The Mane Land PawedCast

The Lions found a way. Orlando City came back from a first-half deficit, then responded late after Santos Laguna had erased its own one-goal deficit in the second half. There was one likely hero and two less likely ones accounting for Orlando's goals, and a vital tackle turned Santos Laguna's potential game-winning transition opportunity into the Lions' game-winner on the counter instead. We look...

With Orlando City having the midweek off, a wet Exploria Stadium welcomed English Premier League sides Aston Villa and Fulham on Wednesday night as the Summer Series came to Orlando. Despite a late start due to typical inclement Central Florida weather, the 16,000+ fans in attendance were treated to a fairly feisty friendly between the teams from Birmingham and London. It started out a bit cagey b...

Orlando City did just about enough against the Houston Dynamo on Friday night but a highly questionable penalty call spoiled Pedro Gallese's clean sheet and ultimately cost the Lions a point in the South 2 group of the 2023 Leagues Cup. That makes the road to the knockout stages slightly more difficult with a big match coming up against Santos Laguna. We break down a game Orlando should not have n...

When we went to our two-shows-per-week format, we intended to cut the average length of our episodes. With that in mind, we think you won't mind too much about this episode being a little longer than usual. First of all, we're giving it to you a day early and second...well, we are extremely excited to bring you our extended interview with Orlando City Technical Director and Assistant General Manag...

Orlando City went to Mercedes-Benz Stadium and did something the Lions have only done once in their history in the series — they claimed all three points on the road against Atlanta United. From Mauricio Pereyra's string-pulling to Duncan McGuire's strong finishing, to Wilder Cartagena and Cesar Araujo starving forwards of service, to Antonio Carlos doing everything he possibly could on both ends,...

Without a midweek game (thank goodness!), we decided to take a look at the transfer window from Orlando City's perspective. Although we don't expect an active transfer window for the Lions, we did think it was worthwhile to look at the spots on the roster where a move might be helpful to the team. We had one common train of thought and expanded in some different decisions as well. Orlando City's d...

Be a goldfish, but only for the bad games. It's perfectly fine to remember the 4-0 win over Toronto last Tuesday but the sooner we get rid of all vestiges of Saturday night's 4-0 loss at Real Salt Lake, the better. The Lions looked lively for about 15 minutes and then the reality of the fixture congestion, travel, and altitude caught up with them. The first half was an evenly matched affair, with...

The sandwich in Orlando City's three-games-in-eight-days schedule was a tasty one, with the Lions exploding for four goals in a beatdown of Toronto FC prior to the more usual holiday fireworks display in the sky above Exploria Stadium afterward. Cesar Araujo, Rafael Santos, Wilder Cartagena, and others starred on a night that never seemed in doubt once Duncan McGuire's flick beat former Lion Greg...

After one normal work week, the Lions are right smack dab in the midst of fixture congestion once again, as Orlando City is set to play on two days rest against Toronto FC before flying out to Utah to face Real Salt Lake on Saturday. Orlando City is coming off a 3-1 home victory over the Chicago Fire, with Facundo Torres adding two more goals and Ramiro Enrique getting on the scoresheet. We break...

Orlando City finally has a normal work week. But even though the Lions didn't play since our last show, there's still a game to discuss. OCB hosted Philadelphia Union II, looking to keep its unbeaten home streak intact. That did not, in fact, happen. The Union kids came in and took all three points in a lopsided 3-0 win over the Young Lions. The stats say the game should have yielded OCB a better...

Orlando City completed a three-games-in-eight-days gauntlet, finishing with a transcontinental trip to play the Seattle Sounders. Although the Lions played well in the match and created chances, they were ultimately undone by a lack of finishing once again as Mauricio Pereyra's empty-net sitter sailed over the crossbar from about eight yards out and Stefan Frei made some good saves to deny Duncan...

Orlando City returned home on short rest and squred off with a well-rested Philadelphia Union team on Wednesday night. Things started off well and then got better in the second half before the game took a turn on an unintentional Union goal and then nothing seemed to go right as the Lions' legs got heavier in the late stages of the match. We look back on yet another punch in the unmentionables, di...

