The Kansas City Current continue to break more records as they extend their lead at the top of the NWSL.
They have already won the NWSL Shield, meaning they will finish top of the league before the play-offs.
They beat Angel City 1-0 on Monday night thanks to a 59th-minute goal from Michelle Cooper – just 20 seconds after she came on to the pitch as a second-half substitute.
That is the fastest goal by a sub in NWSL history.
“Coming on the field, we talk a lot about numbers in the box in training, and that we want to do that in the games,” Cooper said after the match. “I think we do a really good job of getting there. We didn’t have as many opportunities in the first half of this game. It’s not about the number of opportunities, obviously, it’s about how efficient we can be with them.”
Kansas City Current: 19 wins this campaign
The Current are now unbeaten in 16 matches, having won 19 of their 23 games so far this season – another NWSL record across a single season.
“We play all the way through regardless of how hard it is,” said head coach Vlatko Andonovski after the match. “We relentlessly fight defensively and attack on the other side. We believe so much in the process that we know if we execute everything at some point, we are going to be successful.”
Of the broken records, Cooper reflected: “It’s super exciting but we say all the time, we aren’t done yet. It’s super important for us to celebrate these successes and these wins, but in the same breath, the season’s not done yet.
“There’s still three games…left to play, and there’s still play-offs after that, so being able to celebrate it, close the chapter and move on to the next one is what we talk about all the time.”
Kansas City Current’s season so far
Kansas City Current are 16 points ahead of second-placed Washington Spirit. As NWSL Shield winners, they have already qualified as top seeds for the play-off stage of the season where the top eight teams in the league will compete in a knockout tournament to decide the NWSL champions.
The Current’s next match is at home against third-placed Gotham FC, on Saturday, 11th October. After that, in their remaining fixtures, they still have to travel to Houston Dash, and then host San Diego Wave.
The other teams who currently look set to qualify for the play-offs are Portland Thorns, Seattle Reign, Orlando Pride, Racing Louisville and San Diego Wave.
