Gotham FC survive poor home field conditions, edge Seattle in NWSL playoff opener

When the final whistle blew Sunday, Gotham FC and its fans could breathe a collective sigh of relief.Gotham did just enough to beat the Seattle Reign 1-0 to advance to the defending NWSL champions’ fourth consecutive semifinal.It wasn’t at all pretty.The poor field conditions at Sports Illustrated Stadium were partly to blame.Jaelin Howell, who played 60 minutes despite hurting her right ankle in last week’s regular-season finale, described the grounds as unstable and sandy.Gotham coach Juan Carlos Amorós apologized for the state of the pitch, which he said directly impacted the game’s flow.“At this level, in this kind of game, as a league, and we should have a better surface,” Amorós said.

“Unfortunately, our club and football club did absolutely everything in their power to make sure that was the case.Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

But luckily, it looks like nobody got hurt and the game was what it was.“I don’t think it was the best football match that you will ever see, that’s for sure.It’s not the best football match that we’ve ever played, that’s for sure.

But we found a way to win … and in the playoffs, that’s obviously something very important, so happy on that side.”Gotham recorded zero shots on goal.They had Reign center back Jordyn Bugg to thank for their lone goal.In the fourth minute, Bugg accidentally redirected Jaedyn Shaw’s corner kick into the Reign’s net for an own goal.Shaw said she was trying to put pressure on the Reign from the corner, but the subpar surface caused her plant foot to slip a little bit.It worked out for Shaw anyway.“Obviously, it’s unfortunate for Jordyn,” said Shaw, who lauded Bugg as a “great young player.” “It’s unfortunate to go out that way.But I think for us as a team, we do take pride in putting pressure on teams and making things difficult for them and causing mistakes.”Defensive breakdowns and miscommunication by Gotham allowed the Reign to create plenty of opportunit...