Another 1-1 draw between KC Current and Gotham FC

With a spot in the playoffs secured, the Kansas City Current looked to secure a home playoff game. With a win against Gotham FC and a Chicago Red Stars win versus the North Carolina Courage, the Current could clinch a top four finish on the final NWSL table. Gotham FC were also looking to secure a top four finish and led the Current by one point in the NWSL standings. The Current came into the match in fourth place with 42 points, while Gotham stood in third place with 43 points. The Current and Gotham last met in April at Red Bull Arena to a 1-1 draw.

Who started?

Photo: nwslsoccer.com

First half: Uh….

Maybe the coffee quite had not kicked in yet for a noon game kickoff, but the Kansas City Current played a very uninspiring first half. Credit to that was to Gotham FC limiting opportunities for the Current to build anything in transition, and the moments that Kansas City built the attack, the shots were way off target or the final touch was disrupted. At the end of the half,  the Current recorded one shot on goal. Kansas City also spent the majority of the first half on their own half as Gotham FC held to 63% of the possession.

And then there was the goal that gave Gotham the 1-0 in the 24th minute. As the Current cleared the ball away from the goal box, Michelle Cooper collided with the referee, and instead of continuing the play, Cooper stopped to argue with the ref. Should the referee have stopped play at the moment is the question, but the game continued as the ref traded words with Cooper. Gotham continued play, leading to them sending the ball back into the box for a goal, that unfortunately was an own goal by Alana Cook.

Gotham capitalizes to take the lead in KC 💥 pic.twitter.com/hePbxqoEze

— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) September 28, 2024

Second half: Just give the ball to Chawinga!

Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski needing to make adjustments for the second half did just that. Bia Zaneratto and Ellie Wheeler entered the game to start the second half. Bia for Nichelle Prince and Wheeler for Izzy Rodriguez. Those two changes along and with whatever was said at halftime would be crucial, especially if the Current wanted to equalize.

It didn’t take long, however, as the Current, cleared the ball away from their box, and in transition, Debinha found Temwa Chawinga on a run and sent the ball her way. CPKC Stadium was in a frenzy as Chawinga beat her defender on her way to the Gotham box, where she also went around goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger for her 17th goal of the season.

17TH GOAL OF THE SEASON ‼️

Golden Boot Leader Temwa Chawinga gets KC Current on the board to make it 1-1! She is assisted by Debinha 🤩@nwsl | @KCBABY pic.twitter.com/Wr1LTKP7HT

— KC Current – x (@thekccurrent) September 28, 2024

And just like that, the game was tied 1-1 in the 52nd minute. There were opportunities by both teams to close this one with a win, but just like back in April, the game ended with another 1-1 draw between the KC Current and Gotham FC.