Jessica Naz helped herself to two goals from the bench as Tottenham ran riot at Brighton to go fifth in the WSL. Ashleigh Neville and Drew Spence also bagged braces in a rampant 8-0 win that leaves Hope Powell’s side second from bottom with just three points from five games.
The only side beneath them, Leicester, thought they were on track for their first points of the season away at Reading only for Rachel Rowe to strike twice in stoppage time to secure a smash-and-grab 2-1 win for the hosts.
At the top of the table, Chelsea stayed level on points with leaders Manchester United, Sam Kerr pouncing after a Lauren James double to clinch a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa, who had equalised through Rachel Daly. In the late game, Arsenal joined United and Chelsea on 15 points, by after they hit back from behind to beat West Ham 3-1.
Goals from Jordan Nobbs, Stina Blackstenius and Frida Maanum cancelled out an early opener from Hammers captain Dagny Brynjarsdottir and sealed a 13th straight domestic win.
And Manchester City went fourth win a 2-1 over Liverpool thanks to Hayley Raso’s second-half winner. Alex Hess
Suzy Wrack's report from Everton 0-3 Manchester United
Anyway, that is the lot from me. Thank you for reading, well done again to Manchester City, and see you soon.
Arsenal hammered rock-bottom Forest 5-0 in the Premier League, meanwhile.
The other scores on the doors in the WSL this arvo:
Brighton 0-8 Spurs
Everton 0-3 Man Utd
Reading 2-1 Leicester
Chelsea 3-1 Villa
Well done to City. Niall McVeigh has Manchester United v West Ham here:
Stengel, who had a fine game for Liverpool, nearly broke through in the closing seconds at the end there. But City held firm and they closed out the month of October with four wins from four. Hats off to them. Liverpool competed well and on another day could easily have got something out of that.
Full time! Manchester City 2-1 Liverpool
90 min + 5: The ref blows up (not literally).
90 min + 2: Liverpool so nearly equalise! City are forced into some desperate last-ditch defending with the ball pinging around in the six-yard box. I am not sure who cleared that one decisively but it was an important intervention.
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90 min: Into stoppage time and City’s slender lead endures … we will have five minutes of added time.
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88 min: What a save! City break in numbers. Castellanos floats a good-looking ball in from the right. Coombs is there to meet it at point-blank range, and it maybe takes a flick off a defender too. But Laws makes herself big and pulls off an excellent save.
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84 min: For City, Mary Fowler is on for Shaw, the scorer of the first goal.
82 min: Four changes for Liverpool now, the first three of which came several minutes ago: Lawley for Daniels, Kearns for Humphrey, Furness for Van de Sanden and Hinds for Roberts.
78 min: Castellanos half-volleys an ambitious effort from outside the area. Laws nabs it. Hemp then has a chance which she sends over the bar.
Shaw makes a searching run to the edge of the box, diagonally from left to right – she slides a good pass to Raso, whose first effort is parried by Laws in the Liverpool goal. But on the follow-up, Raso, who only came on a couple of minutes ago, clips a confident finish into the roof of the net.
Goal! 74 min: Man City 2-1 Liverpool (Raso)
There it is.
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71 min: Again, Liverpool will be pleased with the way they are negating City here. The last time I said that, it resulted in a City goal, but I am honestly not aiming for that.
68 min: Shaw shows a nice touch or two with her back to goal on the edge of the box. Kelly swings in a cultured-looking cross from the City right but Laws gathers.
Kelly now comes off for the Australia international Hayley Raso.
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65 min: Liverpool build a good attack down their left flank. Kearns gets her foot on it after the ball is cut back to the edge of the box. But nothing comes of it and City storm down to the other end – Campbell does exceptionally well to clear off the line for the Reds after Hemp follows up on an effort from Hasegawa that balloons up in the air.
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Premier League latest: Arsenal 4-0 Nottingham Forest
62 min: Again the home fans are trying to rouse their heroes. It works: Kelly does well to sprint down the City right and powers a low cross into the danger zone. Neither Hemp nor Coombs can get near it. It was a good pacy delivery though that just needed better anticipation from one of them.
