Crystal Palace are finally off the mark in the Barclays Women’s Super League, bouncing back from last week’s 7-0 drubbing by Chelsea with a 2-0 victory over possible relegation rivals Leicester City.
Laura Kaminski’s side mostly dominated the first half and defended well against Leicester’s pressure, eventually reaping the rewards ten minutes into the second half when Annabel Blanchard opened the scoring. Almost fifteen minutes later a rash challenge by Ruby Mace in the penalty area allowed Blanchard to seal a second from the spot.
Though Jutta Rantala and halftime introduction Shana Chossenotte looked threatening for Leicester at times, the Foxes worryingly lacked a cutting edge in attack. The win means Palace leap up from the bottom of the table – though it’s early days in the season, today’s result is a promising sign that Kaminski’s side can compete with the clubs they’re likely to come up against in the battle to avoid relegation.
As it happened
Leicester came within a hair’s breadth of an early opener in the sixth minute. Summer signing Noémie Mouchon, who has impressed since following new boss Amandine Miquel over from Reims, stole the ball on the left and laid in a cross to the feet of Jutta Rantala – Palace were only saved by keeper Shae Yañez’s quick thinking as she came out to smother before Rantala could shape up properly, forcing her into a miss.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Foxes continued to look to break down the left through Mouchon, but to Palace’s credit they had their fair share of the ball in the first ten minutes. Katie Stengel sought to pull the strings for the Eagles in attack and had their first big chance: after My Cato stole the ball from Ruby Mace the American tried to catch Janina Leitzig off her line with a powerful strike from outside the box, which went just wide of the far post. Cato had a crack from range too but her effort didn’t scare Leitzig and was off target. Mille Gejl was next to have an attempt, with a header that dribbled harmlessly out of play. Though they were yet to direct a shot on target, Palace looked more likely to score in the first twenty minutes of the encounter than they had in the season so far.
The visitors continued the half as the better team; Leicester also suffered an frustratingly unnecessary yellow card to Missy Goodwin, who the referee judged to be delaying a Palace freekick. Palace’s growing confidence was best demonstrated by a nice move that saw a neat one-two between Annabel Blanchard and Lexi Potter; the sequence eventually yielded a corner for Palace but it came to nothing. They were almost gifted an opener when Leitzig’s attempted clearance bounced off the leg of Stengel and back toward goal in the 30th minute – the Leicester keeper’s blushes were spared by the spin on the ball that just about took it off target.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt was to Palace’s credit that Leicester had very few opportunities to speak of for about half an hour. They began to grow into the game more at the end of the half after a period of Palace dominating the attacks. Mouchon headed wide from Rantala’s freekick across the area in the 37th minute in what was Leicester’s first real opportunity since the early miss. The hosts had a couple of chances to take the lead against the run of play late in the half; Rantala had a crack from distance that was almost deflected in by Saori Takarada, and a moment later found herself in acres of space on the right hand side but fired over the bar from outside the box as she was closed down. At halftime, though, both sides had lacked a clinical edge and neither recorded a shot on target. Frustration began to show, with fifteen fouls on the board by the break. Despite Palace’s overall dominance and Leicester’s late show of promise, the score remained 0-0 at halftime.
At the restart, Shana Chossenotte made her way onto the field to replace Saori Takarada in the only change. Both sides immediately looked to go ahead – Katrine Veje’s effort was literally and metaphorically a long shot and was easily caught by Leitzig. Yañez had a tougher task to keep out Rantala’s strike a minute after, as she latched onto a pass from Chossenotte and forced the Palace keeper to react quickly with her foot to keep her shot out. Both had finally recorded a shot on target, and it seemed increasingly unlikely that the game would finish goalless.
The chances started coming thick and fast for Palace. Katie Stengel came close to an opener in the 53rd minute, driving a right-footed effort from just inside the box towards the top left corner – Leitzig reacted well to tip it out from a corner. Aimee Everett almost managed to hoof it home from there. Moments later, Annabel Blanchard finally managed to open the scoring. After some smooth passing that Leicester’s back line couldn’t interrupt, and a fabulously timed backheel assist from Stengel, Blanchard finished the move with a pinpoint left-footed shot that was past Leitzig’s dive and into the bottom corner.
Miquel’s immediate response was to make a change, replacing the booked Goodwin with Nicole Momiki. Leicester had a little over half an hour to salvage a point or more from the game and Kaminski made a change of her own to help her side see out their victory, bringing on Abbie Larkin for Ashleigh Weerden.
Embed from Getty ImagesChossenotte looked one of the most likely source of an equaliser for Leicester, weaving her way down the right hand side and trying to locate a teammate at the end of her crosses. However, there was no joy with 65 minutes on the clock and Palace almost extended their lead – after some neat footwork on the edge of the box Stengel let fly and forced an acrobatic dive from Leitzig to keep her strike out. The keeper’s efforts were in vain, though. Just a moment later, Lexi Potter made her way into the box – and Ruby Mace horribly mistimed her challenge, lunging in late to take down the teenager and giving away a stonewall penalty. Blanchard stepped up to the spot and easily secured her second of the day, slotting home to the left as Leitzig dived right. With a little over twenty minutes to go, Palace had a two-goal cushion.
The Foxes sought an instant response with Ruby Mace almost redeeming herself for her penalty concession; she stole the ball from between two Palace defenders and stormed towards goal, but a rushed shot was straight at Yañez. It would be her last action of the game as she was replaced by Deanne Rose in an attempt to bring some directness to the forward line. Palace made a change a few minutes later, bringing on Indiah-Page Riley for Gejl. However, their lead looked fairly comfortable; with ten minutes to go Leicester were still seeking a way back into the game but lacked a cutting edge. Chossenotte tried to create an opportunity from the right but Mouchon blasted her effort from the edge of the box far over the bar.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt looked for a moment as though Palace might even extend their lead, with Katie Stengel winning a midway into the Leicester half. Lily Woodham hit it perfectly towards the back post into the box and it looked for all the world as though her teammates would head home, but Leicester eventually cleared. A scrappy last ten minutes saw far fewer chances created, with Palace in no hurry to restart play whenever they had a set piece and Leicester still unable to find a breakthrough. Palace remained disciplined and organised and were a credit to their manager Laura Kaminski – fans will have been pleased to see that deep into five minutes of stoppage time, when faced with a chance to have a shot on goal or to waste some time in the corner, Larkin opted to test Leitzig again. Her shot was easily saved but was a sign of positive intent.
Palace’s first points in the top flight are a welcome morale boost after conceding 11 goals in their first two matches, and bode well for their ablity to compete with table neighbours. For Amandine Miquel, though, the loss at home to the new promotees will be worrisome as Leicester look to put some room between themselves and the relegation zone.
The lineups
LEI: Leitzig; Bott, Howard, Thibaud, Cayman; Tierney, Takarada, Mace; Rantala, Mouchon, Goodwin.
CRY: Yañez; Woodham, Veje, Everett, Green; Cato, Blanchard, Potter; Weerden, Stengel, Gejl.