Angel City FC defeated the Kansas City Current 1–0 at home tonight, following an own goal by Kansas City defender Taylor Leach that was forced by ACFC forward Christen Press.
“I think it was a solid performance,' said Head Coach Freya Coombe after the game. 'We’ve been asking to see consistency in our previous games and i think we’re starting to get it. You can see how difficult we are to break down and how we support each other off of the ball.'
Much of the often physical first half played out in the middle third, with neither team able to get much of a foothold offensively early in the game. The first chance for either team came in the ninth minute, when the Current were awarded a free kick just outside the 18. Defender Alex Loera stepped up to take the kick and curved the ball over the Angel City wall and on target. Despite having her view blocked by the wall, ACFC keeper DiDi Haračić made an excellent reflex save and parried the ball over the crossbar.
'It was tricky,' said Haračić. 'It's difficult trying to see behind five of my players. That's the worst part—when you have the five tallest players on the team as blockers. I'm doing my job and they did theirs. We kept it simple, kept it clean.'
The save was a crucial moment in the early game. 'You talk about turning points in games, and that was definitely one,' said Coombe. 'Not only for us to keep a clean sheet, but also the momentum that it gives everyone else, just through her performance and confidence. She's been solid, and we talk about the pressure of playing in front of the fans, but she thrives on pressure. She's doing an absolutely great job and I think she's building and getting better and better each game.”
The match remained a midfield battle for the next 20 minutes or so. In the 31st minute, forward Simone Charley made a run into the right side of the 18. She beat an attempted tackle by Kansas City defender Elizabeth Ball and took a shot at the near post, which keeper AD Franch blocked. The home side started putting together more chances from that point onward, including a sharply angled 37th-minute shot that midfielder Savannah McCaskill took from the right edge of the six-yard box, which went just wide of the far post.
The first part of the second half again saw a back-and-forth battle without many chances from either side. With about 30 minutes to go in the game, Angel City started to build momentum, getting the ball into dangerous areas more often.
'We’ve learned to weather storms and stay steady,' said midfielder Cari Roccaro. 'By the second half, we started to get our groove and got the goal. Once we scored, we totally settled in and took complete control of the game.'
In the 70th minute, one of those forays paid off with a Kansas City own goal. McCaskill sent a ball from the central midfield to forward Christen Press on the right wing. Press went to the endline and tried to beat Ball, but the defender blocked her initial touch. Undeterred, Press recovered the ball and sent it across the face of goal, where it deflected off defender Taylor Leach and over the line.
'That’s what happens when you’re fast as hell and ruthless and relentless,' said Roccaro of the goal. 'You get rewarded for it.'
The home side continued to push throughout the rest of the game, with another close call coming in the 78th minute. Forward Jun Endo sent a corner kick to the top of the six-yard box, where defender Vanessa Gilles got her head on the ball and put it on target—but Franch made a difficult save to keep the score at 1–0.
In addition to keeping the clean sheet, Angel City outshot the Current and significantly bested them in shot quality, taking nine of their 13 shots from inside the box, compared with Kansas City’s two (out of nine total). Angel City also had 21 touches inside the opposition box, compared to the Current’s 10.
'You can just see little incremental improvements now we’re getting results,' said Roccaro. This is, I believe, the first back-to-back wins in the regular season, and that’s huge for us. That was something we set our minds to. We wanted to put two good performances together and I think we’re all really pumped about that.'
Angel City is at home again next Sunday at 5 p.m. against NJ/NY Gotham FC. The match will be streamed live on Paramount+.
