Gareth Taylor’s Manchester City side secured their latest Women's Super League win with three goals in the first 26 minutes against Brighton and Hove Albion.
The other two goals came from Chloe Kelly and Julie Blakstad in the opening minutes of the game. Kelly netted her first of the WSL season from a perfectly placed corner kick tucked inside the front post early on. Seven minutes later Blakstad doubled City’s lead from a diving header to redirect Kelly’s ball in.
Laura Coombs’ shot fired into the back of the net to make it 3-0. Lee Geum-min scored a consolation for Brighton in the dying seconds of the match.
Player ratings:
Ellie Roebuck - Didn’t have much to deal with, one potential 1-v-1 when Katie Robinson was through on goal and another effort which she watched cruise over the bar. Her first save didn’t come until the second half. The goal was a fumble on the line, and she was down whilst play was going on, nothing she could really do. 7
Kerstin Casparij - Gave City an early chance when she pulled the ball back across goal after a fantastic run down the right flank. Happy to ‘recycle’ play instead of forcing the long ball. Her pace to get back was unmatched resulting in a lot of success on the right both attacking and defending. 8
Laia Alexandri - She was comfortable at the back, her width allowed Casparij to play higher up and get involved with the attacking play. Her link-up play with Greenwood at the back was important to keep the play moving even when limited in options, very disciplined and patient at the back. 7
Alex Greenwood - Solid performance at the back, nudged Katie Robinson off the ball when she was through on goal, last-ditch fair, clean effort. Refused to force the play when short of options, instead slowed the game and remained in control. 7
Leila Ouahabi - Had more urgency about her than in the last fixture against Sunderland, she got involved higher up the pitch, providing Blakstad with attacking and overlapping support, she delivered a fantastic cross which went loose but has seen a lot of the ball and success down the right flank. 8
Yui Hasegawa - Great vision and clever drops of the shoulder kept City in possession. Her clever technical play came to light again against Brighton. She intercepted clever balls defensively, the combination with Coombs’ physical approach kept City in control through the middle of the park. 8
Laura Coombs - Commanded the middle of the park, she was ruthless and challenging for possession, her thunderous strike from the edge of the box extended City’s lead to three within half an hour. 7
Denya Castellanos - Twice in two minutes she had a chance on goal that went just wide after the break. Her linkup play with Shaw helped the striker to get on the ball but then struggled to produce the final product. 7
Chloe Kelly - She created early chances, third time lucky it went in the net straight from a corner kick in the 12th minute, her first goal of this WSL season. She worked hard to provide her bullet crosses even switching onto the left flank to no avail. 7
Khadija Shaw - Came deep to collect the ball only to switch the play to Kelly on the right for an early chance, Brighton struggled to match her strength on the ball but Shaw didn’t really get into the game and gave a lacklustre performance from her usual standard. 7
Julie Blakstad - Scored the second goal in style with a diving header from Kelly’s ball into the box. Her work rate to recover possession remains one of the highest on the field, sometimes running herself into trouble when cutting inside and striking from a central position. 7
Before Manchester City take their eighth unbeaten run to the Etihad for the derby against United, they travel to Liverpool for the Continental Cup on Wednesday December 7 kicking off at 7 pm.
