Angel City Football Club Shows Grit in 2-1 Loss Against NJ/NY Gotham FC at Home

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NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Shows Grit in 2-1 Loss Against NJ/NY Gotham FC at Home

July 7, 2024 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


LOS ANGELES - Angel City Football Club (ACFC) fell 2-1 at home tonight against NJ/NY Gotham FC following first-half goals for the visitors by forward Crystal Dunn and midfielder Delaney Sheehan, and a second-half penalty goal by ACFC forward Claire Emslie.

Goalkeeper DiDi Haračić saw action early in the game when in the third minute, Dunn slipped a short forward pass into the box as midfielder Rose Lavelle made a run. Lavelle took a short-range stop that Haračić blocked; Lavelle took another crack at the rebounded ball, which Haračić saved.

ACFC had a good chance in the sixth minute when defender Gisele Thompson sent a cross to the top of the penalty arc from the left wing. Midfielder Rocky Rodríguez took a touch to settle the ball before making a left-footed attempt that a Gotham defender blocked at close range. The deflected ball fell to forward Alyssa Thompson, whose angled shot went just wide of the far post.

Play was back and forth for the next few minutes, with the two teams trading control of the ball and each getting a few half looks. In the 16th minute, Gotham opened the scoring when Dunn tapped a through ball to Lavelle as she made a slashing run into the box. The midfielder hit Dunn's service first time, and the ball hit the inside of the post and bounced into the net.

The visitors had another look in the 36th minute when midfielder Delaney Sheehan sent a diagonal pass to Dunn at the top of the box. Dunn and Lavelle exchanged the ball as Dunn sprinted into the box and took a shot with the outside of her foot, which Haračić easily saved.

Gotham's second goal came in the 40th minute. Lavelle sent a long through ball into the box for forward Ella Stevens, who sent a pass across the top of the six-yard box to Sheehan, who put her shot away from point-blank range.

ACFC started off the second half pushing for goal, with Alyssa Thompson taking a shot from the top of the box in the 49th minute that went just wide of the right post.

The hosts kept their foot on the gas and broke through in the 69th minute. Gotham defender Mandy Freeman fouled Gisele Thompson in the box, and after a video review the center referee pointed to the spot. Emslie stepped up to take the kick and buried it to the left, with keeper Ann-Katrin Berger guessing the correct direction, but her reaction wasn't quick enough to stop Emslie's low, driven shot.

Angel City had a final attempt in the 84th minute following a long throw-in by defender Megan Reid initially falling to midfielder Clarisse Le Bihan before bouncing around in the box a few times. It finally landed back at Le Bihan's feet, who took a sharply angled left-footed shot, but Berger dove to make the save.

In the 89th minute, New Jersey had a near miss when forward Lynn Williams beat her mark to fire off a shot from inside the box, but it hit the crossbar.

Angel City plays next on July 20 against Club América at Titan Stadium at Cal State Fullerton in the inaugural NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup. The club's next regular-season game is on August 24 away at San Diego.

ACFC Milestones

Forward Claire Emslie earned her sixth goal of the 2024 NWSL regular season, making it her 12th in her career, moving her into sixth place in the Golden Boot Race. She has made three out of four penalty kicks this season.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

ACFC Team Captain and Defender Ali Riley

On the club's performance in the first half of the season:

"Everything is possible for this club and this group of players. It's frustrating when the pieces don't completely fit together. It's frustrating for everyone who wants so much from this group. All of the work will be put into making change for the better."

On preparing for the upcoming Olympics:

"It has been a difficult Olympics to get to physically for me as I've struggled with some injuries. I feel grateful to the coaching staff at Angel City and the staff with the New Zealand team especially for believing in me and selecting me even though I haven't been fully fit. The support they've given me every day has been incredible."

On what advice she has for Angel City's young players:

"Taking care of their bodies will be the most important thing for them. The game is so different than it was when I was 18. The pressure, the amount of training and games, and they're already playing for the U-17s, U-20s, the senior national teams."

"I tell them they are where they are because they are so great and they are learning. They have so much opportunity and [success] never is linear. So I think patience with their bodies, with results, with development, all of that, is something that you can't do overnight. It's something you'll have to learn through these years as young players. Overall, just encouraging them to finish their homework has been some of my best advice, probably."

On what she wants to accomplish at what will likely be her last Olympics:

"Winning our first World Cup game in New Zealand was a big one. Helping continue to grow the game is important to me, whether that is the performances I can put [in] on the field, leading the team to performances, pushing the players, if I'm not on the field, at training sessions because I think there's so much opportunity."

"These young people need role models, they need to see her to be able to be her. I want to be that person. I also want to use my platform at the Olympics and at the World Cup here when I have this amazing support. I have these connections and people are listening to what I am saying. Now I have this last opportunity on the world stage where people will see me and hear me and I want to make everyone proud."

ACFC Head Coach Becki Tweed

On the upcoming break and getting the opportunity to reset:

"The Summer Cup games give us an opportunity to look at some other players and get some players to game fitness. We really need to just work on us, what we want to get better at and where we need to grow. That's why you have a squad, right?"

"We have to look at how this year's been really difficult in terms of getting players minutes because there is no Challenge Cup in the middle of the season. This is a good opportunity for us to have a little reset, a little refresh. Everybody needs this break to take some time away mentally and physically."

"We have to come back with the attitude, the energy, the desire, the grittiness that we brought in the second half of this game and in the second half of last season. It's in there. We just have to keep finding ways to drag it out."

On the team's performance and the positives in the second half with the penalty kick:

"The positives in the second half are that we came out in the second half and made a choice at half time to come out, compete and be scrappy. We wanted to work and make amends to what we did in the first half. You never want to do that while down by two.

"It's a long way back in this league when you are down by two. We have to take the second half and that scrappiness, desire, and willingness to compete into the next second half of the season. We have to take the positives from it."

"It was 45 minutes too late. We have to make that choice earlier. Again, this league punishes you. If I was to take any positives, it has to be the second half because we limited their chances. The chances they had were in transition because we were brave. At half time, I asked them to be brave, go out and leave everything you have on the field. That's what they gave us as a group in the second half."

On what needs to change tactically in the second half of the season:

"We have to score goals. We can't keep going through this as players that we need to find ways to score goals. We had opportunities in the first half and they had opportunities in the first half. The game's two nil at half time and that is the stuff that we can control and we must control."

"We've got to find where they're going to come from consistently. We have to find ways as a team to finish the opportunities that we have because ultimately, if you don't score first in this league, it's a long way back."

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