Week 25 recap: Errors

Gotham’s last home match of the 2025 regular season saw the Bats dropping from a winning position to a losing position to scoring a late equalizer that had the two teams settling for a 2-2 draw. With the one point from the matchup, Gotham secured its spot in the 2025 postseason, marking its third season in a row with playoff soccer since finishing the league in last place in 2022. 

The last time these two teams faced off, Gotham struggled against Louisville’s press and lost the midfield battle, resulting in a deserved 1-0 win for Racing. Gotham’s midfield did a much better job this time around, limiting Louisville to the lowest passing accuracy that the Bats have faced this season. However, struggles on the defensive and offensive sides of the ball saw them settling for a 2-2 draw (and almost a loss) in a match where they won in possession (66% vs. 34%), passing accuracy (79% to 58%), xG (1.54 vs. 0.71), PSxG (2.83 vs. 0.51), shots/shots on target (17/7 vs. 9/3), and field tilt (76% vs. 24%). Gotham also had the majority of the attack momentum this match.

And the Bats had nearly complete control of the field as well.

So what happened? We’re going to keep things simple and talk through the good and the bad in this match that led to Gotham dropping much needed points in the penultimate match of the regular season.

The good

Neutralizing Emma Sears

USWNT star Emma Sears has been the best attacking player by far on Racing Louisville for the better part of two years now and just scored the first USWNT hat trick since 2022. Gotham FC limited her to just 23 touches on Sunday, the fewest of any outfield player who played the full 90. Rookie left back Lilly Reale, with her first league start in nearly a month, was the one tasked with handling the speedy, strong, and technical forward, and the defender was more than up to the task. Here’s how Gotham’s defense kept her at bay.

Not letting her receive the ball

Lilly Reale does a great job anticipating and reading the pass and getting to it before Emma Sears can.

Not letting her steal the ball

It’s Reale again, and this time she effortlessly weaves through pressure created by two Louisville attackers to get out of danger.

Not letting her keep the ball

Finally, Lilly Reale has excellent defensive positioning to force Emma Sears into fouling her in an effort to retain the ball. Great work from the rookie.

Jaelin Howell’s revenge

In August of 2024, just 3 days before the NWSL and the NWSL Players Association signed a new collective bargaining agreement that banned trades without player consent, Racing Louisville team captain Jaelin Howell was blindsided in a trade to the Seattle Reign that saw her former team getting Bethany Balcer and $50,000 in allocation money in exchange. Such trades have derailed careers in the past, so it’s good to see Howell thriving at Gotham and it was very satisfying to see her get her revenge in the form of the first goal of the match.

In her fourth goal of the season (and her fourth regular season NWSL goal ever), Howell took a chance and fired off a powerful shot from outside of the box that just sneaked in off the post. 

In addition to her goal, Jaelin Howell earned player of the match honors on both Fotmob and Sofascore and had the third-highest positionally-adjusted g+ of the match. She led the match in shooting g+ (in a match with a lot of shots) and was second in dribbling g+ to her teammate Midge Purce. 

Good things happen to people who deserve it, as the 4th year midfielder is headed to her first ever NWSL playoffs. Speaking on the opportunity, Howell said, “It’s amazing. It’s been a long time coming. Now that I have a little taste of it, I just want to keep pushing... It’s awesome, but the work’s not done. I’m super excited for the opportunity.”

Creating opportunity

Although Gotham only walked away with a point, they were undeniably the better team on the pitch in terms of creation. Here are some great moments that we saw from the team.

Jaedyn Shaw is a wizard who was worth every penny of that $1.25 million transfer fee just for her passing vision alone. She feeds a perfectly weighted ball into Midge Purce’s run, and Purce has a powerful shot that misses it by about a millimeter as it rattles off the crossbar. 

We also see her passing abilities in action here as she feeds a great ball to Rose Lavelle.

And again here, with yet another shot hitting the crossbar.

Also impressive in this game was the connection between Bruninha and Midge Purce on the right side. Bruninha somehow always delivered long balls right to the feet of Purce, and Purce took care of the rest.

Like here, when Midge nutmegged her way out of defensive pressure and got a great cross into the box off.

And here, when Bruninha showed off some skills of her own before getting the ball to Midge’s feet near the penalty the box.

Finally, we were impressed by the tenacity in this chance created by Gotham in the 35th minute of the match.

Rose and Midge did a great job winning back balls and playing quick and direct. Although this isn’t Gotham’s usual way of creating, it’s always good to have many tools in your arsenal, especially as playoffs loom.

After conceding a second goal to Racing Louisville, Gotham made an insane set of substitutions in the 83rd minute, taking out defenders Jess Carter and Lilly Reale for winger Gabi Portilho and defender Kayla Duran, who instead was “coming on as a nine.” Duran had instant impact in this brand new role, however, immediately drawing a foul (and a yellow card!) just outside of Gotham’s attacking penalty box.

