Bay FC’s Tess Boade (12) kicks the ball against FC Barcelona in the first half at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
By William Espy
SAN JOSE–Bay FC hosted an international friendly match against FC Barcelona at PayPal Park on Tuesday night. After a disappointing loss against Utah on Friday, it gave Bay an opportunity to bounce back prior to their next NWSL match against the Portland Thorns in three days time.
With that being said, that opportunity was coming against the best women’s soccer team in the world. It also marked the first time that Asisat Oshoala faced off against her former team following her transfer to Bay FC. Bay FC hung tight with Barcelona in the match despite the three goal loss 5-2.
Bay FC also made a couple of transfers the day before the match, sending Lysianne Proulx to Italian side Juventus and acquiring Bay-Area native Abby Dahlkemper from the San Diego Wave. Dahlkemper was in Albertin Montoya’s starting lineup for this matchup, so she was debuting against a very strong opponent.
Bay FC Starting XI: Rowland, Dydasco, Menges, Dahlkemper, Moreau, Pickett, Bailey, Boade, Kundananji, Oshoala, Hill
Barcelona Starting XI: Gemma, Leon, Fernandez, Graham Hansen, Rolfo, Pajor, Nazareth, Walsh, Engen, Cano, Schertenleib
Oshoala nearly got on the board early, she got past the defense and had only the keeper left to beat but she was at a tight angle and was unable to get it into the net. Rachael Kundananji took a ball to the fact in the 7th minute, after a little difficulty she got back to her feet and continued on.
In the 11th minute, Barcelona got a dangerous ball into the box but nobody was there to get on the end of it and it went out of play for a goal kick. Overall, Bay FC was doing a phenomenal job limiting chances for Barcelona and creating their own.
Oshoala got her goal after intercepting a pass from Gemma to her defense, giving Oshoala a wide-open net. Barcelona evened it up in the 22nd minute with a goal by Kika Nazareth that ricocheted off of the goalpost and in, giving Katelyn Rowland no chance to make the save.
Oshoala nearly got a second one in the 30th minute, but her shot went wide right. In the 32nd minute, Tess Boade fired a shot from distance, which was saved by Gemma but bounced right to Kundananji who put it away to make it 2-1 in favor of Bay FC.
Kundananji and Rachel Hill were substituted for Deyna Castellanos and Caroline Conti, following the goal. Barcelona once again evened the game up, this time Caroline Graham Hansen put it away to make it 2-2.
That score would hold until the break, and it would head into halftime tied. Despite the tied score, the game already seemed like a victory for Bay FC as they had proven they could hang with the best team in the world. Now, it was a matter of getting the actual result as well.
Bay FC made a multitude of changes for the second half, having a majority of their bench enter the match. Barcelona made a few substitutions of their own but most of their stars remained on the bench. Catherine Paulson who was signed to fill Savy King’s roster spot while she’s representing the United States U20 team came into the match making her debut with the team.
In the 51st minute, Ewa Pajor got a shot off inside the box that had potential to give Barcelona the lead, but it went just wide. Barcelona’s sensational passing nearly gave them the lead in the 64th minute, but a great save by Emmie Allen followed by a blocked shot and another great save by Allen kept the game a 2-2 tie.
Barcelona took the lead off of a corner kick and from there, they brought on quite a few of their top players including Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas. Bay FC had already substituted off all of their starting eleven, as a result, the remainder of the game seemed like it should go in Barcelona’s favor.
Alyssa Malonson had a great run in the 78th minute, but she went down off of a bit of a push and was unable to get a shot away. Bonmati showed tremendous sportsmanship when Allen went down with an apparent leg injury and she helped the opposing goalkeeper stretch out.
Allen made another fantastic save in the 85th minute. Allen really shined, making a couple of other saves late in the game. She made a few mistakes but overall played really well for the majority of the second half.
A long shot by Claudia Pina after a corner gave Barcelona a 4-2 lead in stoppage time. Patri Guijarro added another in the 93rd minute to make it 5-2 and that would end up being the final score. Although Bay FC lost, they proved that they could hang with any competition in the world on any given night.
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