Gotham FC comfortably defeats Chicago Stars FC for third consecutive victory

NJ/NY Gotham FC's winning run extends to three as they won in their first home game in nearly a month, defeating Chicago Stars FC 3-1. The win maintained their six-point lead over San Diego Wave FC, who moved into second at the time of writing thanks to a 2-0 win over Racing Louisville FC on Friday night. The lead could drop down to five, though, if the Washington Spirit wins on Saturday over Angel City FC at Audi Field.

A win over Chicago was expected given how the Stars' season has gone, with them sitting right at the bottom of the table. Still, watching the game, it was easy to see what Head Coach Juan Carlos Amorós and his staff are looking for from this Gotham side when they can play at their best. There was fluid movement, great passing sequences, and overall dominant play in a very enjoyable game to watch, which fans cannot always say despite the success.

And they truly beat down Chicago. The Windy City team is likely looking forward to 2027 with pretty much nothing to play for this season. Too often, the players got caught ball watching on different sequences and defended very casually in what was an incredibly lackluster performance.

After three games without a win, Gotham FC has now rattled off three consecutive victories. There were obviously some worries in the fanbase surrounding what was potentially going on, which came to a head with the 3-0 loss to Denver Summit FC. However, the players clearly didn't panic or make any rash decisions in the aftermath. Rather, they continued as normal, and they are now back to their best.

A fun attacking performance from Gotham FC

Gotham FC got off to another quick start as they again found the back of the net early on. Sam Kerr picked up a loose ball in midfield before finding Jordynn Dudley out wide. Dudley cut inside, got the ball back to Kerr, whose cross-box pass found Jaedyn Shaw on the back post to give the NJ/NY side the early lead.

While it was very good play on Gotham's part to set up the goal, too many Chicago players were caught ball watching in the box and seemingly were okay with letting the ball go all the way across without any sort of resistance. This marked Kerr's third consecutive game with an assist, and Shaw became the youngest player in league history to score 25 regular-season goals.

Gotham then almost doubled their lead in the 15th minute when a Shaw free kick found the head of Jaelin Howell, whose effort bounced down off the crossbar onto the goal line, but not across it. The Bats then seized control of the half, limiting Chicago to just eight touches in the opposition box.

There was another fantastic scoring chance before halftime as Rose Lavelle put in a great ball off a free kick that was just a bit too far for both Dudley and Midge Purce. Gotham entered halftime up by just one goal, but thoroughly in control of the game.

It was a lot more of the same in the second half, as the Bats again found the back of the net early on. After being the provider in the first half, Kerr turned into the scorer in the second half as a sight familiar to Chelsea fans came about in Gotham colors. A fantastic cross from Guro Reiten found the head of Kerr, who had an open net to aim at and doubled Gotham's lead. Shortly after that, the Aussie almost had her second of the game as she was wide open on a back-post tap-in. Alas, she was called offside.

Meanwhile, the third and final goal for the home team came in the 66th minute. Shaw scored her second of the game on a great passing sequence. It ended with Lavelle laying the ball off to Shaw as she was making a run into the box, before a great finish from the Bats' leading scorer. This was Lavelle's second assist of the season and her second in as many games. This was also Shaw's first brace in her NWSL career.

From then on, it was total domination for Gotham. They kept Chicago from having a touch in the opposition box until the 85th minute. Unfortunately, though, they could not keep the clean sheet as the visitors got on the board in the 87th minute.

Jess Carter attempted to clear a heavy touch off of Simone Charley, but the ball hit the Chicago forward before bouncing to Micayla Johnson. She picked up her first-ever NWSL assist on a nice cross-goal pass to Tessa Dellarose, who scored a late consolation goal.

In the end, the NJ/NY side picked up three points in a really good performance against the bottom-of-the-table Stars. There were some really good passing sequences for Gotham FC throughout the game, including on all three goals, but there was also a lot of pedestrian and non-committal defense from Chicago, making it very easy to see why they have conceded 60 goals in 26 games and why the night ended with a win for the home team.

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