The Mane Land PawedCast

Orlando City wasn't content to throw away two points on Saturday. The Lions threw away all three on Wednesday just for funsies. Leading in the 87th minute — by just one goal on more than 20 shot attempts — the Lions did New York City FC a solid and scored a goal for them. Not content with a draw, Orlando City then gave up a 2-on-nobody break off its own corner kick opportunity four minutes later,...

Orlando City played CF Montreal and it wasn't a memorable match. Martin Ojeda's goal was memorable, but other than that, it was a night to forget, as the Lions could never put the game away and then had an unnecessary Rodri Schlegel moment late in the match to drop two precious points at home. The visitors created nothing all night but a few off-target shots from distance, but putting Prince Owusu...

Orlando City looked bereft of offensive ideas despite a lot of possession for the first hour in Charlotte Saturday night, but after going down two goals, the switch flipped and the Lions roared back to claim a road point, coming close to snagging all three. It was good to see the team not quit, but it wasn't so great to see the team struggle for 60 minutes. We checked our score predictions — one o...

Orlando City's offensive consistency continues to be inconsistent. Days after scoring four goals that could have been eight, the Lions scored one that should have been at least two. The team has also shipped multiple goals in consecutive games, although that set piece howler on Saturday can hardly be blamed on the defense as a whole. We checked our score predictions, broke down the key moments and...

Orlando City found its shootin' boots on Wednesday in St. Louis, scoring four goals on the road that could have been double that had a little decision making been better, some shots had been a little more precise, and Roman Burki hadn't played so well for St. Louis City. As it was, two Lions scored braces, with Ramiro Enrique a bit unlucky not to score his first hat trick for Orlando. The less we...

Orlando City was off for the past week, but not all Lions were without games to play. We start this show with a look at Alex Freeman's group stage performance with the United States Men's National Team in the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup. It's been a good performance for the young fullback, although not everything has gone smoothly, and the team's tactics and formation aren't really taking advantage of...

Orlando City returned to action and battled the Colorado Rapids on the road, claiming all three points and snapping a two-match losing streak. The Lions didn't play their best soccer, but they fought hard and were able to grind out a tightly contested road win. Martin Ojeda provided the game's only offensive highlight that mattered, showing that if you shoot hard and on frame, good things can, and...

Orlando City was off this week but Orlando City B was not. The Young Lions went on the road against one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference and, despite being dominated for much of the match, turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 away win. We broke down the team's second straight victory in stoppage time. We also looked ahead to OCB's midweek match at Carolina Core. We also spoke about Alex Freem...

Orlando City's 12-game unbeaten run came to a screeching halt just minutes after a silly red card on Cesar Araujo in Atlanta that turned a 2-1 lead into a 3-2 loss. Araujo may not be completely at fault for the loss, but the Lions seemed in control until the sending off of their best defensive midfielder, and once Atlanta got level, the Five Stripes smelled the blood in the water. Oscar Pareja was...

Orlando City kept rolling in MLS play with a 1-0 home win over the Portland Timbers, cleansing the palate after a distasteful U.S. Open Cup last week against a star-less Nashville SC side. It wasn't always crisp, and the Lions left several goals unscored, but Duncan McGuire's blast off of Eduard Atuesta's well-placed pass provided Orlando with the margin of victory. The Lions stayed focused for th...

After beating Lionel Messi and Inter Miami on Sunday, what did the Lions do for an encore? Well, they got knocked out of the U.S. Open Cup by a heavily rotated Nashville SC team that not only didn't start its star players; they weren't even available off the bench. No Hany Mukhtar. No Sam Surridge. No Joe Willis. No Daniel Lovitz. No problem. There were multiple visibly tired Lions in Wednesday's...

At least for one night, Orlando City solved the Lionel Messi problem. The Lions went into the Herons' home stadium and left with three points by way of a 3-0 road victory. City was content to let Miami have the ball, stay organized, and look for opportunities to hit the Herons on the break. Orlando did that on two of the team's three goals and the other came off a set piece from another such oppor...

