All times EDT. All matches at Zions Bank Stadium, Herriman, UT. All matches streamed on: - CBS All Access (USA & Canada) - Twitch TV nwslofficial2 (international). Sat 04 July 12:30 Utah Royals - Sky Blue 22:00 Houston Dash - OL Reign Sun 05 July 12:30 North Carolina Courage - Chicago Red Stars 22:00 Portland Thorns - Washington Spirit Wed 08 July 12:30 Utah Royals - OL Reign 22:00 Sky Blue - Houston Dash Injury report, as of Sat 04 July: { Chicago, North Carolina, Portland, Washington }: nil Houston: Q Nichelle Prince, Rachel Daly (* right thigh) OL Reign: OUT Jess Fishlock, Sofia Huerta, Kelcie Hedge Sky Blue: OUT Caprice Dydasco, Carli Lloyd, Mallory Pugh, Madison Tiernan Utah: OUT Kelley O'Hara, Desiree Scott * Daly is(?) the only player who played in Week 1, and got injured during it. All others were already out.
[UTA-NJ] Maemone for Jónsdóttir; Del Fava for Bowen. Utah still have 3 CBs, with Del Fava and Strom-Okimoto as wingbacks. Bring the fireworks, ladies 🎆#URFC | #NWSLChallengeCup pic.twitter.com/wcU0LwjRCR— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) July 4, 2020 4-1-4-1 => 4-3-3; Riehl for E.Johnson; Eddy for Zerboni; Viens for Onumonu. Our Starting XI vs. @UtahRoyalsFC!⚽️ 12:30 pm ET📺 @CBSAllAccess (🇺🇸 & 🇨🇦) 💻 @Twitch (🌍)Matchday presented by @HMHNewJersey pic.twitter.com/MeZoPMd4ma— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) July 4, 2020
This one could have misled many predictors, who predicted a Houston Dash's win on the assumption that Daly was going to play: the injury report was quite late.
Wow, Midge Purce get a YC at 8' already! Two back to back fouls on the Left-Side (followed by two dangerous FKs by Vero Boquete that were basically short corners), but I guess in the second chance (the one actually leading to the YC) Amy Rodriguez was clever to draw the foul from her. This could be a game-changer because Purce will be forced to play it safe from now on on.
They are sure giving a LOT of credit to Rodriguez when what is really happening is that the defense is playing bad defense leaving gaps that a water buffalo could dribble through. Then NJ reverts into "thug" mode and cannot stop her without fouling.
06' 0-0 Rodriguez and Ratcliffe play a quick interchange to 6m wide left, Purce trips Ratcliffe. Foul. 08' 0-0 Rodriguez outhustles Lewandowski(?) at box top mid-left, pokes ball into space and chases to 7m wide left. Rodriguez nutmegs Purce , splits 2 defenders, emotes a foul. Foul, yellow card on Purce.
In the first 15 minutes it has become clear that if either team is going to score it is going to happen as the result of a foul or other horrendous defensive mistake.
Yes, we're at 25' right now and the match looks quite boring and uninspiring to me. Tempted to turn to the final of German National Cup: Wolfsburg and Essen playing extra-time after an exciting 3-3 draw.
We are now at 25 minutes and neither side has looked much like scoring. They are working hard but much of the effort is wasted as the "skill on the ball" seems to be lacking both ways. As an example Rodriguez received a near perfect pass at the top of the box and mad a series of bad touches that eventually led to an extremely weak shot from the right side.
15' 0-0 Maemone crosses from 24m box left to 5m 5-right, Strom-Okimoto overlaps past the scrum and hop-heads down but wide right. 18' 0-0 Brief stoppage: Monaghan is down on her back. Had wind knocked out? Resumes. 22' 0-0 Utah serve into box, Sky Blue clear to box top a few times. Utah's quarter-chances are softened by a couple of tentative touches and hesitant positioning. Ratcliffe finally shoots quickly from 12m mid-right to right post, Sheridan catches face-high. Utah emphasize possession in midfield, but they have nobody filling the forward right wing to support a quick attack. 26' 0-0 Utah have easy possession at 30m center, as Sky Blue are content to fill space but not press tightly. LaBonta serves to Maemone at 18m mid-left, one-touch volley into box has no runs, Sheridan collects. That one-touch redirection might be the right idea to unlock a stubborn defense, but there's no combo in the combo yet.
