ACFC 1-0 Seattle Reign

What a performance in the face of adversity. Both teams came into this match needing a win if there was any hope of making the playoffs, but only Angel City stepped up. Doing so only a day after the news of the salary cap deductions broke showed just how strong the mentality of this team really is. Making the playoffs is still a real long shot, although Portland in particular seems determined to make it happen. Still Angel City would probably need to win all of their next three games too, and have Bay, Portland, and Louisville all lose all of their remaining games. Angel City has never, in their whole history, won three straight games, let alone four, so the odds are not in our favor, but the players seem determined to give it their all. Doing so on the road, in Seattle, is even more impressive to me.

Match Statistics

Angel City dominated this game pretty handily, though there are some items to keep an eye on. We clearly won the xG battle, 1.2 to .4, and outshot Seattle, 11 to 6. In terms of chances worth at least .1 xG, Angel City had 4, while Seattle had 1. Possession was evenly split at 50/50. The things that are concerning for me are that 9 of Angel City’s shots were in the first half, with only two in the second half, while we allowed Seattle 5 shots in the second half, 4 of which came after the 87’. None of them were particularly high quality chances, but when you’re holding on to a 1-0 lead, that feels risky. One bad bounce could result in the tying goal. Possession also had been 57%-43% in Angel City’s favor at halftime, so Seattle definitely got back into the game, even if they couldn’t equalize. The other point of concern is the continued trend of wasteful finishing. Of Angel City’s 11 Shots, only 2 were on target. Bright, in particular, missed two headers, one with .34 xG, and one with .14 xG. The second one was further out, but was actually a better chance, I thought, as it was a completely free header, but neither one was even on target.

Defense

The defense particularly stood out in this match. The .4 xGA was the lowest allowed all year, and the .1 Post Shot xG was practically non-existant, leading to Haračić’s 4th Clean Sheet of the season, and only the 13th of her career. Having just played Seattle a few weeks ago, we can look at some comparisons, and something that stood out to me is that in this match, Angel City had 32 Tackles + Interceptions, while in the previous match against the Reign, we only had 20. Curry particularly shined with 9 T+I, 4 more than any other Angel City player. That second place was Zelem, actually, and I think that the more the she can win the ball back, the better for the team. I see her primary role as a deep lying playmaker, rather than a destroyer, but tackles have always been part of her game. When she can give the back four that extra bit of protection, it makes a difference. We’ve seen Angel City concede a number of goals this year when a midfielder gets beaten cleanly in the middle of the pitch, which then forces other defenders to run out of position to try and cover, inevitably leading to holes, and conceding a goal.

The elimination of individual errors from this game was also a crucial piece. Last time we played Seattle, the penalty conceded by Haračić was a real turning point in the momentum of the game. Angel City is actually tied for the league lead in Errors with the Utah Royals, and eliminating those mistakes can be all the difference, especially in.a close game like this one.

Sofia Huerata

One of the other big differences between the last game and this one was the absence of Sofia Huerta for Seattle. In that last game she led Seattle in Passes, and was also key defensively in limiting Alyssa Thompson. She even converted the penalty that Seattle was awarded. But now, she’s with Lyon, as Seattle respected her wishes about playing in Europe, and loaned her out. This was apparently something that had been discussed all summer, and yet Seattle seemed very unprepared for the move. Huerta had played every minute of the campaign for them, prior to the loan, so it was clear that a succession plan was needed. However Seattle has replaced her with Latsko, who is not even a defender. This was a factor in Angel City’s goal, but also in Seattle’s build-up play, I thought.

Goals

Only one to talk about in this game, but it was a really nice, well-worked goal. I want to go all the way back to the corner kick, prior to the goal. Emslie takes the corner from Angel City’s right side, and Alyssa comes over to be available for a short corner. Emslie opts to put it into the box, where Hammond tries a decent flick, but it’s not on target. Seattle corrals the ball and clears it out. When they clear, Alyssa gets back quick, in case there is a counter attack. Gorden collects the ball, though, in her own half, and sends the ball up the left sideline to Vignola. At this point, Alyssa is actually one of the deepest Angel City players. Vignola carries the ball up the pitch, and then has a give-and-go with Zelem to bypass one Seattle defender, and she gets the ball back just outside the corner. Now because Alyssa has kind of just drifted in from the deep center part of the field, no Seattle player has noticed her, or marked her. So all of the sudden, Angel City has a 2 v 1 on the left, isolating Latsko, who, again, is not naturally a defender. Vignola lays the ball off to Alyssa and makes the overlapping run. Alyssa collects, and then makes a really nice pass. She doesn’t pass the ball to Vignola; she passes the ball to where it needs to be for a scoring chance, and lets Vignola go get it. Vignola does have a step on Latsko, and is probably a stronger, quicker player anyway. She gets to the ball, takes a touch to put it into shooting position on her right foot (which gives her a better angle to shoot from), and slots it past Dickey with Emma Hayes watching on. I really think that Vignola has a directness that no other Left Back in the USWNT player pool offers, and she should be considered for a call up. I also started my recap with the corner, because I think that it’s crucial that Alyssa is coming from the opposite side of the field. But it reinforces my feeling that Alyssa should be given a free role. Too often, I think she’s forced into a spot hugging the sideline, and coming back on defense. When she can drift inside and outside, higher and lower, I think that she could really unsettle defenses. This goal probably wouldn’t have happened if Alyssa was starting in her usual Left Wing spot.

Conclusions

I wouldn’t have blamed the players at all if they’d had a bad performance after the salary cap violations were announced. It’s kind of amazing that Tweed has kept the team all together, despite everything, and no more so than in this moment. I also wanted to include some follow up news on that matter. Jessica Berman, the NWSL commissioner told The Athletic that the investigation was triggered by an Angel City player moving teams and asking whether she would still be receiving her side compensation. Because all players actually sign their contracts with the league and receive their paychecks from the league, not their club teams, this was an immediate red flag. No player should be paid directly from the club. I’ve read several people saying something like, “The NWSL picked Angel City to make an example for the rest of the league.” I don’t think that’s the case. I think it was that specific evidence was revealed that showed Angel City was hiding money. I also think that it’s unlikely that other teams are paying players under the table in the same fashion, because it seems impossible to keep that a secret. Even entering into trade negotiations with another team for a player with a side letter could compromise the secret. I also think that there is a real risk of agents leaking this, e.g. they get a side letter deal for one client at one club, and then try to get something similar for another client at a different club. I’m not saying that every other team is above board, but I don’t think that this specific action is common place. We’ll see what the rest of the fallout is. The fact that Angel City hasn’t even mentioned or acknowledged this makes me think that there will be no repercussions from the club for Uhrman or Hucles Mangano. I am concerned, though, how we’re going to navigate free agency without a GM or President, and since we’re apparently very close to the cap anyway. But it was great to see that for now, none of this has made it onto the pitch, and I hope that the team can continue this form, and finish the season strong.

All stats are from FBRef

Angel City’s next match is away to the North Carolina Courage, Saturday October 12th, 4:30p Pacific Time, and available on Ion