Esther González delivered when it mattered most, scoring a first-half brace to lead Gotham FC to a much-needed 3-1 win over the North Carolina Courage at home — the club’s first victory of the 2025 season. The Spanish international struck twice in quick succession before halftime, first heading home a pinpoint cross from Ella Stevens.

Then minutes later, making a drive towards goal that was ultimately saved before capitalizing instinctively when Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy went to play the ball towards a defender.

Just 60 seconds into the second half, Lilly Reale added her first professional goal, while Brazilian international Geyse made her club debut and Midge Purce returned to the pitch for the first time since a March 2024 season-ending injury. Courage midfielder Brianna Pinto scored a goal in stoppage time to end Gotham’s clean sheet for the match but it was too late to make a difference.

With the brace, González brought her Gotham career tally to 13 goals, tying Nadia Nadim for fifth all-time in club history and matching Sam Kerr for the most multi-goal games in franchise history (4).

A proven winner on both the club and international stage, González has been vital to Gotham since joining the club in 2023 and scoring the game-winning goal in the NWSL Championship that same year. She followed that up with a team-leading nine regular-season goals in 2024 — all in the second half of the season.

González and Gotham are back on the pitch this Friday, April 18th at 10:30 pm ET on NWSL+ when they face unbeaten Angel City FC in Los Angeles.