Racing keeps playoff dreams alive with big win over Angel City
This win Louisville moves past their Los Angeles opponents on the table and to the brink of a post-season berth
Something out of nothing
It seemed like it might be the same old story for Racing Louisville in their Saturday night match against Angel City when a bad giveaway led to the Los Angeles side scoring in the 18th minute. That wasn’t the case, though, when Racing not only rallied but held off a dangerous Angel City attack thanks to a probably season-best performance in goal by Katie Lund.
First, in the 26th minute, midfielder Ary Borges sent a perfect cross into the run of forward Bethany Balcer whose leaping header somehow perfectly arched beyond the reach of L.A. keeper Didi Haracic and into the back of the net to equalize. Considering the angle, distance, and all other factors, the goal only garnered 0.06 xG.
“She’s just an anomaly,” said head coach Bev Yanez of the striker. “She likes to score. She puts herself in the best positions to score and I think she showcased that tonight. She can make something out of nothing.”
After going into the second-half level, Racing spent a good deal of time on their back foot. Some well-applied pressure on Angel City’s backline off a dead ball in the 68th minute forced a bad pass from Haracic that forward Janine Beckie read perfectly. Beckie intercepted, nutmegged a defender while passing to herself, and finished with a blast into the back of the net. Similar to Balcer’s goal, Beckie’s was so unlikely and difficult it only garnered 0.08 xG.
Despite a few half chances from their opponents, Racing stayed in control, defended well, and killed the game off correctly in what Yanez praised as a “gutsy, gritty performance.” With these three points, they have bypassed Angel City and moved from 11th place to ninth. They’ll stay within sight of a playoff berth if the Seattle Reign loses their match to Gotham FC on Monday.
“I think you really can't overstate how important it was to get this win,” Beckie said. “That's a really good team who has had really good results this season, and they're right next to us in the table, and I think if we don't get those points, we make it really, really tough to continue to push for the playoffs. For that dream to still be alive is massive for this club, and it just continues to build belief.”
By the numbers
This is an interesting one.
Angel City is a team that likes the ball at their feet and they definitely had it with 64% possession. Despite this mismatch—especially at the beginning and end of the second half—Racing never felt like they were scrambling or pressed back as they have against other opponents. Even compared to last week against Bay FC.
Angel City also won the xG battle quite handily with 1.28xG to Racing’s 0.53xG. Remember, Balcer’s header only had 0.06 xG and Beckie’s only a hair more with 0.08. This explains why Racing had such a significantly lower xG despite having more shots on goal (6) and two goals than Angel City who had five on target with only one goal. Katie Lund also came up huge by making four big saves and four big clearances to keep all three points for Racing.
Racing’s passing accuracy was 76% which is lower than it has been for much of the post-break period of the season.
Borges has the most duels of anyone on the pitch with 15, but Taylor Flint won more than anyone with eight. Flint also had the most interceptions for Racing with three.
Borges, Kayla Fischer, and Emma Sears all got yellow cards this match which means Fischer will be unavailable for selection against North Carolina next week.
Key takeaways
Coming together
There’s a lot for Louisville to be happy about with this result. It was a solid come-from-behind win against a team tight in the standings. Racing is something of a rival with Los Angeles this was their first win against Angel City in Lynn Family Stadium and only their second win against them ever.
Best of all, however, is the fact that new acquisitions Balcer and Beckie who were acquired in the off-season both notched their first goals for Racing in dramatic fashion. Both had high-quality, difficult goals that take special players to even have the vision to attempt them, much less pull them off. The missing ingredient for this team has been attackers who come up big in big moments. With the last two losses, there is no question that this game was about as big as it came for Racing and both these players stepped up and delivered. Yanez said that Louisville pursued each player not just from a football perspective but because of their experience and on Saturday, that experience paid off.
“I'm just really relieved, to be honest,” Beckie said of scoring the goal-winner. “Coming off a couple of tough games, we really needed those points to keep our playoff hopes alive, and at the end of the day, it's always nice to score a goal.”
