**LOS ANGELES, Calif.** – Angel City FC gave the sellout home crowd at BMO Stadium every reason to celebrate in the first half on Sunday night, but it was Gotham FC who enjoyed the last of the spoils as the visitors came back to defeat Angel City, 2-1, behind goals from Midge Purce and Lynn Williams in the second half. Though regular season debutant Alyssa Thompson opened the scoring early on, Purce’s penalty and Williams’s powerful strike across goal lifted the new-look Gotham side and earned it all three points in the end.
It didn’t take long for the hosts to jump out to an early lead, with No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft Alyssa Thompson producing an unbelievable strike with her right foot to go one-up in the 11 ^th minute. In possession near the top of the box on the left side, Thompson found just enough of a window to curl a high, drifting effort toward the back post. Though Gotham FC goalkeeper Abby Smith dove and got a glove on the shot, she was unable to keep it from clipping the underside of the crossbar and landing over the line as the 18-year-old earned a memorable first NWSL regular season goal and Angel City went in front. With the goal, Thompson became the fourth-youngest player to score in the NWSL regular season behind Olivia Moultrie, Jaedyn Shaw, and Ellie Carpenter.
Six minutes later, attacker Jun Endo lifted an impressive shot from distance that flew around and over Smith and into the back of the net, seemingly putting her team two in front after just 17 minutes. However, after video review, Angel City midfielder Danielle Weatherholt, who was credited for the assist on Thompson’s goal, was judged by video review to have fouled a Gotham player as she attempted to shield the ball and the potential goal was waved off.
Momentum wasn’t all the way of the hosts, though, and Gotham FC had a great look on goal in the 35 ^th minute through defender Kelley O’Hara. After teammate Midge Purce had an effort saved in the 26 ^th minute, Gotham’s moves forward became more effective and resulted in the chance for O’Hara after a pass square across the box. Taking aim from just inside the penalty area, O’Hara swung her left foot at the ball and forced goalkeeper DiDi Haracic into a good save as the visitors continued to test the Angel City defense.
However, the home side was back on the attack just a few minutes later as Thompson’s blitzing run forced a corner conceded by Gotham’s Paige Nielsen. After the ensuing corner only produced another corner, Gotham goalkeeper Abby Smith had to produce another great save as Angel City defender Sarah Gorden got on the end of teammate Claire Emslie’s cross. With the ball spilled in front of goal after the save, the Gotham defense had to rush to clear the chance lest another opportunity fall at the goalmouth.
Separate injury delays in the opening 45 minutes of regulation time caused an additional seven amount of minutes to be played at the end of the half, but Angel City held onto the one-goal advantage as halftime came and went.
Into the second half, Gotham was provided an early opportunity to get back into the match in the 51 ^st minute as substitute Svava Rós Guðmundsdóttir sprinted forward in possession toward the Angel City penalty area. As the goalkeeper Haracic came off her line in attempts to squash the move, it looked like she made contact with the Icelandic forward as Guðmundsdóttir cut inside onto her right foot. After play continued, the referee was urged to review the contact via video and came back to award a penalty kick to the visitors. Attacker Midge Purce stepped up to take and sent Haracic the wrong way to equalize with a spot kick so strong it’s unlikely Haracic would’ve been able to stop it even had she chosen the right direction.
Then, as Gotham continued to capitalize in the attacking end, Gotham debutant Lynn Williams put her side ahead with a wonderful goal in the 65 ^th minute. Pushing ahead with possession, Purce forced the Angel City defense to collapse in pressure as she approached the penalty area. Just as the defense made its shift to pressure the ball, Purce slid a pass into the path of Williams to her right and Williams corked a right-footed shot that beat into the far side-netting and in as Gotham turned the match on its head and went from one-down to one-up within a matter of 15 minutes in the second half.
Angel City would not roll over by any means though, with Simone Charley’s header in the 69 ^th minute falling wide and Jun Endo’s left-footed strike from outside the box in the 78 ^th minute blocked and out for a corner that was eventually cleared by the Gotham defense. The club’s final couple of big chances came right at the death as, in the 94 ^th minute, Angel City’s Megan Reid was played through by midfielder Savannah McCaskill only for the flag to go up for offside. Then, one minute later, Angel City earned a free kick as Charley went down under a challenge just outside the 18-yard box. Lining up a free kick effort, McCaskill was unable to fire her right-footed effort on frame as her effort landed wide of the far post.
Despite the home side’s best efforts, they would fail to find an equalizer meaning Gotham FC won its third consecutive season opener after wins over Orlando and Houston in 2022 and 2021, respectively. For Angel City, it’s a frustrating start to the season that is marked by that VAR decision against Endo, and after earning a win in the club’s first-ever season opener last year the club faces defeat in its second.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights