ACFC 2-3 Seattle Reign
Decisions
I don’t really like talking about the officials. My usual philosophy is that every team gets some calls in their favor and some against, and over the course of the season it generally balances out, even though we’ll feel aggrieved some of the time. I even wrote an article about how as fans, we should try to think about the ref’s perspective, and how they should get more training and support. But frankly, there is no other way to talk about this match without talking about the myriad of controversial calls. In total, there were VAR reviews that awarded the Reign a penalty, decided not to give Angel City a penalty despite a Reign handball, a Vignola goal disallowed, and a Hammond goal disallowed. That’s potentially a 4 Goal swing in Seattle’s favor. And whatever we look at has to be viewed through these decisions. For instance, when we look at the xG, which was 2.3 to 1.4 in favor of Seattle, it looks pretty heavily in the Reign’s favor, but it would be a lot closer with just Hammond’s disallowed goal being counted or without that penalty given.
So before we talk about anything else, let’s talk about those decisions. First, the Reign penalty. I actually had a pretty good view of this from my seat in the stadium, and I thought that it was a penalty. There’s definitely a natural reaction to say that the ref is biased (certainly a lot of Angel City fans thought so), but I felt like these were just bad calls, and my reason for not thinking it’s a bias is largely based on this call. The ref initially waved this off and it was VAR that brought him back to take a look. Haračić clearly makes contact, and I think that a penalty was deserved. I’ll talk a little bit more about the circumstances of the play in the Goals section, but just sticking with the call, I think that Haračić was actually lucky not to get a red card here, as there was definitely an argument that she denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity. There weren’t any defenders left, it was close to goal, and Huitema was right there with the ball. The only argument is that her path wasn’t towards goal, but if it was called a denial of goalscoring opportunity, I don’t think that anyone could argue too much. In fact, in San Diego’s game, Sheridan was given a red for a collision that had a lot more contact, but I’d argue was less of goal scoring opportunity as Naomi Girma was still in a position to make a play. So if the ref actually was biased, I think that he’d have taken that opportunity to give Haračić a red card.
Second, the handball. There’s no question that the ball comes off the hand of a Reign player. I think that VAR thinks that it comes off her foot first, which according to the rules is acceptable. But upon closer inspection, the ball actually comes off the boot of a teammate first. The arm is extended, and the hand definitely keeps the ball from getting past her. It would be harsh, but you see those called. Mostly, I think that VAR completed their check too quickly here and didn’t verify who made the first touch.
Third, disallowing Vignola’s goal. Technically, this is correct, as Leroux made the pass to Vignola and she was offside. The thing is, Spencer never actually passed the ball to Leroux; Spencer was just outright fouled, and then Leroux collected the ball. So either we say that this was a play from a Reign player, which negates the offside and makes it a good goal, or more likely, you disallow the goal, but then award a freekick for Angel City. But there’s no way that it makes sense to disallow the goal, and then give possession to Seattle.
And last, and most egregiously, disallowing Hammond’s goal. I just don’t get this. Officially, it’s a foul on Leroux that chalks it off. The ref takes a long look at this, and when you watch it back on television, you can see that he’s just really looking at the contact, and seems to be caught up in how it looks in slow motion. But in real time, I don’t think this is a foul anywhere on the pitch. And if attackers aren’t allowed to go for the ball like Leroux did, then seriously, how is any attacker supposed to play inside the box? I’ve watched this play I don’t know how many times, and I’ve never seen how it could possibly be interpreted as a foul. All I can think is that when the VAR tells the ref to take a look, he’s looking for something, And sure, there’s contact, so he says that qualifies as something. But we see contact like that all the time, and it’s never considered a foul. This shouldn’t have been either.
Vignola
M.A. Vignola played 90 minutes in this match, which was her first full 90 since the season opener against Bay FC on March 17, and I think that she had a huge impact. She was third on the team in Total Touches, and actually had the most Touches in the attacking third. She was third on the team in Total Passes, second in Progressive Passes (4), and led Angel City in Key Passes (2) and Passes into the Penalty Area (3). She was actually the only Angel City player to complete a Cross into the Penalty Area with her assist to Leroux. Vignola also led the team in Progressive Passes Received (9), and her Progressive Carries were third. She also had two shots, both on target, which are also tied for the team lead (and of course, if her goal had counted, she’d be the leader in those categories). This is sort of a lot just to say that she was really, really involved, and I think that she combined well with Alyssa, who is maybe the only player that I might say could beat out Vignola for the Player of the Match.
