Gotham FC frustratingly fails to score in the draw with Utah Royals FC

NJ/NY Gotham FC had another disappointing result at home after drawing Utah Royals FC 0-0. This result sees the Bats' winless run in NWSL play extend to four games, and provides zero ground gained in the playoff race, with them remaining tied with the North Carolina Courage on 21 points, only ahead on goal differential.

It was a similar type of game to last week's loss to the Houston Dash, where the NJ/NY side was the better team over the course of the 90 minutes, but could not score the needed goals they needed to start getting some much-needed wins.

For Utah, this was a great result for them. They were somewhat competitive in the first half and did enough in the second half of the game to keep the game scoreless and come away with a point. It has been a rough season, but this can definitely be viewed as a great result for the team despite this only being a draw.

Alas, this is the type of game that many will look back on as a major opportunity missed to pick up three points. Gotham FC should have won at home against the team at the bottom of the standings. But for one reason or another, the goals are missing in action despite the team playing pretty well in these four NWSL games without a win.

Gotham FC failed to find the back of the net, again

In what was a pretty even first 45 minutes, it was Gotham who tended to have the upper hand in the general run of play. Most of the game was played in Utah's defensive half, but the Royals were doing a good job of soaking up the pressure and not allowing too many quality shots on goal. Utah, despite being the more passive of the two sides, actually had their fair share of chances.

As mentioned earlier, they did a good job of soaking up pressure and then launching counterattacks off of long balls from their own half. And while they only had a 19% completion percentage on long balls, they did enough to not only outshoot, but out-xG Gotham in the first half 4-3 and 0.32-0.16 respectively. Gotham did end up with the only shot on target of the half from a Rose Lavelle run and pass to Esther González, who let off a powerful shot. Unfortunately, it was right at goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn who easily made the save.

Gotham had one last chance in stoppage time when a Gabi Portilho cross found Sarah Schupansky in the box. Sadly, the rookie let the ball roll through her legs as she tried to dummy it to a teammate who ultimately wasn't there. Seconds later, the halftime whistle blew, and the two teams went into the break scoreless.

In the second half, Gotham FC came out incredibly strong, getting chance after chance in the opening fifteen minutes. This included four corners, five shots, three fouls won, and increasing their xG from 0.16 to 0.76 in just the first 15 minutes alone.

Things then settled down from the frenetic pace of the opening 15 minutes, with the Bats still looking like the better team. Their next best chance came in the 84th minute when Geyse sprinted nearly the entire length of the field from a Utah corner and ripped a powerful shot that was again brilliantly saved by McGlynn. Later, Gotham called for a penalty kick in stoppage time off of what they felt like were one, maybe even two fouls in the box off of a corner kick in stoppage time, but alas, these claims led to nothing. So, the match ended in a draw.

Once again, Gotham frustratingly dropped more points at home off the back of a 0-0 draw. As such, the team only claimed two of a possible nine points over this three-match NWSL homestand. The ladies are in a pretty perilous spot when it comes to the playoff picture. They currently sit in the eighth and final spot, and while they cannot fall any further this week, each game moving forward will carry even more importance.

Eight of their last nine games are against teams either ahead of them in the standings or at least one point behind them. It starts next Friday when Gotham FC plays away to the Orlando Pride. Now the Pride are slightly vulnerable at this time, having gone winless in their last five games, and notably will be missing Barbra Banda for the rest of the season. Add to that the added midweek games in the CONCACAF W Champions Cup, and it certainly isn't going to be an easy ride into the playoffs.