Gotham FC ends regular season with disappointing loss to the North Carolina Courage | OneFootball

On Decision Day, NJ/NY Gotham FC could have jumped up to fourth place in the NWSL table and hosted a quarterfinal match with a win and some help. They ultimately fell flat and lost 3-2 to the North Carolina Courage. While there was only one goal separating the two sides and most of the stats, excluding shots, were even, the NJ/NY side was simply not good enough, and a really poor first half ultimately sunk them.

At the same time, Gotham FC knew they would be in the postseason regardless of tonight's result. But, they at the very least wanted a positive outcome to not only have a chance of improving their playoff seeding, but to end the season on a positive note. Plus, their last win came back at the end of September.

So, what does the result mean? Despite winning, North Carolina did all they could to try and sneak into the playoffs, but a 1-0 win for Racing Louisville FC over Bay FC meant that they will miss the postseason. Then, Gotham has to visit the Kansas City Current in next week's quarterfinals.

They had just played away to Kansas City three weeks ago and lost 2-0, but KC is dealing with some injury issues. Temwa Chawing missed their match this weekend, and Bia Zaneratto was forced off through injury in the first half of their regular-season finale. It is certainly the worst-case scenario coming out of Decision Day, but Gotham FC knew that they'd have to face the Current at some point to win the championship. Hence, why not get it out of the way first?

Gotham FC is going into the playoffs on a sour note

When the match began, North Carolina was intense from the start. Meredith Speck on the left and Payton Linnehan on the right were given loads of space out wide, and they were getting chance after chance in the opening 20 minutes. The first Courage goal came in the 14th minute and saw the two wingers team up as Linnehan put in a cross to a wide-open Speck, who buried the ball past an outstretched Ann-Katrin Berger.

Two minutes later, the home side doubled their lead through MVP candidate Manaka Matsukubo. The Japanese forward jumped on a poor pass from Jess Carter and let off a long-range first-time shot that beat Berger, who was off her line. From then on, the game became a very low event and stale, partly because Gotham figured out how to neutralize the Courage attack. The weather also played a factor. Heavy rain and cooler temperatures made this a pretty unenjoyable match to play in.

One or two of North Carolina's chances in first-half stoppage time gave Gotham a scare, but they ultimately kept the deficit to 2-0 headed into halftime. The Bats created very little offensively, generating just 0.26 xG on just one shot on target.

At the start of the second half, the visitors piled bodies forward and very nearly got a goal because of it. But almost immediately after, North Carolina went down to the other end of the field and scored their third. A cross into the box went off Linnehan before the ball bounced off Carter and into her own goal.

Generally speaking, there was not much wrong with how Gotham defended this play, but when it rains, it pours. They got the short end of the luck stick as the ball just bounced perfectly in North Carolina's favor for this third goal.

The Bats were not held scoreless, though. They scored two late goals thanks to a Rose Lavelle penalty kick in the 87th minute and an even later goal from substitute Gabi Portilho in stoppage time. Alas, that was ultimately too little and too late. Gotham lost this one 3-2 and is heading into the playoffs as the eighth seed.

It was definitely a tough way to end the season. The NJ/NY side left a lot on the table in terms of improving their playoff seeding, but also going into the playoffs off the back of what was a bad result and performance is not how one wants things to go. They did look better when they made some subs around the 60-minute mark with Lilly Reale, Bruninha, and Sofia Cook all creating positive momentum. However, by that point, North Carolina had taken their foot off the gas and wanted to hold rather than extend their lead.

But simply put, Gotham FC was just not good enough tonight, and that was the overall sentiment post-game from Jaelin Howell, Lavelle, and head coach Juan Carlos Amorós. They all said that North Carolina did not provide any surprises and that they were not good enough, especially in the opening 20-30 minutes

This game did feel like a learning experience for Amorós as he may have galaxy-brained his lineup a bit. Given what was at stake for North Carolina, the expected sellout, and being on the road, he understandably went with a defensive lineup to start the game. But it's pretty hard to ignore how much better the team looked when the subs, including Cook and Portilho, came off the bench.