Poor turf conditions overshadow Gotham FC NWSL playoff win over Seattle
According to ESPN, they became the first club in NWSL history to win a playoff match despite not having a shot on target.
Key points
- Gotham FC defender Jess Carter said the field was "so bad" and Reign veteran Jess Fishlock, who played in her final match before retiring, called the pitch "atrocious." "Let's be real, there's no way a playoff game should be played on that (expletive)," Seattle head coach Laura Harvey told ESPN after the loss.
- They knew it last week." Gotham FC was reportedly fined $10,000 for bad pitch conditions at Sports Illustrated Stadium when they hosted the Utah Royals a week prior.
- Gotham FC will march on in the NWSL playoffs, but there are major questions remaining about the pitch at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
But the poor turf conditions in New Jersey were a major topic of conversation after the game.
Head coach Juan Carlos Amorós took accountability for the turf conditions after the game, even though the Shield winners aren't the primary tenant of Sports Illustrated Stadium.
Additional details
- Gotham FC, who upset the Washington Spirit last season for the NWSL title, will now face the Kansas City Current in the semifinals.
- In Sunday's match, Gotham FC won after a Seattle own goal from Jordyn Bugg in the fourth minute.
- On Sunday night, the NWSL said that the playoff match will be on Sunday, Nov.
- The league did not say where Gotham FC's match will be held, but it could possibly be played at Icahn Stadium, which has a capacity of 5,000 people.
- Unfortunately, it wasn't but luckily, it looks like nobody got hurt and the game was what it was." USA TODAY Sports reached out to Sports Illustrated Stadium for comment and had not heard back at the time of publication.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
Advertisement
Every article behind this summary — 1 article from 1 outlet
Get stories like this in your inbox.
Subscribe — it's freeOne free email at 6am — your topics, deduplicated, five minutes. No account, no paywall.