Scoreless in New Jersey: Gotham FC lose to San Diego Wave | OneFootball

For the second straight week, NJ/NY Gotham FC fall 1-0, this time to the resurgent San Diego Wave. Gotham have now gone three straight without a win and have been held scoreless in all three games.

San Diego continue their rise up the table with their fourth win out of their last five to go second in the table at the time of writing after finishing last in 2024. They have also scored the second most goals so far this season with 16, tied with the Portland Thorns and only behind the Kansas City Current who have 19.

For Gotham, it was again a game where they couldn't produce that final goal-scoring action. They had chances and enough possession to be able to come away with the victory but they just can't find that last piece of the puzzle and put the ball in the back of the net. It was a better performance than the one against Racing Louisville, but definitely not up to the standards this team has set for itself under head coach Juan Carlos Amorós.

This was also another tough watch for Gotham fans. Especially as that first thirty minutes featured a lot of Gotham possession and pressure just for San Diego to take the ball down the field and score on their very first shot of the game.

Another game without a goal

The match started with Gotham on the front foot playing most of the first 30 minutes in San Diego's defensive third. There were a decent amount of chances from the likes of Geyse, Ella Stevens, and Midge Purce all having shots on goal, but they ultimately weren't able to beat Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.

San Diego then made Gotham pay for their missed chances as they scored at the 30 minute mark on their one and only shot of the half. The Wave broke into Gotham's half and on a little bit of a broken play, the ball found Kimmi Ascanio who managed to curl one with the outside of her right foot away from and passed Ann-Katrin Berger.

This goal then really helped San Diego get back into the game as they were able to play more of the game in their attacking half but ultimately could not find an additional breakthrough and went into half-time up 1-0.

The second half started quickly for Gotham as Purce very nearly got her first goal post-ACL injury but she shot it just wide of the Wave goal for what was then Gotham's best chance to equalize.

The Wave very nearly found their second goal in the 72nd minute as Ascanio had another good chance this time rattling one off of the crossbar. This followed a period of possession for San Diego that was very similar to Gotham in the first half. Lots of possession, a few decent chances but nothing overly dangerous or threatening.

And ultimately that where this game would end with San Diego holding on to a 1-0 lead through the final whistle. This now means Gotham have gone 320 consecutive minutes without scoring and have gone 19 games in a row without winning when conceding first. This dates back to the 2023 season opener when they had a 2-1 comeback victory away to Angel City.

The team did look better in this game than they did last week against Louisville when they couldn't even get out of there own half for a lot of the game. At least this week they were able to have spells of possession and pressure in the attacking third. But the main problem that has reared its ugly head once again is their inability to score. Too often they just aren't able to get that final pass or the finishing just isn't good enough.

This has been a theme for Gotham since the beginning of last season but even then they still managed to find a way to get at least one goal. But with the roster turnover and reliance on more young players as well as the injury issues the team is currently going through have certainly played a huge role in the lack of killer instinct in the final third.

The other thing to note is that the secondary scoring hasn't come around this year just yet. Of Gotham's 12 goals scored this season, seven have come from Esther González. González is also a streaky scorer who can go cold at times, which she did at different points last season. but the difference is that players like Stevens, Yazmeen Ryan, or Lynn Williams were able to come through and pick up the slack when needed. So far with Ryan and Williams gone and Stevens still scoreless this season, that secondary scoring hasn't come around just yet.

And of course the elephant in the room is the lack of Rose Lavelle. Lavelle is yet to play this season after offseason surgery and looking back to last season it certainly isn't a coincidence that the turnaround last season coincided with her return after missing the start of last season as well. Obviously you'd want her in your team rather than not, but this team is more than good enough to be winning games without her.

It's now onto Mexico and the semi-final of the CONCACAF W Champions Cup against Club America on Wednesday night. It's a short turnaround and it'll be interesting to see what kind of lineup Gotham puts out there on Wednesday. Winning the competition will put some of the concerns regarding this scoreless streak behind for a little bit as with the Champions Cup would probably be the biggest achievement in club history.