Copper Queens captain Barbra Banda came off the bench to score the third goal as Orlando Pride saw off Kansas City Current 3-0 in a NWSL encounter.
Back home, back to winning for the Orlando Pride as they returned from a summer break into a rivalry match with the Kansas City Current, beating them 3-0 in the friendly confines of Inter&Co Stadium on Friday night.
It was set to be a battle between two teams missing key players in their starting lineups: Barbra Banda was on the bench for the Pride, while Temwa Chawinga was in reserves for the Current.
The first half came and went with nothing much to speak of. There were chances created by both sides, but nothing that truly tested either keeper through the first 45.
The second half, however, started with a bang, thanks to none other than Marta. Just four minutes into the final half of the match, Jacquie Ovalle was leading the counter attack down the middle of the pitch. She laid it off to Marta, who was about 25 yards away from goal. None of the KC defenders stepped to her, so Marta decided that she had plenty of space and time to take a shot on goal. If there’s anyone in Orlando to not give that to, it’s probably one of the greatest soccer players of all time. After two quick dribbles, Marta laced the shot into the back corner of the net, giving the Pride an early lead in the half.
That goal gave the Pride some confidence as they looked to double their lead just eight minutes later. Off a corner earned by Marta, Ally Lemos crossed a perfect ball into the far post, where a waiting Hannah Anderson was standing. A solid header back across the face of goal beat KC goalkeeper Marisa Jordan and doubled the Orlando lead just like that.
The scoreline held through the majority of the match, until the Pride decided to sub Marta out for none other than Barbra Banda. Ten minutes into her shift, a cleared ball down pitch by Hailie Mace was heading to the KC goalkeeper. As she went to clear the ball back the other way, her foot whiffed the clearance and the ball went behind her, just as Banda was hunting the ball. A quick burst of speed and Banda was in on goal with no one to stop her from scoring what was probably the easiest goal she’ll have all year.
The Zambian international has now scored 12 goals in the NWSL and leads the race for the golden boot.
The Pride will have a quick turnaround as they will get set to host expansion side Boston Legacy in a midweek fixture. The game is set for Wednesday night, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. ET on NWSL+.
