There was reason to celebrate before the ball was even kicked off in Los Angeles tonight. Angel City FC were not only hosting Racing Louisville, they were holding Pride Night on what was a very warm, humid night in Southern California. Hotter than the weather as of late, has been the team on the field, with Angel City riding a three match win streak coming into tonight, with all wins coming with a clean sheet. Considering all the team went through during the summer break, vibes couldn’t be higher at the moment. Tonight, the team have a chance to really solidify their position in the middle of the playoff race, while extending their win streak to four.
The #AngelCityFC Starting XI for #LAvLOU.
#Volemos | #NWSL | DoorDash
— Angel City FC (@angelcity.com) July 26, 2026 at 5:09 PM
With Racing Louisville coming in shorthanded and not having seen a win since May, it was a great chance for Angel City to see what some of the youngsters could do, with Karsyn Cherry getting the start in defense at home. While Louisville might come in as the worst team in the league, it’s still vital Angel City stay sharp and don’t let the visitors hang around.
Both sides came out aggressive in the opening minutes of the match. Racing Louisville had the first few chances of the match, putting Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson to the test early, but it wasn’t long before Angel City began to threaten with attacks of their own. Through the first 20 minutes of the match it was Angel City who had the clearest opportunity to find the opening goal on a long throw-in from Sveindís Jónsdóttir, but it was Racing Louisville who were piling on attempts on goal and tallying up the set pieces and corners. Neither side had been able to take advantage of the early chances, in what was looking like a ‘first team to score, wins’ type of match.
In the 24th minute the pestering of the goal worked for the visitors. After the original shot was blocked by Angelina Anderson, her inability to keep hold of the ball led to an easy tap-in on the second chance opportunity from Racing. The goal gave Racing Louisville the early lead as well as snapped the three-match clean sheet run Angel City were on coming into tonight.
One to remember 👏
Maja Lardner gets her first career NWSL goal to give Louisville the early lead! pic.twitter.com/wzdD4P8CfB
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 27, 2026
The clean sheet streak may have been snapped, but there was still plenty of time for Angel City to fight back and make sure they keep the win streak alive, but it was looking real worrisome immediately following the score as Racing began to tighten screws and apply even more pressure on Los Angeles. Angel City finished the half with a handful of chances on goal as they desperately hunted for the equalizer before the halftime break. Unfortunately, despite peppering the goal late, Angel City were unable to find the equalizer before halftime, but were looking much better as team, giving hope for a much stronger second half.
Angel City came out for the second half strong, but weren’t clinical. They were finding looks but either not taking the shots, or coming up just off with the timing of passes into the final third. That lack of clinical finishing would bite them again in the 55th minute, as Racing Louisville caught the Los Angeles defense napping just long enough to get their second goal of the night on a well-timed header that was powered past Anderson.
Make it two for Maja Lardner ✌️ https://t.co/SivPi2xtaY pic.twitter.com/aMdBKZVjWU
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 27, 2026
Tonight was just one of those nights for Angel City. After giving up the second goal it very much felt like they juts wanted to get away and fast. Whether it was the heat, or waking up on the wrong side of the bed, the team just looked lethargic from kickoff and it hadn’t improved through 70 minutes. Los Angeles were still getting looks at goal, and even had a couple set pieces in good positions to threaten goal, but they couldn’t put anything together to find their score.
It took 80 minutes, but Angel City finally got the reward they had been desperate for courtesy of forward, Sveindís Jónsdóttir. The Icelandic international found herself on the end of a perfect long pass from defender Sophie Mattice and without hesitation she calmly slotted it past for the goal, cutting the deficit in half, giving Angel City just a bit more life as time wound down.
Sophia Mattice launches a long ball and Sveindís Jónsdóttir megs it home 😱 pic.twitter.com/fqHTdk71WU
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 27, 2026
With six minutes of stoppage time added, and an injection of energy to carry them, Angel City began to really push hard for that second goal. They could feel a point was still there to be salvaged late if they could just find one or two clean looks. Between some impressive saves late, the crossbar, and near misses, it was just one of those nights for Angel City as the final whistle blew, ending their hopes of a comeback, and officially snapping the win steak after three matches. In truth, Los Angeles didn’t do enough for the result after what was one of their worst performances of the season. They will need to shake this loss off fast, as they will make the trip to Kansas City to take on the very tough, KC Current.
Thoughts on the loss at home? Let us know in the comments below!