England hero Lauren Hemp scored one and made another as Manchester City Women made a winning start to their Champions League qualifying campaign with a thumping 6-0 victory over Tomiris-Turan in Madrid on Thursday evening.
Two goals from Khadija Shaw inside the opening 21 minutes set Gareth Taylor's side on their way before Hemp added a third in first-half stoppage time. City, however, continued to turn the screw and added a glut of goals in the closing exchanges, with Spaniard Vicky Losada's strike marking the beginning of a further three goals in the space of just 10 minutes.
Deyna Castellanos, a summer signing from Atletico Madrid, netted a fifth from the penalty spot before an own-goal from Aytaj Sharifova completed the rout in stoppage time, meaning City will now face Real Madrid on Sunday for a place in the second qualifying round. Both sides are navigating their way through the League Path of the qualifying phase.
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Boss Taylor included five Lionesses heroes from England's recent European Championship success in his starting line-up, awarding starting berths to Ellie Roebuck, Alex Greenwood, Kiera Walsh, Chloe Kelly - who scored the winner for England in the final against Germany at Wembley last month - and Hemp. City started on the front foot and got their noses in front inside just four minutes.
Hemp, who so often causes chaos out wide, got the better of her marker, delivered a cross and found Shaw, who finished expertly to give the Blues an early lead. The same duo linked up once again with 20 minutes on the clock, but this time Shaw's back heel was kept out by goalkeeper Sharifova.
However, she was not to be denied a minute later, as she headed home her second of the night after connecting with Kelly's centre. Shaw was proving too hot for the Tomiris-Turan defence to handle and she turned provider in first-half stoppage time, freeing Hemp to claim her first goal of the campaign with a cool finish.
City continued to dominate proceedings after the break and went close to increasing their tally through both Shaw, who was chasing a hat-trick, and midfield ace Walsh who saw an effort from just outside the box flash wide of the woodwork. Hayley Raso and Castellanos, who had both earlier stepped off the bench, were the next pair to go close to finding the back of the net but were denied in quick succession by some smart goalkeeping.
Taylor's team, however, did find the fourth goal their dominance deserved and it came through Losada's clinical finish from inside the penalty area. And it was to get even better for City on 89 minutes as Castellanos was tripped inside the box before stepping up to convert the resulting penalty.
City wrapped up the scoring in stoppage time via an own-goal from goalkeeper Sharifova. Laura Coombs sent over a low cross, attempting to pick out Walsh, but it bounced off of the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
City line-up: Roebuck; Casparij, Aleixandri, Greenwood (Stokes 61'), Ouahabi (Houghton 61'); Walsh, Fowler, Coombs; Kelly (Raso 73'), Shaw (Castellanos 68'), Hemp (Losada 73'). Substitutes: MacIver, Keating, Angeldahl, Morgan, Kennedy, Blakstad.
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