Match Recap & Highlights: Portland Thorns @ Angel City

The Portland Thorns came back from the international break to hit the road, with California as the destination.

The odds were not in their favor, with Angel City being one of the better teams at the start of the season. Moreover, history said they only managed to get three wins in 16 matches in all competitions when playing in California, which is pretty low. That statistic is, indeed, an 18.8% all competitions win rate in away matches there, which is actually the lowest of any NWSL team, according to Opta.

However, and despite this stat, the last time Portland played at BMO Stadium before this game, they got a 2-0 win.

First half

The Thorns went out with a 4-2-3-1 formation, and the novelty was Carolyn Calzada in the center-back position.

This was actually her professional debut, and according to the FotMob individual scores for each player she had one to remember. Her FotMob rating was higher than any other Thorn.

We will analyze her individual performance in our next analysis piece, but for now, we can only say "holy cow, Batman!" What a performance for her debut as a professional soccer player!

Another piece of good news for Portland was having Reylin Turner safe and sound after she had to leave the field due to what we thought was a knee injury. Although she didn't have much weight in the offensive side in this game, it was good to see her there.

Olivia Moultrie kept up with the good work, although it wasn't reflected on the score sheet.

Although the Thorns had to weather the storm in some parts of the match, they kept the defense under control and Angel City's at bay.

Giselle Thompson tried to test Macca Arnold and the entire defense line, and it was good to see they passed. The home team started to dominate 15 minutes into the game, but while it was ultimately ruled out due to offside, Moultrie putting the ball in the back of the net in the 28th minute helped the visitors to be a little more in control and not to Angel City's mercy.

Highlights

13' Unforced error by the Thorns in Portland's final third. The throw-in was kinda dangerous but Macca caught the ball.

15' What a ball to Sophia! Sadly, it was an inch too long and she couldn't get it.

25' Portland in the trenches right now.

28' Don't celebrate just yet because Olivia was offside in her goal and was disallowed.

32' It's Olivia Moultrie with the amazing pass to Pietra and then shooting!

38' Pietra is shown a yellow card. That was sloppy.

HALF TIME: Thorns 0 - 0 Angel City

48' Another offside goal.

59' VAR was looking into Sam Hiatt's potential foul on Jónsdóttir. All good. Phew!

60' Mimi Alidou coming for Turner.

61' A little pinball passes but Mimi gets the shot. Anderson got it, though.

64' Calzada is shown a yellow.

76' PIETRA TORDIN WITH THE HEADER AND IT'S IN!

81' Congrats, Renee Lyles, on your pro debut!

85' Too many low crosses into Portland's box.

90+3' Stoppage time sub, JP comes in for Cassandra.

90+ 6' SOPHIA WILSON WITH THE 2-0

Second half

We had to wait until the 77th minute for Portland to open the score. It was Pietra Tordin who headed it home after a series of rebounds.

Goal aside, it was important that Portland took advantage of that set piece since Olivia hasn't had many chances to score from there lately.

Of course, the home team wanted to get the equalizer right away and they started to send crosses here and there. Sveindís Jónsdóttir proved to be the most dangerous player for Angel City but couldn't get the ball in the back of Arnold's net no matter how hard she tried.

Stoppage time came and Portland kept weathering the storm, but minutes before that, Renee Lyles came in and made professional debut as well.

The highlight of the night happened in the sixth minute of second half added time when Sophia Wilson scored for the first time since returning from maternity leave. Actually, stats say the last time she scored was November 2, 2024.

And her comeback was "pure Sophia Wilson": a typical tally when she doesn't care if she's marked or not. Shot to the far post, bum! You're dead.

Angel City's Prisca Chilufya got a goal back two minutes later but nonetheless, Portland got away with the three points on the road, against one of the best teams in the league in this first part of the season and after a long international break. Plus, their marquee player is scoring again.

Not too shabby for Portland, amirite?

Now it's time to have a very short rest since they're playing San Diego next Wednesday at Providence Park.