Manchester City hosted Liverpool at the Joie Stadium on Sunday in a highly-anticipated Barclays Women’s Super League clash.
MAN: Keating; Aleixandri; Greenwood; Coombs; Kelly; Hemp; Ouahabi; Casparij; Roord; Shaw; Hasegawa
LIV: Micah; Koivisto; Fisk; Kearns; Nagano; Roman Haug; Hinds; Höbinger; Clark; Bonner; Flint
Ahead of the match, Manchester City had won four of the five previous WSL meetings with Liverpool – but had suffered a 2-1 loss in the last clash between the sides.
Liverpool have had a strong and improved first half of the season, finding the three points against dominant sides including Manchester United and Arsenal.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe hosts dominated the first few minutes of play, sitting just outside the box, pressing for a goal. Numerous attempts came from the combination of Chloe Kelly and Kertin Casparij but failed to come to fruition.
Casparij was forced to lave the field after sustaining a number of blows to her leg in the opening minutes, making way for Lionesses defender, Esme Morgan. The Blues continued their high press, Teagan Micah having to make a crucial safe to prevent the opener from prolific goal creator, Kelly.
The visitors were first to find the back of the net with Liverpool skipper Taylor Hinds, guiding the ball with her left foot from outside the box to put her side ahead.
Embed from Getty ImagesHowever, the momentum was short lived as City placed pressure on the Reds’ defence causing Gemma Bonner to score an own goal and the hosts to equalise. The match continued in the Blues’ favour as a defensive error left Khadija Shaw one-on-one with Micah, doubling City’s tally.
Minutes before the half time whistle, Shaw put City ahead by another goal, registering her 11th league goal of the season so far.
City showed their attacking intent early into the second half, with Chloe Kelly just sending the ball over the bar. The unstoppable Shaw toe poked her way to a hattrick, taking multiple shots at goal but persisting until the ball was over the line.
The game became slightly more end to end as Khiara Keating was kept busy between the sticks. In a desperate attempt at a consolation prize, Liverpool made a number of changes, bringing on fresh legs in the midfield.
Manchester City were awarded a penalty after Lauren Hemp collided with Micah in the box, flipping head first onto the ground and subsequently being substituted. Kelly, who has one of the best penalty records, found City’s fifth from the spot.
The result takes Manchester City to second in the Barclays Women’s Super League on 25 points while Liverpool remain in fifth place on 28 points – level with Manchester United.
