Angelina Anderson Saves Guro Reiten's Penalty as Angel City FC and Gotham FC Draw 0-0

The video review took its time, the BMO Stadium crowd held its breath, and then Angelina Anderson made the whole thing feel like a formality. Guro Reiten stepped up with a chance to win it for the league leaders in the 87th minute. Anderson got down and kept it out.

Angel City FC and Gotham FC drew 0-0 on Sunday night in Los Angeles, a scoreless result with more drama than plenty of five-goal games. Anderson saved Reiten's penalty, Sam Kerr smacked the crossbar three minutes later, and both goalkeepers walked off with clean sheets in front of 15,860 fans. Gotham kept its unbeaten run going. Angel City kept the best team in the league off the board.

A Busy, Goalless First Half

Gotham threatened inside the first minute, when Kerr steered a Reiten corner just wide, and Jordynn Dudley made Anderson work from distance in the seventh. Angel City answered right away, with Gisele Thompson going close from the right side of the box, and the hosts settled into the more dangerous rhythm as the half wore on.

Ally Sentnor sent a Prisca Chilufya cross over the bar in the 21st minute, Ary Borges forced Ann-Katrin Berger into a save in the 24th, and Chilufya drove one just wide from the right side of the six-yard box in the 30th. "The only thing I'm focused on now is getting goals, because everything else, I feel like I'm doing just fine," Chilufya said afterward, which sums up the evening for Angel City's attack.

Gotham lost Rose Lavelle to an injury in the 37th minute, with Mandy Freeman replacing her, and the visitors' best look before halftime was a Jaedyn Shaw drive that slid just past the post in the 44th. Berger had one more save to make in stoppage time, keeping out a long-range effort from Evelyn Shores, and then needed treatment herself before the half ended at 0-0.

Gotham Turns Up the Heat

Acting head coach Shaun Harris said the second half was better for his team, and the numbers back him. Anderson stopped Kerr in the 50th minute, Sarah Gorden blocked another Kerr effort two minutes later with a diving challenge, and Dudley forced a sprawling save in the 72nd. Kerr kept drifting offside too, three times in all, a striker so eager she was arriving early to the party.

Angel City still had its moments. Sentnor tested Berger in the 60th minute, and Chilufya and substitute Riley Tiernan both headed wide in the final 20 minutes. But the game was tilting toward Gotham.

The Turning Point

In the 82nd minute, Gorden was flagged for a handball in the box. After a video review, the penalty was confirmed in the 84th, and Reiten, Gotham's left back for the night, took the ball. According to Gotham, it was her first NWSL penalty attempt since joining the club from Chelsea in mid-March.

Anderson read it. She got down to her left-footed shot and pushed it away, and BMO Stadium lost its collective mind. Per Angel City, it was Anderson's second penalty save of the season and helped her to a sixth clean sheet of 2026.

"The biggest thing for me is that locking-in piece," Anderson said. "In those moments, my mentality and mindset is so strong and confident."

Gotham was not done. In the 90th minute, Jaelin Howell set up Kerr in the middle of the box, and Kerr's right-footed shot thumped off the bar. Moments later Howell fired wide, and Kerr pulled another chance wide to the left. Five minutes of stoppage time produced nothing but a Dudley yellow card.

"It is what it is, and we trust all our players when they step up and take the penalty, and unfortunately it wasn't our day," Harris said.

Star Turns

Angelina Anderson: Four saves, one penalty stop and a clean sheet against the league's top team. Interim head coach Leif Smerud praised her preparation. "The mental game is really important, and that's where she's done a really good job," he said.

Ann-Katrin Berger: Three saves and a 10th clean sheet of the season, tying her own club record from last year, according to Gotham. The club said she is the first NWSL goalkeeper to record double-digit shutouts in consecutive seasons.

Sam Kerr: Six shots, one on target, one crossbar and three offside flags. She was everywhere except the scoresheet.

Sarah Gorden: The Angel City captain conceded the penalty, but she also made the block on Kerr that kept the game level early in the second half. Smerud was emphatic about her. "She's been consistent at a very high level, and today she was impressive again," he said.

Jordynn Dudley: Two shots on target and a constant nuisance. She also committed five fouls, the most on the field.

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Gotham 61 percent, Angel City 39.
• Shots: Angel City 16, Gotham 12.
• Shots on goal: Gotham 4, Angel City 3.
• Saves: Anderson 4, Berger 3.
• Corners: Angel City 7, Gotham 3.

What It Means

Gotham moves to 13-5-3 with 44 points. The club said the draw extended its unbeaten streak to nine matches, tying the club record, and left it seven points clear of Portland and Washington, who were level on 37. Gotham has never lost at BMO Stadium against Angel City, per the club. It hosts the Portland Thorns on Friday.

Angel City sits at 7-5-7 with 26 points. The club said the result extended its unbeaten streak to four matches, all four of them draws. Smerud liked what he saw anyway. "We will win games, I'm sure, if we keep performing and keep playing," he said. Angel City travels to the North Carolina Courage on Wednesday.

Closing Take

Penalty saves are the closest thing soccer has to a walk-off home run, and Anderson's had the full Hollywood treatment: a VAR delay for suspense, a star taker for the villain and a roaring soundtrack from the stands. Gotham leaves Los Angeles still unbeaten. Angel City leaves with proof it can stare down the best team in the league and blink last.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by AngelCity.com and GothamFC.com.