ACFC 1-2 Portland Thorns

May 2

The game against Houston was a top-of-the-table clash, and Orlando are a top team in recent years, but I felt like this was going to be Angel City’s toughest opponent yet. It also provides a really interesting comparison to see how the team has grown from last season.

Last Time Out

Portland’s previous visit to BMO was October 19, 2025, when they won 2-0. Angel City outshot Portland 11-10 on that occasion, but as I talked about in my analysis of that match, once Portland was up by two goals, they never took another shot, while Angel City took 5 of their 11 Shots after that point, yet none of the shots had an xG of more than 0.07. For the game, Portland won the xG 1.3 - 0.6, though 0.73 of that came from a penalty shot. My impression of that match was that Portland was firmly in control. They were on the front foot in the beginning, and once they had a lead and a cushion, they coasted to see out the road win with the smallest expenditure of energy that they could.

This Time

It may not look like a big different between a 2-0 loss, and a 2-1 loss. It’s also not apples-to-apples, as Portland fired Rob Gale and replaced him with Robert Vilahamn. But I think this was a very different match. This time around I felt that Portland was playing for a classic smash-and-grab the whole time. They were trying not to give up too much at the back, and hoping to get something from one of their stars or from a set piece. They did exactly that. But Angel City outshot Portland 19-10 in this match, and won the xG 1.95 to 0.98. By average field position, Angel City had 7 players in the opposition half, while Portland had 4 (barely, Turner’s spot was just over the half). M.A. Vignola was kept in the defensive end, which I think really says something. In the previous meeting, Portland had all 4 of the best chances in the game. This time, Angel City had the top 2 (Chilufya’s goal, and Fuller’s miss), and chances of 0.15 or higher were split 3-3.

Even the strategy of Portland this time showed that they viewed Angel City with more trepidation than last time. In fairness, that could be Vilahamn. I watched a decent number of his games when he managed Tottenham (I have the misfortune of being a Spurs fan), and he never seemed like a particularly exciting or innovative manager to me. A smash-and-grab on the road seems like the most basic level of footballing strategy to me, comparable to florals for spring. Groundbreaking. The Portland players did seem to buy into this plan, though. At a minimum, I think that all teams in the NWSL are conscientious that they can’t play a high line while Jónsdóttir is on the field. Portland’s plan worked, but their approach dramatically changed from last time out. They wouldn’t, or couldn’t, impose their will on the game this time out.

In the end, I think that this result came down to the fact that Portland has two players that I would expect to see in the conversation for MVP at the end of the year in Wilson and Moultrie, while Angel City doesn’t have any. I felt at the start of the season that Angel City needed one big signing, and now I would amend that to two. Alyssa Thompson still hasn’t been replaced. Jónsdóttir is doing well, but has never previously reached that world class level, and it’s hard to see her making that big a jump in one season. Also, Sugita was brought in on big money to be a difference maker, but now she is lost for the season. The money and caproom should be there (as much as I can actually follow money in the NWSL). Mark Parsons needs to bring in a player that can contribute, and has proven that they can do it at the highest level already. We’ve seen a number of players take strides forward this year, but I don’t think that we can entirely rely on players doing something that they’ve never done before.

Depth

We saw most of the same players starting as in previous games. King was injured (and looks to be out for awhile), so Gorden started, but Gorden has also started in two of the previous games. The biggest difference was in midfield, with Borges starting on the bench after a knock during the international break. Rather than bringing in another central midfielder in a straight swap, perhaps Lageyre, Straus opted to massively restructure the team. Niehues dropped back into the central midfield spot, Tiernarn moved into the central No 10 role, and Suarez came in as the left wing. If Sugita were healthy, I think that Martin would be the player to step in here, and it would be a straight swap. But because Sugita is out, Martin is already in a starting role, and the midfield is stretched too thin. Straus seems to consider Suarez more ready for the NWSL, as she had 64 minutes in 4 substitute appearances, compared to 8 minutes, from 2 appearances, from Lageyre.

I don’t think that this particularly worked. Suarez had the lowest g+ for the game, with -0.19. Tiernan had the 4th lowest at-0.11. Niehues did have the third highest g+, with +0.07, but looking closer, she had small positive numbers (0.02-0.04) for Dribbling, Fouling, Passing, and Shooting. Her Reception value was 0.0, while her Interrupting was -0.06, the largest single value of any category. So while she maybe had a good overall game, my impression from this outing is that Niehues shouldn’t really be considered a long term, viable answer to fill in as a Defensive Midfielder. One other note: Fuller had a +0.05, but her Receiving value was -0.05. This is normally a strength of hers; in the previous 4 games her total Receiving Value was +0.22, her second highest mark. I think that Fuller has a better understanding with Niehues about who is going to be in what space, and with Tiernan in the No 10 role instead, I think that negatively impacted both players.

I wrote before about how the system this season does put the Left Wing into a difficult spot, so I don’t think that we should judge Suarez to harshly from her first start, but I don’t think that she offered too much in this game. She did have some nice plays in the box, especially a layoff from a corner that Niehues should have put away, and got off two Shots, but looking at the pass chart below, it doesn’t look like she was ever really breaking any lines in the build up.

In the long run, if the system stays the same, this is probably Endo’s spot. She likes to drop deep for passes anyway, and should combine better with the players around her. If the right side is about stretching the backline, while the left side is about building up, I think that this makes a lot of sense. We saw Endo back from injury, getting her first minutes of the season, and she finished with a +0.03 g+ from 28 minutes, largely on the strength of positive Receiving and Shooting Values. She had a -0.03 value for Passing, but when we look at her pass chart (below), there are a lot of incomplete passes. I think that these passes are asking questions of the defense, though, and are more disruptive than what Suarez was doing. Just a slight uptick in these types of is going to contribute to more goals and wins, in my opinion. It’s also worth noting the volume of Passes. Endo has more Passes in the opposition half, despite the fact that she played 35 minutes, compared to Suarez’s 63 minutes. Endo very likely didn’t have the fitness for the full 90 in this match, but she does look like a much better fit for what Straus wants.

