Angel City Football Club starts important week with two home games against Portland Thorns

The playoff spots in the NWSL are slowly getting within reach and this is a good sign that the season is coming to an end.

The end could come quickly for Angel City Football Club if they miss this week's chance.

Angel City (6-11-3, 21 points) is currently in 10th place, two spots out of a playoff spot, but the club returns home for back-to-back games starting Monday against the Portland Thorns. Angel City will also host the Washington Spirt on Friday.

“We have to focus on one game at a time,” said Angel City coach Becki Tweed. “The goal for every game now is three points. We know we are disappointed not to have scored any points in the last two games (against Seattle and at Racing Louisville) when we should have scored points. We have put a little pressure on ourselves and know we have to win every game now.”

The Thorns (8-9-3, 27 points) have lost four straight games but still hold a playoff spot in seventh place. Plus, the Thorns still have USWNT star Sophia Smith ready to take over a game at any time.

“The biggest threat we talked about last week was Sophia Smith in the front line,” said Angel City defender MA Vignola. “She has the ability to look for and find good space. But I think once we can break that first line of pressure, we can basically take her out of the game and impose that high pressure on her as well. That's going to be the most important thing for us.”

The teams will also meet in Portland on November 1 in the final game of the regular season. After those two home games, Angel City will play two consecutive away games (at Seattle on October 4 and North Carolina on October 12).

Angel City knows that September must end on a high note if it wants anything at stake in October.

“Portland is a really good team,” Vignola said. “We've talked a lot about how they're definitely going to come into BMO with some hunger and fire after the run of games they've had. Being at home, it's definitely good for us to be able to take the initiative and kind of dictate the game.”

“We have to be the ones who apply the pressure. When we go for it and when we don't, we just have to control the dynamics of the game and that's going to be really important.”

Angel City has a 3-6-1 record at home this season. The Thorns have a 3-5-2 record on the road.