Angel City beat the Utah Royals at home 2–0 tonight following goals by forwards Christen Press and Alyssa Thompson.
The first half saw Angel City dominate possession, at 60%, and shots, at 12 to four, but Utah defended deep and kept the hosts off the board.
Despite those numbers, it was Utah who got the first good chance of the game, with forward Ally Sentnor curling a close-range free kick over the Angel City wall and on target in the 13th minute—but it was a routine save for goalkeeper Angelina Anderson.
In the 16th minute, defender Gisele Thompson had a look for Angel City after midfielder Katie Zelem switched the ball into space on the right. Thompson dribbled up the wing, completed a one-two pass with forward Claire Emslie to get into the box, and took an angled shot, but it went wide.
Three minutes later, forward Riley Tiernan had another chance for ACFC, running onto a through ball by forward Alyssa Thompson. Tiernan muscled past the last defender to get one-on-one with goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn, but her shot was wide.
In the 38th minute, Utah had another chance when forward Brecken Mozingo received a diagonal pass in space on the right, took a touch to get into the box, and shot towards the far post, but her attempt also went wide.
Angel City’s best chance of the half came in the 41st minute, when a cross from the left by Vignola fell to Tiernan at the edge of the six-yard box; Tiernan fired off a close-range shot, which McGlynn blocked.
In the 66th minute, forward Christen Press scored in dramatic fashion less than a minute after subbing in for Emslie. Receiving the ball from midfielder Alanna Kennedy as she made a run up the right wing, she dribbled into the box, cut left to lose her mark, and curled a left-footed shot into the upper 90 to bring the score to 1–0.
In the 86th minute, Gisele Thompson had a clutch stop against midfielder Mina Tanaka as she charged into the box, sprinting after her and making a well-timed tackle to neutralize the play. Less than a minute later, Anderson saved a long-range attempt by Sentnor.
Alyssa Thompson doubled the lead in the 98th minute. She received a line-breaking pass from Tiernan, drove into the box, and sent a hard shot between two defenders, with the ball hitting the inside of the post and bouncing into the goal.
Angel City is back on the road next week, facing Bay FC on Saturday, May 17 at 7:00 p.m.
