Weekend Roundup 4/25-4/27

This past weekend brought some of the most excitement that us soccer fans have seen the entire season thus far. The NWSL provided entertainment early in the week with an unlikely Tuesday matchup between the Portland Thorns and Gotham FC. NWSL action continued at the weekend, joined by the second-leg of the semi-finals of the UWCL and some Sunday WSL gameplay, as well. Let’s get into it!

As said before, the matchweek started off with a five goal thriller, as the Portland Thorns demolished Gotham FC at home 4-1. Despite only having 39% possession, four different goal-scorers were able to slot home against the reigning goalie of the year, Ann-Katrin Berger. Fast-forward to Friday and the Orlando Pride gets back to winning ways against Angel City FC with a late winner, after a deep cross takes a very unfortunate deflection off of left-back Mary Alice Vignola in the 93rd minute. Houston Dash also grabbed their second win of the season against an 11th placed Utah Royals team. 

Saturday brought drama near the top of the table. Esther González bagged her sixth and seventh goals of the season for Gotham in a 3-0 routing of a Trinity Rodman-less Washington Spirit. The reigning Rookie of the Year, Corix Bethune, made her first appearance of the season after recovering from a torn meniscus. The Spirit will be rueing their chance to put pressure on the Kansas City Current, who lost their first game of the season to a previously winless North Carolina Courage team. Ashley Sanchez, a USWNT regular, scored the winning goal in stoppage time, a result that equals the Current and the Pride in everything but name. 

Elsewhere in the country, Racheal Kundananji and Jordyn Huitema both scored their firsts of the year in a 1-1 draw between Bay FC and the Seattle Reign. Lauren Barnes became the first player in NWSL history to reach 20,000 minutes played in this game, doing it all with Seattle. San Diego Wave continued their title charge with a 3-0 thumping of bottom of the league Chicago Stars, who still anxiously await Mallory Swanson’s return. The final game of the matchweek was a six-goal thriller from the Portland Thorns and Racing Louisville, in which both sides were forced to share the points. With one of the last kicks of the game, Jayden Perry put away a penalty to ensure that her side got something from the match, though it was Kayla Fischer who stole the show with a goal and an assist, her first of each this year. 

As NWSL action is just seeming to begin, the season is coming to an end across the pond for the European teams. Sunday saw 8 of the 12 WSL teams play, while Arsenal and Chelsea’s opponents had to wait, due to the Champions League semi-finals. In a 7-1 thumping of Crystal Palace, West Ham’s Shekiera Martinez scored four, marking one of the most brilliant individual performances of the year and bringing her tally to 9 in the German’s first year in England. Nikita Parris of Brighton grabbed a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win, including a stoppage time game-winner, against Everton, the team where she spent the first five years of her career. Sophie Haug scored 2 for Liverpool in a 2-2 draw against Tottenham, and Manchester City battled to keep their Champions League hopes alive with a 1-0 against relegation-threatened Leicester City. 

Arsenal and Chelsea were not available for WSL play this weekend as they had big matches in Europe, both teams hoping to overturn a first-leg deficit against Lyon and Barcelona respectively. Only one of the two English teams was able to accomplish such a feat as, for the second straight tie, Arsenal were able to overcome defeat from the first leg to advance, this time to the final. A brilliant all-round performance from the Gunners saw them score just five minutes into the first half, when goalkeeper Christiane Endler put the ball in her own net following confusion in the box on a corner. Mariona Caldentey doubled their lead with an absolute beauty from outside the box just before the half. Poor defense from the Lyon backline led Alessia Russo to add a third in the minute after the half. Vanessa Gilles gifted Arsenal a fourth later in the game, after a huge mistake gave the ball straight to Caitlin Foord, who calmly put the ball top bins from just a few yards out. Lyon were not able to get on the board until the eighty-first minute, but by then it was too late. Arsenal advanced to the Champions League final for the first time in 18 years, where now-captain, Leah Williamson, was just a mere ball girl for that side. At Stamford Bridge in London, Chelsea sought to have a remontada of their own, only to lose 4-1 (8-2 on aggregate). Aitana Bonmatí opened up the scoring midway through the first half, as the reigning Balon D’Or winner took it from her own half to unleash a powerful shot past the goalkeeper. A second goal was added on by Polish forward, Ewa Pajor, but the best goal of the game came from Claudia Pina two minutes later, who curled a shot to the far right post, freezing the goalkeeper, who could only watch the ball go in. A poor mistake in the back from Niamh Charles gave Barcelona a 4-0 lead going into stoppage time, and although Chelsea were able to get one back with a good effort from teenager Wieke Kaptein, Barcelona advanced to their sixth final in as many years, hoping to three-peat against Arsenal. That match will be played on May 24, and is sure to be a blockbuster game as two of the best teams in the world go up against each other. 

WSL action returns on Wednesday, with Chelsea trying to bounce back, and potentially clinch their sixth straight title against Manchester United, but only if Arsenal drop points against 10th placed Aston Villa. NWSL returns on Friday, with games being played throughout the weekend, ensuring it will be packed with goals galore. 

Written by Brian Rapuano