Gotham FC continues strong attacking form with 4-0 win away to Angel City FC | OneFootball

For the second consecutive game, NJ/NY Gotham FC delivered an emphatic victory. The Bats defeated Angel City FC 4-0 on the road. This was the first of three consecutive road games within eight days. This win sees the NJ/NY side jump up one spot in the standings to fourth. They were in twelfth place prior to these two wins in the last two weeks.

The result is an early statement victory for Gotham. After an offseason that saw plenty of change and an opening three games that saw zero wins and just one goal, many people were ready to write the team off as being a shell of their former selves. And while there is still a very long way to go, these last two fixtures show that they can compete with just about anybody in the league.

And again, a lot like last week against the North Carolina Courage, Gotham FC managed to score plenty of goals without it negatively affecting their defensive solidity. Now the absence of one of the early MVP favorites, Alyssa Thompson, certainly helped, but even with her in the lineup a clean sheet could very well have been in the cards.

A common refrain during this team's early struggles from both players and head coach Juan Carlos Amorós has been that the performances have been good and that the goals would eventually start going in. It is safe to say that they were right if these last two games are anything to go by. And with the likes of Midge Purce now healthy, Geyse looking lively in her first two appearances, and Esther González starting to catch fire, the trick will be finding a way to continue this form rather than it being just a flash in the pan.

Gotham FC had an explosion of offense

The game got off to a choppy and messy start with both teams struggling to find any sort of momentum. Angel City had the first good chance of the half when Riley Tiernan pounced on a ball deep in Gotham FC's defensive third, but was quickly shut down by Emily Sonnett, who managed to win the ball and then the foul to calm things down for Gotham FC.

From then on, the Bats started to take control of the game with two huge chances from Jéssica Silva. First, a great cross from Lilly Reale found Silva on the right wing, but she couldn't finish and ultimately blasted the ball over the bar. A few minutes later, Silva received another great pass from Sarah Schupansky but could not convert. This time it was because of a great save from Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson, whose rebound was then picked up by Taryn Torres, who missed the goal wide to the right.

Then, a few minutes later in the 18th, Gotham got on the board thanks to Esther's third goal in two games. This play started back in their half when Torres jumped on a loose ball and made a surging run through midfield. She then played a beautiful through ball to Silva out on the right, who put a dangerous cross into the box. Gabi Portilho then, partly thanks to a slip from Angel City's Miyabi Moriya, played a quick one-time pass to Esther, who turned and got the ball on her left and fired it into the back of the net off the post.

This would end up being the only goal of the first half, a half in which Gotham would have the majority of the momentum, even though Angel City did have their fair share of chances to even the score.

The second half got off to a similar start to the first half, with both teams feeling each other out. The first big chance came for Angel City when Kennedy Fuller made a great run from midfield before a brilliant tackle from Torres prevented her from getting a shot off.

Then, in the 67th minute, Gotham FC doubled their lead. After being on the wrong end of an own goal in the home opener against the Orlando Pride, Reale was now the beneficiary of an own goal. The defender drove in a cross from the left that fired off of Miyabi of Angel City and looped over Anderson in the Angel City goal.

Nine minutes later, Gotham scored their third from who else but Esther. A near-post header from a corner kick beat Anderson in goal and not only gave Esther her fourth goal in two games but also gave Schupansky her first-ever NWSL assist.

The fourth and final goal was scored just ten minutes later. Substitute Midge Purce made a signature Midge Purce run and found fellow substitute Geyse cross-goal. The Brazilian volleyed it home for her first NWSL goal.

Meanwhile, there was a late flurry of pressure from Angel City in stoppage time, but Gotham managed to hold on to the clean sheet and take home a commanding 4-0 victory, handing the home side their first loss of 2025. Not only was this a season high in goals scored for the New Jersey club, but they also managed to hold Angel City to zero shots on goal. The match was a complete performance on both sides of the ball and arguably the best performance of the Amorós era.

Some notes from this game include a few firsts. This was Silva and Torres' first starts of the season, and both players played huge roles in Gotham's victory. This game also saw Schupansky record her first assist in NWSL and Geyse score her first goal in NWSL. Additionally, Stella Nyamekye earned her first minutes in a Gotham jersey when she came on as a substitute in the 83rd minute.

More importantly, Gotham scored three or more goals in consecutive games for the first time this season. This last happened in the two final matches of the 2024 regular season when Gotham won 3-1 over the Orlando Pride and 4-1 over Utah Royals FC.

Despite the obvious success under Amorós, the team has always been pretty low-scoring. These last two games may have shown that Gotham FC may have finally found the balance needed to be able to score multiple goals while still being defensively solid.