ACFC 2-1 Chicago Red Stars

Don’t look now, but Angel City is on a win streak, only the second time this season that that’s happened. To me, this win probably counts for more, because Chicago are a much more stable team than San Diego at the moment. And like the San Diego game, this doesn’t seem like a fluke. The underlying stats tend to support Angel City winning. xG was 1.6 to 1.3 in ACFC’s favor, and we had 13 Shots, with 7 on Target, while Chicago was 2 for 12. Angel City had 60% Possession, as well. In terms of what I think of as quality chances, or shots that generate at least .1 xG, both teams had 6. Everything that I see generally says that the 2-1 scoreline was appropriate.

Long Passing

One of the things that immediately stood out to me in this match was the Long Passing, and make no mistake, this wasn’t just late game desperation. This was a plan, as we see from one of Angel City’s first possessions, when Sarah Gorden makes the long diagonal to pick out Alyssa Thompson on the left wing in the 3’. And that carries all the way to the end, with Rodríguez’s pass to Vignola on the final goal.

In total, Angel City had 66 Long Passes in this match, which was slightly above the season average of 60.1, the second lowest rate in the NWSL this season. So 6 extra passes doesn’t seem like a lot, but I think that there is more context to this. Typically, the goalie is providing a lot of those long passes, with Haračić and Anderson both amazingly tied with 15.7 Long Passes per 90. And in this game, Haračić still led the way with 13 Long attempts, but the defense and midfield were way above average. Gorden had 11 (averaging 9.05 on the season), Reid had 9 (averaging 6.05), and Spencer had 4 (averaging 2.77). The performance that really stands out, though, is Katie Zelem, who we discussed as someone who likes to pick out a Long Pass. She had 12 Long Attempts, just one shy of Haračić, despite only playing 45 minutes.

The previous match against Chicago actually provides a nice counterpoint here. It was Match Week 4, and Angel City got their first win of the season, 1-0. This was still when we were hearing a lot of talk about how Angel City was going to build from the back, and hold possession. It was right before Henry and Nielsen were traded, but neither of them started that match. So back on that day in April, Angel City actually only attempted 49 Long Passes, and 14 of those were from Haračić. So we went from 35 Long Passes from outfield players in April to 53 Long Passes now, against the same opponent. I think that it’s very clear that the tactics have changed.

Personally, I think that’s great. I think that it plays to the strengths of some of our best players, like Alyssa, and frankly, I think that Angel City should lean into this, throwing out the idea of keeping possession also, and just become a counterattacking team. We’ve had trouble breaking the first line all year, so really, why not just try some balls over the top? And if you’re going to do that, why pass the ball amongst the back four for a bit first? As soon as we get the ball, our wingers should be flying forward, and someone should be trying to get them the ball. I know that the trend around the world is to keep possession and to build out of the back, but I do think that there is value to zagging when everyone else is zigging. And again, I think that this style suits the players that we have right now, while building out of the back certainly does not.

Katie Zelem

I actually can’t say that Zelem ever really stood out to me in the match, but I did think that Angel City looked better in the second half. Zelem was a big part of that change, as she came on at halftime, along with Leroux. Angel City had 4 Shots in the first half without Zelem, and 9 Shots in the second half with her. Zelem was 4th on the team in Total Pass Attempts (39), and had she played the full 90 at that pace, she would have led the team. I think that the thing that she does the best, though, is allow other players to focus on what they do best in turn. Leroux is a great example of this. She has often been dropping deeper into midfield to get on the ball, but in this game, she was able to stay higher. In fact, this was only the second game all year in which Leroux has had more touches in the attacking third than the middle third, and that other game was the season opener against Bay FC. So that’s 15 straight league matches in which she was playing more in the middle of the pitch. And Leroux playing higher is Leroux more dangerous. It’s hard to point to any one thing, and she certainly wasn’t on the highlight reel, but I think that Zelem was extremely involved, and the rest of the team was better for it. Having come from England, she never had a preseason, but as she becomes a 90 minute player, and as she and the rest of the squad get better acquainted, I think that we’ll see continued improvement from the whole team.

Disallowed Goals

I wanted to take a look at both disallowed goals, as I think that there are things to learn from them.

11’ Angel City - With some high pressure, Angel City is able to win the ball back in Chicago’s half. There’s a bit of passing, Hammond puts a really nice through ball in to Spencer, almost at the end line. Spencer squares up her defender, Tatumn Milazzo, and then just skates right past her. Just a beautiful move. Spencer puts the ball in, and Bright is there for a deflection. It almost looks like an ice hockey goal, with one player digging it out of the corner, and another setting a screen just outside the crease. Unfortunately this doesn’t count because Bright is offside, and I think that this is pretty unacceptable. Spencer is only about two yards from the end line, so it should be pretty easy to stay onside. In addition, Bright doesn’t actually have to worry about where the defenders are; she just needs to stay behind the ball in this situation. She could absolutely score the same goal if she was arriving, instead of waiting. Spencer should have an assist for this, for all her good work. And this is the type of thing that I think Bright needs to erase from her game to be a striker at the top level. She clearly has the talent, but it’s these little details that are key if you’re playing in the best league in the world.

