The Mane Land PawedCast

Orlando City was off this week so we don’t have the Lions to recap, but that doesn’t mean we took the week off with them. Oh, no. Our show is about the same length as it usually is. So what did we talk about? The Orlando Pride had a key match-up in the NWSL playoff race against Gotham FC and it did not go well. The Pride made the final score more respectable and had a shot at stealing a late point...

Orlando City picked the most dramatic ways to stop the bleeding this past week. The Lions roared back from two goals down on the road, scoring the equalizer in stoppage time to draw 2-2 at Nashville SC in the midweek. Then, on Saturday, Orlando improved on that by scoring a game winner deep in stoppage time in a 2-1 home win over D.C. United. The end of a four-game losing streak, followed by the e...

Orlando City lost its fourth straight match on Saturday and yet somehow it felt a lot less terrible than some of the other recent losses. The league-leading New England Revolution are formidable, especially in their own building (with the awful football lines and plastic grass), but the Lions did play mostly well in the match. We break down the game, including some tough bounces, calls, and slips...

Orlando City is sliding down the mountain right now and needs to find its ice axe to try to arrest its rapid descent before something catastrophic happens. The Lions had two matches in the past week and while they stopped scoring goals on themselves, they still can’t stop the other team from doing it and they also seem averse to finishing with 11 men on the pitch. None of this is particularly good...

Orlando City did not have a good week and we’d quite frankly rather not talk about it. However, since that’s literally what we do, we didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter and instead ranted a bit about the effort shown by the Lions in a rivalry match on the road in Atlanta last Friday. We struggled to find a Man of the Match but in the end we came up with our picks, but only begrudgingly. The...

Orlando City finally had a good offensive night, scoring three times against the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew. All of those were needed as an own goal by Antonio Carlos and a quick second goal by Miguel Berry turned a 2-0 deficit into a 2-2 game in the second half. But Junior Urso came to the rescue to provide the final margin. Orlando is now unbeaten in seven straight games and we’re...

Orlando City is in a bit of a scoring drought but the defense has been stout so at least the Lions are able to get something even when held without a goal. The draw against Miami isn’t what the Lions or their fans wanted, especially in a match that saw the team awarded a penalty, but the return of El Pulpo and a strong match from the back line helped secure a point in a scoreless draw at home on S...

Orlando City didn’t score a lot of goals but still managed to take four of a possible six points from a double-match week. The Lions started things with a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Nashville SC and came home to defeat the Chicago Fire 1-0 in a week that saw even more bodies leave the game day roster. Orlando had only one Designated Player at Nashville and had only 30 minutes of a DP on the field Sat...

Orlando City got a break from league play last week but the Lions’ first foray into international cup competitions wasn’t exactly the triumphant experience for which we all hoped. Orlando created some good opportunities early but failed to cash in against Santos Laguna and it came back to haunt the Lions as the visitors scored at the half hour mark and then choked City’s attack the rest of the way...

Orlando City is on a three-game unbeaten run after a pair of uninspiring 1-1 draws against rival Inter Miami (at home) and perenially bad FC Cincinnati (on the road) since our last episode. The Lions could, and should, have taken more from both games but points are points and the soccer gods seem unwilling to allow Oscar Pareja to have his preferred starters all healthy at the same time, so second...

Orlando City made it six straight against rival Atlanta United without a loss (3-0-3) on Friday night, with an emotional come-from-behind victory in Homegrown goalkeeper Mason Stajudhar’s MLS debut. Silvester van der Water came off the bench to spark the comeback and the Lions forced Josef Martinez to make sad faces on national television, which is always a good thing. We break down the match and...

Orlando City snapped a three-game winless skid on Thursday at home against the Philadelphia Union and then went right back to not winning on Sunday at New York City FC. A triumphant night against a good Eastern Conference opponent left everyone feeling good but those vibes evaporated quickly with an utter beatdown in the Bronx. A lot of that was the lineup that took the field Sunday due to rotatio...

Orlando City ended its losing streak in Toronto but extended a winless skid to three matches after managing only a 1-1 road draw. It wasn’t a terrible result and one point sure beats none, but the Lions still don’t quite seem back on track yet. Still, we’ve got a lot to say about what happened in Canada on Saturday. We also pick our Man of the Match and it’s unanimous again this week. Before we ge...

