Khadija Shaw sparked some Easter magic as Manchester City cruised to a 4-1 win over Liverpool in the WSL on Saturday. The striker extended her commanding lead in the WSL Golden Boot race by two goals, the first of which will go down as one of the strikes of the season.
City were limited to just 35% possession in the opening 10 minutes after facing early pressure from Matt Beard’s side. But they gathered momentum and began causing problems. Lauren Hemp broke the deadlock from close range in the 16th minute after latching onto a loose ball in the box, opening the floodgates.
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The advantage was doubled when Mary Fowler found Jess Park on the edge of the penalty area. Park’s shot was driven across goalkeeper Rachael Laws and into the bottom-left corner. And before the hosts could compose themselves, they were left stunned by an outstanding 25-yard strike from Shaw.
With City in command at the break, Beard made three changes in an attempt to fight back. Liverpool improved during the second half, but a lapse in concentration at the back enabled Shaw to score her second with a back-post header.
The Reds got a consolation in the late stages after Taylor Hinds’ shot from distance rattled the crossbar and bounced in off the back of Khiara Keating. Manchester City now have a three-point lead at the top of the WSL table heading into the international break, with just four games left to play.
“It’s big,” said City manager Gareth Taylor. “I always look at the performance being the catalyst for what we do. We know what we have to do between now and the end of the season and we know what others can do. We have the international break now and then we will look forward to West Ham at home.”
Source: theguardian.com