Some important players were missing on Saturday and so was Orlando City's connectivity as the Lions once again came home from Gillette Stadium without any points. The Revolution's 3-1 win was deserved and only a late strike from Duncan McGuire gave Orlando fans anything to cheer about from a rain-soaked game on the fake plastic grass in Foxborough. We broke down the match in our usual haphazard st...

As the Lions prepare for an important trip to Gillette Stadium to play the New England Revolution, there will be some names missing from the starting XI and even from the bench. We discussed how Oscar Pareja's troops will assemble in Massachusetts and what will happen in the second half when tired legs require substitutions. Sam Minton from The Blazing Musket joins us this week to give us the scoo...

Orlando City did that thing where you outscore the other team at home and get three points and it was everything we dreamed it would be. No, the game wasn't an objectively entertaining match, but the Lions dominated possession and did just enough to take advantage of the Colorado Rapids having not one, but two men sent off. We break down the proceedings, including Dave's trip down to see the game...

It's PawedCast time again, and since there was apparently only one news story in the entire world this week, we've sunk to giving actual minutes of our show to discussing the as-yet-unsigned Lionel Messi. What does it mean for MLS, for Miami, and for Orlando if and when that signature happens? As with any signing, we'll have to wait and see, but it will at least solve Inter Miami's attendance issu...

It's early June, so technically it's still time to do some spring cleaning. Speaking of which, the Lions got their brooms out and swept the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night in Harrison, NJ. Ivan Angulo, Facundo Torres, Wilder Cartagena, and Robin Jansson starred on a night when Orlando City's strategy was to stay organized against New York's chaotic press and wait for opportunities to punish t...

we have no special guest, however, we still had plenty to discuss. Orlando City B took center stage early this week with a rare Monday night match against New York Red Bulls II. The Young Lions jumped out to an early lead, fell behind by halftime, and managed to stage a comeback to claim all three points. OCB remains unbeaten at home in 2023 after a wild match that of course featured some Jack Lyn...

Orlando City returned home and once again goals were difficult to come by, which allowed the visitors to score late and take points home with them. The Lions were playing their second straight rivalry match and Atlanta United was ripe for the picking, but Orlando City could only muster one goal from Kyle Smith — getting the PawedCast bump from his appearance last week — and allowed an equalizer in...

[Note: Apologies for the echoey sound on my mic on this episode (Dave and Kyle sound great). Apparently my mic switched to the built-in laptop mic without me noticing and that's on me. It sounds OK but not as good as usual.] We're back with a second show in between rivalry matches and we're joined by Orlando City defender Kyle Smith! It's about darn time we had Kyle on the show and we're very than...

Orlando City went back on the road for a tussle with its neighbors to the south in the latest installment of the Tropic Thunder rivalry. The Lions struck first and last in a good overall performance against Inter Miami and claimed all three points in Fort Lauderdale for just the second time in five visits. Ercan Kara continued to pour in goal contributions with one strike and one assist. Not to be...

Orlando City returned home but not to its winning ways as an 89th-minute equalizer by a kid scoring his first MLS goal ruined what was moments from being a perfectly fine victory over New York City FC. The Lions couldn't build on Ercan Kara's early goal, although some good saves from the opposing goalkeeper did help the visitors on that front. A point is a point and on this show we talk about how...

Orlando City finally scored a couple of goals but, unfortunately, the Lions fell behind 2-0 before scoring them. The lads in purple went to Columbus for their third consecutive match away from the friendly confines of Exploria Stadium to take on the Crew. After falling behind 2-0 at the break, again without putting any shots on frame, the Lions started hitting the target. City had a much better se...

Can someone with a lion on their shirt badge please locate the goal? Orlando City followed up its 2022 U.S. Open Cup championship with a one-and-done entry in the competition in 2023 with Tuesday night's 1-0 loss at Charlotte FC. Overall, the Lions did almost everything they had to do in order to advance with a road win — with the major exception of putting the ball in the old onion bag. Eleven sh...

Saturday night didn't go exactly as planned for Orlando City. The Lions got off to a decent enough start but the same lack of sharpness with the final shot or pass returned after it took a vacation during the LA Galaxy match. An unlucky bounce gave the hosts their opening goal and they were good enough defensively to see the match out, while good enough offensively to pounce on a mistake at the ba...