3 things we learned from Gotham FC's scoreless draw against the Washington Spirit | OneFootball

On Saturday, NJ/NY Gotham FC played their first home game of the second half of the season, which saw them play out a 0-0 draw with the Washington Spirit. This was their second consecutive draw and their fourth consecutive game without a loss.

This match saw the return of Esther González to the Starting XI, and rookie Khyah Harper made her second consecutive start. While the team got off to a better start than last week in Chicago, the match changed when Geyse received a red card following a VAR review in the 30th minute.

This obviously shifted the momentum in Washington's favor, and while they had their chances, the Bats did well to hold them off the scoresheet. Gotham had a chance late to steal all three points when newly reacquired forward Katie Stengel made a run into the Spirit half and ripped a shot that produced a string save from Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury.

Another big storyline was the state of the field at Sports Illustrated Stadium. Between a concert the night before and additional games for the New York Red Bulls and New York City FC in the Leagues Cup, the field was probably in the worst shape many people had ever seen. This, in addition to the first-half red card, probably were the main reasons that contributed to what was a game where both teams struggled to sustain many longer passing sequences and create many chances. Here are three things we learned from this game.

Gotham FC plays better when on the front-foot

In their draw with Chicago Stars FC last week, Gotham players were way too passive and seemed to invite pressure from Chicago throughout the match. In this game against Washington, the NJ/NY side came out of the starting blocks looking to take the initiative and be the team that dictates the tempo. And while that did not result in a first-half goal, they at least looked threatening and, at least initially, like the better of the two teams.

Obviously, the next step is scoring a goal while being the dominant team, but the coaching staff acknowledged that their start in Chicago was a major issue and one of the big reasons why they dropped points, and then making that change for this weekend was a step in the right direction.

While it may not have fully paid off against a stronger team like Washington, their next two games against Utah Royals FC and the Houston Dash could yield better results. Both teams are near the bottom of the table and, at least in Utah's case, may be looking more towards 2026 than the rest of this season.

Gotham's home form needs to improve

It does need to be mentioned that a red card after just 30 minutes will heavily affect any team's game plan, but too often Gotham fails to capitalize on having home-field advantage. Last season the team lost just once at home in NWSL play. This season, they have already lost 3 times, with half of their home schedule still to come.

And it's not just the results that have not always been up to last season's standards. The performances have not always been great either. As mentioned earlier, they tend to be far too passive in games this season. While that is understandable at times in away games, at home, they should be much more willing to be the aggressors and dictate tempo than they have at times.

Again, having a red card changed things, especially given how well they played in the first 10-15 minutes, but his game looked all too familiar to Gotham FC fans who hope for a little bit more when playing at home.

This team is not as good as last year's

It is fair for fans to assume that Gotham FC's performance is not at the same level as last season. And while they are not as good as their 4-0 win over Angel City FC, or as bad as their 4-1 loss to Portland Thorns FC, they find themselves somewhere in the middle of that which should be good enough to see them make the playoffs potentially even up one or two spots from the eighth place they currently occupy.

Many fans, and probably some internally at Gotham, expected a drop-off in form from 2024, given the offseason this team had. And while new acquisitions like Lilly Reale, Sarah Schupansky, and Jaelin Howell have been big additions, it still hasn't been enough to even out some of the losses. And that's understandable, growth is not linear, and teams fluctuating in form from year to year is normal in sports, but it certainly doesn't make it any less disappointing.

There is a feeling that 2026 should see an improvement. Between the rising salary cap, a more stable roster, and some of the young players naturally improving, next season could see Gotham FC return to being a consistent force at the top of the table.