Angel City Football defeated by Utah Royals for third consecutive loss

LOS ANGELES — The wild “NWSL After Dark” moments didn’t have anything on Angel City FC before sunset in Saturday’s meeting with the Utah Royals.

In one of the wildest and chaotic games in its short history, Angel City ended up on the wrong end of two video review decisions, both would have given the club a penalty attempt, saw a player sent off with a red card, and in the end, it all added up to a third consecutive defeat.

Utah Royals’ Cloé Lacasse’s first-half goal stood up as the difference-maker, handing Angel City a 1-0 defeat at BMO Stadium.

The game took a turn in the first half, even after Utah’s opening goal. Angel City midfielder Maiara Niehues was issued a red card for violent conduct after a swing of her elbow toward a Utah player, just before halftime.

In the second half, with 10 players, Angel City went into a “tactics-free zone” early, pushing from all angles. In the 65th minute, came the first video review decision. Ary Borges attempted to play a ball inside the penalty area, but she collided with a Utah defender. Referee Lauren Aldrich was called over the video review, and after a long review, it was determined that Borges had initiated the foul.

Later, Prisca Chilufya was knocked down at the edge of the penalty area by another Utah defender and Aldrich didn’t hesitate in pointing to the penalty spot. However, after another trip to the video monitor, she ruled that Kate Del Fava didn’t commit a foul.

The end result for the lengthy video reviews was an 11-minute second-half stoppage time period.

It was all looking smooth for Angel City before the international break. Angel City won its first three games of the season, suffering its first loss before the break against the Orlando Pride.

The lone loss, probably should have been at least a draw, but the Orlando Pride scored in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

Since returning from the break, Angel City has suffered losses to the Portland Thorns and now the Royals.

Angel City will conclude its string of three consecutive home games Saturday against San Diego Wave FC.