Beckie was quick to laud Fischer’s impact on the game as a substitute. It was her pressure on Haracic that forced the turnover that led to Beckie’s goal. Lund and the rest of Racing’s defense also received praise from the veteran attacker who said her goal “doesn't happen if the team's not performing like we were. I'm just really proud.”
Beckie also demonstrated some versatility this match by playing on the left for a significant portion before switching over to the right some time in the second half. Although she wasn’t very involved in the attack in the first half, her defensive work doubling up with fellow new addition Courtney Petersen was key in shutting down phenom attacker Alyssa Thompson who has scored three goals in the last four matches. It was rare that Thompson made it past the midfield line without both Racing players closing down on her and limiting her progressive moments.
Solid teamwork was also on display in Racing’s first goal with a good build-up in the midfield coming from Beckie to Borges to Flint to Savannah DeMelo who touched it back to Borges to set up the assist. Balcer’s goal puts her second all-time for the National Women’s Soccer League in headers with 14.
Beckie conceded that there’s a lot of pressure on players who are added to a team late and have to build relationships on the fly. It speaks to both Balcer and Beckie’s experience, skill, and professionalism that they’ve adjusted this quickly and made such an impact this early. Beckie said the team and her teammates have played a big role in the adjustment.
“The team has been so wonderful with not just Bethany and me, but Courtney [Petersen] and Angela [Baron] as well,” the forward said. “I think the four of us have come in and felt at home right away. It's difficult to build those on-field relationships when you don't have a lot of time, but that speaks volumes to the players that are here, that they can build those relationships so quickly and learn who we are as players so quickly, and that just makes everyone better.”
Forgetting the Past
For Coach Yanez, one of the keys to Saturday’s match was forgetting the past and focusing on the future.
“I spoke a lot in pregame about perspective,” said Yanez. “I dropped that word in. We have to acknowledge and take into account that our past is not who we are. We have learned. We have grown. We have become better. We have become stronger because of how the season has played out so far early on and that those [results] aren't a reflection of who we are today. So, taking those learnings and taking a perspective into this game of, ‘This is who we are. And if this is who we want to be, I need to put in a performance for 90-plus.’ And I think the group stuck together in every aspect.”
Sticking together isn’t something Racing has always done well. When things turned against them or when they lost possession, they’ve often splintered and fallen into individual efforts instead of sticking together collectively. Some of this scattered, frantic play was on display last week against the high press of Bay FC. Angel City is also a high-pressing team that has a good number of one-on-one attacking threats, and yet Racing weathered the storm quite well this time. In some ways, Angel City was their own worst enemy in their giving away the goal-winner, but that’s how you win matches. Games in the NWSL are won on the slimmest margins and this time Racing was the one who made the fewest mistakes, stayed together better, and was rewarded for their efforts.
The biggest challenge Racing will have will be to turn this win into a streak, something they have never truly been able to accomplish. If this win can be a confidence boost for Beckie and Balcer as new additions and for the team as a whole in their late-season form, Racing may be able to make a late-season push after all.
Look ahead
The importance of this win can’t be overstated. Angel City was above Racing in the standings and would have broken away with a win.
Racing has five wins now. The most they’ve ever had in a season is six, so they should, hopefully, surpass that this season now that they have more games than ever to do so. It’ll be a challenge to get it next match, however, when the North Carolina Courage visit Lynn Family Stadium. Racing has somewhat famously never beaten the Courage. They only just got their first point off them a few months ago at the Summer Cup in a draw.
This season, the Courage have been unbeatable at home but much more vulnerable on the road. A win could propel Racing all the way into a playoff spot if Bay FC loses next week so the results will have strong post-season implications and everything to play for. In Racing’s favor, midfielder Denise O’Sullivan will be out thanks to yellow card accumulation. The Courage is coming off a big win in San Diego over the Wave, however, and will be feeling good about getting a strong win on the road, so it’ll take a lot for Racing to come out and get their first win. But with Beckie and Balcer clicking and Louisville riding high off the momentum of their own win, anything could happen.