58 min: Stengel harries the City defenders again and wins the ball well. She looks inside and seemingly tries to spread the play but Castellanos calmly nips in and dribbles away with the ball.
56 min: Hemp, who has surely had more touches than any other player, cracks over an excellent deep cross looking for Kelly at the far post. Liverpool manager to clear it for a corner. Kelly and Shaw then threaten in quick succession after the set-piece. But again the visitors deal with the danger.
55 min: Koivisto tries to control a pass down the Liverpool right but gets it wrong and the ball squirts out of play. Still no goalmouth action to report in the second half, or anything near it.
52 min: Defences on top here. Just like at the start of the first half.
49 min: Morgan hits a fine ball out for Hemp on the left. Liverpool scramble in defence and it ends in a corner for City. Liverpool deal with that, too.
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Elsewhere in the WSL – latest scores:
Chelsea 1-1 Villa
Reading 0-1 Leicester
Everton 0-1 Man Utd
Brighton 0-4 Spurs
Second half kick-off!
HERE WE GO!
Half-time! Manchester City 1-1 Liverpool
Honours even at half-time after City repel the danger from a couple of Liverpool long throws. Beautifully set up for the second half, I’d say. See you in a few.
Half-time reading:
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43 min: Another reminder that City’s defence is far from impregnable. Koivisto runs on to a ball across from the Liverpool left but she is crowded out. Liverpool win a corner but Kearns heads it high and wide.
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41 min: The home fans urge City on to one last big effort before half-time. Coombs and Morgan link on the City left, but the ball is then switched to the right. The Liverpool defender Fahey does well to clear a dangerous cross.
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38 min: The match has settled back down somewhat after a frenetic middle of the half. Hasegawa does well to get City on the move again from midfield. Castellanos has another shot from the edge of the area but it’s blocked.
35 min: City had already survived a defensive mix-up a few seconds before the goal, when Robuck gifted the ball to Kearns. Kearns shot straight at the keeper in that instance. But Stengel punished them a second time. Gareth Taylor won’t be happy with the carelessness they’ve shown to virtually gift Liverpool a goal.
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Goal! 33 min: Man City 1-1 Liverpool (Stengel)
Whoops! Stengel nicks the ball off Greenwood as City look to play it out from the back. She is one-on-one with the goalie and tucks the ball past Roebuck with aplomb.
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29 min: Chloe Kelly, one of England’s Euro heroes, bears down on the Liverpool penalty area. She has Shaw on her left, but decides instead to crack a shot from outside the box which flies over the crossbar.
28 min: Lawley hits an ambitious shot from 25 yards for Liverpool that goes over the bar.
27 min: The visitors have managed to steady the ship somewhat since the goal, and the short spell after that when wave after wave of City attacks were coming down on them.
24 min: Hemp drives to the byline on the left and crosses. It flicks off a defender and Castellanos then volleys wide.
Goal! 21 min: Man City 1-0 Liverpool (Shaw)
City build ominously and patiently from the back. Hemp buys a yard on the edge of the box, beating her marker, and immediately threads a low pass through for Shaw, who calmly passes the ball into the bottom-right corner. A good quality goal all round.
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18 min: It’s livening up. Liverpool force another corner now. City clear their lines. The tempo has increased as both sides settle into the contest. Kearns hits an early shot from distance for Liverpool now but it flashes wide.
16 min: Castellanos send over an excellent cross from the City right for Shaw, who nods it on target, but Laws saves.
14 min: Greenwood swings in the corner. Shaw has a pop, her effort blocked, and Hemp is making a nuisance of herself in the six-yard box. Liverpool survive but only just.
13 min: Liverpool will be happy to have contained the City threat so well, so far. Hemp bursts into space on the left and launches a cross over, and Hinds does well to flick it out for a corner.
