Gotham FC came into their FIFA Women’s Champions Cup™ semi-final aware of the threat SC Corinthians posed, but confident of victory and a place in the Emirates Stadium decider.
The Bats, after all, are reigning domestic and continental champions, and were unbeaten in all ten matches they’ve played against non-NWSL opposition.
Juan Carlos Amoros’ side would, however, leave Brentford Stadium disappointed. Corinthians survived a series of Gotham scares to deal a devastating blow late on when Gabi Zanotti fired home from just inside the area.
The sucker-punch nature of that winner, coupled with her side’s failure to take their chances, made for a despondent Jess Carter at full-time.
“Obviously, we’re really frustrated,” Carter told FIFA. “It’s really disappointing to have the possession, the chances that we had and to concede off a counter-attack. So, you know, obviously we’re really disappointed with the result. I’m disappointed with the goal. I think that I maybe misjudged the ball when it was coming into the box and could have dealt with that better.”
Gotham started well and dominated the opening stages without finding the net. They turned up the heat in the second half but further chances for Emily Sonnett and Katie Stengel went begging, allowing Zanotti to net the only goal of the contest.
Defeat means Gotham will play the third-place play-off against Arsenal/ASFAR on Sunday, which midfielder Savannah McCaskill believes will be the perfect chance to bounce back.
“I thought we tried to play free-flowing football, we tried to be who we want to be,” she told FIFA following the match. “We have to put away our chances and we gave up their one chance of the game and they scored on it, so we have to find a way to be more ruthless.
“It’s extremely important [to win the third-place play-off]. We’re going into our season, coming up in about six weeks, and we want to go back home with a win under our belt and prove that we can score goals. We want to carry that forward into the whole year of competitions.”
Defender Lilly Reale added, “I think to say that we saw anything less than a win would be not in our culture and just not in our style. We had high expectations coming into this game, but I think obviously they just fell short and weren’t executed as well as they could have been. Moving forward, we’re hoping to really sharpen our knives and just dagger the next team.”
While disappointment in the Gotham ranks is high, Carter was keen to stress the importance of the finals and the need to finish them strongly on Sunday.
“Preparation for Sunday starts now,” Carter continued. “We go back in, we recover correctly and then we go again on Sunday. You know, training tomorrow, get that right. And we’ve just got to prepare as best that we can ready for the next game.
“It was nice to play a real, proper game. Nice to be back in England playing. It’s great. The women’s game deserves to have this recognition. Getting to play against some teams from across the world is amazing. So, it’s a great start for women’s football, and hopefully they can just continue to improve over the coming years.”
