Match Recap: Angel City FC vs. Chicago Stars FC
Welcome to the NWSL, Alex Straus! The first taste is of the After Dark variety.
Angel City managed a point from their matchup against the Chicago Stars Saturday night at BMO Stadium. The Stars were missing a lot of their starters, which makes it feel disappointing not to walk away with more but Angel City was also down three starters with many of the ones available coming back from international duty. Straus mentioned that the group had only one training day all together before the game.
So with Gisele Thompson, Claire Emslie, and Savy King all still out, the team saw Miyabi Moriya, Julie Dufour, and Megan Reid start in their places.
This game was very physical. Even though Angel City seemed to struggle with Chicago’s press, particularly in the midfield, the first goal came from some really great combination play up the right wing between Moriya, Dufour, and Riley Tiernan resulting in Kennedy Fuller slotting the ball home from right in front of goal. For the next few minutes after this, Moriya and Dufour seemed to be stepping more aggressively which was welcome to see as they are two players that I think are still getting used to the physicality of the NWSL. This great linkup between the players on the right would not be replicated again, though, unfortunately, Moriya and Dufour’s connections between each other and the midfielders are just not yet at the level of G. Thompson and Emslie. This left Angel City to try and push the ball up the left and interchange within themselves to get Alyssa Thompson on the ball. This is reflected in the passing and heat maps for the match.
In some ways, I am happy that Straus got to see some pretty classic Angel City defensive breakdowns in his first match in charge because that hopefully means his mind will be churning to figure out how to resolve it. The Stars’ first goal came off of a quick throw in that our players seemed unprepared for, and in trying to track down the newly subbed in Nadia Gomes, MA Vignola seemed to cause the cross to take an odd path, over Angelina Anderson into the back of the net. The second came not too long after when the defense gave Ally Schlegel far too much space in the transition, which allowed her to get a shot off from distance. Much of the drama in this game revolved around Vignola, actually, as there was a scrum in the box that actually led to a third goal for Chicago that got called back. I couldn’t see this play that well in the stadium and watching it back on an Instagram Reel wasn’t particularly helpful for me, so I had to go back and watch this on x0.25 speed and honestly it’s still kind of hard to see. However, PRO’s response after the game was that Vignola “successfully blocked the shot with her leg… the ball significantly changed direction and bounced off the ground unexpectedly making contact with the hand.” Thus, without the handball, the goal seemed to have been called back due to a foul on Reid by Ludmila before the final shot.
Vignola eventually returned the favor in the 80th minute by roofing it top corner, back post after Tiernan did a good job to hold up the ball on the left wing and draw defenders. I do have to say, I love a Vignola celebration. There’s always so much passion behind it. Angel City had their foot on the gas for the rest of the game trying to regain their lead, but it never came despite Dufour seeming to have grown into the game by then and Casey Phair, Christen Press, and Madison Hammond making positive impacts off of the bench.
Angel City created enough in this game to walk away with all three points, and looking at the numbers after the game it shows that the Stars had some luck on their side. Obviously the group made mistakes that allowed Chicago into the game, but I guess what I’m trying to say is the overall performance wasn’t as bad as it may have felt at times. Something I did enjoy seeing after the fact was the giant, filled circle in the middle of the shot map. Compared to the other teams at the top of the league in Goals For, Angel City has fewer of these high percentage shots from in and directly outside the opponent’s six yard box. In the press conference after the game, Straus mentioned that the buildup on the first goal was a reflection of something the team had worked on in training. If that’s true and we expect this team to get better with time in this system, I think we have a lot to look forward to.
Obviously, disappointing to only get one point against the worst team in the league. And on Pride Night! However, the team didn’t lay down and die after conceding two goals in quick succession. They clawed their way back into the game and maintained a decent threat level until the final whistle. However, Straus has his work cut out for him. Even before King went down and the injuries started to crop up amongst the squad, Angel City had conceded a lot of goals. What was heartening, though, was seeing Straus active on the touchline making tweaks that seemed to help and listening to him talk about his hopes for what a player-centered approach might do for this defense moving forward. Next week Angel City plays the North Carolina Courage at BMO. They have been experiencing some struggles of their own this season, but will likely be desperate to snap their two game losing streak. Hopefully Angel City will see some players come off the Availability Report and continue to tweak and grow with Straus.
A couple of non-game related positives. Savy King was in the stands and it was great to see her with her teammates, in the environment, and seeming to be in good spirits.
Jun Endo has been removed from the Season-Ending Injury list and was available for selection on Saturday. Endo tore her ACL before the beginning of the 2024 season, missing out on its entirety and the Olympics. Hopefully we will see her start working back into games before the long break starts at the end of this month. I will be curious to see if Angel City eventually moves to a true three back with wingbacks, which is a position that Endo has thrived in with Japan.
Finally, there’s a lot going on in Los Angeles and the United States in general right now. It was nice to go to Pride Night at BMO and feel like the organization’s allyship with the LGBTQIA+ and immigrant communities isn’t performative. Angel City hasn’t always gotten it right in this department, but it felt important to see a statement from them before the game reaffirming that BMO is a place where diversity is celebrated. The Pride Night made an effort to highlight trans folks and celebrate gender expansive identities. The on field stuff can be frustrating, but when it comes to culture and community, Angel City seems to get a lot of things right.
Oh and Katseye was there.