Orlando City put together a complete game Wednesday against Charlotte FC. The Lions not only scored multiple goals for the third consecutive match in all competitions, but they also held the visitors to just a single, well-taken goal on their only shot on target all evening. David Brekalo is turning into a valuable asset at left back, while Martin Ojeda stays hot at the other end. We analyzed the...

Orlando City apparently never gets tired of drawing its opponent, but perhaps the Lions are tired of the 0-0 variety, as they scored not once, not twice, but thrice, and all of them came off the foot of Argentinian Designated Player Martin Ojeda. Our long national nightmare is over as a Lion not named Cyle Larin has netted a hat trick in an MLS match. Ojeda could have scored as many as seven times...

Orlando City took a break from scoreless draws in the MLS regular season to pound a hole in the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Wednesday night at Al Lang Stadium. A 16-year-old kid served as Orlando's baby-faced assassin, as Gustavo Caraballo took advantage of a first-team start in a competitive match by scoring his first two first-team goals. Caraballo became the youngest player in club history to score fo...

Orlando City may have found its scoring boots against Atlanta, but the Lions put those away, wrapped them in mothballs, and stuck them in the attic before heading to Soldier Field to play the Chicago Fire. The result was another 0-0 draw, but it was a lack of lethality that plagued Orlando on Saturday night on the road, despite being up a man for more than half the match. Martin Ojeda and Marco Pa...

Orlando City finally found its scoring boots late in the first half on Saturday. After a cagey, cautious opening half hour, the Lions started creating chances — one of which led to a penalty kick, which Luis Muriel buried. From there, the Lions went on to score twice after halftime (and it could have been more) in a thorough 3-0 win over rival Atlanta United. The Five Stripes rarely threatened Ped...

Orlando City did not play particularly well against CF Montreal, but the Lions still seemed more likely to take three points from the match than the hosts until Rafael Santos picked up a second yellow card. The lack of discipline on the back line the last couple of weeks has been shocking. Even if a card or two may have been soft, once a player has one, they need to walk the appropriate line to ke...

Orlando City played much better against the New York Red Bulls than it did on the road at Philadelphia, but a lack of finishing precision and two ill-advised yellow cards on Rodrigo Schlegel eventually turned a game full of promise into an exercise in protecting a point. To their credit, the Lions did that, but the way they'd been dominating play, it was a disappointing home result, despite runnin...

Orlando City overcame an entire missing starting central midfield Saturday when the Lions faced the Philadelphia Union, but it turned out the backups did just fine. Joran Gerbet and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson helped the Lions keep their first clean sheet of 2025, along with the insertion of David Brekalo at left back in kind of a hybrid role. Unfortunately, a good defensive outing was counterbalanced...

Orlando City brought three improbable points home from Los Angeles after a wild finish between the Lions and the Galaxy turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 road victory. Another defensive lapse on a possibly offside goal early in the match looked like it might end up being decisive until Eduard Atuesta had his foot stepped on in the box late in the second half. Martin Ojeda dispatched the penalty, and...

Orlando City came home from the team's second trip to the greater New York area in a bad mood and took it out on D.C. United Saturday night, ripping off four more goals and putting in the team's best defensive outing of the year so far, despite being backstopped by a goalkeeper in his first MLS start. Javier Otero played well, but the team in front of him ensured he wasn't called into action too o...

Orlando City got a decent road result at the New York Red Bulls, but it felt like a missed opportunity to take all three points. The offense continues to get the job done, but a questionable controversial penalty and a defensive lapse allowed the hosts to get something from the match. The good news is that Duncan McGuire is back in the lineup, and the offense could be even better as he gets strong...

Orlando City couldn't keep the momentum going from its win over Toronto FC as the Lions opened their road schedule with a 2-1 loss to New York City FC at Yankee Stadium. It was a poor start to each half by Orlando and the continuation of too many individual errors at the back that prevented a result, while the offense generated chances but wasn't as clinical as in the first couple of matches. At l...

FC that wasn't necessarily as close as the final score indicates. Sure, there are still a few worrying defensive lapses, but that's bound to happen when continuously shuffling the back line out of necessity, which is what the Lions had to do with both Robin Jansson and David Brekalo out this week. We look back on a night of goal scoring by committee that featured big contributions on the offensive...