Gotham FC find their shooting boots as they beat the North Carolina Courage 3-1 | OneFootball

After going close to three games without scoring, NJ/NY Gotham FC found their goalscoring boots during the international break as they beat the North Carolina Courage 3-1 to get their first win of 2025. Despite being just four games into the season, this game felt like a must-win game. Not just for their own sake, but North Carolina was a team many felt would be competing with the Bats for a place high up in the standings at the beginning of the season. Therefore, getting a win against them is all the more impressive.

This was also the first time Gotham scored multiple goals in a game this season. After looking lost or at times just generally struggling to score goals, the floodgates finally opened. Not only did they get three today, but they very easily could have scored more.

And it didn't come at the expense of their defensive solidity either as they looked like their typically solid selves. This was not just their best performance of the season by a wide margin, it was also probably one of their best performances of Juan Carlos Amorós' tenure as head coach.

Both the players and Amorós made good on their promises after each of their last three matches that the goals would eventually come. The key now will be making sure that Gotham FC can continue this form in front of goal, especially since the season only gets busier from here.

An attacking breakthrough for Gotham FC

The game started with a very familiar lineup, but a few tactical differences. First, Jess Carter slid from right-back to center-back to replace the injured Tierna Davidson with Mandy Freeman assuming the armband at right-back and rookie Lilly Reale keeping her spot at left-back.

There was also a change on the forward line with Gabi Portilho moving from right-wing to left-wing, Ella Stevens taking up a more central role, and Esther González playing just to the right of Stevens on the front line. Arguably Gotham's best chances to score last time out against the Houston Dash came with Stevens playing in the middle rather than on the left where she had spent most of the time earlier in the season. With that said, Esther was still in the middle for a good portion of the fixture.

Despite these changes, it initially seemed like more of the same for the Bats. They had their fair share of chances and came very close on several occasions with Esther, Stevens, and Portilho all having opportunities to open the scoring. The same could be said for North Carolina. Jaedyn Shaw ripped a shot off the crossbar and Manaka Matsukubo looked dangerous both as a goal-scorer and provider.

The breakthrough finally came for Gotham FC, after a frankly unnecessarily long VAR review for offside, in the 43rd minute. Esther found the back of the net.

Following a trademark tricky run from Stevens down the left, she found Esther's forehead which put the ball past goalkeeper Casey Murphy to end the NJ/NY side's 266 minute goalscoring drought. The forward then quickly picked up a second in stoppage time. After having two clear-cut shots kept out thanks to some brilliant saves from Murphy, the Spanish international caught the Courage goalkeeper sleeping and intercepted her roll out from the back to give Gotham a 2-0 lead at halftime.

The Bats continued this momentum into the second half as Esther had a one-on-one chance to get her hat trick, but was stopped brilliantly by Murphy. Goal number three then came shortly after on the ensuing corner, for rookie Lilly Reale headed home her first goal for Gotham, rather than against. All jokes aside, Reale has been fantastic for the club ever since that unfortunate own goal just mere minutes into her first pro start. Plus, being able to play this well this quickly is great news in the absence of Davidson.

In the 73rd minute Gotham made two very popular substitutions. First, Brazilian international Geyse made her debut in place of fellow Brazilian Portilho. Then Sarah Schupansky made way for the long-awaited return of Midge Purce, who not only received a very loud reception from the crowd as she made her way onto the pitch but was also given the captain's armband by Freeman. Purce then gave the crowd what they wanted and went on one of her signature mazy runs in the attacking third, winning a free kick as a result.

A small concern for Gotham was Carter going off with a slight injury in the 78th minute. It did not look overly serious as she was able to walk off on her own, albeit with a slight limp. She was replaced by Jéssica Silva who made her season debut after suffering an eye injury just before the start of the season.

Unfortunately, the NJ/NY team could not hold on to the clean sheet as former Bat Brianna Pinto curled in a fantastic shot that beat Ann-Katrin Berger deep into second-half stoppage time. Fortunately, that is as close as North Carolina would get and the match would finish 3-1, giving Gotham their first win of 2025.

This win saw the team move from 12th at the beginning of this weekend to fifth place in the standings. The ladies also scored three goals tonight in just their fourth match of the season. Last season Gotham didn't manage to score three goals in a single game until their 23rd fixture when they scored five at home against Bay FC.

Top performers from this match include both of the goal scorers Reale and Esther. But Bruninha was also great after playing a different role than what she was accustomed to. Additionally, Geyse shined when she came in and was incredibly lively in the 15 or so minutes she ended up playing.

Now with their first win under their belt, Gotham FC will head into a three-game week beginning with a cross-country flight to take on Angel City FC on the road next Friday. Getting players like Silva, Purce, and Geyse minutes today to try and build up their fitness will be crucial as they will probably be asked to take on expanded roles in the coming matches.