Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor believes Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw's frightening form in front of goal is comparable with that of fellow striker Erling Haaland
Shaw established herself as City's highest scoring women's player across a single campaign when she bagged her 26th goal of the season against Brighton last weekend. The Jamaican, who is also top of the Women's Super League's scoring charts, reached that feat in just 22 matches, and her incredible goal return has been instrumental in helping City keep pace with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United at the top of the table.
Just days after Shaw reached that remarkable milestone, Haaland broke the equivalent record for the men's team during City's 7-0 rout of RB Leipzig in the Champions League. And Taylor says both of the club's star strikers share plenty of attributes that enable them to play at the top of their game.
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"We just spoke about Bunny missing a good opportunity [against Brighton] - I remember a few games ago Erling missed one against [Nottingham] Forest," the City boss said in his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final clash with Aston Villa.
"These players are just so supremely, mentally strong, that they’re able to just go again and know that they’re going to get opportunities. That’s a good sign of intelligence, to know if you keep getting in those areas, you'll get another chance.
"The best players are able to brush off disappointments quickly; it’s one of the signs of a top player which I think is overlooked a little bit. It’s a real bravery to receive the ball when things aren’t going so well.
"To put yourself in a position to score when you’ve just missed a couple, I think that’s what separates the very best from the rest."
Shaw will get another chance to flex her goalscoring muscles when City travel to the Poundland Bescot stadium on Sunday. Carla Ward's side beat City in a seven-goal thriller in the WSL earlier in the season, and Taylor knows his side will have to be at their very best if they are to topple the Villans and reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
“When you say teams have taken points off you, they’re not our points, the points are available for everyone in the game,” he said.
“People look it and assume that City away at Villa Park that’s three points for City and that’s not the case. We all agree the levels have really improved in the WSL this season and a hour before kick-off I was looking at that Villa team and thinking they’re a different proposition with the players that they signed in the summer.
“In terms of learnings for us, we’ve delved into what they do and how we can impose ourselves on them. I don’t want to go into those ideas and those concepts are because they are for us but regardless there is going to have to be an element of doing the basics really well.”
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Manchester United had other options in their narrow WSL loss at Chelsea
