3 things we learned after Gotham FC's draw at home with Utah Royals FC | OneFootball

Summer is coming to a close, but NJ/NY Gotham FC had to celebrate the Dog Days of Summer before the end arrives.  To do that, they finally had a game where fans could bring their dogs to Sports Illustrated Stadium.  It was supposed to be a great evening.  However, the goal-scoring struggles continued as the Bats and the visitors, Utah Royals FC, ended the night with a 0-0 draw.

As such, Gotham FC dropped points at home for the third game in a row.  They are also winless since the NWSL season resumed.  While they did win the CONCACAF W Champions Cup game against C.F. Monterrey Femenil, the lack of success in the NWSL is puzzling.

Meanwhile, against Utah, it was not like the Bats played horribly.  The first half was a little rough, but by the time the second half rolled around, the team was relentlessly attacking the visitors.  They had 18 shots with seven on target, and really should have found the back of the net.

Sadly, that was not the case, and the evening ended in a disappointing draw.  So, here are three things we learned about Gotham FC’s match with the Utah Royals.

Gotham FC continues to struggle to get results

It is pretty obvious that the NJ/NY team is not a team that is playing bad football.  Rather, they have played well in many of their matches that they did not get the results they should have.  This includes the Utah game.

As mentioned, Gotham FC had seven shots on target.  While in the past most of their shots have been lackluster, this time they were more threatening than usual.  But the club’s former goalkeeper, Mandy McGlynn, had probably her best performance of the season, making seven saves.

Despite being more clinical in front of the goal, this time, Gotham was kept out due to great goalkeeping.  It is still problematic, though, for the team is talented enough that they should have figured out how to score at least once.  Instead, they ended the recent homestand with only two points.  The results are not where they need to be, which is making things problematic for the team.

Maybe chemistry was the answer

When the season began, it was expected that Gotham FC would take some time to create chemistry due to the drastic roster turnover in the offseason.  There were also some injuries that kept players out.  But it was not expected that the ladies would struggle as much as they have to get the results that they should.

The team has the talent where they should be in the top third of the standings.  Plus, it has been over half of the season, during which they should be meshing well.  And it does appear the chemistry is better from the beginning of the 2025 campaign.  However, maybe chemistry is the aspect that is keeping them from scoring the goals to win the games that they should have.

It is not that they have poor chemistry, but rather the chemistry from the 2024 season was extremely high, and that was why Gotham had their best regular season in club history.  This is an assumption, and one will not know if this is true.  But it could explain a little bit of why they are in eighth place and not higher up the table.

Juan Carlos Amorós needs to be better

Juan Carlos Amorós is capable of leading Gotham FC to success.  He led them to the NWSL Championship in 2023 and then a third-place finish in the regular season in 2024.  But against Utah, he was not at his best.  In some ways, he needs to be better, just like his players.

Now, the head coach was not poor on Saturday.  He figured out how to adjust for the second half, which is something he is capable of doing.  The issue, though, was that he made substitutions late.  This included bringing on Bruninha in the 77th minute and Khyah Harper in the 86th minute.  They both scored on Wednesday in the Champions Cup game, so why did he wait to bring them on?

Also, Amorós brought on four of his five substitutions in the 77th minute or later.  With the scoring struggles, it probably would have been better for the changes to have been made earlier.  Gotham FC was attacking, but the lack of goals should have been enough to spark the moves.