Of all of those stats, the one that really stands out to me is that she had the most touches in the attacking third. That shows just how much the team looked to her to make things happen (the lead in Progressive Pass Received also says that). Angel City hasn’t really solved their No 10 conundrum, but in this match, I almost felt like Vignola became the Creator-in-Chief, in a similar role to what Carson Pickett did when she was with Louisville. The only question in my mind, though, was the left channel simply the most productive, or did the other channels dry up because everything was being funneled to the left? Or in other words, could we see close to this level of influence from Vignola with Gisele on the right, or if we start to get some more production out of the midfield? I’ve said before that Vignola is a unique player, who brings a different dynamic and hopefully she can stay healthy from here on in. Angel City are more dangerous with her on the pitch.
Passing and Possession
I always like to look at which players on Angel City had the most passes, and for most games this season it’s been our two centerbacks and the goalkeeper. I tend to see that as a bad thing, because I think that it usually means that there was a lot of passing backwards, and then a lot of passing it amongst those three players without any progression. This game was interesting in that the top two passers were Gorden and Reid (Gorden led the way with an astronomical 92 Pass Attempts). But Haračić was actually 7th on the team with 50 Pass Attempts. Now 50 is not a number that is unusual for Haračić. She has had plenty of games this season in which she’s passed less, actually, the lowest being 33 in the home loss to Orlando. The thing is that in this match, Angel City set season highs for the most Passes Attempted (593), Passes Completed (475), and the amount of Possession held (62%).
I’m not really sure what to make of this. Just to the eye test, I didn’t think that this was Angel City’s best game, but I’d probably feel a little different if we’d won 4-3 instead. It does feel like a performance that can be built upon. Sort of like if we generally play like that, but just do a few things differently, like stay onside and not give up a penalty, then we’ll win games. I think that we can concretely say that Seattle didn’t dominate this match. There have been plenty of our losses this year where I felt like the other team was firmly in control (any match against Gotham for instance), but I do feel like Seattle was lucky to walk away with this win. I actually thought, as we were leaving, that Laura Harvey did a really fantastic coaching job in this match, and that she made the right adjustments for Seattle over the course of the match. But when I all add of these things up, it says that in order for Seattle to get this win, Harvey had to put on a coaching masterclass AND there needed to be several bad calls that all were in favor of the Reign AND they needed a real slice of luck in addition to that AND it took a few moments of exceptional skill from Ji and Crnogorčević. If any one of those things don’t happen, Seattle doesn’t win. So as frustrating as this match was, 9 times out of 10, I think that Angel City walk away with at least a point with this kind of performance. This was just that 1 out of 10 occasion where everything aligned. I do think that there is something to build off of in this match, and I hope that Angel City can move on from this loss. and play with that same fire in the next game against Louisville. Because nothing lasts forever, not even defeats to the cold Seattle Reign.
Goals
(The Ones That Counted)
8’ Angel City - This play begins with a bit of a sloppy back pass from Ji that is intercepted by Leroux at midfield. It’s roughly a 3 v 3 when Leroux takes over the ball, but most notably, Sofia Huerta is caught up the field, leaving a bunch of open space in Angel City’s left and left-central channels. Leroux shifts the ball over to Alyssa, who takes it in stride. I feel like earlier in the season, Alyssa might have gone straight at the defender, or slowed it down and tried to beat the defender from a standstill. This time, she just goes full speed, keeps Julia Lester guessing, and then goes outside, before finishing with her left foot to the far post. It’s a .17 xG shot, so again, Alyssa is putting herself into good positions to shoot. That gives her 4 Goals in 3 games, which actually now equals her goal total from last season. Despite scoring in the previous two games, I thought that Alyssa faded a bit towards the end of both those matches. In this game, however, I thought she was influential right until the final whistle.
31’ Seattle Reign - This is classic longball. It starts with a Seattle goal kick that goes all the way to the center circle. Huitema wins the initial ball over a combination of Zelem and Reid. Reid kind of stepping up for that means that the ball goes through to Crnogorčević, who is dribbles infield while holding off Vignola. She then lays the ball off to King, who sends it back across to Huitema. Because Vignola was following Crnogorčević (which was the correct decision, I think), it means that there is a hole on Angel City’s left side and this is the space that Huitema runs into. Zelem doesn’t see the run, but Reid does, however she doesn’t have the pace to keep up with Huitema. Haračić comes off her line, doesn’t get to the ball, but does clearly trip up Huitema. Again, I think that Haračić was lucky not to see red for this. Sofia Huerta steps up for the penalty, sends Haračić the wrong way, and buries her shot. I think that Haračić actually committed a little too early on her dive, but Huerta definitely handled the pressure well, and it can’t be easy facing our supporter’s section.
