The KC Current took on Angel City FC on the road on Friday night. It was a hard fought match on both sides, but the Current broke through in the second half to beat Angel City 3-1. Angel City was quite physical and it took some tweaks at the half by Vlatko Andonovsky to help the Current find their way. Here are my thoughts on the match.
Angel City Dominate First Half
A few weeks ago Angel City came to KC to take on the Current. They played a very physical second half which helped them stay in the match. They carried that momentum into this matchup in LA. The Current seemed to have some trouble dealing with the physicality and high pressure that Angel City applied. Angel City created more chances than the Current did, but some great saves by AD Franch kept Angel City at bay. The best chance the Current had came from a great cross by Bia Zaneratto the was headed over the bar by Ellie Wheeler.
Angel City finally broke through and found the back of the net in the 34th minute on a great goal by Claire Emslie. There wasn’t much Franch could do to save the goal as it was an excellent strike. The Current began to find some life late in the half, but Angel City was the better side in the first 45 minutes and deserved to be up 1-0 at the break.
Half Time Adjustments Make Difference
Vlatko Andonovsky made some great changes to start the second half. Michelle Cooper came on for Alexa Spaanstra and Hailie Mace came on for Ellie Wheeler. These two changes made a huge difference for the Current. They honestly looked like a different team and the formation appeared to slightly change. Mace got up into the attack and that left Robinson, Ballisager and Rodriguez as a sort of back 3. These changes also led to a tactical change to where KC switched from a zone to a man-to-man defense. This made all the difference in the match for the Current.
Defending Chawinga
Teams have been taking notice of the excellent start to the season Temwa Chawinga has been having. Angel City made slowing down Chawinga a top priority in this match. Their defense did a great job at doing so in the first half by cutting off her running lanes to slow her down. They also seemed to try to be extra physical on her, which again was successful. Mace and Cooper seemed to give more support for Chawinga up top in the second half, which helped open up the game for KC. It will be interesting to see how teams defend Chawinga moving forward as she is one of the fastest players in the NWSL.
DiBernardo Strikes Again
Vanessa DiBernardo continued her strong start to the 2024 campaign in LA. She found the back of the net in the 54th minute to bring the Current level with Angel City. Her strike was a fantastic strike. She didn’t hit a rocket, but she didn’t need to. It was a perfectly weighted lob that went just out of reach of the Angel City keeper to find the top left corner. Her goal was her 3rd on the season and her 1st away from CPKC Stadium. She has been great so far this year and will look to keep her good form going next weekend.
Claire Lavogez’s Impact
In the playoffs in 2022 Claire Lavogez suffered a major knee injury that kept her sidelined for most of the 2023 season. She has worked very hard to make her way back and has been used effectively as a sub in the 2024 campaign so far. She once again came on as a sub in this one in the 63rd minute to replace what looked like to be an injured Bia Zaneratto. Claire got herself up in the attack and help KC take the game to Angel City.
She scored a goal on a great cross from Izzy Rodriguez in the 90th minute to help assure the Current would take all 3 points. She found the back of the net again in the 93rd minute on a ball the deflected off of her hip and into the back of the net. That would be the final nail in the coffin for Angel City. Those goals were the first 2 goals of the season for Claire. You could see the emotion on her face and how much it meant to her. She will look to build off of this great performance.
KC Defends Set Pieces
In the first meeting between the Current and Angel City saw Angel City score twice off of set pieces. Defending corners has seemed to be a bit of an issue for KC so far this season. In this one, Angel City had 9 corners to 3 for the Current. The Current successfully defended all 9 corners against the home side in this one with the 1 Angel City goal coming from open play. This is a big improvement for the Current and will look to continue this form moving forward.
Debinha Retruns
Debinha suffered a hamstring injury back in matchweek 1 and has been working her way back ever since. She came on as a sub for Vanessa DiBernardo in the 73rd minute. Now, I feel bad for any team that has to face the Current. It must be intimidating to have a player like Debinha come on as a sub late in the match when legs are already heavy and tired. Debinha made a huge impact right away. She did great to control the ball through a strong defense to pass the ball out wide to Izzy Rodriguez who set up Lavogez for the match winner. Her return from injury will only help the Current impose their will on opposing sides moving forward. It was great to see her back.
Next Up: The KC Current stay on the road and head to Huston to take on the Dash on May 5th. The match can be viewed on CBS and Paramount+.
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