Week 8 recap: Taking care of business

Gotham FC’s week from hell finally came to a close with a 1-0 win over Racing Louisville on Saturday. Jordynn Dudley and Jaedyn Shaw worked together to score the lone goal of the match in the 16th minute, marking Dudley’s third goal contribution in as many games, while the defense worked hard to limit Racing Louisville to just 0.38 xG from 5 shots. 

Across these three games in one week, Gotham scored 6 goals and allowed 0 goals all while only having one fully healthy defender available to them. What’s there to take away from this stretch and this last game specifically?

Amorós has found his lineup (kind of)

After making an average of 2.6 lineup changes between games from week 1’s matchup against Boston to week 6’s matchup against Bay, head coach Juan Carlos Amorós opted to go for the same starting XI in each of the three games this past week. Part of this was out of his control—injuries in the back line meant he was starting the only players who could possibly start in defense—but part of it was also a conscious decision. Attackers and midfielders like Katie Lampson, Sarah Schupansky, and Sofia Cook, who ordinarily would be shoo-ins during cramped portions of the schedule, didn’t see a start in any of these games. The Bats are finally starting to find chemistry up top, and Amorós wants to keep it going. 

One of Gotham’s biggest downfalls in the attack has been a lack of speed when switching the ball. Here, we get to see the benefits of switching the point of attack quickly as left back Guro Reiten has the time and space to play a perfectly weighted through ball to Jaedyn Shaw, who finds a 0.35 xG shot from this chance.

What makes an attack click is teammates knowing each other’s movements and tendencies, as well as all players creating spaces for their teammates to exploit. Here, Jordynn Dudley is aware of the space that she and Esther González have created in the box by drawing their respective defenders. Savannah McCaskill is then able to run into that space, and Jordynn Dudley plays a great ball into her run.

What also makes an attack work well is the sum of individual acts of brilliance. We see it first from Midge Purce dribbling past her defender along the endline, and then from Rose Lavelle as she waits patiently for space to open up for Purce to play the ball into. This isn’t just individual brilliance—the team works together when Jordynn Dudley draws defenders to create that space for Rose Lavelle—but it’s a lot easier when there are a lot of individual talents on a team that defenses target, creating pockets of space for other attackers to exploit. 

And speaking of individual brilliance, not only did Jaelin Howell open up a pocket for herself here, but she also had a really nifty spin move against her former team to create a shot.

At the end of the day, soccer is a game about passing, and that’s exactly what got Gotham their goal. Esther and Lavelle both found teammates in space in this buildup, and then Dudley had a brilliant low cross through multiple Louisville defenders to give Jaedyn Shaw the easiest tap-in ever.

It’s also worth noting the role that Gotham’s fullbacks had in the attack, both in their chemistry with the forwards and in the numerical overloads that they created by coming so high up the pitch. This wouldn’t have happened to nearly the same extent had Gotham’s usual fullbacks been playing, so it will be interesting to see if this prompts any tactical changes going forward, particularly when the Bats are playing an opponent with a more dangerous attack.

The DIY defense weathered the storm

Coming into this match, of the six regular season matchups between Gotham and Racing Louisville since Amorós took over, the Bats had only won one. Despite Gotham having stronger seasons all three years, something about Racing Louisville made them so difficult for the Bats to overcome. In the words of center back Jess Carter, “Louisville are always a tough team whenever we play them. They transition really, really well.” Louisville is also a team that presses well, and that has been Gotham’s downfall against them in the past. What did the Bats do to contain them this time?

Sometimes they didn’t

After the game, Jess Carter astutely pointed out that, “people are playing positions they’ve never played in their entire life.” With a defense almost entirely made up of such players, there were bound to be some mistakes.

Here, they left a player (and the passing channel to said player) wide open in the box.

In this clip, no one is able to properly clear the ball and as a result Louisville have a shot that never should have existed in the first place.

Finally, the Bats are a little slow to react to Louisville’s switch of play and allow Kayla Fischer a sizable shooting window. Thankfully she isn’t able to capitalize.

At the end of the day clean sheets don’t happen by accident. Here’s what they did do right.

They kept play out of their defensive third

It didn’t always feel like this in the second half, but for the most part Gotham limited the amount of action that Louisville got in their attacking half. The field tilt for this game was 73-27 in favor of the Bats.

In addition, the Bats limited Louisville to five shots, one shot on target, 64 passes in their attacking half, 68% pass accuracy, and only eight touches in the attacking penalty box.

They stopped counter attacks before they could happen

For a team that thrives in transition as much as Racing Louisville does, it was important for Gotham to prevent these opportunities as much as possible, and for the most part the Bats delivered.

Jordynn Dudley isn’t able to intercept this pass here, but she stays with the play and is able to work with Savannah McCaskill to force a turnover and prevent Louisville from capitalizing on the counterattack.

And similarly, if at first you don’t succeed…

… keep going for the second balls. This counter attack got a little further up the pitch than the Bats would have wanted, but by staying compact, disciplined, and persistent, Gotham came away with possession here.

They broke through the press

Gotham also managed to avoid succumbing to Louisville’s aggressive press. Sometimes that meant simple yet effective passing to get out of it.

And sometimes it was a little more complicated (but led to a goal!).

Either way, the Bats stayed calm under pressure and got the job done.

A keepaway masterclass

With a slim one-goal lead for 75 minutes of the game, the Bats needed to make sure to never take their foot off the gas and let Louisville back into the game. Midfielder Jaelin Howell emphasized that her team, “had to stay locked in, play together and continue to have each other’s backs.” In the dwindling minutes of the match, as is usually the case when the game is being decided by a singular goal, the ball had to stay in Gotham’s attacking half. What did the players do to make this happen?

Well first, Jordynn Dudley pulled off this magic in the corner with three green shirts surrounding her.

After she earned a throw-in, Khyah Harper was briefly possessed by the spirit of a basketball player as she threw the ball into a Louisville player so that it bounced out for another throw.

And this time, Harper used her feet to make sure the ball last touched a Louisville defender to keep possession yet again.

With this clean sheet, Gotham and goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger now hold the league record for most shutouts through the first eight games of a season with six.

Looking ahead to next match

Gotham continues this stretch of home games this upcoming Saturday, May 9th, as the Bats take on Boston Legacy FC for the second time this season. The match is at 6:30 PM ET and will be broadcast nationally on ION. The last time these two teams faced off, the Bats won 1-0 off of a goal from Esther. Boston Legacy currently sit in 16th in league standings, with a win, a draw, and five losses to their name. However, they’ve been on an upswing—they recently earned their first win in club history as they fought back from a 2-1 deficit, and five of their six goals this season have come in the past two matches. In particular, attackers Aïssata Traoré, Nichelle Prince, and Sammy Smith have been prolific as of late, and defensive midfielder Annie Karich has been vital to the team’s defense. Hopefully this full week of rest will give Gotham’s defense some time to rest and recover. 

Thumbnail courtesy of Gotham FC.