I do not think a water break should be the best skill shown in a match but, it this case, it seems to be. I hope things get better because if they get much worse I may become nauseous.
Utah's Kate Del Fava's surname sounds quite funny to an Italian like me, but you can't understand it, guys.
Again Rodriguez screws up a promising attack. This is getting repetitive. They said that "her first touch failed her." But they should have said "she screwed up her first touch."
31' 0-0 1H hydration break. 35' 0-0 Vero darts upfield from circle top mid-right to 27m arc right, slips a perfect pass through Sky Blue's high line onto Rodriguez's right foot at 16m mid-right -- but Rodriguez muffs the trap, ball stays behind as Rodriguez overruns it Vero can score, but she can't get assists 39' 0-0 Ratcliffe plays Matheson down wide left to 15m Matheson swings a ground cross to 15m mid-left, Rodriguez measures it and swings one-touch left instep (with knee bent, not a full roundhouse), slices under ball and it goes nowhere, softly into Lewandowski(?)'s torso. 40' 0-0 Maemone(?) fires a perfect pass through arc left. Ratcliffe is running perpendicular to ball, lets ball go through her wicket but never slows it down, can't catch up to it, Sheridan collects.
Well Rodriguez finally scores. The defense was horrible and A-Rod did not screw this perfect pass up at all.
Well, can't really say it was an exciting 1st Half: I go to dinner with no regrets here in Italy. Not sure if I'll be back before the end of the game.
You Italians do enjoy the long evening meals. Plus if there are any discussion they become even longer as you cannot eat while waving your hands all over.
There have been a few real boring matches in this tournament and, so far, this looks like it will be right in the middles of the bottom few. Of course the second half could change that.
41' 1-0 Ratcliffe passes square right to Vero unmarked in a 5m circle at 30m arc left. Rodriguez lopes toward arc top mid-left -- already 1 step ahead of Purce jogging, on Lewandowski's heels and staying just onside. Vero snipes a pass to 10m 6-left, Rodriguez outsprints Lewandowski to 6-top left, shoots one-touch left instep pull across mouth, over Sheridan's kick-save try, into back right edge. Rodriguez can always beat you with her run. Being "between" 2 defenders is not double-coverage if she's racing you to a point on the field. .@VeroBoquete ➡️ @AmyRodriguez8 *𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓯'𝓼 𝓴𝓲𝓼𝓼*1-0 | #UTAvNJ Tune in now on @CBSAllAccess and @Twitch.#NWSLChallengeCup pic.twitter.com/DTTwV2G6Dv— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 4, 2020 HT 1-0. Sky Blue are still just 1 year removed from severe off-field issues, so I count all of their little successes as progress, but their next step is to gain some ruthlessness. Utah has been there for years. Utah 7(2)-(0)1 shots(sog), 0-3 corners, 7-8 crosses vs. 11-6 clearances, 1-1 offsides, 5-4 fouls, 50% possession.
46' 1-0 Utah subs in { 0th of 3 }: - (1 of 5) #6 Katie Bowen for #42 Raisa Strom-Okimoto. 46' 1-0 Sky Blue subs in { 0th of 3 }: - (1 of 5) #25 Ifeoma Onumonu for #20 Evelyne Viens. Viens hardly saw a ball. - (2 of 5) #6 Jennifer Cudjoe for #4 Paige Monaghan. 46' 1-0 Purce sprint-dribbles toward box top right, Del Fava hauls her down by her right arm just outside box. Foul, yellow card on Del Fava. 48' 1-0 Richardson fk at 17m box right, rises high over bar.