Summer Cup: ACFC 2-1 Club America
The Summer Cup kicked off with a win at Titan Stadium, finishing 2-1 with Leroux coming off the bench to get the winner. I’m a little bit torn on what to think. Angel City winning a match is always something that makes me happy. It was great to see. On the other hand, the only Mexican club that won in the first round of games were Tigres, who beat fellow Mexican side Pachuca in the only group that features two clubs from Liga MX Femenil. I watched that match too, and from the pieces of the others that I saw, I thought that the NWSL in general looked like the stronger league. I feel like that’s not surprising, as the NWSL has had more investment for longer. Liga MX Femenil is catching up fast, though, and I think that this Summer Cup is a good step in improving both leagues, as well as setting the stage for the upcoming Concacaf W Champions Cup. I’m more excited about the that tournament, even though Angel City will not be a part of the first edition. Before the Summer Cup began, I thought of it in a similar way to last year’s Challenge Cup: it’s a chance to give minutes to players that haven’t had many, and it will be exciting come the semifinals for whichever teams make it. But now, especially after a win, it has me dreaming.
The league has gone pretty badly for Angel City, with us currently in 11th place, but in this group, we’re not facing any other heavyweights. San Diego is only one spot above us in 10th, while Bay FC are 8th. But the biggest factor is the loss of Olympians. Angel City is missing one player: Ali Riley, and while I think that her leadership is still an important part of the team, she hasn’t been on the pitch much, playing only 18.1% of the available minutes, and none since April 26th. On the other hand, San Diego are without Kailen Sheridan (100%), Naomi Girma (69.6%), Jaedyn Shaw (64.7%), Kaitlyn Torpey (22.2%), and Emily van Egmond (70.8%). Bay FC will be without Lysianne Proulx (37.5%), Racheal Kundananji (70.8%), and Asisat Oshoala (77.8%). In addition, Kundananji and Oshoala have scored 27.78% of Bay’s goals, and since they also transferred Scarlett Camberos, their front three is definitely missing a lot.
So while I wasn’t initially excited about this competition, I’m getting more into it. I don’t think that the club is treating it as too important, as evidenced by excusing Emslie and Rodriguez from the team for the match, and I think that’s probably the right call. This team doesn’t need additional pressure. But I think that there is a chance to win this group and go play in the semis, and I think that could create some positive momentum for the latter part of the season.
Impressions
The advanced statistics that I use are not available for the Summer Cup, so I can’t do my usual analysis, but I did have a few impressions. We saw a number of players in this match that don’t get too much playing time, but none of them particularly impressed me. The best of that group, for me, was Angelina Anderson, but there wasn’t anything exactly new from her performance. I thought that she made some good saves, and had quicker distribution at times. Also, her willingness to play the ball further out helped Angel City transition more quickly. But she did seem to have several communication breakdowns with the back line, and for that reason, I think that Haračić is still the No. 1, despite the fact that I consider Anderson to be a better goalkeeper. The defense just seems more comfortable with Haračić in goal.
Otherwise, there were not any other players that I thought made a compelling case to be starters. I think it’s good for all the players to get minutes and game time, but I was really hoping to see someone grab the opportunity. There’s still a chance for that, obviously, but from this match, I saw no reason for Tweed to deviate from the usual players that she starts. Fuller played well, but I think that she needs to get on the ball more often. That’s not totally her fault, as Angel City hasn’t done a good job of finding whoever is playing the No 10 role, but I think that Fuller can be more involved. And now that Le Bihan is gone, I think that we’ll see more of Fuller, of course depending on who else is signed in the upcoming transfer window.
And finally, hoping that Giselle’s injury isn’t serious. I think that she’s definitely one of the more dynamic players on the team, and I think we’d all like to see her get an extended run without missing any time.
Goals
29’ Angel City - There’s not a lot to break down here, actually, as I think that Angel City won the ball because of not one, but two poor clearances from Club America. The ball goes right to Mathias, who does very well to control it, and then split the two defenders that try to press her. It’s a really nice play on her part. Fuller does a good job of moving into the space that Gisele creates for her. My favorite part of the goal, though, is how Fuller takes a quick look over her shoulder while the ball is en route. She knows that she has a little time, and she knows where the defender is coming from. That informs her first touch, which takes the ball away from the defender while simultaneously setting up the shot. It’s a great shot into the top corner. But I think this goal was more about two good, heads-up plays by Mathias and Fuller, rather than successfully executing any particular strategy. Still great to see Fuller score. She’s probably deserved more goals than she’s tallied, so far.
89’ Angel City - This goal is actually very similar to the first. Club America win the ball back in the their defensive end, and try to play the ball out, but are unable to do so. Nabet makes the first challenge to keep them pinned in, and then Fuller also makes a challenge, that is unsuccessful, but starts to make the America players scramble. Angel City finally wins the ball back via a really nice challenge from Hammond. She doesn’t go in too aggressively, as there’s a real chance for her to foul if she does. She waits for her opponent to show her the ball, and then makes a clean tackle that sends the ball straight to Leroux. She does an excellent job letting the ball run past her and turning and shooting first time. Great shot. But again, this didn’t look like a coordinated press, it was a smart play from Hammond, and Leroux showed her talent. But I’d like to see us be able to create goals, not just pounce on mistakes when they’re presented. However, we do absolutely need to be ruthless when other teams make mistakes, so that is a positive.
90+3’ Club America - This goal comes from a free kick, given for a foul that was not particularly egregious, but also completely unnecessary by Megan Reid. It’s still very far out, and doesn’t seem that dangerous to me, but America has the chance to put the ball into the box. They do so, and it’s 4 America attackers vs. 8 Angel City defenders. It’s a little bit of an awkward distance, so Anderson can’t get to it. It ends up being a looping header from Palacios that gets in over Anderson and just under the bar. On Paramount’s commentary, Saskia Webber puts all the blame on Anderson (so much for goalkeepers union), but I think that it’s the defense that’s at fault. With two defenders marking every target, no America player should get a clean header, yet Leroux just outright loses the aerial battle and it’s a goal. We’ve unfortunately seen Angel City let in a number of goals off set pieces late in games, and luckily this time, it didn’t affect the outcome. I really feel like we need to sign a centerback that is dominant in the air to play alongside Gorden. Someone that could prevent even three of these types of goals, and maybe score three from any of the numerous corner kicks that we get, could make a real difference in results.
Conclusions
The game itself did not make me think that Angel City had turned a corner, but three points is something to build off, and I think that if we see Emslie especially back in the starting lineup, we’ll have a chance to continue to build and get two more wins. And there are also the rumored signings, so we’ll just have to wait and see about that.
Angel City’s next game will be away at Bay FC on Friday at 7:30p on Paramount+ and CBSSN