Gotham FC hands Angel City first loss of the season

Unbeaten through its first four games of the season, Angel City looked to carry the momentum against a strong Gotham FC side at BMO Stadium on Friday night.

However, Gotham, champions of the league just two years ago and a semifinalist last season, gave Angel City a dose of reality. Esther Gonzalez was the Catalyst for the New York/New Jersey side, as her two goals carried Gotham to a 4-0 win over Angel City.

“The culture in this group is so positive and so strong that I don’t have any fear or any worries whatsoever on what this result is going to do,” Angel City head coach Sam Laity said. “Let’s separate the result from the performance. I don’t think it’s going to do anything but provide additional motivation for the players to bounce forward from this.”

Gotham got things going in the Taryn Torres got to a loose ball and ignited a Gotham break, Torres played Jessica Silva into the penalty area, Silva switched a ball to Gabi Portilho who then touched a ball to Esther Gonzalez, who gathered herself into shooting position, then fired a left-footed shot that bounced off the near post, but crossed the goal line to give Gotham the lead.

Gotham took the advantage into halftime, then blew the game open in the second half. Gotham’s second goal came on rather fluky circumstances, as Kaleigh Riehl sent a ball forward intended for Gonzalez, Miyabi Moriya tried to cut off the ball, but after deflecting off her still continued forward and  went over Anderson into the back net and Gotham had walked into a two-goal deficit.

“It was a little tough giving up that second goal, it killed our momentum,” Angel City defender Alanna Kennedy said. “It was hard for us to claw back in that moment of the game as well. It is about taking our chances sooner when we have that momentum and not getting ourselves down four goals in the end.”

The flood gates open soon after, Gonzalez got her brace in the 75th minute, as she headed in a Sarah Schupansky corner kick past Anderson’s outstretched left hand and into the back net to triple the Gotham advantage. Gotham capped off its big night in the 85th minute, as Torres sent a long ball down the right side, Midge Purce chased the ball down, sidestepped Sarah Gorden before she touched into the penalty area, Purce played a ball around the six-yard box and Jessica Silva came in and one-timed a right-footed shot off the pitch and past Anderson far post, then broke out a backflip celebration to celebrate Gotham leaving LA with three points.