Gotham FC are dragging.
They’ve , which got here manner again within the March 14 season opener.
What’s worse, possibly, they’ve scored a complete of simply two objectives — or as many as star midfielder simply had with the over the two-week worldwide break.
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The defending NWSL champions have sunk to thirteenth place within the now-16-team league.
Gotham FC’s arrives for a match with Norway’s nationwide staff on April 14, 2026. UEFA through Getty Photographs
Their current historical past — of patchy regular-season kind, which meant slender playoff qualification and low seeds earlier than their magical title runs — is at risk of repeating.
Enter Guro Reiten.
The standout Norwegian winger, on the eve of the season, has lastly joined up with the squad after resolving visa points and will play as quickly as Saturday, when Gotham host Bay FC at Sports activities Illustrated Stadium (1 p.m. ET).
The hope now’s that the 31-year-old could make a fast adjustment to Gotham’s type of play, in addition to her new life — and the lingo — within the States.
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“I’m gonna try to do my greatest and assist the staff develop and get one of the best out of everybody right here,” Reiten stated this week. “I’m simply excited to get to know [my teammates] on and off the sphere. … I already stated subject. I might by no means say subject.”
Reiten’s recruitment unfolded over the course of months, in keeping with common supervisor Yael Averbuch West.
“We have been on the lookout for typically left-footed, left-sided, attacking-minded gamers who’re extremely clever, technically sound and have performed on the highest stage of the sport and have profitable expertise,” Averbuch West stated this week. “I imply, it’s simply inadvertently her bio.”
Chelsea’s Guro Reiten dribbles up the sphere throughout a match towards in London on Jan. 24, 2026. Chelsea FC through Getty Photographs
Reiten stated she was drawn to Gotham’s “ambitions” as a membership and the “problem” of a leap to the NWSL.
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“I’ve heard so much concerning the league and the way powerful it’s and the way each recreation is, you already know, everybody can beat everybody,” Reiten stated.
Averbuch West was cagey about the usage of the league’s new Excessive Influence Participant rule, which permits groups to go $1 million over the wage cap to pay sure marquee gamers, because it involved Reiten versus different HIP-eligible Gotham gamers. However she was clear the rule was “crucial” for Gotham within the huge image of including and retaining expertise.
“The truth is, we now have gamers from everywhere in the world who need to come play at our membership,” Averbuch West stated. “And our limiting issue now’s our wage cap, not our means to draw gamers and recruit.”
Gotham FC ahead Esther González tries to navigate the Kansas Metropolis Present protection throughout an NWSL match on April 4, 2026. Kylie Graham-Imagn Photographs
There’s additionally that pesky little query of getting a roster that options the likes of Lavelle, , Esther González, and now Reiten to supply objectives — and get their first win in six weeks.
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“Particularly as we get into the season and also you’re going via the ups and downs of a season, bringing a participant of her stage, expertise and profitable pedigree is essential to us,” Averbuch West stated of Reiten.
The GM added: “I do like bringing in gamers in the course of the season. … Injecting new gamers in the course of one thing does have a novel energy to it.”