Gotham FC returns to NWSL action on Sunday afternoon when it hosts the Houston Dash at Sports Illustrated Stadium in its final league match before the June international break. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.
After spending the past two weeks competing in the Concacaf W Champions Cup Finals in Mexico, Gotham (5-2-3, 18 points) shifts its focus back to league play. Despite sitting fifth in the standings, the Bats have two matches in hand on several teams above it and remains firmly in the race near the top of the table.
The club’s last NWSL outing came on May 15, when Gotham earned a convincing 2-0 road victory over Seattle Reign FC. Goals from Jaedyn Shaw and Tierna Davidson secured all three points as Gotham delivered one of its most complete performances of the season. Sunday’s match presents another opportunity for Juan Carlos Amorós’ side to build momentum before the league pauses for the June international break.
Houston (4-5-2, 14 points) enters Sunday’s contest riding a positive stretch of form after taking four points from its last two matches. The Dash most recently earned a 2-1 victory over Angel City FC, with rookie forward Kat Rader scoring her fourth goal of the season before midfielder Maggie Graham found the eventual winner. Prior to that result, Houston battled to a 2-2 draw against San Diego Wave FC, helping the club climb to 10th place in the NWSL standings.
Amorós emphasized the importance of finishing the first half of the season strongly in front of Gotham’s home supporters.
“It’s a game that we’re really looking forward to playing. We’ve been away for a while now. It’s the last game of this first half of the year, but the team has performed really well in the league. We’re in a great position and we want to make sure our fans go into this break happy – the group as well. It’s going to be a longer break going into the next phase, and we’re excited to come back and play at Sports Illustrated Stadium.”
The Gotham head coach also praised his team’s response following last week’s Champions Cup finals stage.
“The team has been fantastic. They’ve worked incredibly hard these past few days. They all came back wanting to improve, wanting to be together and wanting to be better in every aspect of the game. Everyone is ready to help. They deserve a lot of credit for that. The team is really looking forward to tomorrow’s game, to competing, playing and feeling good with each other, both with and without the ball. We’re very happy with how this week of training has gone.”
Forward Andrea Kitahata expects Houston to provide a difficult challenge as both teams look to head into the break on a positive note.
“We’re expecting a good match. Houston is coming off a big win against Angel City, and every team is trying to finish off this first half of the year on a high. We definitely want to go into the break with three points and put ourselves in the best position to continue on with the season and make a good playoff run later on. We’re expecting a good, hard fight. Houston is in good form, so it should be a great game.”
Gotham will be without Ann-Katrin Berger, Bruninha, Kayla Duran, Mandy Freeman and Taryn Torres due to injury. Houston’s unavailable players include Makenzy Robbe and Kiki Van Zanten.
With an opportunity to continue its climb up the standings and head into the international break with momentum, Gotham will look to capitalize on home-field advantage against a Houston side that has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks.
