Macario's Wave is rolling into LA this weekend, and Angel City is short-handed for it. Welcome to Angel City Daily. Rivalry week, a two-game suspension to deal with, and now a TV deal too? We've got the Wave matchup, the fallout from those NWSL red-card suspensions, and what this Victory+ broadcast partnership actually means for the club. Losing Niehues for two against San Diego specifically is brutal. That's the worst possible timing, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. From Karan Lodha at Angel City Football Club:
True to its name, San Diego (5-3-0) made waves when it announced the signing of forward Catarina Macario in March. The U.S. Women’s National Team attacker had spent the previous three seasons with Chelsea FC Women before signing with her hometown club. Macario is now part of a talented offensive lineup that also features midfielder Lia Godfrey, who is tied for third in the NWSL with four goals scored.
Saturday at BMO, Angel City hosts San Diego in a SoCal derby, and this one matters a little more because of where both clubs are in the table. ACFC is sitting on three wins and three losses, San Diego on five and three. And San Diego has Catarina Macario now — hometown return, came over from Chelsea, and she's a real USWNT threat. This is not a light fixture. The Utah loss stings because Angel City actually had the run of play — nine shots to five, down a player in the second half, and still pressing. The finishing problem is right there. Taylor Suarez went a full ninety for the first time as a pro and, apparently, was one of the best players on the pitch. So that's the good news. The bad news is we lost anyway, so somebody has to finish. Here's Yahoo Sports:
According to the NWSL news release on the suspensions, “… the Disciplinary Committee determined that both incidents rose to the level of a violation of Section 12.4.11, ‘Major Game Misconduct,’ of the League Operations Manual. As a result, each player has been issued an additional one-match suspension, increasing their total suspensions to two matches.”
NWSL has given Maiara Niehues a second suspension game on top of the red card she picked up against Utah — two matches total after the disciplinary committee ruled it major game misconduct. It came on a retaliatory strike on an opponent in first-half stoppage time. And Angel City lost that game. So now you're down a midfielder for two matches while you're trying to climb the table — that's the double punishment right there. Niehues is a key piece in that midfield, so missing two matches is a real rotation problem, not just a discipline footnote. Whoever steps into that role has to actually be ready to log minutes. Sports Video Group writes:
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory+ have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles area on the free streaming platform. The partnership begins Wednesday, May 20 with ACFC’s match against the Kansas City Current at BMO Stadium.
Angel City and Victory+ are officially partnering on regional broadcasts — six local matches this season, free streaming, starting May 20 against the Kansas City Current at BMO. Free streaming in LA. That's the right move — you want somebody scrolling at 7 p.m. on a Wednesday to stumble into an Angel City match, not bounce off a paywall. Saskia Webber on the call is a real get — USWNT history, ACFC investor, and she actually has skin in the game. That booth has credibility. Six games isn't the whole season, though. If you're a fan without the national package, you're still blacked out for most of it. Good start, not a solution. If Angel City Daily is part of your routine, take a second to subscribe and leave a review wherever you're listening. It helps other fans find the show, and it means a lot to us.
You'll find links to every story we covered today in the show notes, so if something caught your ear, you can dig in there. Thanks for spending part of your Friday with us. That's Angel City Daily Podcast for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.