The Kansas City Current stayed unbeaten on Sunday night as they drew 1-1 with Gotham FC. It was a match that was a tough fought battle on a night when the home side was honored for winning the NWSL in 2023. Both sides had chances to win the match, but failed to find the winner. I felt like a draw was deserved for both sides. Here are my thoughts on the match.
Bia & Temwa: A Deadly Combo
Bia Zaneratto and Temwa Chawinga continue to be a wrecking crew up top for the Current. They have been a big reason why the Current are unbeaten through 4 matches. The duo paired up once again to open the scoring for the Current in the 17th minute in this one. Bia made a great strong play to win the ball around midfield. She quickly turned upfield and spotted the run by Temwa and made a perfectly weighted pass to set Temwa through on goal. A nice and calm finish put the Current up 1-0. Those 2 players are showing that they are a force to be reckoned with in the NWSL season. I believe that the attack will be bolstered even more when Debinha returns from injury.
Current Dominate First Half
The Current were definitely the stronger side in the first half. They came flying out of the gates and seemed to impose their will. Gotham appeared to have some issues dealing with the high press from the Current to start. As the half went on, Gotham seemed to settle into things. They began to find some life a little after the half hour mark and carried that momentum with them into the second half.
Set Pieces Continue To Be A Problem
So far this season the Current have appeared to have issues dealing with set pieces from opposing squads. This match unfortunately was no different. Gotham leveled the match in the 51st minute on a great header from Esther. AD Franch didn’t have much of a chance to be able to save this one. The most frustrating part was that Esther was completely unmarked in the box. According to Daniel Sperry, manager Vlatko Andonovski said that there was a player assigned to mark Esther, but the player didn’t execute. The Current got lucky as Esther had a clear shot at goal on another set piece where she went unmarked in the box, but this time she failed to put the shot on net. The Current definitely have some work to do on defense to stay unbeaten.
Reinforcements Return From Injury
The Current have done a great job to stay unbeaten this season even as the club has dealt with the injury bug early on. The squad got a boost in the second half as Hailie Mace returned from injury as a sub for Izzy Rodriguez. Michelle Cooper made her season debut as she subbed on for Alexa Spaanstra. Their return to action I’m sure is greatly welcomed from the Current players who have done a great job holding things down in their absence.
Chawinga Injured Late
The Current seemed to be finding life to take control of the match when Cooper, Mace and Lavogez came on in the 66th minute. Their attack got delivered a blow around the 86th minute unfortunately. Temwa Chawinga went down after a challenge around midfield and looked to be in a lot of pain. She was able to get up, but walked off the pitch very slowly and very stiffly. She appeared to be grabbing her hamstring as she was leaving the pitch. As of the time of this article being written there is no update on her status. I would suspect that she will miss some time, which is definitely a blow to the Current.
Familiar Faces
It’s always fun to root for the Current. I still like to root for their former players when I can. I will not root for the former players when they play the Current though. It was weird for me to root against Cassie Miller and Lynn Williams, but I had to in this one. I really like both players and am happy to see them find success with Gotham FC.
Cassie Miller played a solid match in this one. She made a great save to deny Temwa Chawinga in the first half and continued her solid play that we came accustomed to seeing last year in the second half. Lynn Williams came on as a sub in the 59th minute and definitely contributed to the solid play we saw from Gotham. I wish them the best of luck the rest of the season, except for when they are playing the Current of course.
Homecoming For Hutton
This match had to be a special one for young Current player Claire Hutton. She got to return home to play against Gotham FC. The New York native played a very solid match and continues to grow each week. Her 3 year contract with the Current is important as she has a great manager and great teammates to help guide her along to continue to hit her full potential. She is a young player that Current fans should be excited about.
Up Next: The Current return home to CPKC Stadium and will look to remain unbeaten on the season. They will face off for their first ever match against new squad Bay FC Saturday night at 6:30pm.
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