Having drawn level at the helm of the Barclays Women’s Super League table following their victory over Chelsea at Kingsmeadow before the international break, Gareth Taylor’s Manchester City would look to remain in pole position for the trophy with another win over Everton at Joie Stadium.
MCI: Keating; Ouahabi, Greenwood, Aleixandri, Casparij; Coombs, Hasegawa; Hemp, Park, Kelly; Shaw
EVE: Brosnan; Stenevik, Hope, Vanhaevermaet, Galli; Kühl, Bennison, Wheeler; Madsen, Snoeijs, Payne
The Cityzens looked to be cruising to a rather straightforward victory after just fifteen minutes, when a poorly timed pass-back from Justine Vanhaevermaet was latched onto by Khadija Shaw – who merely had to finish into an open net to hand the hosts the lead.
While the Toffees did well to limit the damage for the remainder of the first half, Lauren Hemp breached the Everton defence ten minutes into the final period with a curling effort that caught out Ireland international Courtney Brosnan.
But Brian Sørensen’s side looked to have forged a way back into the game on the hour mark, with Hanna Bennison’s long-range strike ricocheting off the crossbar and over the line to halve the deficit and bring the visitors back into contention.
Embed from Getty ImagesThat wasn’t to be the case though, and Manchester City were able to see out an otherwise comfortable victory in front of their fans at Joie Stadium to remain at the top of the league table. They are momentarily three points clear of Chelsea, though Emma Hayes’ Blues have not yet played this weekend.
Both Manchester City and Everton will face Chelsea in their next outings. The Cityzens will face Chelsea in midweek in the semifinals of the Conti Cup, with kickoff scheduled for 19:15 GMT on Thursday. Everton host the Blues in the quarterfinals of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup at 13:00 GMT on Sunday.
