Match report
Mary Fowler made WSL history as Manchester City cruised to a 4-0 win over Liverpool at the Joie Stadium. The in-form winger assisted both of Khadija Shaw’s first-half goals to become the first player to record at least two goal involvements in four successive league games.
City dominated the match from the off but did not break the deadlock until the half-hour mark. Having been played onside by Jenna Clark when receiving a clever pass from Fowler, Shaw took the ball out of her feet with a quick touch before slotting into the bottom-right corner. That effort was followed by another brilliant touch and finish from the striker just before half-time.
Things could have been very different at the break had Ceri Holland converted her one-on-one shot in the 18th minute, but instead the midfielder fired her effort directly at Rebecca Knaak.
The hosts continued their dominance in the second half and came close immediately after the restart through Aoba Fujino. But the match was quickly put to bed following a post-and-in effort from Jill Roord. Things went from bad to worse for Liverpool when Gracie Prior netted her first WSL goal on her first league start with a bizarre cross-cum-shot which nestled perfectly in the top-left corner.
Gareth Taylor, the Manchester City manager, was thrilled with his team’s performance. “It was good, I think the girls delivered the game plan really well,” he said. “We knew Liverpool would be aggressive and they had some moments, probably more than we would like, but I think sometimes you’re going to do that. I thought the way we were getting players forward into the box early on was really good.”
Meanwhile, Matt Beard, the Liverpool manager, admitted he made mistakes. “In the first-half I did get it wrong, we needed to adapt things quicker but I felt tonight we had so many chances to score. It could’ve been 6-4 to be honest with you, we were too passive in the first half and we were too slow to get in positions to play and we were too transitional. We were worried about turning the ball over and getting countered on. The second half we did that a little bit better. It’s a frustrating night for us.”
That’s all from me! I’ll leave you with a list of today’s WSL results. Have a great week!
Manchester United 3-1 Crystal Palace
Arsenal 5-0 Tottenham
Chelsea 2-1 Everton
Leicester 3-0 Aston Villa
West Ham 3-1 Brighton
Manchester City 4-0 Liverpool