21’ Chicago Red Stars - Off a Chicago corner, Swanson sends a short pass to Grosso, who stops it for her, and Swanson then sends it into the box. Angel City attempts a clearance, but there is no communication between Bright and Alyssa, which results in Bright just going straight through Alyssa, but not getting good contact on the ball. It pops up in the air, and falls to Reid, who has time to control it, but doesn’t know that, and she has a very soft header which doesn’t even get the ball out of the box. Jenna Bike lofts the ball back in, and Hannah Anderson gets in between Fuller and Curry to head it in. It really looked to me like Haračić could have punched it out, but she’s kind of caught flatfooted. In the end, it’s offside because of Swanson’s position when Grosso stops the ball for her, and the fact that Haračić was about a step off her line. I really doubt that Haračić was thinking about keeping anyone offside in that moment, but maybe I’m wrong. This feels very lucky to me, but it’s a problem that three different Angel City players had a chance at a clearance, and none of them were able to take it. And the failure to deal with the second phase of a set piece would rear it’s head again on Chicago’s actual goal.

Goals

6’ Angel City - This goal begins, as we talked about, from a long ball, this time from Megan Reid. She really sends it about half the length of the field, over everyone, and Bright runs onto it. Bright tries to dribble in, but Milazzo pokes it away, however Bright regains the ball near the corner. She gets the ball to Emslie, who is just at the edge of the box, who finds Dougherty Howard near the corner of the box. She shifts the ball to her left foot, and puts in a nice curling shot on frame. The PSxG on her shot is actually .50. It’s a quality shot and it forces Naeher into a diving save. Unfortunately for Naeher, she parries it right to Alyssa, who taps it home. They say that attackers need to be optimists, i.e. they need to expect the ball might bounce to them and to be ready for it, and Alyssa did that in spades here, reacting and anticipating before anyone else. I actually feel a little bit bad for Dougherty Howard; she was the last Angel City player to touch the ball before Alyssa on all three of Alyssa’s goals, yet Dougherty Howard only gets one assist out of it. But I guess that’s why we look at Shot Creating Actions and Goal Creating Actions too.

45’ Chicago Red Stars - From a Red Stars throw-in, Julia Grosso gets the ball on the sideline, beats Spencer, and in turn, Spencer fouls her, giving Chicago a free kick. Rather than put it into the box, Swanson sends the ball out to Kuikka at the top of the box. She sends the ball back in and Bea Franklin volleys it home. On the initial free kick, it is Bright that is guarding Franklin, right on the six yard box, but after Swanson passes it backward, Bright leaves her, and drifts into space. Reid is still marking Franklin, but she’s on the wrong side to do anything about the goal. The big mistake, in my opinion, is that the defensive line doesn’t aggressively push forward when Swanson passes back to Kuikka, which would either put all of the Chicago players offside, or force them back far enough that they’re not taking a point blank shot on Haračić. Instead, Angel City’s set piece woes continue, but currently, we’re only allowing one a game, so it’s been okay. I also think it’s a concern that Spencer has had the foul that led directly to an opposition goal in two straight games, but as Riley is out for the year, and Gisele is away at the U-20 World Cup, I don’t think that we have too many options at Right Back. I really love Spencer, but I do think that we need a natural defender in that spot. However, for me, the responsibility for conceding this goal falls on the whole defensive line (which doesn’t include Spencer; she was in the wall) for not pushing up.

90+7’ Angel City - After winning the ball back in our defensive third, there’s a bit of passing, and then Gorden gets the ball out to Rodríguez on the left, but still well within our half. There’s no pressure on her, but Vignola sees an opportunity and starts a run down the sideline. Rodríguez spots her, and puts another great long ball over the top of the defense. Vignola does a great job winning the race. She collects the ball and carries it into the box. Naeher is guarding her near post because Vignola has shot (and scored) from that angle. But in this case, Vignola puts in a truly sublime cross that hits Leroux in stride, and she has the whole goal open. Just perfect. But again, that’s things working out when Angel City utilize their speed. This approach feels much more favorable than a slow build up from the back. Great goal by all involved, but for me, Vignola gets the lion’s share of the credit.

The next match is on Friday against the Seattle Reign, at 7p Pacific, at BMO, and on Amazon Prime.

All stats in this article are from FBRef