PawedCast Episode 373: Charlotte Rewind, Transfer Rumors, Cincinnati Preview, and More

Orlando City fell into the proverbial trap. With St. Louis City in the rearview mirror and a trip to league-leading Cincinnati looming this weekend, the match in Charlotte against a team that’s below the playoff line always looked like a trap game, even taking into account the Lions should have been out for revenge against a team that beat them at home in regular-season play and knocked them out of the U.S. Open Cup earlier this year.

Charlotte came out with a great deal of energy and Orlando City struggled to match it. The Lions eventually settled into the game and created some of the game’s best scoring chances, but struggled to finish when they stayed onside. A late penalty seemed to hand all the points to Charlotte again, but a little fortune fell Orlando City’s way when a long-range Martin Ojeda set piece fell kindly after clearing every player on the pitch, allowing the Lions to escape with a hard-fought road point. We’ve got the full game breakdown and our selections for Man of the Match.

Following our recap, we break down the reports of Samsunspor’s interest in Ercan Kara and what that means for Orlando City through the rest of 2023.

Geoff Tebbetts from Cincinnati Soccer Talk joined us to help us prepare for Orlando City’s trip to southwestern Ohio this Saturday to face the Supporters’ Shield leaders, FC Cincinnati. The Lions last saw FCC early in the season when the teams played to a 0-0 draw at Exploria Stadium. Geoff is the host of their Jersey Swap podcast and he did a great job of catching us up on the latest happenings in Cincy.

Our mailbagbox was a bit light for this episode but we can only answer the questions you send us, and you asked us about Ercan Kara and about Folarin Balogun going to Monaco. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC.

OCB has a tall task ahead on Sunday and the Young Lions will probably have to face Crown Legacy without the likes of Jack Lynn, Abdi Salim, and potentially Thomas Williams. That’s not ideal.

Finally, we discussed Saturday’s matchup between Orlando City and FC Cincinnati. We’ve got our key matchups and score predictions for you.

Here’s how No. 373 went down:

0:15 – The Lions struggled in the attack but scratched back to earn a point in Charlotte.

35:54 – We welcome Geoff from Cincinnati Soccer Talk to preview the Lions’ trip to face the Supporters’ Shield leaders.

54:06 – A look in the mailbagbox, OCB to face Crown Legacy without some key players, and our key matchups and score predictions for the Lions’ trip to Cincinnati.