NWSL VAVEL

Gotham FC 0-0 Angel City FC: Goalkeepers star in Red Bull draw

DiDi Haracic and Abby Smith made key saves as Gotham and Angel City shared the points.

Gotham FC 0-0 Angel City FC: Goalkeepers star in Red Bull draw
Photo: Ira. L Black - Corbis/Getty Images
john-lupo
By John Lupo

Gotham FC played to a goalless draw against Angel City at Red Bull Arena as both teams wasted several good chances.

Angel City goalkeeper DiDi Haracic was a big reason for that, making six saves while her counterpart Abby Smith also came up with some key stops.

NJ/NY now sits fifth in the NWSL table with 22 points played from 14 matches while Angel City are dead last with a return of just 14 points from their 14 games.

Story of the match

Angel City dominated possession in the early stages with the game opening up in the 20th minute and five minutes later, the visitors had their first real chance.

Jenna Nighswonger intercepted a pass by DiDi Haracic and found Delanie Sheehan, but her shot was straight at the Angel City goalkeeper.

On 28 minutes, Megan Reid played a long ball over the top to Savannah McCaskill, who was making her 100th NWSL appearance, her shot from close range stopped by the leg of Gotham netminder Abby Smith.

A minute later, Sheehan played Yazmeen Ryan through and she cut inside the box, her effort from a sharp angle repelled by a diving save from Haracic.

In first-half stoppage time, Nighswonger played a neat one-two with McCall Zerboni, making her 200th appearance in NWSL play and she forced Haracic to tip over the crossbar.

The second half saw both teams play at a much quicker pace and cause more problems in and around the 18.

Scarlett Camberos sent a lovely through ball to McCaskill and she dribbled into the box, passed back to Camberos, whose shot was blocked by Ali Kreiger.

Zerboni sent a pass to substitute Midge Purce in the 66th minute, who got past Paige Nielsen, dribbled into the box, and shot at the near post, where Haračić made another outstanding save.

Angel City had their best chance with eight minutes left, Clarisse Le Bihan feeding Claire Emslie, who made her way into the penalty area and her shot was blocked by a backtracking Ryan.

That proved to be the final action of a game filled with quality chances, great saves and end-to-end action.

Player of the match: DiDi Haracic

She was the reason Angel City earned a point, making a number of outstanding saves to keep her side in the match.