Orlando City got smoked in Montreal like the meat they sell at the delis there. The Lions were never really in the 4-1 road loss, even when they cut the 2-0 deficit in half on Joao Moutinho’s goal. The side was missing much more than center back Robin Jansson. It was lacking any kind of connectivity from back to front. As a result, the Lions attempted only two shots in the match — an even more dismal offensive output than in the home loss to New York. We break things down a bit and select our Man of the Match.

We were much more pleased with Tuesday’s result — a 2-1 home win over the Philadelphia Union in U.S. Open Cup action. The Lions had a lot more ability to break lines and shuttle the ball forward with Junior Urso, Andres Perea, and Alexandre Pato keeping Facundo Torres and Ercan Kara from getting too isolated. It wasn’t a perfect outing. Many mistakes were made. However, it was a step in the right direction and hopefully one upon which Oscar Pareja can build. We selected our Man of the Match for the U.S. Open Cup win as well, and we were unanimous again.

Two new Lions joined the team this week but only one will play in 2022. Jake Mulraney provides much-needed coverage on the wing, while future star Gaston Gonzalez will have to wait until 2023 to show us what he can do because of his unfortunate knee injury.

The Orlando Pride traveled west and brought back Amanda Cromwell’s first NWSL victory from Sunday’s 1-0 road win at Angel City FC. Sydney Leroux’s goal was just about enough and the Pride were fortunate not to pay for several misses that could have put the game out of reach before halftime. Orlando was easily the better side for the first half hour but things got a bit dicey over the last hour. When needed, Erin McLeod came up big. It’s an important building block for the Pride.

OCB was off for the second straight week.

This week’s mailbag asked about movies I haven’t seen yet, how to rank the trophies from various MLS competitions, and who the Lions should want to play in the next round of the Open Cup. If there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the next show, just ask by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC.

And we closed the show by giving our key match-ups and score predictions for Saturday’s return to Canada as Orlando City visits Toronto FC.

Stay safe and enjoy the show!

Here’s how No. 294 went down:

0:15 - Orlando City had mixed results, bombing badly in MLS play and then performing well to advance in the Open Cup.

39:13 - The Pride were much better in the second week of the regular season against Angel City.

58:57 - The mailbag beckons and we have predictions for Saturday’s match in Toronto.

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