Orlando Pride beats Utah and leads the NWSL

Orlando continued its rise up the NWSL table with a comfortable win over the bottom-placed Utah Royals.

Top scorers: Banda 27′, 86′, Yates 45+3′, Marta 47′, 88′, Watts 90+6′

It was almost over before it started, with Orlando dominating from the opening whistle. They deservedly opened the scoring before the half hour when Barbra Banda continued her fierce campaign with the opening goal.

While Utah may have been happy to go into halftime with just one goal, their hopes were dashed when Summer Yates doubled the lead deep into stoppage time.

The final nail hit the Royals’ coffin just after the break, when Marta put the Pride ahead and killed the visitors, but the floodgates didn’t close there.

Banda and Marta added another before the final whistle, adding further emphatic touches to the dominant victory.

The Pride are three points clear at the top of the table, despite having a game in hand on all their rivals.