In their second win of the season, the Chicago Red Stars have scored in their third game in a row. But Red Stars fans can only think of what more this team could do if they had the finishing power to convert on all the chances. Either way, a win over the North Carolina Courage is something to enjoy. Here’s what the game looked like:
Chicago dominated the first half, with the ball seeming to stay in North Carolina’s end for much of that time. Despite the contradictory possession numbers, the Courage were absolutely on the back-foot and didn’t see a real chance all 45 minutes. In terms of action, the Courage were given an ominous premonition in the form of an 8th minute chance from Mallory Pugh after Kealia Watt’s shot was parried, not saved, and landed in the middle of the box. Pugh scrambled to it, but could not convert. But Casey Murphy was haunted by that play again in the 29th minute, when she similarly parried a Morgan Gautrat header, only for Rachel Hill to clean it up for Chicago. The Red Stars also got a scary glimpse at a possible future in the 35th minute when Mallory Pugh chose not to cap off an incredible run with an easy pass, but continued forward and failed to create a real chance.
In the second half, things were less tilted one way. The Chicago Red Stars seemed to get a little bit complacent with the scoreline and found it harder to break into the Courage’s area. After a 48th minute chance where Pugh couldn’t quite get a clean shot off of a pass from Watt, the Red Stars were on the defensive. But still, North Carolina weren’t as dangerous as they’d been in the past, only pulling out a 66th minute chance for Lynn Williams on a high cross from Debinha. The game would end 1-0.
Here are three things we learned from this game.
Finishing Things Off
An issue that started out as a simple problem with subs has turned into a slightly larger issue. This week, it didn’t cost the Chicago Red Stars the game, but they’ve been taking their foot off the gas late in games. Last week it was in the 2-1 loss to the Houston Dash where tired legs couldn’t keep up with a more fresh opponent. This week against the North Carolina Courage, Rory Dames once again didn’t put on any substitutions until after the 70th minute. This is obviously somewhat better than last week’s 84th minute sub, but it’s still concerning.
At this point, you can either call it a mentality issue or a fitness issue. And both come back to the coach. The Red Stars need to close out games like this stronger, especially when they’re holding so much of the game early on.
MOAR!!!
The big and obvious talking point is that once again, the Chicago Red Stars underperformed their xG. The Red Stars finished with an xG of 1.88, which puts them in a position where they should’ve likely scored a second goal. And watching the run of play itself, many would argue that they should’ve gotten three. But they only got the one goal and had to make do with it for the rest of the game.
It’s not so much that the team can’t score a lot of goals, it’s that they are able to create so many chances and are unable to convert on a solid fraction of them. This leaves them open and susceptible to games like that loss to Houston or the scoreless draw against Gotham FC earlier in the season.
How Long
Although there is an issue with the volume of scoring, it’s still good that the Chicago Red Stars have continued scoring into a third game. But there’s a certain clock winding down on Chicago when it comes to that streak. How long can they keep grabbing at scraps when it comes to finishing? Of their four total goals this season, two came on defensive errors and one came from a transcendent individual play. Especially in this game, where the goal was from a rare goalkeeping error, the Red Stars need to get someone who can score.
Prior to the game, I did speak to Red Stars owner Arnim Whisler and he echoed what Rory had said earlier in the year about how they are working on finding a new striker. Which means that the clue of a player that “needed to finish a cup” is still there. Just yesterday, Division 1 Feminine concluded, with PSG winning the league to stop Lyon’s dominance. This was followed with Nadia Nadim seemingly saying “au revoir” to the French side in a tweet. With no solid evidence, this is only speculation. But it’s something to note for Red Stars fans trying to find who the mystery signing is.