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10 min: The low sun is casting a shadow across half of the pitch. Not much else to report on right now, although Liverpool have grown into things a bit, and forced a corner a minute ago.
8 min: Defences on top, pretty much, although City looks more dangerous and composed in possession as you’d probably expect.
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7 min: A couple of corners for City come to nothing, Hemp trying to flick the first one on from the near post.
5 min: Casparij looks for Kelly with a perceptive pass slid in behind the Liverpool defence but she can’t get on the end of it. Hemp then crosses from the City left and it’s headed clear for a corner.
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2 min: City enjoy some early possession and spend a little time close to the Liverpool penalty area. The Reds goalie Laws gathers a cross from the right wing though and belts it clear looking for Kearns, making a run into the hosts’ half, but the home defence tidies things up easily enough.
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First half kick-off!
We are under way in Manchester.
There are no fewer than five WSL matches kicking off simultaneously this afternoon.
Here we go! The match officials and teams are walking out.
The sheer suspense of wondering if and when the video feed on the FA Player will start. It’s really livening up my Sunday.
I make that nine changes for City from the team that thrashed Blackburn in the League Cup in midweek, with Casparij and Morgan the only players that started the 6-0 win. It is however the same 11 that started their previous two league games. Seven for Liverpool from the team that beat Leicester 4-0 on the road.
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Any fear that Manchester City’s attack would be significantly weakened by the retirement of England’s record goalscorer Ellen White have been quickly allayed by the potent form of Jamaica striker Khadija Shaw. Last season White and Shaw shared No 9 duties, to the detriment of both. Without White, the 25-year-old has benefited from consistent starts and, despite City’s poor start to the season, has five goals in four games and is the league’s top scorer. Shaw’s two goals against Tottenham at Brisbane Road helped City to a 3-0 win that lifted them up to sixth, on six points and six off league leaders Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea. “Bunny is great to work with,” Taylor told Sky Sports. “She had a great season last year but got overlooked a bit. She’s the No 9 now – she’s a young player and there’s a lot to come from her.”
Teams
Manchester City Women: Roebuck, Casparij, Greenwood, Morgan, Hasegawa, Coombs, Aleixandri, Castellanos, Kelly, Shaw, Hemp. Substitutes: Stokes, Houghton, Fowler, Angeldal, Raso, Ouahabi, MacIver, Hutchings, Blakstad.
Liverpool Women: Laws, Flaherty, Fahey, Matthews, Koivisto, Kearns, Holland, Campbell, Hinds, Stengel, Lawley. Substitutes: Robe, Roberts, Wardlaw, Furness, Humphrey, van de Sanden, Daniels, Cumings, Silcock.
🔵 TEAM NEWS 🔵
— Man City Women (@ManCityWomen) October 30, 2022
XI | Roebuck, Casparij, Aleixandri, Greenwood (C), Morgan, Hasegawa, Castellanos, Coombs, Kelly, Shaw, Hemp
SUBS | MacIver, Stokes, Houghton, Fowler, Angeldahl, Raso, Ouahabi, Hutchings, Blakstad@HaysWorldwide | #ManCity pic.twitter.com/QMuwLMns9B
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Pre-match reading: Louise Taylor speaks to Gabby George, who became Everton’s first full-time pro five years ago:
Preamble
Since a 2-0 defeat by Chelsea at the end of September, Manchester City Women have won three matches, scored 13 goals and conceded zero. The most recent result was a 6-0 drubbing of Blackburn in the League Cup on Wednesday. Fearsome form, and they will be motivated to finish the calendar month with yet another victory, this time against Liverpool.
Last season’s Championship winners, meanwhile, defeated Leicester 4-0 in the cup in midweek, but are winless in the league since the shock 2-1 win against Chelsea, also at the back end of September. They’ve endured WSL defeats by Everton, Tottenham and Arsenal since – and things are not about to get any easier against Gareth Taylor’s richly-resourced side.
Can City find their way into the top five with a victory? Team news and more coming up.
Kick-off: 2pm
