3 things we learned from Gotham FC's Decision Day loss to the North Carolina Courage | OneFootball

NJ/NY Gotham FC knew that fate was not entirely in their hands on Decision Day.  They had to beat the North Carolina Courage to have a chance at fourth place, but needed San Diego Wave FC and Portland Thorns FC to drop points in their gams.  San Diego lost, but Portland won.  Still, the Bats needed to win to not fall to eighth place.  Sadly, despite two late goals, they fell 3-2.

Gotham FC initially struggled immensely in the final third.  But North Carolina attacked with full force from the very beginning.  Goals by Meredith Speck in the 14th minute, Manaka Matsukubo in the 16th minute, and an own goal by Jess Carter in the 51st minute led to the loss.  Moreover, Racing Louisville FC’s win pushed the NJ/NY side into eighth place.  There was a glimmer of hope with late goals from Rose Lavelle and Gabi Portilho.  That did not matter, though.  Everything that could go wrong went wrong.

One big issue for Gotham was that Esther González was missing.  The striker was out again due to her hip injury, and she is vital to the attack.  The team last year was more even in the offensive work, but the Spaniard has the majority of the Bats’ goals in 2025.  Plus, a questionable Starting XI might have caused the loss.  The ladies were much better once substitutions were made throughout the second half.

There is plenty to discuss after the poor result.  Here are three things we learned from Gotham FC’s loss to the Courage.

The early goals hurt Gotham FC

Going down early hurt Gotham FC’s chances.  North Carolina was immediately the better side from the opening whistle, so it was not shocking that they scored in the 14th minute.  But going down a second goal two minutes later?  In complete honesty, it was unacceptable.  The defense was completely dismantled.

Of course, the own goal from Carter put things out of reach.  Still, the two goals from earlier in the game ultimately set up the evening to be a disappointing and disastrous result.  It is a shame that Lavelle’s 87th-minute penalty kick goal did not arrive sooner and that Portilho did not come on earlier.

Gotham is better than this.  The talent on this team, even with some players out due to injury, should have led them to a win.  Sure, the Starting XI was a little questionable with Kayla Duran starting over Lilly Reale or Bruninha, in which Mandy Freeman could have moved to the right-back position for the Brazilian.  It has also been interesting that Juan Carlos Amorós has been starting Josefine Hasbo over Sarah Schupansky.

Maybe, just maybe, the match would have gone differently with a few changes in the lineup.

It looks bad for Gotham FC heading into the playoffs

Gotham FC has a 1-2-3 record in their last six NWSL games, with the last win coming against Portland Thorns FC.  To make matters worse, the team ended the season in eighth place despite being in the top four just a few matches ago.  As they have done often this season, the Bats ultimately led to their own fall down the table.

Now, they have to face the Kansas City Current in the quarterfinals.  On paper, it is easy to dismiss the Bats and believe they will play just once in the postseason.  Sure, the Cinderella championship from 2023 can make one believe that there is a chance, especially since the ladies ended the regular season on a poor run of form.

But it is different this year.  There were no dominant teams in 2023, whereas the Current is clearly the best side this year, with the Washington Spirit being the second-best.  It is difficult to believe that Gotham can win a playoff match, especially with the team facing Kansas City next week and the fact that they have been struggling.

Ann-Katrin Berger is somewhat back

After missing a few games, Ann-Katrin returned between the sticks for the final fixture of the regular season.  The goalkeeper was missed and might have made a difference with the score.  She made four saves, with some of them being critical at the time they were made.  This could have easily been a 4-2 or 5-2 loss.

At the same time, Berger was not perfect.  The Gotham FC keeper should have kept the first goal out.  Then, the second one was allowed because she was off her line.  Likely, she would not have stopped the Carter own goal.  Nevertheless, the game showed she is somewhat back and working her way to being her best self.