Everton sealed a top-six Women's Super League finish with a 2-1 victory over Brighton on Sunday
Katja Snoeijs opened the scoring at Walton Hall Park with a sublime finish in the 32nd minute. Young England international Katie Robinson equalised for Brighton on the stroke of half time before Hanna Bennison's curling strike in the 91st minute made sure of the three points for the hosts.
The win means Sorensen's first season in charge on Merseyside will see Everton finish in the top half of the table, with the Blues set to travel to fourth-place Manchester City for their final game of the campaign next weekend.
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Here, the ECHO takes a look at four talking points from Walton Hall Park...
Top-six finish shows Everton progress
Last season was a turbulent one for Everton, both on and off the pitch.
The dismissal of two permanent managers within the space of four months saw the campaign culminate in a 10th-place finish, before a major summer overhaul saw nine departures and 10 new arrivals at Walton Hall Park.
But the appointment of Brian Sorensen from Fortuna Hjorring has turned out to be something of a masterstroke. The Dane has instilled a distinct identity in his playing squad, who boast the youngest average age in the WSL.
And that identity has yielded some big results, with a 3-0 victory over Liverpool at Anfield and a goalless draw away to title hopefuls Manchester United among the most impressive.
While a top-six finish doesn't yield any tangible rewards for Sorensen's side, it constitutes significant progress in his first season at the helm and provides a solid foundation on which the Blues can build going forwards.
"If we look at our performances in the last few months, the football we have been playing is the level we need to go to and the results will come, no question about it," the Dane said on Sunday.
"I always look at our performances because that’s what is going to carry us to the next level so we’re really pleased with a top six finish."
Three players face uncertain future
While it can’t be refuted that Brian Sorensen has assembled one of the most exciting young outfits in the WSL during his first season in charge at Walton Hall Park, that achievement does come with a caveat.
The services of three players that have been integral to Everton’s top flight resurgence this term - goalkeeper Emily Ramsey and attacking duo Jess Park and Aggie Beever-Jones - are not guaranteed beyond the end of the campaign.
Park, who has been something of a revelation for the Blues during her season-long loan from Manchester City, has already returned to her parent club after picking up a shoulder injury in training, with Sorensen confirming last week it is unlikely the highly-rated young England international will return to Merseyside after the summer.
Beever-Jones, too, has quite possibly played her last game in an Everton shirt. The teenager saw her spell at the club brought to a premature end during the Blues’ midweek defeat to Arsenal, when she was shown a straight red card for a lunging challenge on Lia Walti.
There is, however, a chance the 19-year-old may once again don the Royal Blue of Everton next term, with Sorensen and his staff having already informed parent club Chelsea of a desire to extend the striker’s time on Merseyside.
Shot-stopper Ramsey has shown on a number of occasions this season why she is among the most highly-rated young goalkeepers in WSL - the 22-year-old having earned a first senior England call-up earlier this year. Whether her long-term future is at parent club Manchester United or elsewhere is yet to become clear.
Everton has long had a knack for developing young talent, and enlisting the services of some of world football’s rising stars - whether that be on a temporary or permanent basis - will surely be high on Sorensen’s list of priorities this summer and beyond.
Everton respond to adversity
It’s been a tricky couple of weeks for Everton, who had conceded 11 goals in the space of two games heading into Sunday’s clash with the Seagulls.
The fact that those games were against league leaders Chelsea and Champions League-chasing Arsenal offered some mitigating circumstances, although the Blues did look in danger of letting a promising campaign peter out with a whimper.
Perhaps, in recent years, it might have done. But Sorensen seems to have assembled a squad that is made of sterner stuff.
“The game we had on Wednesday [against Arsenal] was extremely hard with the red card but we found a way to dig in and we really went for it at the end,” the Dane said post-match.
“Everyone who came off the bench chipped in and delivered but I was super pleased when Hanna put a Bennison special in at the end. We keep going and we play the same way no matter the opponent.”
Next weekend’s trip to Manchester City will likely pose a more arduous challenge for Everton, with Gareth Taylor’s side still in the hunt for Champions League qualification. However, on Sunday - as they have done on many occasions this term - the Blues showed they don’t shy away in the face of adversity and are keen to finish the season on a high.
Snoeijs continues rich vein of form
It took Katja Snoeijs almost three months to net her first Women’s Super League goal. She now has five in her last five.
The Netherlands international may have taken a little while to acclimatise in the top flight of English football but she has since established herself as an integral part of Everton’s front line.
It was her sublime finish that got the Blues off the mark against Brighton; the 26-year-old rifling home from a tight angle after a beautifully weighted ball over the top from Karen Holmgaard. It should perhaps come as no surprise Snoeijs has discovered a rich vein of goalscoring form.
During her debut season at PSV, she scored 20 goals in 24 games to help the Dutch side to the Eredivisie Vrouwen title.
For Bordeaux, too, Snoeijs managed 20 goals in 44 appearances. While she is yet to hit those heights in the WSL, each game she plays for Brian Sorensen’s side further vindicates the Dane’s decision to bring her to Merseyside.
And, with a work ethic that matches her newfound prolificacy in front of goal, the striker looks primed to play a crucial role in Everton’s WSL evolution next term.
“I’ve always known that Kat is a top player and a top striker,” Sorensen said. “Her work rate for the team and her finishing in training is unreal so to see that she is starting to get the confidence to do it in games is really great.
“Going into next season, that’s what we need because we need to score more goals in general with the amount of possession and domination we have.”
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