Marilia Macedo provided information.
Image courtesy of Alejandra Rivera
The story was repeating itself, and it wasn’t such a distant event.
The Gotham striker Onumonu has already scored this year on June 26th in a 0-3 victory at the Cheney Stadium, where Reign suffered the setback. And today, once again, she scored twice. However, this time, the home team came from behind to win, with a good header by McNabb and two penalties converted by Megan Rapinoe during the second half.
From the first minute the intensity and high pressure that the Reign imposed against a stunned Gotham was evident, as the away team tried to maintain the structure of the game without making so many mistakes. This was evident in the 3rd minute when a team play between Fishlock and Rapinoe down the left sector ended in a shot by Lavelle that narrowly went wide near goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan’s left post.
With a very active Jess Fishlock, the Reign tried to dominate the match with a lot of offensive plays although lacking precision in the last sections of the field. This lack of effectiveness became worrisome, since although the team found the necessary spaces to generate play through Lavelle, Rapinoe, Fishlock and Balcer, an evident lack of chemistry (probably due to the time in which both Lavelle and Rapinoe were in Tokyo) prevented them from scoring and converting those opportunities into goals.
The score was open in the 8th minute, where after a cross by Elizabeth Eddy the ball found Onumonu’s right foot, scoring the first for Gotham. Bouhaddi and McNabb eventually had a lot of responsibility on it, as the defense did not react on time while the goalkeeper did not even jump to contain the shot. That goal was a hard hit for the hosts, mostly because all the pressure and intensity vanished since then.
On the 14th the surprise was evident in the Cheney Stadium. Onumonu scored the second of the match with a soft shot that sneaked close to Bouhaddi’s left post. Although Lou Barnes tried to stop the Gotham player, his efforts were not effective and the match was 0x2.
From the second goal, the away team closed the spaces and “parked the bus” comfortably by staying inside their area, while attacking through Onumonu and Zerboni.
A relevant change in the Reign in this game was the inclusion of Kristen McNabb as Left Back, while Lou Barnes took the position of central defense. This change happened because Sam Hiatt was discarded from the roster because of a back injury, forcing the coach Laura Harvey to change the original lineup. There are no further details regarding the extent of Hiatt’s injury.
The second half seemed to start the same way, however, after two consecutive promising plays by Balcer and Rapinoe, the hosts scored thanks to Kristen McNabb who connected a corner executed by Rapinoe. It was the 55th minute, and the window of hope seemed to open for a local team that needed to feel validated after the incorporation of Laura Harvey as Head Coach.
On the 65th Quinn went to the field to replace Weatherholt, and later Dzenifer Maroszán came in to replace Bethany Balcer. The substitutions gave more air to a team that seemed to find the rhythm, creating opportunities mainly for the right sector.
The miracle would come shortly after. Two very similar plays, at 77′ and 90′ were the perfect opportunity to use the talent of Megan Rapinoe when it comes to penalty kicks. In both, the OL Reign flagship player scored accurately, first strong in the upper-middle and then on the center-right. The game was already coming to a close after Rapinoe’s second penalty, with a result that seemed unexpected at the end of the first half.
The Reign needs to have maximum attention in the next game, as it will be the Cascadia Derby against the Portland Thorns on August 29th at 4 PM (7PM ET) in a double-header day called “The PNW Experience” with the Sounders vs Timbers match shortly after.
NY/NJ Gotham will play against the Thorns on August 25th at 7:30 PM (10:30PM ET).