Looking to bounce back from a tough loss to open up their 2023 Challenge Cup at the midweek, Angel City FC was back at home to protect their fortress against budding rivals, San Diego Wave FC. The team welcomed much needed reinforcement in the midfield, as USWNT star Julie Ertz, made her LA debut in the starting XI of today’s match.
All of us when Julie steps onto the field:
🤳 🏃♀️#Volemos pic.twitter.com/9A8G7D3Srv
— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) April 22, 2023
Ertz’ impact was evident from jump with the midfielder taking control of the middle of the pitch immediately. Not jut providing a different level of attacking service with her passing, and vision going forward, but also with her ability to shut down counter-attacks and anything that seemingly came her way. In just twenty minutes of her on the pitch, the midfield felt vastly improved, something Angel City FC desperately need at the moment.
The first half went well for the home side. They finished the half with five shots on goal, but unfortunately none found the target. For as good as they were the opening 45, there was definitely the sense that opportunities were left on the table as the two sides went into halftime break even and scoreless. San Diego had their opportunities to lament, finishing the half with four shots of their own, with just one coming close to giving them the lead. If there is one thing San Diego does well, its play until the very end so if Angel City wanted to avoid some late-match heartbreak, they would need to come out even stronger and a lot more clinical for the second half.
Angel City opened up the final 45 on the front-foot, putting the pressure on San Diego. Coming close to scoring the opener on several more occasions, it definitely began to feel like it was the home side who would find the three points if they could just control the match a bit more. Despite racking up a few more corner-kicks, the 70th minute mark came and went without a goal for either side, which was slightly concerning for the home side given San Diego’s history of late-match heroics.
Sure enough, after enduring a ton of pressure from Angel City, San Diego took full advantage of their first clear chance of the second half. A gorgeous pass into the box found Sofia Jakobsson who fired in her first look for the goal and the lead.
SOFIA SAID SHHHHH 🤫#VamosWave pic.twitter.com/z1CjpksSq0
— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) April 24, 2023
Things only snowballed for the home side, with an unfortunate deflection leading to a second goal for San Diego, awarded to midfielder, Makenzy Doniak. After absorbing all the pressure for most of the match, the Wave began to overtake BMO late.
DONIAK IN DREAMLAND ✨#VamosWave pic.twitter.com/ymiq59OgcF
— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) April 24, 2023
A late flurry for Angel City was nowhere near enough, as the team couldn’t overcome the two goal deficit. The final whistle blew and for the second match in a row Angel City left without the win and without scoring a single goal, losing 0-2 to San Diego. While the season is still far too early to panic, there are definite questions that need asking in regards to tactics, substitutions and frankly, the identity of this squad. Sure they are still missing a couple very big players, but this is a team that should be doing far better than the are. At the very least, they should be looking a lot more lively than they do now, hopefully they can wake up and find some rhythm sooner rather than later.
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