Goals

76’ Portland - This starts going back to Portland deep in their own half. Sam Hiatt, facing no pressure, puts a long ball in that Sarah Gorden doesn’t deal with, resulting in Sophia Wilson getting in on goal. She gets off a fairly weak shot that Anderson parries, before it deflects off Gorden for their first corner. Moultrie takes it, sending it far post, where it gets sent back into the center of the box. Borges gets to it here, but it’s a misclearance, and only gets out to the top of the box, where Vignola heads it back in. This is just kind of a looping header to recycle it back, and I don’t think it’s that dangerous on its own, but Calzada outjumps Tiernan and sends the ball in closer to goal, where Pietra Tordin evades Shores and heads it in.

There’s a lot not to like from an ACFC perspective on this goal. First, Angel City loses three consecutive aerial duels on this play. Winning just one of these probably means it’s not a goal. Second, it shouldn’t have even been a corner. I felt like Portland was playing like they were okay with a draw. They weren’t getting numbers up the field, and this was just a hopeful long ball that should have been better dealt with. The misclearance from Borges happens, it’s hard to hit a ball cleanly on the volley, and she couldn’t risk bringing it down and getting dispossed. Third, and the part that is the biggest mistake for me, is that after Borges tries to clear it, Gorden and Shores don’t push up. If they do, then Tordin is offside. This would also give Anderson more space to step forward, however, going back to Vignola’s header, Anderson steps back, as if she’s anticipating a shot, even though I don’t think Vignola is ever shaping up for that. The result is that there is that perfect space at the six yard box for Tordin to get her header. If Anderson stays higher, or if Gorden and Shores push up, then this isn’t a goal.

90’+5’ Portland - Portland clears the ball out, with only Alidou getting forward, while Shores and Gorden are back. Anderson comes out for the ball, and do the backspin, it ends up in an awkward space. I think it’s probably better for Shores to have taken that, but she concedes to Anderson (in all liklihood, Anderson calls her off). However Anderson slices the clearance. This still isn’t actually a scary situation yet. Alidou tries to get a boot on it, but completely mishits it. This actually works in her favor, because Endo is coming back, but this brings the ball away from Endo, and turns Alidou to face Wilson, who is all alone in the left-center channel. She gets the ball, but this is still a 2 vs 4, Angel City has the numbers. However, Wilson is allowed to drive into the box, where she takes a great shot and scores.

To me, this goal is on Gorden. Anderson makes a terrible clearance, but I think there is still enough time for the team to regroup. When Anderson slices her pass, though, Gorden actually runs back behind Anderson, so she’s easily around 25 yards away from Wilson when she receives the ball. Gorden never closes down Wilson, and I think that she could be more aggressive, because there are reinforcements coming. Again, it’s a 2 v 4. Wilson basically has to shoot, and if she doesn’t score, the attack is over. I don’t understand why Gorden always cheats back in towards goal, because she’s so fast, I think that she could actually afford to cheat higher. So again, it is a terrible clearance by Anderson. She has to do better, but there was every opportunity to prevent the goal after that. Leaving Sophia Wilson open and free to do as she pleases is the graver mistake, for me.

90’+8’ Angel City - This play begins with Gisele Thompson drawing a foul on the right side of the field. There’s a really head’s up play, as Ary Borges plays a fast restart to Sams, who has stayed up the field on the right, and sends in a cross that Chilufya volleys in.

So first of all, I’ll admit to being wrong. As Angel City was chasing a goal, Sams began getting more involved in the attack, but usually taking up that position like a right back. I thought that she would be better off going into the middle and using her strength to cause some chaos in the box. But that cross was sublime. I take back everything I was thinking about her being better in the center. But being able to add those extra dimensions is what seperates the best centerbacks from the good. We’re really starting to see the impact of her signing.

Chilufya also deserves a lot of credit. It’s a really well-timed run and she finds that seam right between the defenders. Also, a really well taken finish. Chilufya had the highest g+ on the night, and probably a lot of that is from the goal. But overall, I think that Chilufya brought a lot of positives, and provided a lot more threat than Suarez had. I do wonder if Straus reconsidered the choice to start Suarez, or if he should have brought on Chilufya before the 84’.

Conclusion

Angel City lost this game, but I really think this game showed a lot of growth from last season, and also how much more still has to happen. Even when Angel City fell behind, I thought that there were clear ideas about how to get back into it. The execution wasn’t always there, but in the past, I felt like there often wasn’t a sense of what to do, and just trying things. In this game, I felt like everyone was on the same page, and understood their roles.

Portland had the talent to punish Angel City’s mistakes, but I didn’t think that they looked like the better team. Angel City had more intricate passing combinations, better build-up play, and generated multiple quality chances. In many ways, I feel like the overall record is fair (or close to fair). Houston was better than ACFC for most of that game, but were punished for two breakdowns. Against Portland, that happened to Angel City. So three wins and a loss seems fair, I’d just amend the Orlando game to a draw instead of a loss. So if 10 points from 5 games was fair, then 9 points is that far off.

I think that Angel City is still on the right track, but they do need to sign more talent to compete. Even in a loss, though, I see a lot of improvement.

Stats are from ASA and graphics were from the NWSL

Angel City’s next game is Saturday 5/2, at home at BMO at 5:45p against Utah. The game is broadcast on Ion.

Gabriel Diniz