Friday, August 15, at 7:00 p.m., Angel City Football Club is on the road against Utah Royals FC. The game will stream live on NWSL+ and Paramount+, and air regionally on FanDuel Sports Network, with an English-language radio broadcast on iHeart. Angel City will host a watch party at 33 Taps in Culver City.
Matchup
Angel City’s last regular-season game was a 1–1 draw on the road at San Diego Wave. Forward Makenzy Robbe opened the scoring for the Wave, with defender Alanna Kennedy notching a late equalizer for the visitors.
Utah’s most recent game was a 0–1 home loss to Kansas City on August 8.
ACFC last faced the Royals on May 9 of this year, winning 2–0 at home. They are 2–0–1 (W–L–D) all-time against Utah.
Angel City are currently in 11th place with a 4–7–4 record. The Royals are in 14th at 1–11–3.
Scouting Report
As their record shows, the Royals have had a difficult second season in their current iteration, having rejoined the league after a four-year hiatus between 2020 and 2024. However, there are signs the team is improving after the summer break.
In addition to their 0–1 loss last weekend, Utah’s other game since league play returned in August was a 1–1 draw away at Orlando. Though the results only amount to a combined one point in the standings, a closer look provides some context.
First, those two games, on paper, were the toughest back-to-back test the team has faced all season, as they were contested against the current top two teams in the standings. The loss last week represented just the fourth time all season the nigh-unstoppable Kansas City Current offense had been held to one goal or less (Angel City managed the same feat in June). A draw on the road, like the Royals earned in Orlando, is a decent result for any team, let alone for the bottom-ranked team against the league runners up.
Second, it appears the Royals’ defense may be improving. Before the summer break, the team had conceded a worst-in-the-league 29 goals and had only held their opponent to one or fewer goals four times. That they did so in back-to-back games against the top two teams hints at a real improvement from this group.
Midseason Playoff Picture
Last week’s 1–1 draw with San Diego marked several 2025 milestones for Angel City.
First, as ACFC’s defense has struggled to keep pace with their offense—the team has scored 21 goals but conceded 27—holding the Wave, who boast the second-best offense in the league, to a single goal represented a step in the right direction. In addition, Angel City allowed 10 shots from San Diego, just the fifth time the team has held an opponent to 10 or fewer attempts this season.
On the other side of the ball, the game was the first time in 2025 the team had come back to earn a result after conceding before their opponent. After substitute forward Makenzy Robbe put the Wave up 1–0 in the 82nd minute, ACFC turned up the pressure, earning a handful of opportunities in the closing minutes of regulation time. In the second minute of stoppage, forward Sveindís Jónsdóttir lofted a cross off a recycled corner kick into the six-yard box for defender Alanna Kennedy, who cleanly headed it into the back of the net.
The goal was Jónsdóttir’s first contribution to a goal at Angel City, and Kennedy’s first goal. The goal was classic Kennedy: grit mixed with precision, delivered at the moment the team needed it the most.
Angel City is returning home to BMO Stadium on Thursday, August 21 to defend La Fortaleza against Orlando Pride at 7:30 PM PT. 🎟️ Get tickets here.
