Wave Women End Rough Run with Comfortable Victory Over Royals
San Diego Wave Women claimed a convincing 4-2 win against Utah Royals in the NWSL Group Stage at Snapdragon Stadium on Friday evening. The result snapped a difficult sequence for the hosts, who had gone three games without victory. Both sides entered the fixture level on 39 points, with the Wave sitting fourth and the Royals third in the table.
T. Byars opened the scoring early, firing home in the fourth minute to set the tone. M. Tanaka doubled the lead before the half, finding the net in the 29th minute. The Wave pushed further ahead through M. Barcenas in the 40th minute, and Tanaka completed her brace shortly after the restart in the 47th. By then the match was effectively decided, though the visitors would pull one back later on.
Utah finally got on the board through Ludmila in the 70th minute, but it was too little, too late. A VAR-assisted goal for N. Miura was cancelled in the 82nd minute, denying the Royals any real hope of a comeback. T. Byars added a fourth for the Wave in the 63rd minute before her own substitution in the 72nd minute.
The statistics tell you everything you need to know. San Diego registered five shots on target with 46 per cent possession, while the visitors held 54 per cent but managed only two shots on target. The Wave created four big chances compared to one for the Royals, and their shot accuracy of 38 per cent was a world away from the visitors' 17 per cent. To be fair, the hosts gave the full-back a torrid evening at times, but they ended a barren spell with this performance.
Both teams had identical records coming into this match — 12 wins, three draws, seven losses — and the result leaves them still separated by just one place in the standings. The Wave move to within touching distance of the top three, while the Royals drop further behind the leaders. What this means for the Group Stage remains to be seen, but for now the Wave have handed themselves a crucial advantage.
