Gotham FC’s recent mojo to be put to test vs. NWSL-best Kansas City

This was back on July 30, when Gotham FC was coming out of the National Women’s Soccer League’s international break in eighth place, having sunk as low as 10th a couple of weeks prior to the hiatus and inspired no one with their league form. 

“We’d like to host a playoff game,” Gotham general manager Yael Averbuch West told The Post, indicating a top-four finish. “We’re incredibly ambitious. We also realize there are a couple teams that have gotten a really, really solid head start, but when we look at the table, we want to be right up there, and the opportunity to host a playoff game, I think that’s a realistic target.” 

Well, that target’s certainly in reach now. 

Gotham (9W-8D-6L) have surged to third place in the NWSL standings with three regular-season matches remaining. 

They can clinch a playoff berth with a result in a marquee showdown this weekend, even as the top-four slot remains in the balance with just four points separating third and eighth place. 

Gotham are unbeaten in their past 11 matches across all competitions — tying a franchise record — including their past seven in NWSL play (4W-3D) and the four-match group stage of the CONCACAF W Champions Cup, the regional club competition in which they’re defending champions. 

A healthy Rose Lavelle has been in sparkling form, and the attack has received a jolt from seven-figure addition Jaedyn Shaw. The defense has been incredibly stingy — they’ve conceded just four combined goals in the 11-game, 47-day run. 

Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amorós said Friday he never doubted the team would climb the standings. 

“We trusted the process of who we are,” Amorós said. “Just this league is very competitive, and you need to be loyal to yourself, making sure that you have a plan and that you have a way to play and a way to do things. And I think that always pays for us.” 

Yet all of Gotham’s momentum will receive the sternest possible test Saturday (5 p.m., ION) when they visit Kansas City, the runaway NWSL Shield winners as the league’s first-place team. 

The Current are working on their own unbeaten streak of 16 NWSL games (14W-2D), and they haven’t lost at home since last July. 

Led by former U.S. women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovski, they have scored the most goals in the league (45, led by Golden Boot leader and MVP favorite Temwa Chawinga’s 14) and conceded the fewest (11). 

Get a crack at Goliath now, the thinking goes, and be ready for a potential rematch in November. 

“Everyone who wants to win the championship, it’s a matchup they definitely want at the end of the year,” veteran Gotham defender Emily Sonnett said. “To have a more exciting game, but [also] to understand how good of a matchup and how we can look hopefully into the postseason.”