Orlando City is on a losing streak. This awful feeling that you have is something that you thought went away after Oscar Pareja’s arrival, but here we are after multiple losses for the Lions and a date with a rejuvenated Toronto FC looming on Saturday. Orlando went to Chicago and failed miserably to take its chances, allowing the hosts to hang around and ultimately win the game going away, 3-1. We...

Orlando City laid an egg against the New York Red Bulls for the second time in two meetings this season. The Lions failed to convert a penalty and multiple other good chances, and allowed a late game-winner to lose at home for the first time this season. We walk through the game and pick our Man of the Match, discuss a key injury to Orlando’s back line and the loan of Matheus Aias. And we talk abo...

Orlando City completed an incredible nine-point week after winning three times in seven days. The Lions went to Inter Miami’s house and won there for the first time en route to scooping up all three points for the third time in a week. Nani was again the catalyst, with an insane assist on Chris Mueller’s first goal of the season to pull Orlando level and then he scored a golazo to win it a few min...

Orlando City jumped back into action with two matches since our last show and won them both. The Lions are scoring goals and getting dubs and that brings a smile to our faces, even if you can’t see them while listening to the PawedCast. Perhaps you can hear them? We break down the Lions’ wins over Toronto FC and the San Jose Earthquakes and select our Man of the Match picks from both games. There...

Orlando City and the Orlando Pride were off this past week but both the U.S. men and women were in action, which meant Orlando players Daryl Dike and Alex Morgan were on the pitch. And, both scored! We talk a little about Dike’s performance in the U.S. Men’s National Team’s friendly against Costa Rica and the USWNT’s Summer Series so far. That last game was a mixed bag for Pride players, as Konya...

Orlando City was off this week with the international break but Daryl Dike has been spotted within the footprint of the 48 contiguous states and we hope to have him back in Orlando after tonight’s USMNT friendly against Costa Rica. While the Lions were off, the Orlando Pride were not, as they hit the road to face the Washington Spirit. It turns out that the only team the Pride can’t seem to beat i...

Orlando City is undefeated no more after a tough 2-1 loss at Red Bull Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Lions didn’t play well in the middle and dug a deep hole, then nearly climbed out of it thanks to Silvester van der Water. The rally came up a bit short, and the team can now concentrate on getting healthy, welcome back Nani and (eventually) Daryl Dike), and start preparing for another go-round w...

Orlando City extended its season-opening unbeaten to six matches with Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Toronto FC. The Lions were forced to beat the Reds with their captain and both starting fullbacks tied behind their backs but they were stout defensively and got a timely early goal from Tesho Akindele. They also got some great saves from Pedro Gallese. We discuss the match, Silvester van der Water’s...

Orlando City set a new MLS club best by going unbeaten in five matches to start the season with Sunday night’s 1-0 win at D.C. United. It wasn’t the prettiest win, but sometimes that’s what you need to do on the road. The Lions looked lively in the first half but after Mauricio Pereyra’s early goal just couldn’t find that final touch to double the lead, leaving the game there for United to take. D...

Orlando City remains undefeated on the young 2021 season but the Lions have drawn three times in four outings after Saturday night’s 1-1 affair with New York City FC at Exploria Stadium. It was the third consecutive match with a dramatic Nani goal but an ill-timed challenge from the returning Joao Moutinho threw NYCFC a lifeline via a late penalty. Still, the Lions appear in good form, aside from...

Orlando City finally got that elusive first win of 2021 out of the way after Saturday night’s 3-0 win over FC Cincinnati. We break down Orlando’s best game so far, including the return of Mauricio Pereyra, a good performance from Tesho Akindele, an easy night for El Pulpo, and more. Plus, we name our Man of the Match. After that, we’ve got some Tesho talk and maybe — just maybe — some folks are be...

Orlando City got a hard-fought point on the road at Sporting Kansas City on Friday night on an evening when you couldn’t really celebrate any goal until after it had been reviewed. The VAR decisions were all correct in the end but that didn’t make it easier to sweat through them at the time. In the end, it would have been harsh for the Lions to come home with nothing after that performance and we...