Lion Links: 8/29/22

Merry Monday morning, Mane Landers! Holy mackerel, how much fun was that match last night? All the drama, all the weather, all the stuff. Whew. If you can’t tell, I’m writing this just after watching the match, so you’ll excuse me if I’m a little enthused. Let’s get to the links.

Orlando City Defeats NYCFC at the Death

Orlando City hosted Eastern Conference rival New York City FC at Exploria Stadium in what amounted to a very wet affair, at least in the first half. Orlando City took the early lead and then the rain really started to come in. NYCFC evened the score in the second half, but Orlando scored another late winner to claim all three points at home in a 2-1 victory. It was Orlando’s third straight victory and the Lions will host the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday. Michael Citro has your match recap.

Notable Results From Around MLS

I’m not going to go through every MLS match from the weekend, but there were a few games that really stood out. The first was a double red card match between Inter Miami and the New York Red Bulls. Miami’s Alejandro Pozuelo was shown red in the first half, and the Red Bulls took advantage. On the other side, the Red Bulls lost Kyle Duncan in the 70th minute, but Miami was unable to draw level in the 3-1 loss.

At the top of the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia Union rolled on with a 6-0 shellacking of the Colorado Rapids and Dániel Gazdag had a hat trick. Just a bit south of Philly, D.C. United lost to Atlanta United on the back of three headers from the visitors. The most interesting part of that match was that all five goals scored by the two clubs came in the second half.

Big Six Bounce Back in the EPL

The English Premier League was full of wild results over the weekend. Manchester United won its second match in a row by defeating Southampton 1-0 on a goal by Bruno Fernandes. Meanwhile, Manchester City did what it does and came from behind to earn a 4-2 victory over Crystal Palace thanks to an Erling Haaland hat trick.

Of course, the literal biggest result of the weekend was Liverpool’s 9-0 thrashing of Bournemouth. The Cherries were the unfortunate recipients of Liverpool’s frustration from the first three matches without a win. At the top of the table, Arsenal kept its unbeaten streak going with a 2-1 win over Fulham.

Nottingham Forest earned its second loss of the season after a 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. The match belonged to Harry Kane, who scored a brace to doom Forest. The match between Wolves and Newcastle ended in a 1-1 draw thanks to a late goal from Newcastle’s Allan Saint-Maximin.

Police Investigate Paul Pogba’s Extortion Claims

It seems to be something out of a movie, but Paul Pogba claims he is being extorted by gangsters. His brother, Mathias, posted a video online — in four languages — that he was going to reveal secrets about the Juventus star. The video alleges that Pogba placed a curse on fellow Frenchman Kylian Mbappe and more information will be revealed. The proper authorities are on the case and looking into Pogba’s claims.

Free Kicks

• If you were expecting Giovanni Reyna to make his return to Borussia Dortmund this past weekend, worry not. Reyna has been working hard in training, and could have played, but Dortmund skipper Edin Terzić kept him out as a precautionary measure regarding his fitness.
• Liverpool wasn’t the only club to score nine goals this weekend. Celtic dropped nine on Dundee United to secure the biggest win in the league in 12 years.
• Kris Ward, the former coach of the Washington Spirit, publicly stated that the incident that resulted in his firing was the first time he’d raised his voice to the players. The Spirit players took issue with his account and characterized it as “completely inaccurate.”
• FIFA may have lifted the suspension on India, but it wasn’t in time for Gokulam Kerala to play in the AFC Women’s Club Championship. To say the timing is unfair for Kerala is an understatement.
• In a woefully inadequate measure from Iran’s Ministry of Sports, 500 women were allowed into Tehran’s Azadi Stadium to watch a local soccer match. This is the ridiculous reality we live in today in [/checks notes]...2022.
• Finally, in case you forgot, Robert Lewandowski is good at soccer.

That will do it for today. Have a wonderful week. Vamos, Orlando!