Gotham FC comes close, but is unable to score in draw with Seattle Reign FC | OneFootball

For the second match in a row, NJ/NY Gotham FC finished a game 0-0, this time at home to Seattle Reign FC in NWSL play. While this will be a disappointing result for fans to accept, the performance from the Bats today can be viewed as a positive, given how defensively Seattle played for the entirety of the 90 minutes.

Feelings will probably be mixed for Gotham following the match. The sentiment postgame from both Jaelin Howell and Ann-Katrin Berger was that the team did enough in the attack to warrant scoring a goal. They managed to keep a clean sheet and hold Seattle to zero shots on target through the entire 90 minutes. There are still opportunities later this season to get three points, but time is running out, and the playoff field is incredibly tight.

Seattle will see this in a positive light, though, for this game can very much be viewed as a task completed. This was a big point on the road for a team that has been pretty inconsistent with results as of late.

It did not matter that Gotham FC was the better side. They will most likely view this as two points dropped at home given they probably did enough to warrant scoring at least one, if not multiple goals.

A tough pill to swallow for Gotham FC

This first half really flew by, mainly because not much happened as neither team had a shot until the 24th minute. That came off a Jaedyn Shaw shot that was blocked for a corner, which then saw a Josefine Hasbo shot that was very comfortably saved by Claudia Dickey. From that point on, Gotham FC cemented themselves as the more aggressive team as they had a few more decent opportunities.

The main threat from the Bats, to no surprise, was Rose Lavelle. With Esther González on the bench to start this game, Lavelle was the one many Gotham fans would have picked to score in this one, and she came close on at least two occasions. This included finishing off a great passing sequence with a quick turnaround shot that was unfortunately right at Dickey. She then managed a floating right-footed shot that Dickey just barely got her fingertips on and tipped the ball onto the crossbar to keep this game scoreless at halftime. The NJ/NY side managed to hold Seattle to zero shots in the first 45.

The second half began like the first half, with neither team having a shot until 23 minutes in. And it was very nearly a great goal from Shaw. She made a great snaking run through defenders and got into a great position in front of Seattle's goal. She just didn't get enough power on it, and Dickey was very easily able to make the save. Gotham continued to pile on the pressure, keeping the majority of play in Seattle's defensive half. However, the Reign continued to prevent the home team from having any dangerous looks at a goal.

And that's pretty much how the rest of the game would go. Gotham pushed and pushed, but failed to break down Seattle's defense. And while the Reign would cause a stoppage time scare off of a corner that caused a bit of a scramble in their first real sustained sequence of attacking play, this game ultimately ended 0-0.

A lot like the Portland Thorns FC last week, Seattle seemingly came into this game with the intent of playing 90 minutes of suffer-ball and to steal a point on the road. And unlike Portland, that's exactly what they did.

While Gotham FC remains in third place in the standings, it means that passing the Washington Spirit for second is next to impossible, given the eight-point gap with just nine points left available. It also means the NJ/NY side did not create a bit of breathing room between them and fourth through eighth in the standings, with the point spread now just being four points over those six teams.

There may also be some concern amongst fans about Gotham going two straight games without a goal. While goal scoring was an issue earlier this season, this should really be viewed as a blip more than anything. The game against Washington on Wednesday was a slightly odd game by virtue of it being midweek, at a neutral site, and also featuring a heavily rotated lineup in front of a sparse crowd that neither side is used to playing in front of at home this season.

Then, against Seattle, as mentioned earlier, came against a side that was thoroughly content on coming away with just one point and is used to playing in this manner this season. Also, both games, especially against Washington, Gotham did more than enough to warrant scoring, but both of their opponents did enough to keep them off the board.

While they do play against the runaway Shield winners, the Kansas City Current, next week at CPKC Stadium, which could again see the Bats blanked on the scoresheet, it will be interesting to see not only how Gotham plays in that game but also how the Current approaches that game. With them having already locked up the top spot in the standings, they have done a bit of resting and rotating of key players.

The extent to which they will do so against Gotham FC is unknown, but KC might view this upcoming game as a nice test for the playoffs, as the Bas are the best team left on their schedule.