It was certainly a tough task for Angel City on Saturday.
An nationally televised afternoon road match against a Kansas City Current squad that has the look of an NWSL title contender at its brand new stadium can be tough for any team, but Angel City certainly made the most of its opportunity. Angel City got goals from Sydney Leroux and Madison Curry, but Kansas not only got a big game from Vanessa DiBernardo, who had a goal and an assist, but also got the benefit of two VAR calls going in its favor, and those two scenarios lifted Kansas City to a 4-2 win over Angel City at CPKC Stadium.
“We have to take what we have,” Curry said. “We have everything that we need in the team, but we can’t break down the way that we have. It’s nothing to be worried about, but it’s something to grow from. We have a lot more left to give and a lot more left to see, so we just need to clean it up.”
Kansas City jumped ahead in the seventh minute. Zia Baneratto dribbled down the left side, then played a ball to Temwa Chawinga inside the penalty area, Chawinga took two touches, then played a ball to DiBernardo, who then fired a right-footed shot that beat keeper Angelina Anderson near post to give Kansas City the lead. Kansas City then doubled its lead just before the half with the aid of VAR. It started when Ellis Wheeler played DiBernardo into the penalty area, DiBernardo crossed to Spaanstra, who then headed a ball past Anderson into the back net. However, the goal was initially waved off, as the sideline official ruled that Spaanstra was actually onside when DiBernardo’s pass left her foot, the original call was reversed, and Kansas City took a two-goal lead into the locker room.
Angel City however didn’t travel all the way to the midwest for its first look at CPKC Stadium just to get dominated. Angel City got on the board in the 50th minute, as Claire Emslie dribbled down the left side, played a ball inside the penalty area to Leroux, who headed a ball past keeper Adrianna Franch to halve the Current lead. Kansas City however restored the two-goal advantage almost as quickly as Angel City had gotten on the scoresheet. It started when Anderson cleared a ball, but Kansas City won the ball back, Baneratto fought off a challenge from Paige Neilsen, played a ball to an unmarked Chaiwnga, and she touched into the penalty area and blasted the right-footed shot past Anderson into the back net to restore the Current’s two-goal lead.
“We knew that they were going to play direct and that they are strong transitionally,” Angel City defender Sarah Gorden said. “We played into that and gave the ball away. We were big and we allowed them to transition on us and play between us on the first two goals. We were disappointed by that because our game plan was to stop their offensive transition and to be strong in possession. Us giving it to them and then allowing them to play through us quickly accounted for a lot of it.”
Angel City however did not go down without a fight, and it turned to the corner kick to get themselves back in the game. Angel City had its first look at a goal from the corner spot in the 69th minute, as Messiah Bright headed an Emslie corner for the far post, only for the ball to hit off said post and over the end line. Angel City eventually did get a second goal in the 78th minute, as Emslie sent a corner from the left side into the penalty area, Nielsen headed a ball to the top of the six-yard box, Riley touched a ball to Curry, and she blasted the point-blank shot past Franch into the back net to inch Angel City closer.
However, it was the 84th minute where the story developed. Angel City had another corner, Emslie sent the corner into the penalty area, the ball took a few deflections before Rocky Rodriguez fired a ball inside the penalty area for the equalizer. However, after the Angel City training staff took time to attend to a Neilsen ankle injury, the referee went to video review, apparently to see if any Angel City players were offside. The replay showed that two Angel City players were in an offside position, but that the ball deflecting off both Kansas City and Angel City players. Nevertheless, the referee saw enough to waive off the goal, and the Kansas City faithful breathed a tremendous sigh of relief.
“The game of football is cruel,” Angel City Becki Tweed said. “You go from 3-3 to 4-2 within a matter of one minute, it’s tough. We’re three games in, and we haven’t been outplayed in any of the three games. We have a lot of things that we can fix internally as a group and we have some time to regroup and do just that.”
The Current caught another break in stoppage time that enabled them to seal the win. Wheeler sent a ball into the Angel City penalty area, Anderson punched the ball in the air, but not enough to clear the ball from the penalty area, worse for Angel City, the ball fell to the foot of Benaretto, and with Anderson out of position, Benaretto gathered herself and quickly fired the ball into the open net to lock down the three points.
