Match Coverage
What we learned: Utah Royals @ Kansas City Current
Utah Royals' loss in Kansas City comes with some lessons and questions.
Utah Royals FC, after a draw versus Bay FC and a narrow loss to the San Diego Wave, found themselves shocked by a 3-0 loss to the Kansas City Current. The Royals entered the match holding the Current to one goal in both meetings in 2024. The Royals were simply not prepared for their first meeting of 2025.
Defensive strategy
Head coach Jimmy Coenraets started defender Madison Pogarch and midfielder Macey Fraser instead of defender Nuria Rabano and Guatemalan forward Aisha Solorzano. And while Rabano and Solorzarno have not had top games yet, they have had more time on the field. Fraser didn't have too bad of game and may have been Utah's bright spot. She had an 86% passing accuracy, two shots on goal, and created a chance while winning 60% of her duels and 100% of her tackles.
Let's s focus on Pogarch for a bit. This marked her first start, with a combined 46 minutes in the first two games as a subsittute. Choosing Pogarch to defend against Kansas City was an interesting choice. She often seemed caught in the Current's transition and left players unmarked, mainly Michelle Cooper, who scored a goal and recorded an assist.
The fault is obviously not on Pogarch. It appeared the Utah was playing in a three-back system, with Janni Thomsen dropping to help. What I saw mostly though was three defenders not quite ready for the task to stop the Current. Kate Del Fava did a fair job the first 20 minutes leading the defense and kept Kansas City from scoring, but the Kansas City attack was too much for Del Fava, Ana Tejada, and Pogarch to stay organized. The Royals did keep the Current from scoring in the second half, but that could have been that Kansas City just eased their attack. Otherwise, this game could have seen a few more goals.
Much work to do still
Utah succeeded in keeping possession (64%-34%), some quick short passes (85% accuracy) and building from the back. It was a struggle bus to get that ball into the final third and create, really, anything. The xG for this game was 3.07 Kansas City to Utah's 0.27, with three shots on goal. Ally Sentnor, Mina Tanaka, and Claudia Zonorza had a quiet night. All three were dipossessed often and lost most of their one-on-one battles.
The good news is that there's plenty to learn from this game, and the season is still early. Thank you for the lessons, Kansas City.
