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A premiere late night (8:30 pm local time) match between Angel City FC and the Chicago Red Stars took place Saturday night at SeatGeek Stadium in suburban Chicago. The Chicago Red Stars entered the game undefeated, while Angel City were seeking their first win of the year.
The Red Stars came out flat in the first half. Playing largely uninspired soccer. On the other hand, Angel City came out playing tough and aggressively. The Red Stars had troubles containing the speed of Angel City wingers. Jasmyne Spencer was flying on the wings and blowing by the Red Star defenders.
Elk Grove Village native Sarah Gorden returning back home held down the Angel City backline for 90 minutes. Angel City did something interesting, their goalkeeper Dijana “DiDi” Haracic played up very high most of the game, near the midfield! Never seen a keeper consistently up that high, seemed as if she was positioning more like a defensive midfielder, while touching the ball on nearly every position. Lots of playing back to the keeper.
“We want our goalkeepers to be able to build up with their feet, we assumed they were going to press us with two, instead of bringing someone behind the ball we decided to use DiDi”, Angel City FC head coach Becki Tweed said postgame, about the use of goalkeeper DiDi Haracic.
Angel City received a gift for their efforts in the form of an own goal from Red Star defender Maximiliane Rall in the 40th minute, right before halftime.
“It’s football, sometimes weird things happen, we scored an own goal in our last two games, we are getting good at that, we have to cut that out”, said Red Stars head coach Lorne Donaldson.
The Red Stars came out with more urgency in the second half, creating more offense. The Red Stars outshot Angel City 10 to 7, with only two shots on target Angel City wasn’t able to add to the lead. Possession was one of the keys to the game as Angel City controlled that end 56% to 44 % for the Red Stars.
The first half doomed the game for the Red Stars who couldn’t find a rhythm all game long. Angel City picked up a big first win of the season in Chicago, while the Red Stars drop their first game.
Donaldson addressed the media postgame. “First half we didn’t show up, I didn’t think we got the tactics right, myself as a coach.”
NEWS & NOTES:
Red Stars star forward Mallory Swanson missed Saturday nights game against Angel City. Coach Lorne Donaldson cited injury and rest following international duty, but expects her to be back on the field shortly.
The Red Stars will look to bounce back on the road next weekend in Seattle, against the Reign FC. Angel City heads back home to Los Angeles next Sunday, April 21st facing the North Carolina Courage
