Gotham FC defeated the Washington Spirit at PayPal Park in San Jose, California, thanks to a late Rose Lavelle goal. Here are the key stats and takeaways.
The stats:
Gotham FC is the fourth NWSL franchise to win multiple championships, joining FC Kansas City, the North Carolina Courage/Western New York Flash and the Portland Thorns.
Gotham FC has now won championships as a No. 6 and No. 8 seed. Every other champion was a No. 4 seed or higher
Gotham’s victory ends a run of five straight seasons with a different NWSL champion.
This was the first time since 2017 that the championship game was scoreless at halftime.
Rose Lavelle has scored in two of the last three NWSL championship games, once as a Gotham opponent and once as a Gotham player.
The takeaways:
1. Defense and stars travel
Only the Shield-winning Kansas City Current conceded fewer goals than Gotham did this season. The Bats kept a clean sheet in the semifinals and did not allow a shot on target in the final. It became clear from the opening moments that the game would likely be decided by a special moment from one of the stars. Lavelle delivered it out of nowhere, and that was all Gotham needed. Keeping games tight and having multiple matchwinners on the field is a great way to win away from home in a single-elimination format.
2. The longer the game went, the better the Spirit got
The first 10-15 minutes featured a lot of Washington trying to pass through Gotham’s press. It didn’t work very well and allowed Gotham to assume control early on. That started to change as soon as the Spirit become more direct. They found space to run into and started to pin Gotham in their own half of the field. Rove Lavelle and Jaedyn Shaw became less impactful. Lilly Reale’s yellow card felt like a turning point, and it was. There just happened to be another one later on: Hal Herschfelt’s injury. The game may have played out differently if Hershfelt was healthy or removed quicker. In the end, the Spirit just couldn’t produce the moment of quality they needed.
3. Gotham still aren’t playing up to their potential
Gotham created 1.0 total expected goals in its upsets of Kansas City and Orlando while allowing 2.5. They were not exactly dominant performances. Even though the Spirit finished eight points and six spots ahead of Gotham FC, the Bats are arguably the deeper, more talented team. Having the final on a neutral field on the other side of the country made the matchup as even as possible. A majority of the game was still played on Washington’s terms. Despite their recent postseason success, the Bats have not been nearly as consistent as their squad suggests they should be.