BMO Stadium | Los Angeles, California – Saturday, April 15 at 10:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Angel City forwards Claire Emslie, Katie Johnson, and Alyssa Thompson have all gotten off the mark in the 2023 season thus far, with Thompson scoring her first NWSL goal in her league debut to become the 4thyoungest player to tally in a league game. Thompson’s goal came in Angel City’s loss to open the year, while Emslie’s goal against Orlando last week was followed up by Johnson’s late match-winner in the 10th minute of added time in the second half. Emslie is also one of the league’s only players to have both scored and assisted a goal in just the two games played thus far.
Racing Louisville failed to score in its season-opening draw with Houston, and goals last week came from two players outside their forward line as defender Abby Erceg helped Louisville pull one back with a goal from a corner kick. Then, a few minutes later, midfielder Ary Borges scored a goal of the year contender from just outside the box that stood good enough to help the side earn a second consecutive draw. In goal, goalkeeper Katie Lund has already begun to continue her incredible form of last season, recording seven saves against Houston in a first clean sheet on the year and adding another three against Washington the following week to put her at second in the league in that category.
Match facts: Saturday night’s action rolls on as Angel City FC returns to BMO Stadium to host Racing Louisville FC in a promising encounter that features two new-look, ambitious sides. Angel City has won one and lost one coming in, while Louisville has both failed to win and yet managed to avoid defeat in their two games to date, setting up an intriguing matchup in Los Angeles.
Angel City showed out in front of a boisterous crowd at BMO Stadium in Week 1 and forward Alyssa Thompson’s goal gave the crowd something to go crazy about with her league debut goal to open the scoring. However, Gotham completed their own comeback with two goals in 10 minutes in the second half to overthrow Angel City’s lead and inflict a defeat to the hosts. However, resolve was shown in Week 2 as forward Claire Emslie opened the scoring against Orlando only for Pride forward Messiah Bright to equalize minutes into the second half. Undeterred, Angel City’s fight to the end paid off as forward Katie Johnson bundled the ball over the line in what was the 100th minute of time played—the latest regular season goal in NWSL history—to help her side earn a marathon three points.
On the other side, Racing Louisville FC has come out strong under head coach Kim Björkegren’s second campaign making a few key additions to help the side push for a playoff run in 2023. Two of those additions—Erceg and Ary Borges—were on the scoresheet against Washington in the club’s last time out, and attacking threats Wang Shuang and Uchenna Kanu have seen plenty of the ball in the first two games to suggest they will contribute throughout the year, though Kanu’s action last match was limited to just 42 minutes due to injury. Regardless, Louisville will have every reason to believe that their mix of familiar faces and new talent will be able to go into Los Angeles and potentially overcome this Angel City side.
The two teams have only ever met twice in NWSL action with results split and favoring the away side on both occasions. In June of last year, Angel City defeated Louisville, 3-2, at Lynn Family Stadium with goals from Christen Press and Savannah McCaskill. However, Racing got their revenge in late September in Los Angeles as all of Kirsten Davis, Alex Chidiac, and Emina Ekic contributed goals in a 3-1 win.
