ACFC 1-2 Chicago Stars

It’s hard to know what to say about this game. I will admit that I was ready to move on to the offseason, and I kind of expected the game to be similar, but I don’t think that was the case. For two teams that were both eliminated, and really didn’t have much to play for, I thought that they both played hard. This was also a game of two halves. In the first half, Shots were 7-2 in Angel City’s favor, and xG was .58 to .13, also in Angel City’s favor. In the second half, Chicago turned it around. Shots were 11-4 for Chicago, and xG was 2.34 to .5 for Chicago. Granted a ton of that were Chicago’s final two chances, with Schlegel’s initial shot worth .16 xG and the followup on the rebound being .62 xG. Of the chances that were higher than .15 xG, Chicago had 6 of them, while Angel City had 2.

In many ways this encapsulates the whole season. There were moments that worked, and there were some major breakdowns too. Most especially, I don’t think that there was the depth in place to see out the game. There just aren’t the players to provide an appropriate alternative. And that doesn’t even have to mean that Plan A isn’t working. Depending on the gamestate, a team is going to have to adapt. The whole goal for a game like this, though, is to try to set the stage for next season.

Personnel

I think that something fans underestimate is the importance of consistency. It takes time for players to gel together, and of the 16 players that played in this game, 5 of them were not on the roster at the start of the season, and 1 (Endo) was on the SEI list. I think that Shores would be here too, if she were available. And looking back at that first game of the season, of the 15 players that played in that game, 5 of them are on longer with the team (Kennedy, Alyssa, Vignola, Zelem, and Dufour), while King (due to her cardiac issue) and Emslie (maternity leave) did not finish the season either. Part of this are circumstances outside of the team’s control. Part of it is the fact that we only brought in a sporting director in January and a head coach in June. I do think that there is a core to build around now, however. Of course, I also thought that Alyssa was going to be a part of that too. Finding a way to build and maintain that consistency is going to be important next season.

Build-Up

I’ve spoken before about the importance that Shores has played in the new back three, and how a big part of the game plan has been her long passes. With her unavailable for this game, it was interesting to see what was done instead. Gorden led the team with 47 Attempted Passes, and 11 Long Attempted Passes. For comparison, Shores had 54 and 20, respectively in the last game, so I don’t think that Gorden fully equaled what Shores was trying to do, plus it was from the opposite side. The player with the second most Attempted Passes was Nealy Martin, with 38. Here’s the thing for me: when Doorsoun was brought in, the stat that stood out the most for me was were Progressive Passing. Looking at her last season at Frankfurt, compared with Gorden’s 2024 season with ACFC, Doorsoun has alomst double the number of Progressive Passes (8.09 to 4.61). Similarly, when Sugita joined the team, I thought that it was clear that she’d be the one pulling the strings in midfield. Between Sugita and Martin, Sugita has the better Passing Percentage (77.1% to 75.5%), xAG (4.0 to 1.0), Shot Creating Actions per 90 (3.21 to 0.98), and Progressive Passes per 90 (5.12 to 3.01). These are all from the 2025 season across both teams for both players.

I actually thought that Gorden and Martin both played well in this game, but I think that Angel City would have played better if it were Doorsoun and Sugita who lead the team in Pass Attempts. Sometimes that’s not possible, but too often, I think that Angel City takes what the other team gives them, and that means that players are not playing to their strengths. I think that we need to find a way to put players in the positions that they can make the greatest impact.

Goals

Angel City, Miyabi 23’ - This is a great build up. From a freekick close to midfield, Doorsoun plays the ball over to Gorden, who progresses the ball to Thompson, wide on the right, and isolated against Malham. Thompson drives at Malham, forcing her back, and then cuts inside. Nesbeth comes across to help defend, closing the path to goal, and forcing Thompson backward. Joseph had been marking Martin, but when Thompson turns back, Joseph tries to join her teammates. Thompson plays a short pass back to Sugita, who inturn, plays a on-touch forward pass. Meanwhile, Martin does absolutely the right thing by just standing still. She’s in a good spot, and as Thompson pulls all the defenders to her like a magnet, Martin is in a great pocket of space, with an open channel in front of her. The second thing she does really well with is that she lets Sugita’s pass roll past her, and then puts the one-touch cross to the back post. Miyabi brings it down, rather than trying the volley, and lets the defenders all try to block a shot that’s not there. She takes one more touch to control it, and improve her angle and shooting lanes, and then then puts it in near post. I’m a big believer that defenders are a lot more susceptible when they’re running back toward their goal, as they were here. And remember, that this started with a free kick, so Chicago had all 11 of their players back defending. I know a lot of people hate to see a backward pass, but the idea of that is to pull the defenders forward and open up space behind them. The trick is not to get forced backward. In this goal, Thompon both dribbles and passes backward, but that creates a huge pocket of space. Sugita sees that space, while Martin occupies it. Both of them making one-touch passes means that Chicago doesn’t have a chance to reset. It’s a great team goal, and Miyabi and Martin are the ones credited with a goal and assist, respectively, but I think that Sugita and Thompson both played really key roles in making this happen.

