First-place Gotham FC enter Sunday with an opportunity to equal a club record.
Should the Bats earn a win or draw against Angel City FC at BMO Stadium, they would tie their franchise-best nine-game unbeaten streak.
Since returning from the April international break, Gotham FC have rolled off 12 wins across 15 matches to collect 38 points, which is seven more than any other NWSL club over that span.
Gotham have only conceded 13 goals through 20 NWSL games and allowed just a single goal over their last four matches.
First-choice goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger credits Gotham’s stingy defensive numbers to a team-wide desperation to keep opponents off the scoresheet.
Berger on Gotham’s Defensive Success: ‘I’ve Never Seen a Team That Was So Defense-Oriented’
“Since I’ve got to Gotham, the whole team prides themselves on the defensive side because most of the defensive structure starts from our strikers,” Berger explained. Eleven players try to be behind the ball as soon as the opposition has the ball. It’s not just about the defense and the goalkeeping, it’s more about the whole team effort.
“You can see every game that Rose Lavelle or Jaelin [Howell] or Jaedyn [Shaw] or anyone in the front line are running their [butt] off because they just don’t want to concede. That makes my job very, very easy — if you have 10 players protecting the goal at all costs.”
Even though Berger won four Women’s Super League titles with Chelsea, she admitted that Gotham’s commitment to defense is unlike any club that she’s played for.
“I’ve never seen a team or I’ve never played in a team that was so defense-orientated,” Berger said. “I’ve never seen so many players, actually midfielders or strikers, having a last-ditch tackle in the 18-yard box or all around the 18-yard box. That is very unique.”
Harris, Berger Detail How Gotham Plans to Limit Angel City
Gotham FC acting head coach Shaun Harris is aware of the threat carried by Angel City, who’ve turned around their season after an April-May slump where they lost six of eight matches.
“They’re really well organized,” Harris stated. “They have a clear identity when they want to press and be really aggressive. We’ve noticed that. So it’s how do we combat that in terms of how they’re coming at us and also off the ball.”
Midfielder Maiara Niehues and forward Sveindís Jane Jónsdóttir share the Angel City team lead with six goals apiece but will miss Sunday’s contest due to injury. Still, Angel City has plenty of offense-driving talents including Ally Sentnor and Gisele Thompson.
“They’ve got some real threats going forward, so [it’s] making sure, we can control the ball and minimize those threats, especially on the transition. You’ve seen some of the goals that they’ve been scoring, so not allowing them to get close to the goal and have any opportunities to be able to put the ball in the back of the net is the primary focus.”
Angel City FC Have Found Their Form Ahead of Gotham Clash
Tenth-place Angel City are trending upward, having gone unbeaten in six of their last seven matches.
“They have been on a good run of games, and the games I watched, a very, very aggressive team,” Berger said. “But we are also in a really, really good flow. So I’m really excited about it because it will be a very good game.
“You can see that they have really, really good strikers, attacking-wise, because of the goals they’re scoring and the chances they’re creating. So that will be a really, really good matchup because we pride ourselves on our defense.
“In the last couple of games we can also see now that we are getting way better in keeping the ball, but then also creating even more chances and scoring more goals. So the matchup there on both sides, defensive and attacking sides, will be very interesting.”
Meredith Speck Could Make Gotham Debut
Veterans Meredith Speck and Tess Boade were each brought in by Gotham president of soccer operations Yael Averbuch West to add further experience to Gotham’s midfield.
Boade was signed on Thursday after she agreed to a mutual contract termination with Bay FC. Speck was an unused substitute in each of Gotham’s recent victories over San Diego Wave FC and the Kansas City Current.
Savannah McCaskill, Lavelle and Howell have consistently occupied Gotham’s midfield three while Denise O’Sullivan has been sidelined due to a knee injury. Speck and Boade, along with O’Sullivan once she returns from injury, could add to the competition for midfield minutes alongside Lavelle, Howell and McCaskill.
Latest Lineup and Injury News Ahead of Sunday’s Gotham-Angel City Match
UPDATE: 7:17 PM ET:
Gotham FC has named the following starting XI to face Angel City FC:
Berger, Dudley, Howell, Shaw, McCaskill, Davidson (C), Lavelle, Reiten, Kerr, Purce, Carter
Substitutes: Hogan, Bruninha, Cook, Freeman, Kitahata, Sommer, Speck, Torres, Wy
As mentioned above, O’Sullivan remains out due to a knee injury. Should the 32-year-old midfielder continue to make encouraging progress, next Friday’s home game against Portland Thorns FC could be a potential return date.
There are no changes to Gotham’s availability report as defenders Kayla Duran and Emily Sonnett are ruled out for the season due to knee injuries.
OUT: Kayla Duran (knee – SEI), Denise O’Sullivan (knee), Emily Sonnett (knee – SEI)
Angel City have several injury absences. In addition to Niehues and Jónsdóttir, forward Jun Endo, midfielder Hina Sugita and goalkeeper Hannah Seabert are set to miss out.
UPDATE: 7:10 PM ET:
Angel City FC has named the following starting XI to face Gotham FC:
Anderson, Thompson, Shores, Sams, Gorden (C), Sentnor, Lageyre, Borges, Suarez, Emslie, Chilufya
Substitutes: Cherry, Immethun, King, Leroux, Martin, Mattice, McClelland, Nguyen, Tiernan
OUT: Jun Endo (SEI – knee), Sveindis Jonsdottir (ankle), Maiara Niehues (lower leg), Hannah Seabert (hand), Hina Sugita (SEI – knee)
Kickoff for Sunday’s match is scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern Time. ION will carry the national broadcast.
UPDATE: 6:20 PM ET:
With the Orlando Pride defeating the Washington Spirit 1-0, Gotham FC will have the chance to go nine points clear in first place with a win tonight against Angel City FC.
More Gotham FC Coverage
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