The NWSL’s week 7 was fun and super interesting. Some teams are starting to find consistency, others are still struggling, and sometimes contrasting styles don’t actually make good fights.

Utah, Angel City, Houston and Bay all have a lot to work on, while the Spirit’s habit of conceding early goals keeps making their lives difficult. We also saw the Pride implement a neat tweak, North Carolina in The Upside Down, plus SufferBall vs. StruggleBall II (but not really this time).

Here’s what it all looked like according to StatsBomb’s xG race charts and passing networks.

utah royals 1-2 angel city

What it says on the tin. Angel City when up 2-0, with the last goal being a penalty, then held on.

royals

This is better from the Royals, but also they were facing a team who can’t quite get its midfield right either and had them down 0-2 in the first half. Next week’s network will show whether this was progress, or just game state.

angel city

Game state! Though if I was Angel City, playing against a struggling expansion club, this would be a bit disappointing. Three points are three points, but Utah scored early enough to have made the final forty minutes unnecessarily uncomfortable, yet ACFC only managed one chance (Le Bihan, 92’) the entirety of the second half. Ew.

seattle reign 2-1 san diego wavé

A more consistently entertaining match than the last time these two met. Many thanks and eternal blessings to that early goal.

reign

Lu Barnes is the only player with forward passes to teammates in an advanced line. Pass network lines are set to a minimum of four passes, but still, goodness Christ, Laura.

wavé

Not sure what Stoney is doing with her lineups these days. Maybe she’s managing minutes, maybe she’s proving a point or teaching a lesson, maybe it’s another thing. Either way, this is the most cohesive and advanced pass network their first game of the regular season.

nj/ny gotham fc 1-0 nc courage

Sometimes styles make fights, sometimes they make…this.

gotham

After looking like their old selves last week, this was rough.

courage

So was this lol. Like i said, the fun style clash we expected turned out to just be both teams neutralizing one another and neither figuring out how to cope.

portland thorns 2-1 washington spirit

The Spirit’s trend of conceding early goals keeps putting them in holes that are hard to climb out of, and giving opponent’s the ability to sit back and hold on.

thorns

Early goals meant the Thorns didn’t need to be their usual selves to keep all three points.

spirit

The Spirit huffed and puffed but their lack of consistent finishing meant they couldn’t find a second goal to complete their comeback.

houston dash 1-1 kc current

This is hilarious. The weather delay certainly had an impact, and KC coach Vlatko Andonovski seemed far more bothered about it all than perhaps eventual goalscorer Amanda West and the Dash. That may or may not have factored in what happened once play resumed.

dash

Honestly, the first half of this game seemed like Houston was going to suffer the kind of multi-goal loss that ends in firings. Somehow this turned into only conceding one (1) goal against the league’s top scorers, and then equalizing. Soccer gon soccer.

current

Kansas City camped in Houston’s half and it looked like every attack would end with a goal. It didn’t, and despite Fran Alonso’s idea that it’s a good thing to invite your opponent this high this often, their 2.89xG suggests this was less about the Dash doing that well than the finishing gods betraying the Current.

orlando pride 1-0 rahsing louisville

Barbra Banda continued her tour of terror but Rahsing did well to hold on, and probably should have been rewarded with a point from that 82nd minute .52xG chance missed by Elexa Bahr.

pride

Putting natural CB Emily Sams at right back helped Orlando build out of a back three and push a lot of players high while maintaining vertical passing connections.

rahsing

Save us Carson Pickett, you’re our only hope.

Missing Jaelin Howell and Savannah DeMelo certainly led to this bit of discombobulation, the passing lines are still strong, but it took straight up ignoring the right side of attack to make up numbers in midfield.

bay fc 1-2 chicago red stars

This time Bay FC scored the early goal, which was an ultra hilarious punt from Naeher that ricocheted off Tess Boade that floated into the back of the net. But Bay only creating one other chance over .06xG the rest of the game is yikesy.

bay

Bay’s dedication to possession and moving the ball between and around their defensive and midfield lines is admirable for a team trying to establish an identity, but with the attacking talent they splashed all their money on, they really should be getting a lot more vertical (particularly when they need to, uh, score goals).

red stars

Very much a weird one, but sort of what to expect from a team that’s a work in progress and coach who’s very good at defanging opposition midfields and attacks (see: Jamaica, 2023 World Cup). Also note the Sam Staab to Penelope Hocking pipeline [/cries Washington Spiritly].

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