Angel City Football Club didn’t have long to dwell on last Friday’s one-sided loss against Gotham FC.
That’s probably a good thing, but on the other hand, the first chance to respond is on the road against defending NWSL champion Orlando Pride on Friday.
The Pride is also coming off its first loss of the season, 1-0 against the Washington Spirit, to snap a 17-game unbeaten streak at home.
“All the teams that we’re playing are really good,” Angel City defender Gisele Thompson said. “We’re just sticking to our game plan and focusing on ourselves. We know every team is going to be different. They’re all amazing teams, so we’re focusing on who Angel City is and building off of that.”
Without a shot on goal the entire match, Angel City (2-1-2, eight points) lost to Gotham FC 4-0 on Friday. Gotham had four shots on goal – three in the second half – and all four ended up in the back of the net.
“We have a really young squad right now,” Angel City defender and captain Sarah Gorden said. “The most important thing is how we respond. Going into practice (this week) is about focusing on the next step and moving forward.”
Angel City will receive a big boost with the return of Alyssa Thompson (three goals), who sat out the loss against Gotham with an upper leg injury. The Pride (4-1, 12 points) have allowed only two goals through five games.
“They’re a very mature team,” Angel City interim manager Sam Laity said of the Pride. “(Orlando coach) Seb (Hines) is doing a brilliant job there. They’ve done a great job on the recruitment side of things and have a lot of stability at the club. They’ve been there for four years, so that team and that club is a lot more mature perhaps than we are right now.
“It’ll be a really good opportunity for us to see where we’re at. We will certainly be causing them problems if we turn up and do the things that we’ve done over the course of the five games. They’re a threat, they’ve got threats, they’ve got concerns, but I’m pretty sure they’ll be worried about us as well.”
After the Gotham loss, Laity said the staff did a five-game performance review.
“It wasn’t just a reaction to the Gotham game, but showed things that we’ve done really well over the course of the five games,” Laity said. “There were some of those things against Gotham, including some of the things that we’ve done really well and then other areas of the game that we want to see some changes, as well as changes to the outcome.
“It was actually really sort of cathartic, and perfectly timed. It would be easy to be down and thinking about the result, as opposed to the performance. We want to win, and there’s a demand and a need to win games. However, my job is to prepare the team (for now) and for when the new head coach comes in, and that’s where our focus is. Analyzing the performance over the last five games was a really positive way for us to put the Gotham game in the rearview mirror and start looking forward to Orlando.”
ANGEL CITY FC at ORLANDO PRIDE
When: 5 p.m. Friday
Where: Inter & Co Stadium; Orlando, Fla.
How to watch: Prime Video
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