge of the box and curled a beautiful shot into the far corner that Alyssa Naeher had no shot of touching. For her second, she ran onto a fantastic outside-of-the-foot ball from Marta, took the ball around Naeher, and kept her cool to finish from a difficult angle. She’s absolutely a worthy winner, and hopefully there’s more to come.

Savarese Out as Portland Timbers Head Coach

The Portland Timbers have parted ways with their head coach, Giovanni Savarese. This decision comes following a 5-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo and the Timbers sitting 12th in the Western Conference. Savarese has coached the Timbers since the 2018 season, leading them to two MLS Cup final appearances and a victory over Orlando to win the MLS is Back Tournament. Assistant coach Miles Joseph will serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

Christian Pulisic Enjoys Dazzling Debut

Christian Pulisic’s debut in Italy likely went a long way towards ingratiating himself with the AC Milan faithful. The United States Men’s National Team forward was involved in the buildup of one goal and scored a rocket from the edge of the area as Milan opened the Serie A season with a 2-0 win over Bologna.

Goal aside, Pulisic looked extremely comfortable in his new surroundings, and it was nice to see him enjoying playing at the club level after an up-and-down spell at Chelsea. As good as it was already, that goal also carried a little history with it.

European Transfer Roundup

The European transfer market is in full flow, and there are a number of important developments to cover. First up, Sergino Dest officially joined fellow USMNT player Ricardo Pepi at PSV Eindhoven on a loan deal, with the option to make the move permanent next summer.

Chelsea’s talks with the New England Revolution for goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic have reportedly progressed to a verbal agreement according to Fabrizio Romano.

Finally, Manchester City has reportedly signed winger Jeremy Doku from Rennes for $71 million.

Free Kicks

• John Herdman, the manager of Canada’s men’s national team, is reportedly one of the top candidates being considered for the coaching job at Toronto FC (paywall).
• Luis Rubiales, the president of Spanish football, has apologized for kissing Jenni Hermoso during the celebrations following Spain’s victory over England in the Women’s World Cup final.
• Following a lengthy investigation into his off-field conduct, Manchester United announced that Mason Greenwood will leave the team.
• Liverpool applauded Juventus for taking swift action after one of the Italian club’s youth players racially abused his Liverpool opponent during an U-16 tournament.

That’s all for today’s links. I hope you all have a great day.