Spirit's three-game winning streak ends at home, thanks to a dominant Gotham performance
- Mario Amaya
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Coming into Saturday afternoon’s match at Audi Field, the Washington Spirit were riding on a high. They had won three games in a row, including back-to-back road wins in Louisville and Orlando, and looked to continue their good run of form in front of their fans.
Their next big test was against another familiar foe from last year’s playoffs, Gotham FC. In a rematch of last year’s semi-final, where Washington came out victorious in penalties. On a rainy spring afternoon in Washington, D.C., in front of 16,443 fans that gathered to watch the match and brave the rain, it would be Gotham that would walk out victorious with a resounding 3-0 victory against the Spirit.
“ I think for me, one of the proudest moments for us as a team and as a club, I think they're coming here and such a difficult week away from home,” said Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amorós, “coming here with almost no rest after the Portland game, and we needed to step up on the pitch, be ourselves, and be focused. Everyone has worked hard this week to make sure that we could get these three points.”
Return of Croix Bethune
In the 80th minute, reigning NWSL rookie of the year Croix Bethune made her first appearance in a Spirit uniform since tearing her meniscus back in August. Bethune, who was dressed for the first game of the season against Houston, did not come off the bench, however a hip injury put her back in the injury list for Washington, setting back her return to the field.
“I was just excited to be back out there,” Bethune said. “It’s been a while. Eight months is a long time.”
The Game
Gotham got the first goalscoring opportunity from the opening whistle after Geyse let out a shot from distance that Aubrey Kingsbury was able to save and send the ball out for a corner kick.
Gotham would open up the scoring in the 2nd minute when Lilly Reale sent a low cross to an unmarked Sarah Schupansky inside the box, slotting home her opportunity.
,“I’m not sure exactly how Schupansky got so free on that one,” Kingsbury said. “But you’re not going to miss a tap-in like that.”
Gotham continued their offensive onslaught as Gabi Portilho tested Kingsbury from distance, but the Spirit goalkeeper was equal to the shot and sent the ball out of play.
In the 30th minute, Geyse blocked a clearance by Esme Morgan inside Washington’s box. The ball fell at the feet of Esther González, who headed towards the goal. However, she was tripped up by Rebeca Bernal inside the box, and the referee of the game, Abdou Ndiaye, awarded a penalty to Gotham.
González stepped up to take the penalty and placed the ball into the back of the net, despite Kingsbury getting a hand to the ball, she was not able to keep the ball from going in and doubling Gotham’s lead.
“We were prepared, to be honest, during the week and [knew] how we wanted to start,” said Spirit assistant coach Adrián González, who talked to reporters in the post-game after Coach Jonatan Giráldez was ejected in second-half stoppage time. “But sometimes things happen in a different way.”
The Spirit were looking for a response of their own after the second goal, after a Gabby Carle cross found Gift Monday inside the box. The Nigerian international got her head to it and directed the ball towards goal, but Ann-Katrin Berger stretched out her hand and prevented the ball from crossing the line, with Bruninha collecting the ensuing rebound and clearing the ball out of Gotham’s box
Gotham put the game to rest in the 39th minute after a Schupansky corner found González near post. The Spanish international redirected the ball with a header to the far post, completing her brace.
“Very happy, not just for the entire team, but for getting three points. We want to be close to the top spots, so winning today was extremely important.” Said González “We had a great first half and knew how to endure the second half, so you can see the team, how we work together, the important thing: to recover from games that don't look so good, but with the conviction that we can beat anyone.”
The Spirit had a chance to break into the score sheet before halftime, when a Makenna Morris free kick found Tara McKeown inside the box. McKeown settled the ball and laid a pass across the mouth of the goal to Morgan, but the English defender sent the chance over the bar.
Both Ashley Hatch and Rosemound Kouassi came in at halftime. Despite creating several goal-scoring opportunities in the second half, the Spirit could not create clear scoring opportunities past Berger.
“I just think there was a lack of energy,” Carle said. “It took us a while to get into the game.”
In the second half of stoppage time, the referee showed Giráldez a red card. Ndiaye told the pool reporter that Giráldez was sent off for entering Gotham’s bench area “In a confrontational manner.”
Giráldez will miss the Spirit’s next game.
About getting all three points on the road González had this to say:
“It was important,” said González “We want to win every game. We keep in mind that we had lost our last game to them [NWSL Semifinal]. We keep in mind that we have a great rival and that in the end.”
With this result, the Spirit stays in 3rd place in the standings with 12 points, while Gotham is right behind them in 4th with 11 points.
The Spirit’s next match will be at home as they host Angel City FC at Audi Field on Friday, May 2nd, with kickoff starting at 8 pm.
