Well that was a spicy game!

I hope that the center official of that game was escorted out for their personal safety because The Riveters were not happy. Rightly so. Even though I was frustrated from the couch as an Angel City fan, I think the Thorns got the worst of it and by the end of the game it was pretty clear that the officials had no control over the game and things were getting to be too much.

Let’s talk more about the match though. Both teams looked better than their opening weekends. Angel City rolled out the same starting XI as Sunday, which I personally think is okay. Something that I think contributed to Angel City’s disarray last season was a lack of consistency, particularly along the backline and in the midfield. There is value in allowing these players to develop chemistry together and gain experience. The substitutions, however, were confusing. I was happy to see Christen Press get some minutes, but putting in Hammond for Hodge instead of Katie Zelem was not the move I would have made if I were wanting to close out this game with three points.

The first 15 minutes in particular demonstrated that Angel City can be a team that accurately and speedily progresses the ball up the field. Kennedy Fuller smacks a wonder goal into the back of the net during this period of time. From there though it felt like Angel City progressively lost its attacking juice as the game went on putting up only 0.4 xG compared to Portland’s 1.4. The Thorns world-class midfielders created problems for our forward progression but there were times when Alyssa Thompson continued to look dynamic and dangerous down the wings.

Some bright spots for Angel City. King stepped up and seemed a lot more comfortable Friday night, which was great. I have a lot of hope for the center back pairing between her and Gorden. Vignola’s return this season makes me so happy. She was a presence that I think we really missed last season with her off-and-on injuries. Angelina Anderson had an incredible game in net, and I hope she takes some well-deserved confidence forward from this performance. She has had a couple nervy moments, but overall I’m excited for her to be our #1. She’s already better than Haracic in my opinion and she’s only going to get better.

Portland looked better on Friday night than their opener in Kansas City. Sam Hiatt made her first appearance for Portland on their backline, which I think made a pretty significant difference for them defensively. As predicted, midfielders Olivia Moultrie, Hina Sugita, and Sam Coffey caused Angel City a lot of problems. After the Thorns acquired Reilyn Turner from Racing Louisville in the middle of the season last year I was left scratching my head as to why Rob Gale seemed unwilling to play her. Despite it being against my team, I was glad to see her finally get a chance to shine, scoring Portland’s equalizer during Angel City’s defensive breakdown during a set piece.

So far this season we are seeing some recurrent unfortunate themes with Angel City. Strong in the first and/or last 15-20 minutes. Difficult progression through the midfield. Moments of miscommunication and disorganization in the back. However, there’s potential if someone can come in and give this team more of an identity and structure. I do think we look better than last year, and although the aforementioned problems are still present, they don’t feel as dire as before. There’s obviously another level for this team though. Will things tighten up by summer when our new head coach supposedly comes in, or will we have to wait another whole season before we see this team blossom? Hoping for the former. I think if the summer transfer window brings us some serious midfield talent, I’m not sure why Angel City can’t be scoring more goals and winning games.

This upcoming Sunday Angel City will take on the Seattle Reign at home. The Reign handed the North Carolina Courage their first loss of the season last weekend, which surprised me to be honest. However, I think the Courage have a little bit of kinks to work out this season without Kerolin and figuring out how to maximize Jaedyn Shaw and Ashley Sanchez. The game on Sunday should be winnable, especially if we don’t see Lynn Biyendolo’s debut for the Reign.