45+6’ Seattle Reign - This begins with a pretty bad pass from Reid out to Spencer on the left. It’s much too slow of a pass, and is easily intercepted by Shae Holmes. Holmes carries the ball the length of the field, into the attacking third. She puts in kind of a hopeful cross that goes over to Huitema, but is too high for her to control. Huitema just heads the ball back down towards the center. Ji collects, but has Zelem right there. However, Ji just shifts the ball, staying away from danger. It’s kind of unbelieble, actually. One moment, Zelem is right there, and in the next Ji has bought a yard of space, and then just bends her shot past Haračić. Really tremendous technique by Ji. Despite her giveaway on Alyssa’s goal, I was really impressed by Ji and thought that’s exactly what a No 10 is supposed to look like. She was all over the attacking third, creating chances for her teammates, and taking shots herself.
59’ Seattle Reign - This play begins with a giveaway from Zelem in midfield. She’s trying a progressive pass, but it’s cut out by James-Turner. The former Tottenham player brings it up field, and tries to pass left, but Zelem blocks it, unfortunately though, it goes straight back to James-Turner. This block actually seems crucial, as you can see Dougherty Howard and Rodríguez are both getting back on defense, but both slow up when the block is made. But since the ball goes straight back to Seattle, that gives them a few extra steps on the defenders. Again, Angel City’s high fullbacks are caught out, and there is space on both wings. James-Turner gets the ball out wide right to Crnogorčević, who puts an absolutely sublime low cross in. Tziarra King latches on at the back post. There was some question about did Huitema touch it, and was she offside. It does look to me like it’s over the line before she touches it, and in fact the goal is awarded to King. But I also think that Huitema was just behind the ball when the shot was taken, so it didn’t look offside, regardless. Great transition goal by Seattle.
90+9’ Angel City - Off an Angel City throw-in, the ball goes back to Gorden, who tries to hit a long diagonal to Curry. The ball is cut out by Phoebe McLernon, but is kind of haphazardly cleared. Hammond collects the loose ball, and sends it out to Vignola on the left, who takes one touch to steady it, and then puts in a beautiful high cross. Leroux meets it perfectly, having done a great job to find that little bit of space between the two centerbacks. It’s a .68 xG shot, and Leroux doesn’t miss. But for me, this goal is all about the quality of the cross, and that’s an assist in two straight games for Vignola.
Conclusions
Like I said at the beginning, it’s really hard to say anything about this game because of the disallowed chances. But I do think that there are positives to build off. One of my big takeaways, though, is about how the squads are constructed. I think that Angel City actually has a more talented roster, but Seattle has a stronger spine, with Ji and Huitema through the middle in the attacking end. I thought that despite the fact that Seattle’s wingers are not as good as Angel City’s, they were elevated by the play of Ji especially. While on the other hand, I think that Emslie and Thompson are both hindered somewhat by the lack of a true playmaker and No 9.
I know probably a lot of people will disagree with me in that assessment, and say that there is no way that Huitema is a better center-forward than Leroux, who’s #8 All Time in the NWSL scoring charts, after all. But for me Huitema was consistently a threat, and opened up space for her teammates, and I just don’t see Leroux doing that. Leroux had 2 Shot Creating Actions, but one was a pretty innocent pass to Alyssa in the middle of the pitch, and one was a shot of her own of a corner. Huitema, on the other hand, had 4 Shot Creating Actions, plus two shots of her own. But again, I think that there are things to build on. Angel City just re-signed Endo, and I think that we need to get a deal done for Emslie right away. If we can keep that group together, and add a few pieces in the middle, I think that we’ll see exponential output from our wingers.
Zelem is a big step in strengthening that spine, but I didn’t think that she had a great game against Seattle. The other trick that I think we need to figure out is how can we build attacks through all the channels? Earlier in the year, it was Alyssa creating and Emslie finishing. Recently it’s been Vignola creating and Leroux and Thompson finishing. Somehow we need to get all of these things to happen at the same time.
For me, I’m not actually that worried about whether or not we make it to the playoffs. It’s much more important to me to see growth, and how are we going to build this team for the future. And I am starting to see the building blocks for that. We lost this match, but unlike other times, I think that there was a lot to build from. And with a performance like that on another day, I think that we come away with a win.
Next game is Away at Racing Louisville on Saturday 9/14 at 4:30p Pacific on Ion. Goosecat is going to be at the match, so hopefully I’ll have some good insight from the trip.
All stats in this article are from FBRef.