maiara niehues

Maiara Niehues extended her scoring streak to three games, and Sveindís Jónsdóttir scored in her return from injury to give Angel City FC a 2-0 win over the Orlando Pride on Friday night at BMO Stadium.

Niehues fired home the rebound for the opening goal in the 36th minute. Jónsdóttir forced a turnover in the 56th minute, dribbled and scored from a tight angle to double the lead for Angel City (5-6-1).

Jónsdóttir returned to the starting lineup after missing the last four games because of a foot injury.

Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson recorded one save for her third shutout of the season.

Interim head coach Leif Gunnar Smerud led Angel City in the first match since the firing of Alex Straus.

NWSL Golden Boot leader Barbra Banda was unavailable for Orlando (5-6-2) because of a thigh injury.

Manaka Matsukubo finished with a goal and an assist to lead the North Carolina Courage to a 2-1 win over Angel City at BMO Stadium on Sunday.

Matsukubo slipped a ball through to Evelyn Ijeh, who calmly finished to give the Courage a 1-0 lead in the 48th minute. With the goal, Ijeh has landed on the scoresheet in three straight matches.

Three minutes later, Evelyn Shores’ pinpoint cross into the box found the head of Maiara Niehues for the equalizer.

North Carolina retook the lead for good in the 79th with Riley Jackson’s perfectly weighted pass to Matsukubo, who scored her fifth goal of the season.