Week 23 recap: A taste of our own medicine

This weekend, in Gotham FC’s penultimate home game of the 2025 season, one team got what they wanted (spoiler: not us) as the Bats and the Reign settled for a point each in a 0-0 no-scoring thriller. Gotham huffed and puffed their way through Seattle’s nasty low block but ultimately found themselves scoreless after the Reign successfully pulled off what the Bats had done just 5 days prior. 

The Seattle Reign played this match with a complete disinterest in scoring—if it hadn’t been for a blocked shot in the 92nd minute of the match, they would’ve been the first NWSL team since 2016 to not register a single shot in a game. Gotham, on the other hand, was very interested in scoring. The Bats put up a total of 1.18 xG from 10 shots, forcing Seattle goalkeeper Claudia Dickey into 5 saves, and had a field tilt of 76% to 24%, meaning of all the touches in either attacking third this match, 76% of them were by a Gotham player. The Bats focused on winning the ball high up the pitch, instigating defensive actions in much more advanced places than the Seattle Reign. 

In addition, Gotham had complete control over the field, with the ability to play essentially 6 primarily attacking players with the level of defense that was being asked of them (not much).

Gotham also had the majority of possession (64% vs. 36%), shots (10 vs. 1), shots on target (5 vs. 0), xG (1.18 vs. 0.20), PSxG (1.55 vs. 0), touches in the attacking penalty area (24 vs. 4), loose ball recoveries (54 vs. 36), tackles and interceptions won (27 vs. 24), and passing accuracy (86% vs 74%). So with such a dominant performance, why did the Bats end up having to split the points?

The lineup

The first thing going against Gotham this match is that they were unable to play their best lineup. A midweek game meant that Lilly Reale got some rest for one of the first times in her life with the defensively strong but not as offensive-minded Mandy Freeman starting in her place. The rest of the backline was pretty standard, with Bruninha at right back and Emily Sonnett and Jess Carter at center back.

In the midfield, we saw Jaelin Howell play in the defensive midfielder role that we’ve gotten used to seeing her in and that earned her several player of the week nominations in September, where in buildup play she drops back to act as a third center back. In central midfield, Josie Hasbo got another start as this pair entered its third consecutive 90 minute performance together in 9 days. We cannot sing Hasbo’s praises enough—Gotham entered this season with a Delanie Sheehan-sized hole in the midfield and as a result really struggled through the first half of the season. Since she joined the team in June, Josie Hasbo has really stepped up and her tenacity and grit has helped this team retain possession of the ball and create meaningful chances week after week. In this match in particular, as we mentioned before Seattle’s disinterest in offense allowed Gotham to play somewhat of a 3-1-6, and she made excellent work of the really hard position of being the sole central connector of this team. We’re not sure where general manager Yael Averbuch West found Hasbo, but we’re so glad she’s here, and that she’s here until at least 2027.

Rounding out the midfield was Rose Lavelle, who like last week was able to play as a lone attacking midfielder. Rose Lavelle has always been one of the best players on the planet, and this week was no exception. The midfielder had the second-highest net g+ of the match, with the highest dribbling g+ and the second-highest shooting g+. We saw her brilliance in many moments, such as this one:

So regardless of the result of this particular match, we are so lucky to have her on our team.

Finally, on the forward line we saw Midge Purce and Jaedyn Shaw starting as wingers, although as you can see in the average positions of players above, Shaw in reality played about as centrally as Rose Lavelle, with most of the team’s attacking width coming from its fullbacks. And at striker, with Esther on limited minutes due to a midweek knock, Katie Stengel got the start.

Reale and Esther’s omissions from the starting lineup meant that Gotham both didn’t field the XI that had the most chemistry with each other, and also that one of Gotham’s best carriers and passers as well as Gotham’s top receiver and scorer started the game on the bench. The two did come into the game in the 61st minute and it did make a difference—6 of Gotham’s 10 shots of the game came in the final 30—but it still wasn’t enough. 

The chances

With 0.12 xG per shot, Gotham created some decent chances in this game. Let’s take a look at them, noting what the team did well and what the team could have done better.

Shot 1: 24’

Jess Carter has a direct ball through the middle to Jaedyn Shaw, who dribbles through traffic to get into a shooting position, and her shot is ultimately deflected out for a corner. This was great defending from the Seattle Reign, but Shaw could have also opted to pass out wide to an open Bruninha.

