Welcome to this week’s edition of Goalside Gossip!

The WSL came back this weekend, and somehow it was not even the loudest thing that happened. Denver beat the defending champions for the second time this season, Ashley Sanchez broke a record that had stood since 2015, and Providence Park lost at home for the first time in a year.

Off the pitch, a group in XX-XY shirts was removed from a Thorns match and a nearby sports bar, Kansas City parted ways with Vlatko Andonovski, Crystal Palace won their opener and promptly got investigated for how, and the transfer window shut on a busy Monday.

Let's get into it.

Game Summaries (NWSL):

News:

An expansion side beating the defending champions once is a nice story. Doing it twice in a season is something else. Denver became the first expansion team in four years to sweep the reigning titleholders, and they did it 3-0 in front of a sold out home crowd.

It stayed tight for a half. Then Yuzuki Yamamoto hit a half volley, and late goals from rookie Olivia Thomas and former Gotham forward Yazmeen Ryan finished it off.

The result snapped Gotham's 10 match unbeaten run, their first defeat since July 4, though they stay top of the table. Denver are now four points off the final playoff spot.

Ashley Sanchez is having the season of her life. She scored her first career hat trick to reach 18 goals, setting the NWSL single season scoring record for an American player and moving within two of the overall record.

The goals came in three different ways: a scramble finish at close range in the 11th, a penalty in the 69th, and a header in the 81st. Her opener also pushed her combined total with Evelyn Ijeh past the record for a pair of teammates. The two finished the night on 29.

The 6-0 rout was rounded out by Chioma Okafor's first professional goal and second half strikes from Shinomi Koyama and Ryan Williams.

Providence Park had not seen a home defeat since September 2025. That ended on Sunday, with the Washington Spirit coming from behind to snap Portland's club record 13 match home unbeaten run.

Portland looked in control early. Sophia Wilson converted from the penalty spot in the 18th for her 12th of the season. The Spirit levelled after the break through a Tara Rudd penalty in the 59th following a VAR review.

The winner came in the 80th, when Trinity Rodman slid a low cross to Mélissa Bethi, who finished it off. Washington move within two points of Gotham at the top.

Six days after Orlando fired head coach Seb Hines, interim boss Yolanda Thomas got her first win in charge, a 3-1 result over Houston that was also Orlando's fifth straight home win in the fixture.

Barbra Banda was involved in everything. Her cross deflected in for a Houston own goal in the 14th, and she converted a penalty right before halftime for her 14th of the year, a new club record for goals in a single NWSL season.

Midfielder Haley McCutcheon made it three in the 63rd with a top corner volley, assisted by Banda, for a career high fourth goal of the season. Houston's Kiki Van Zanten pulled one back in the 72nd but it was too late.

A group of individuals was asked to leave both a Portland Thorns match at Providence Park and The Sports Bra, a local women's sports bar, for wearing "XX-XY Athletics" t-shirts. The apparel prompted staff at the bar to escort the group out after other patrons reported feeling uncomfortable with the messaging.

The ejections are tied to the broader national debate surrounding the inclusion of transgender women in female sports. Group member Amy Sousa argued on social media that the shirts were meant to support women and girls in sports, rather than to be transphobic. However, the NWSL Fan Code of Conduct strictly prohibits discriminatory language or symbols based on gender identity, and The Sports Bra subsequently issued a public statement reaffirming its stance that "trans girls are girls, and trans women are women."

The stadium ejection took place during Sunday's game, which saw the Washington Spirit come from behind to defeat the Thorns 2-1 following a late game-winning goal by the Spirit.

The Kansas City Current and sporting director Vlatko Andonovski have mutually parted ways, ending his latest run with the club less than a year after he moved upstairs. The club said both sides decided the switch from coaching into the sporting director role was not the right fit.

It continues a run of front office churn in Kansas City, following the exits of general managers Camille Ashton in 2024 and Caitlin Carducci in 2025. The Current sit seventh at 11-4-8 under Chris Armas, a steep drop from last season.

The contrast is stark. In 2025, with Andonovski on the touchline, Kansas City won the Shield with league records in points (65) and wins (21) and he took Coach of the Year, only for Gotham to knock them out in the first round.

His history with Kansas City soccer runs deep, back to his indoor playing days and including back to back NWSL titles with Kansas City in 2014 and 2015. In between, the 49-year-old managed the USWNT from 2019 to 2023, winning bronze in Tokyo before stepping down after the program's worst ever finish at the 2023 World Cup.

Crystal Palace won their WSL opener 1-0 against Everton, and then the league opened an investigation into how they did it. Palace used four separate substitution windows, making changes in the 62nd, 83rd, 90th and 97th minutes. The rules allow three.

The officials are caught up in it too. Referee Megan Wilson and her team have been stood down for the next round of fixtures while the league reviews the incident with Pro Ref.

Nobody quite knows what happens next. There is no automatic penalty for this in the WSL rulebook, so the case could go to an independent tribunal. Sanctions could range from a fine to a three point deduction to a full replay.

Fielding an ineligible player usually triggers a points deduction, but using an extra window rather than exceeding the total number of substitutes is largely uncharted territory in English football. Past substitution errors in cup ties have forced replays, while league level roster breaches have more often ended in fines. Working against Palace is that the illegal change was tactical, made to protect a 1-0 lead deep into stoppage time.

The NWSL's secondary window closed on Monday, and the last few days were busy. The biggest name out the door was Rebeca Bernal, who left the Washington Spirit for Manchester United. Orlando also sent goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse to Manchester City on loan through January.

Plenty came the other way. Utah added defender Kaleigh Riehl on a one year deal, Houston signed Jordan Brewster, North Carolina brought in Brazilian forward Ana Beatriz Gomes Lopes through 2027 with an option for 2028, and Kansas City committed to defender Maëva Nyadjou for four years.

Portland made a different kind of signing. Two time World Cup winner Becky Sauerbrunn has joined the Thorns as a technical consultant through the end of the season, returning to the club where she finished her playing career.

The WSL is back, now 14 clubs deep, and opening weekend gave us blockbuster debuts, a statement from the newly promoted, and early pressure on the contenders.

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