Four goals are just the beginning for Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw said Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor as his team defeated Brighton & Hove Albion 7-2 in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League.
Shaw opened the scoring inside three minutes, as City opened a three-goal lead after 16 minutes only for Brighton to fight back to make it 3-2 at half-time.
The Jamaican international then netted her seventh and eighth BFA WSL goals of the season to move the game out of reach from Brighton and cement City’s Champions League spot.
Read more: City and Utd Women can prove controversial stadium comments wrong
“We’ve got really good options at the top end of the pitch now; we have two really good strikers,” Taylor said. “Bunny [Shaw] is a really good finisher, she’s had a really good season, the levels for her to go up is huge.
“It would’ve been an exciting game to watch, definitely! At half-time looking at that and thinking two teams having a right go, for a neutral watching it would be really exciting.”
Shaw found the net twice in the opening 12 minutes before Caroline Weir, who has been linked with a move to Spain, made it three as she pounced on a loose ball to rifle home from close range.
Brighton mounted a comeback first through an Inessa Kaagman penalty before Julia Zigiotti Olme reduced the deficit to just one on the stroke of half-time. But that was Brighton’s last goalmouth action of the game as Manchester City ran riot in the second half.
Shaw got her hat-trick on 57 minutes, before netting her fourth four minutes later having been set up by Lauren Hemp on her 100 th appearance for City. Caroline Weir then set up the final two goals for the home side, Alex Greenwood heading home from a Weir corner before Hemp worked a tight angle to put City into seventh heaven.
Taylor added: “Pretty emphatic [result] at the end, I thought we started the game really, really well, played with the ball really nicely. [We had] good opportunities, scored goals. Obviously, we were a little disappointed at half-time, conceded two goals where we thought we could be better.
“We came out for the second half and had to rely on Ellie [Roebuck] to make a fantastic save. I thought the way we handled the second half was top-drawer.”
Manchester City now sit in third on 41 points, two clear of neighbours United, putting the blue side of Manchester in pole position to claim the final Champions League spot with both sides having two games left to play. Taylor’s side will face bottom side Birmingham City in the week before wrapping up their BFA WSL campaign against Reading next weekend.
To follow the action and sign up for The FA Player’s live Barclays FA Women’s Super League coverage visit womenscompetitions.thefa.com
