Angel City adds third consecutive win, beats Utah Royals 3-0 on the road

SANDY, Utah -- Angel City Football Club defeated the Utah Royals 3-nil after two first-half red cards forced the home side to play with nine players for over 65 minutes at America First Field on Sunday evening. 

Goals from Ally Sentnor, Taylor Suarez and Sveindis Jónsdóttir gave ACFC its 11th win of the season and into sixth place in the NWSL standings. This is the second consecutive game in which Sentnor and Suarez have added goals to the scoresheet. 

The home side got off to a rough start. By the 24th minute, Utah (13-9-3) were down to nine players as Cronin earned a red card in the 11th minute for a behind tackle on Prisca Chilufya. 

Angel City (11-6-8, 39 pts.) capitalized early and held the lead until the end. In the 24th, Tejada earned a red card, and Sentnor converted the resulting penalty kick past goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn.

Sunday's goal marks Sentnor's third consecutive goal from the penalty spot; she scored once in Angel City's match against the Seattle Reign on Wednesday and against the Denver Summit the week prior. It was also her fifth goal of the season. 

ACFC headed into the locker room with 72 percent possession in the first half and three of 11 shots on target. 

The Los Angeles side carried the momentum into the second half, with Suarez making an immediate contribution just 72 seconds after subbing on for Chilufya to start the half. Suarez received a pass from Gisele Thompson and finished from the center of the box, marking the third goal of her rookie campaign and her second straight match-scoring performance after coming on as a substitute. 

“[Taylor] has a very good ability to get into those situations, and from there it is about the quality of the finish,” head coach Leif Smerud said. “She got into those situations again today. She’s in a good place and on a good development path, which is important for us.”

Jónsdóttir scored her eighth goal of the season in the 67th minute, bringing ACFC's total to three after a run that sent the ball into the back of the net. 

Sunday's performance puts Angel City comfortably in the standings, two places above the playoff cut-off. The club's last three wins have also shown significant improvement in attack and cohesion with the backline. 

"We have amazing players and amazing talent back there. I think part of it was us raising our standard and another part was getting pushed outside of our comfort zones in training. Just as the offense scoring a lot of goals gives us a lot of confidence, the same goes the other way," said keeper Angelina Anderson, who recorded her eighth clean sheet of the season. "We look really good lately. I freaking love my backline."

Angel City will continue on the road once more on Saturday, Sept. 26, facing the Washington Spirit (14-4-7, 46 pts.) at Audi Field at 3:30 p.m. PT. The Spirit currently sit second in the league standings. 

With only five games remaining in the regular season, ACFC must remain among the top eight clubs to reach the playoffs for the second time since its inaugural season in 2022.