And the resulting free kick of course saw Rose Lavelle using dark magic to score the equalizing goal.

So for all that we say about the little man in Juan Carlos Amorós’ head doing wild things, this is a good reminder that he’s the head coach for a reason (and with tactics so wild that AI couldn’t possibly come up with them, we can feel pretty confident that he’s not using ChatGPT to draw up game plans).

The bad

Finishing

In the players’ own words…

Rose Lavelle: “I sound like a broken record, but when we have that much possession and that many shots we need to finish them.”

Jaelin Howell: “We also have to finish our chances.”

Midge Purce, when asked what the team needs to improve: “Finishing. I think we hit the frame two times, which isn’t great. We had 66% of the possession, so it really is just execution for us.”

Jaedyn Shaw: “I think we just need to be more clinical in both boxes — making sure we keep the ball out of our own net and finishing the chances that we do get.”

Lilly Reale: “When we get into the final third, we need to figure out what works and pull the trigger.”

Rose Lavelle: “We can’t dominate like that and then come away with a tie.”

Defense

This week marked the second in a row that Jess Carter had a defensive error that led to a goal.

To be fair here, Shelby Hogan also deserves some blame for starting off this whole sequence as we really start to see the effects of two weeks without Ann-Katrin Berger. But this is really sad to see from the ordinarily world class defender. Hopefully this international break gives her some time to get her mojo back, because otherwise this trend is troubling for both her and for the team. Luckily, we know she has it in her to be rock solid in the back.

And it wasn’t just Jess Carter. There were too many moments when Louisville was able to easily penetrate the back line as a whole.

Shelby Hogan has another giveaway here, but she quickly makes up for the mistake with a save. Still, it’s something we would’ve never wanted to see.

And the team as a whole is culpable here, as no one is able to hold onto the ball and clear it. Shelby Hogan once again saves the day (and wins Save of the Week), but the most embarrassing part is that the save was on a shot by her own teammate. Still pretty epic though.

And finally, in the first goal that Gotham conceded, Louisville is able to profit from the fact that everyone is out of position, with left back Lilly Reale nowhere in sight, Jess Carter covering for her out wide, Emily Sonnett covering for Carter in the center-left, and Bruninha covering for Sonnett in the center-right. This leaves a big hole on the right side that Louisville forward Janine Sonis is able to run into. Emma Sears cuts the ball back for her after a half-hearted defensive effort from Jess Carter, and miscommunication at the mouth of the goal between Jaelin Howell and Shelby Hogan sees neither of them stopping the ball from hitting the back of the net. A little frustrating that such a preventable goal still found its way over the line, but it’s good that the team is getting mistakes like these out of their system before the post-season, where they will be a lot more expensive.

In general, Gotham had a much more unstable defense than usual in this match, initiating defensive actions further back in the pitch than they usually do, almost 6 meters closer to their defensive penalty area than they did the week before against league leaders Kansas City Current. Obviously, game state plays a role in these numbers but Gotham was still leaky enough to necessitate defensive actions further back than they usually prefer.

So what does this all mean as the Bats enter the last matchweek before do or die playoffs? The team is doing all of the right things in the middle of the pitch and despite a month of unfavorable results has been able to more or less exert control over the pitch. But the team needs to rediscover the rock solid defense that has been a hallmark of the Juan Carlos Amorós era. This international break could not come at a better time for Jess Carter, and hopefully this time off from the league gets her mojo back. And of course, at the risk of sounding like a broken record,  the team desperately needs to find its finishing boots. Being able to consistently score goals would mean that the odd defensive error won’t be as consequential as it has been these past few weeks.

Looking ahead to next match

We can’t believe we’re writing this but Gotham next faces the North Carolina Courage away from home in the last regular season game of the 2025 season. The matchup will be a part of NWSL’s decision day, and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN and ESPN+ at 5 PM ET. This is a must-win match for the Courage in order to have a chance at making playoffs, so they will be throwing everything they have at the Bats. Meanwhile, although Gotham has already clinched a playoff spot, they will be looking to avoid entering as the 8 seed that has to play Kansas City right away. A win right before playoffs would help kickstart some much needed momentum, so hopefully the Bats can find a result to finish the season off strong.

Also, to our NYC-based friends, make sure to vote in the 2025 mayoral election (preferably not for a sexual predator)! Early voting is open now through Sunday, November 2nd and polls are open from 6 am to 9 pm on election day which is this upcoming Tuesday, November 4th. We have a chance to shape the future of this beautiful city we call home, so make sure that your voice is heard!

And to our NJ-based friends, you have the chance to elect a new governor as Gotham FC part-owner Phil Murphy’s terms come to a close. Early voting is open now through Sunday, November 2nd, and polls are also open on election day.

Thumbnail courtesy of Gotham FC.