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 being too hard on the Canadian. And we’ve got an injury update on Alexandre Pato and a general discussion of Orlando City injuries.

Christian Smith, manager of Hudson River Blue, joins us to break down the Orlando City vs. New York City FC match-up and what we can expect from the Pigeons in this early part of 2021. Big thanks to Christian, who now lives in the heart of Lion country, so if you see someone walking around Winter Park wearing an NYCFC kit, it might be him.

The Pride closed out their 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup run in North Carolina with a hard-fought 0-0 draw against the Courage. We discuss why Pride fans should be encouraged by the four-game set, even though Marc Skinner still has a lot of work to do. There’s a lot of positive energy building up with the Pride and hopefully they can ride it to a much-improved 2021 NWSL regular season.

This week’s mailbag asks some Star Wars-themed questions and touches on the protest at Old Trafford by Manchester United fans. We’ve got stuff to say about all of that.

Then we get to our key match-ups and score predictions for Orlando City vs. New York City FC on Saturday.

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. 244 went down:

0:15 - Orlando City wins! We hope you got your discounted pizza the next day and we hope you enjoy our walk through the match. Plus, Tesho’s reputation and Pato’s procedure.

41:15 - Christian Smith joins us to talk us through the start of NYCFC’s season and tells us what shape and lineup we might be looking at on Saturday, as well as what to expect from the visitors.

1:00:04 - The Pride are out of the Challenge Cup but in the end they were basically two plays from winning the whole darn East. The team seems to be improving but can it maintain that upward trajectory? Plus, our mailbag and predictions.

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