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NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Scores Home Win Against Kansas City Current 3-2

May 7, 2023 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


LOS ANGELES - Angel City Football Club earned a 3-2 win, their first at BMO Stadium of the 2023 season, against the Kansas City Current tonight, following goals by forward Alyssa Thompson, forward Claire Emslie, andforward Jun Endo.

Kansas City forward Michelle Cooper had the first chance of the night in the ninth minute when she dribbled up the center of the pitch on a transition play. She put her shot on target, but keeper DiDi Haračić easily saved it.

Angel City continued to threaten as the half went on, finally breaking through in the 31st minute. After receiving the ball from forward Claire Emslie, Thompson drove into the box from the left, made a clever cut to wrong-foot her defender, and sent an angled shot past Miller. It hit the far post and ricocheted into the goal to put Angel City up 1-0.

The Current came close in the 35th minute when forward CeCe Kizer beat defender Megan Reid on a transition play and sent her shot over Haračić as she came off her line, but Reid recovered and cleared the ball from the area before it crossed the goal line.

LA's attacking group continued to combine, creating a handful of scoring chances and doubled their lead in the 42nd minute. Forward Jun Endo sent a cross from the left side of the area to the far post, where Emslie was crashing the net. Emslie slid to get her foot on the ball and redirect it past Miller and into the back of the net.

In the 45th minute, Endo nearly put one away herself when Thompson found her in a pocket of space centrally, but her shot was just wide of the left post. The Japanese international made up for the miss in the second minute of stoppage time when Hammond headed an attempted clearance to her feet as she was facing away from goal. She spun and muscled past two defenders and sent a one-time finish to the far post.

The Current pulled one back in the 57th minute when Kizer tapped a recycled ball to defender Izzy Rodriguez as she made a late run toward goal. Rodriguez hit a long-range shot from the left corner of the 18 into the far netting, and Haračić was unable to stop it.

In the 61st minute Kansas City notched a second when Haračić blocked a close-range shot by Debinha. The rebound fell to Kizer, who tapped it over the line.

Angel City put together a gritty defensive performance over the next 30 minutes as Kansas City continued to knock. The visitors would have one more near miss, in the second minute of stoppage time when Haračić blocked a shot by Debinha and the ball fell to forward Alex Spaanstra, who took a shot from inside the 18, but it went just wide.

The win fell on a special match night celebrating AANHPI Month with performances and the ceremonial three clap performed by Olympic Gold Medalist Chloe Kim. The team is at home again next Saturday, May 13, at 7:00 p.m. against the Washington Spirit.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

ACFC Midfielder Claire Emslie

On building momentum:

"The performances have been good the last couple games, but we just haven't got the results. The main thing today was even if it was ugly, which it ended up being very ugly, we got the three points and that's really all we needed"

On her assist to Alyssa Thompson:

"I looked forward and I saw there was so much space, so credit to DiDi [Haracic] for finding me, and I just started driving. When you have Alyssa [Thompson] on your team, you just play that ball in behind, she's going to win it. What a bit of skill to cut inside like that and then hit it on a dime. Credit to her - I had the easy bit, she did the hard job".

On the team having the most created chances:

"I'd rather just have the stat that we've won the most. We are a possession team. We do like to create chances - that's the football we want to play. We don't want to be a transition team. It takes time but hopefully we'll just keep going up and up"

ACFC Defender Ali Riley

On AANHPI NIght:

"To be given this platform, we have a lot of representation, but the visibility that this club has. There were pioneers who were Asian Americans playing when I was younger, but we weren't able to see games, and there wasn't a pro league. Now we are breaking these barriers and we have a platform where little girls get to see people who look like them doing amazing things and living their dreams."

"I want every young person to be able to believe that they can do whatever they want in life. It's so important to have role models. You have to see her to be her, is the phrase we like to use. It's so different than when it was when I was growing up."

"To be able to be proud of who I am, to be able to share my story, to encourage other people to share their stories, and to have a night where people are celebrating us and celebrating my heritage is something I never ever could have dreamed of. I hope future generations of players will feel so accepted and feel so comfortable in their skin."

On the club being able to find space within that 15 minute span:

"We really made it a point today to be on the front foot and to be aggressive. We knew that if we stood off them, they would have a lot of pace up front. They like finding those balls behind. We would have to be proactive. We took that to the next step of actually combining finding players in the half space."

"We've been working on our crosses, working on getting people in the box, and finishing our chances. You saw the quality of the delivery, what players like Claire [Emslie] were willing to do to get their body on the line to put the ball on the back of the net."

"As far as the other 15 minutes, on the back side, we just have to be consistent over 90 minutes. We've talked about consistency from game to game to be consistent during a complete match. This time we're able to hold on. We have to be able to celebrate tonight. Then of course, everyone on this team, the staff, the players, we all look at ourselves after every game and say, 'What can we do better?' That's why I love being a part of this team."

On building momentum:

"Things take time to build. Some of the teams that we play against have been around for five or ten years. We're still getting to know each other and trying out different formations, putting players on different sides. We're getting more comfortable playing together."

ACFC Head Coach Freya Coombe

On the 15 minute span in the first half where the club was able to find space:

"The way in which we scored was something that we worked on this week. It was a moment of the opposition where we felt we could take advantage. Looking at the space that we were able to create, we knew their wing backs were able to jump out causing them to shift, and then the spaces appeared for us to get in behind them. Overall, the quality of the finishes were awesome."

On Madison Hammond's productivity and how important her role is with the club:

"I was really impressed with Madison [Hammond] tonight. She's continued to grow throughout the season, putting herself in that sixth position and keeping possession for us. She's reading the game, making challenges and taking away space."

"She's kept it really simple on the ball, but that's exactly what we want from our six. Her header to keep the ball alive for Jun Endo's goal was aggressive on the edge of the box coming in, and winning the ball that led to Jun's [Endo] goal was fantastic."

On not being able to sustain KC's offense in the second half:

"We were disappointed to let them in. We hadn't changed our shape for the first part of the second half, but we had moments where we switched off in terms of the diligence of our defensive duty and our defensive shape, letting players come inside and take the space and then it would lead to disorganization."

"After that we were able to cement it a little bit more and change our shape, making sure that we're able to see out the game. Having Katie {Johnson] pressing as a single nine and getting more bodies in behind the ball to make us more compact."

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National Women's Soccer League Stories from May 7, 2023


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