Angel City FC fell short to Kansas City Current in a 1-0 loss at BMO Stadium on Monday night. The Los Angeles-based club held 65% possession throughout the match and outshot the Current 15-5, but still could not pull through for a win.
Angel City had to put its best foot forward, despite the loss. The game felt like a must-win affair given Angel City’s tournament chances.
Recently acquired midfielder Hina Sugita gave her best effort for ACFC. In the 32nd minute, forward Jun Endo took a free kick on the right side of the field from roughly 40 yards away from the net. After a series of deflections, the found its way to the top of the 18-yard box where Sugita delivered a shot directly to the hands of Current goalkeeper Lorena.
Angel City showed solid ball movement throughout the first half, opening up great goal-scoring opportunities. But the first half ended in a 0-0 tie, despite Angel City dominating play in general.
The best chance for Angel City came in the 47th minute when midfielder Miyabi Moriya passed the ball to Sugita on the left side of the box. Sugita took a beautiful touch to her right that beat out the Current defender and rocketed a shot that went just wide.
There were a lot of close call chances for Angel City, but none of them put the ball in the back of the net. The issue for Angel City has been that all season, they have had chances, but have struggled to finish. For tournament-level play, it is all about the end result.
During the 58th minute, midfielder Michelle Cooper subbed on for Current. Twenty seconds after stepping on the pitch, Cooper ran onto a ball crossed into the six-yard box and got a foot on it. She sent the ball into the back of the net past ACFC goalkeeper Angelina Andersen to put the Current up 1-0.
ACFC was in high attack mode the rest of the second half, playing until the bitter end of stoppage time. They had great ball movement, utilizing the wings to advance the ball. ACFC also displayed great set plays in the midfield, which distributed the ball to space well. But despite these improvements, Angel City came up short yet again.
When it was all said and done, Kansas City took home a 1-0 victory. This loss keeps Angel City at 11th, three spots and seven points out of a tournament spot.