Adriana scored a brace to help the undefeated Orlando Pride to a 3-0 win against host Angel City on Sunday in Los Angeles.
Barbra Banda added her 11th goal of the season for the Pride (10-0-5, 35 points), who moved into a tie for first with the Kansas City Current in the NWSL standings.
Angel City have lost two straight, both by shutout, and have been blanked in three of their past four matches.
Alyssa Thompson had an early chance for the hosts in the seventh minute but her shot from the right edge of the 6-yard box went wide.
In the 12th minute, Banda took a feed from Marta inside the box and put it on target, but goalkeeper DiDi Haracic got her hands up to push the ball away. Banda had another opportunity five minutes later, getting a shot off from down low on the right side only to see it hit the outside of the net.
The Pride broke through on the counterattack to take a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute. Adriana took a pass from Marta from the middle of the attacking third in to the edge of the box before firing a banger inside the far post.
Adriana added her second of the match in the 26th minute. Banda’s initial shot was stopped by Haracic, but Angel City couldn’t corral the rebound and Adriana quickly capitalized from the goal area.
The hosts had chances to break the clean sheet in the second half. In the 62nd minute, Sydney Leroux was open on the right side, but her attempt narrowly missed the far side of the net. Megan Reid came within inches with a header off a corner in the 89th minute but goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse got her hand on it to deflect it over the net.
Banda made it 3-0 in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time with an easy tap-in at the net after Haracic came well off the line. Banda is now tied for the league lead with Kansas City’s Temwa Chawinga.
Moorhouse had seven saves for Orlando. Haracic made six for Angel City.
–Field Level Media