Chicago Stars, Joseph 49’ - This begins with a little bit of controversy. From an ACFC throw-in, the ball is played into Jónsdóttir. She tries to turn, but takes a challenge and is dispossessed. Is it a foul? I think, yeah, probably, but if the ref doesn’t call it, we see these kinds of things let go all the time. And especially because it’s so far back, I don’t think it’s enough to overturn a goal. Chicago, having regained the ball, does some neat work to evade Angel City’s pressure (including a nutmeg of Martin), eventually getting the ball up to Joseph, who is between the lines at centerfield. This is a dangerous transition, but it is still a 3 v 3, and three closest players in pursuit are all still Angel City players. What happens though, is that Chacón makes a great run from sort of right to left. Doorsoun tries to step up to Joseph, but Reid and Gorden are both going with Chacón. This leaves Gomes completely open on the right. Joseph gets the ball out wide to Gomes, continues her run, and gets the return pass from Gomes, completely bypassing Doorsoun. Joseph takes a touch, going around Reid like she’s a pylon, and then fires the ball across goal, past Anderson. I don’t think that there’s much Anderson can do about this. It’s a .3 xG chance, with a .55 psxG shot. I think that Reid is most at fault here, but I think that some of this is an unfamiliarity with a back three. Shores is usually playing in her spot, and I think that Reid acts more how a CB in back four would act, i.e. what Reid is most familiar with. But there isn’t someone else on her left in this setup and Chicago exploits that. It is also a breakdown from the intial press to win the ball back.

Chicago Stars, Schlegel 90+8’ - From a free kick, Chicago puts the ball into the mixer, and with a couple of headers, Angel City clears. Joseph brings the ball down, but with her back to goal, and Ali Riley right on her. There should be no danger here, but Joseph drops her should and completely rolls Riley, who really should just grab her jersey and take the yellow card here (and I kind of would have loved if Ali Riley’s last action as a player was to get a card). But that doesn’t happen, and Joseph has the time and space to drive at goal. Reid is again caught in between. She’s not marking anyone, but she’s also too far back to step up and challenge Joseph. Joseph puts in… something, I’m not sure what. FB Ref calls it a shot, but it’s way off target. If it’s a pass, it has a ton of venom, and is at a height that’s really difficult to control. It richochets off Schlegel (I really don’t think I can call this a shot), but it’s right on net. Anderson gets down to keep it out, but Shlegel pounces on the rebound and puts it in.

The other aspect of this I want to point out is Sarah Gorden. Shlegel gets positioning on her for the initial richochet, and then is also quicker to the rebound. That rebound definitely falls kindly for Schlegel, and I probably wouldn’t think too much about Gorden’s role here, except the same thing happened ten minutes earler. In that instance, Kuikka takes a great shot from the edge of the box that Anderson saves at full stretch, and pushes the ball onto the crossbar. But Hiyashi, in this case, is first to the rebound, while Gorden is left watching, however Hiyashi misses the wide open goal. It brought to mind the goal that Bia scored for KC against ACFC in Matchweek 13. Anderson makes a big save, but Gorden is slow to the rebound and it’s a goal. I would still say that Riley is most at fault (and it does pain me to say that), but there is also a huge slice of luck here for Chicago. Joseph’s blast should have gone into the stands; it was impossible for Schlegel to control. But it worked, and they got the winner. If this was midseason, I might just say, “That’s football,” and move on. But unfortunately that’s basically the last memory that we’ll have of this season.

I will have a lot to write during the offseason, starting with an analysis of the season for Angel City’s team and players that will happen in installments, so still plenty of Goosecat to watch out for.

All stats are from FB Ref.

No more Angel City matches, but plenty of great women’s football is still being played.