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 break down why. We also give our Man of the Match picks (unanimous this week) and touch on a trade that brought an international slot to Orlando on Tuesday.

We’re joined this week by Brad Weigel from Cincinnati Soccer Talk, who gave us the scoop on a team that Orlando City hasn’t played since 2019. A lot has changed and we appreciate Brad’s perspective on his team. He reminded us a lot of our own views on the Lions a few years ago and we can certainly sympathize with FCC fans, even if we don’t mind if Orlando is ruthless on Saturday night at Exploria Stadium.

The Orlando Pride earned their first win of 2021 after getting back Alex Morgan and Gunny Jonsdottir. Marc Skinner shook up his back line this week and Morgan hooked up with Sydney Leroux the way Pride fans were hoping she would. It wasn’t a perfect game from the Pride, but it’s a win and after subsequent results, Orlando goes into Saturday with at least a shot at getting through the East if a lot goes right. Ashlyn Harris was so upset that we forgot to mention her penalty save that she decided to do it again in the Pride’s 1-0 win over Washington. Also, we got a surprise schedule drop for the NWSL.

This week’s mailbag asks if we have any insight onto Orlando’s trade of $200,000 in General Allocation Money for an international slot. We’re looking into it. If there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on next show, just ask by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC.

That’s all for this week.

Stay safe and enjoy the show!

Here’s how show No. 243 went down:

0:15 - Orlando City got its third straight result against Sporting Kansas City and probably deserved all three points. We break it down.

38:16 - Brad Weigel jumps on with us and tells us what Cincinnati has been up to and what’s got him and his fellow FCC fans a bit frustrated to start the season.

1:02:12 - The Pride’s win keeps them in contention, a wild NWSL schedule appears, a light mailbag, and our key match-ups and score predictions for Orlando City vs. FC Cincinnati.

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