Recap & Highlights: Portland Thorns 1, North Carolina Courage 0
A win after a break
After the international break, the Thorns returned to Providence Park to play the Courage.
The last time these two teams met was in the middle of April when Mike Norris was in charge. In that game, former thorn Tyler Lussi scored on Portland and registered an assist.
There weren’t many changes in the lineup for this match. Maybe the biggest one was the inclusion of Payton Linnehan in the starting XI. The right-back position is still up for grabs and this time interim coach Rob Gale gave the start to Nicole Payne.
Recap
The games between these two teams are always a fun ride. In the last few years, some sort of rivalry has developed and the fact that these two clubs are the two most decorated in the league adds something special to the matches for sure.
Maybe the anticipation for this clash was dampened since the Courage are going through a rough patch while Portland needed to bounce back from the loss against Orlando.
After the 1-2 loss suffered in Cary, the Thorns took revenge with a 1-0 victory thanks to Sophia Smith scoring from the penalty spot. However, this was a pyrrhic win whose implications will only be known in a few days.
Stumptown Footy admin tweeted about Sam Coffey getting a new shoe in minute 13 and they were relieved it wasn’t an injury… Nonetheless, Coffey being substituted before the end of the first half boded nothing good.
Leaving the midfielder aside, Becky Sauerbrunn was one of the main protagonists of the first half for things that happened in both the Thorns and the Courage’s boxes.
As good as her header was — and what would have happened if she had scored — her defensive mistake almost cost Portland a lot.
Then, before halftime, Sophia Smith had two great chances but one ended up off target and then Casey Murphy denied her.
It’s amazing how fast Smith is. Even though she was several yards behind the last defender, she beat her and got to the ball first. Too bad she couldn’t get her shot on target.
Despite the Courage having more possession, better passing accuracy, and almost double of total passes in the final third, it was Portland who created the best chances in the first half.
In the second half, Portland tried to maintain a high pressure to make things happen and the team subsequently put up more shots, although it didn’t make a difference in the score. It was Hina Sugita, though, who changed things. She got fouled by Ryan Williams inside the box and the referee awarded a penalty kick to Portland after a VAR check that Smith converted. What is more, Ryan got sent off since she already had a yellow in the first half.
Things looked good for Portland on the field and the team got the three points at home in the end. The referee gave 10 minutes of stoppage time but the Courage couldn’t find the equalizer.
Portland got the three points, yes. But at what cost? Smith got a yellow in the 89’ for time wasting and then a second yellow after being subbed out for the same reason and therefore, got sent off. This means she’ll miss the match against Seattle. And maybe the Reign is one spot away from the bottom of the table but still… you want all your important players on the field in rivalry games.
What is more, unless a miracle happens, the Thorns will have to play without Sam Coffey. She was seen on the bench with a boot on her right foot which is never good.
The club hasn’t said anything about Coffey’s prognosis yet.
Highlights
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