**Portland, Oregon** – League leaders Portland Thorns FC hosted rivals OL Reign in Portland on Wednesday night and the points are shared after a 1-1 draw.
Separated by just one point at the top of the table, fans were in for a thrilling clash at Providence Park.
The match got off to a lightning quick start as the hosts took the lead just three minutes in. A new entry into the starting line-up, Morgan Weaver took her first opportunity perfectly to break the deadlock.
Down early, the visitors needed to respond – and quickly – if they wanted to make a push for top spot in the table. Yet despite coming into the match in top form, none of the Reign stars could create any opportunities.
The match remained in Portland’s control with goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi, in particular, acting as the most active player for the visitors.
By half time, the hosts outshot the visitors 14-3 despite having less possession.
After the break things continued to be a nervy affair as the visitors pushed for an equalizer.
Sophia Smith had a chance to add a second for Portland but scuffed her shot before Christine Sinclair saw a curling effort go wide.
Meanwhile for the Reign, Jess Fishlock set up Eugénie Le Sommer whose shot was blocked by Emily Menges and substitute Megan Rapinoe saw two attempts fall just short.
As the clock counted down, the action continued to flow at either end of the pitch and things eventually took a dramatic turn.
The Reign were handed a controversial penalty in the 86th minute after an apparent handball in the box and Rapinoe made no mistake to make things 1-1.
After the equalizer, both teams looked for a stoppage-time winner but could not produce any more late heroics.
With the result, Portland maintain their one-point lead at the top of the table on 40 points while OL Reign are in second with 39 points.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights