Angel City Football Club stared down a busy and important September.
If the month was a test, Angel City passed it flying with top honors. Angel City went 5-0-1 and climbed from outside the playoff line to as high as fourth place in the NWSL standings
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As of the start of this week’s games, Angel City was in sixth place in the 16-team league.
Angel City had five players (goalkeeper Angelina Anderson, defenders Sarah Gorden and Evelyn Shores and midfielders Ally Sentnor and Maiara Nieheus) selected to the NWSL Best XI for the month and interim coach Leif Smerud also picked up an honor as the Coach of the Month.
“This is a team effort,” Smerud said. “The team has done very well in September and I’m surrounded by a good coach staff and together we have achieved to be unbeaten (in the month) and I accept that with pride and honor.”
For the first time in its history, Angel City reaches the final month of the season in the thick of a playoff race. The team’s first playoff appearance (2023) wasn’t clinched until the final day of the season. Even then, that team was never as close to the top of the league as this one is now.
There are just six points separating second place (Washington Spirit, 46 points) and eighth place (Seattle Reign, 40 points). Angel City sits at 42 points, which makes the final month of October even more important.
Angel City kicks off the month with a clash against first-place Gotham FC. The teams played to a scoreless draw in the first meeting Aug. 23 at BMO Stadium.
Gotham, with 34 goals, doesn’t score much. Angel City is second in the league with 44 goals. But Gotham also doesn’t allow many. Through 26 games, Gotham has allowed just 20 goals, tops in the league. Angel City is fourth with 28 goals against.
“What I like about the team is that we can win games in different ways,” Smerud said. “It’s going to be a big test for us to play a team like Gotham, just like it was playing Washington. I think finding the right balance between defending with and without the ball and attacking quick and attacking through longer attacks, that balance is important.
“I expect them to try to dominate it (possession) and I expect us to give them a fight.”
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After Sunday, Angel City will have three regular-season games remaining: Oct. 17 at Denver Summit, Oct. 24 at home against Bay FC and Nov. 1 at home against Boston Legacy FC.
International duty calls
Angel City will have a staggering 10 players departing after Sunday for international duty next week.
Shores and Gisele Thompson will join the USWNT senior team for exhibition matches against Spain on next Saturday (Oct. 10) and Oct. 13.
Anderson, Sentnor, Carina Lageyre and Savy King will join the USWNT U-23s, with games set for Friday (Oct. 9) and Oct. 13.
Prisca Chilufya will be with Zambia for a pair of 2028 Olympic qualifying matches on Thursday (Oct. 8) and Oct. 10. Claire Emslie heads to Scotland for a 2027 World Cup qualifying playoff against Czechia on Friday (Oct. 9) and Oct. 13.
Sveindís Jónsdóttir gets a call-up to the Icelandic national team for their World Cup qualifying playoff against Croatia on Friday (Oct. 9) and Oct. 13.
Finally, Maiara Niehues will join Brazil for a pair of games against Argentina on Saturday (Oct. 10) and Oct. 13.
After the break, Angel City will resume the regular season on Oct. 17.
“I think one of the benefits now is we have a very clear understanding of how we want to play,” Smerud said. “The players know it. We are able to execute it from game to game in a quite consistent way and that makes us having a break not a very big problem.
“Some of these players now have earned the right to have a short rest and then we are ready to go again.”
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ANGEL CITY FC at GOTHAM FC
When: Sunday, 10 a.m. PT
Where: Sports Illustrated Stadium, Harrison, N.J.
How to watch: ESPN