Shot 2: 25’

Gotham’s second shot came from the corner that Jaedyn Shaw drew in their first. The ball bounces around a lot as the Reign attempt to clear it, and Gotham does a great job of constantly winning second balls here. The ball finally lands at the feet of Josie Hasbo, who takes a shot that is powerful and on target, but unfortunately also on goalkeeper.

Shot 3: 31’

Ugh. Beautiful buildup that went so fast that the Reign couldn’t get defensively settled. If only Rose Lavelle could’ve made it a more difficult shot for Claudia Dickey to save, or shot it when she first received the ball instead of turning and giving Seattle time to catch up. But really, Jaedyn Shaw’s quick little backheel pass here was so clever and reminded us why she’s such an asset to this team.

Shot 4: 32’

And just a minute later, Rose Lavelle gave her former teammate more work to do. It’s once again Jaedyn Shaw with the almost assist as she threads a pass to Rose Lavelle through traffic, and this time it takes a save that was nominated for the save of the week to keep it out of the net. 

Bonus almost shot: 45+2’

We don’t have any real analysis here, so just enjoy this moment between midfielder Ann-Katrin Berger, center back Jaedyn Shaw, and striker Emily Sonnett.

Shot 5: 67’

Gotham took a while to get going in the second half, but supersubs Lilly Reale and Esther González almost had instant impact as they worked together on this one. Lavelle and Reale do a great job of moving the ball closer to goal and Esther is excellent at receiving it, but Seattle’s defense leaves her trapped when it comes time to shoot. Maybe she could have passed to Jaedyn Shaw who seemed to have a better angle, but also maybe not.

Shot 6: 68’

Jaedyn Shaw is good at football!! She does an incredible job of retaining possession of the ball through multiple defenders and pulls off an on-target shot from outside the box, but ultimately Claudia Dickey’s best day ever continues as the shot is saved.

Shot 7: 76’

And Rose Lavelle is also good at football! We’re not really sure how she pulled that one off, but once again Claudia Dickey is there to ruin the fun with her great positioning. Rose probably should’ve aimed for Midge here instead of Jaedyn, but we’re gonna give her a pass since she already did so much.

Shot 8: 79’

Just like shot 2, Gotham is tenacious and consistently winning the second ball. But in the end, Seattle is able to flood the box enough to immediately block Lavelle’s shot.

Shot 9: 80’

A corner that doesn’t result in a goal. Not much to say here.

Shot 10: 88’

Gotham’s final shot of the match came from the team’s leading goalscorer, Esther, but it’s Midge Purce who’s at the center of the story here. Through pure magic on the right side, she holds onto the ball and sends a perfect cross to Esther González, whose bicycle kick is just wide of the goal. For once in the match, Claudia Dickey is frozen, so it’s a shame that this didn’t go in.

So overall, despite not getting on the scoresheet, Gotham had a pretty good match. Obviously we’re disappointed not to get the full 3 points, but Gotham still managed at least 10 quality chances against a team that was trying to limit them to 0. In Gotham’s 4 other scoreless draws this season, the Bats put up 0.04, 0.08, 0.04, and 0.08 xG per shot, respectively, whereas in this match they managed 0.12. While this match didn’t keep the momentum going in the playoff push on points, it definitely demonstrated that Gotham’s recent attacking momentum hasn’t gone anywhere. Even though the match felt like this:

It was still a good one from the Bats. As head coach Juan Carlos Amorós put it, “when we put in performances like that and do it consistently, our chances of winning are extremely high — and that’s what we aim for.”

Looking ahead to next match

The Bats’ next match is their biggest challenge of the second half of the season, as the team travels to the midwest to take on Shield winners Kansas City Current. The Current have the longest unbeaten streak in the league right now, lasting 16 games and 5 months, and have won their last three fixtures, despite clinching the Shield weeks ago. The last time they faced Gotham, they came out on top in a 2-1 win after multiple goals for the Bats were called back. Kansas City has terrifying players on all three lines, including golden boot leader Temwa Chawinga, USWNT star Michelle Cooper, and veteran Brazilian superstar Debinha. Gotham has an uphill battle ahead of them, but if the Bats somehow manage to pull off the win they will clinch their spot in the 2025 playoffs.

Thumbnail courtesy of Gotham FC.