Portland Thorns vs Chicago Red Stars | Reaction & Recap

One win in their last seven games. Can they break the drought?

Credit: Portland Thorns FC

With the playoff race heating up, the Portland Thorns faced off against Chicago Red Stars. Both teams desperately needed three points.

Head coach Rob Gale, went out with an interesting game day roster. Christine Sinclair would start up top, Jessie Fleming benched for the third straight game, and Payton “Peeps” Linnehan completely left off the roster.

Morgan Weaver made her return to the lineup for the first time since May, after recovering from knee surgery.

In the early going, both teams struggled to impose their will. In the first 15 minutes, there were only three shots total for both teams.

Unfortunately in the 16th minute, Olivia Moultrie attempted a back pass, but it was intercepted by Ally Schlegel. Mackenzie Arnold and Kelli Hubly also missed on the ball which led to the opening Chicago Red Stars goal. It was a goal that summed up the Portland Thorns’ recent form.

In the 37th minute, Chicago attempted a horrendous back pass and Sincy would steal the ball. She got into the box and played it to Soph who was unfortunately denied by Cari Rocarro.

Later in the half, Soph Smith had multiple half chances on goal, but just couldn’t convert. Portland has only scored six goals in their last nine games.

At the half, the Thorns ended with an xG of 0.58 while the Red Stars had 1.10 (Opta).

Portland had not come back from a goal deficit to win all season.

To make matters worse, in the 47th minute, Reyna Reyna pulled down Ludmila da Silva in the box. Mallory Swanson would take the PK against Mackenzie “Macca” Arnold and… GET STOPPED!

In the 66th minute, 135 days after her injury, Morgan Weaver made her return to football. Interestingly enough, Liv Moultrie came off which moved Sinclair back to midfield.

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In the 74th minute, Weaver nearly wrote a storybook script. Soph hit a brilliantly driven cross into her and the finish was nearly there.

In the 75th minute, Reilyn Turner came on for Sinclair, and Jess Fleming for Alexa Spaanstra.

A scary situation occurred in the 79th minute when Kelli Hubly took down Mallory Swanson around midfield. She was issued a yellow, but Swanson was visibly in pain.

This match got unbelievable dangerous towards the end with multiple challenges. In the 86th minute, Hannah Anderson collided head to head with Hina Sugita. The back of Anderson’s hit the front of Hina’s face - she also needed assistance off the pitch in a wheelchair.

All of us at STF hope Mallory Swanson and Hina Sugita have a speedy recovery.

Portland were credited with 14 shots and only two on goal. The Thorns accumulated an xG of 0.91 compared to Red Stars’ of 1.93. The right team won and deserved to win the game.

For the first time in club history, they have lost four straight regular season matches.

Reaction

Who are these Portland Thorns? They have no identity. This team is unrecognizable and lost. The only goal they gave up today came off a bad back pass & ensuing miscommunication. That has become a recurring theme with this team: finding mistakes that cost them. And the mistakes continue to pile up while the goals have all but dried up. They’ve scored only six goals in the last 10 games. The attack has been stymied time and time again with the team being shut out twice in the last four. There seems to be a lack of belief, confidence, and structure.