Manchester City vs Everton, 3-1 Victory: Match Recap

Fans were offered a brief glimpse into the future as the two sides gave us a preview of next month’s Vitality Women’s FA Cup final.

The last fixture between the two sides finished 3-1 to The Cityzens, however, striker Pauline Bremer who scored a brace that day is now plying her trade at German club VfL Wolfsburg. Willie Kirk fielded a weakened side without the likes of Izzy Christiansen and Valerie Gauvin in the starting XI whilst influential forward Hayley Raso missed out entirely. Karen Bardsley and Rose Lavelle were both given their first starts of the campaign by City manager Gareth Taylor.

City had the best chances of the opening 20 minutes with former Everton forward Chloe Kelly testing Tinja-Rikka Korpela early on. First, she was played through by Georgia Stanway but was closed down well by the Finnish keeper before being denied once again when her venomous near post effort was palmed away for a corner.

There looked to be only one team who would find the opening goal, however, the away side had other ideas. Midway through the first half Everton made a rare foray forward and low cross evaded everyone except for captain Danielle Turner. The skipper kept her composure and clinically finished to give her side the lead.

City started the second half as they did the first, creating plenty but not finding that cutting edge. That was until Rose Lavelle intervened. A low driven corner from Alex Greenwood picked out the United States international midfielder and her glancing touch was enough to direct the ball beyond Korpela into the back of the net.

Taylor’s side soon had the lead for the first time in the match and it was the former Blue Girl Chloe Kelly who came back to haunt her old club. Esme Morgan played a long ball down the right which was picked up by Stanway. The Lioness lifted her head and found her international teammate in the area whose powerful first time shot was in the net before Korpela could move.

City netted a third goal in stoppage time following a blistering run from Jess Park. As the player drove into the box, she out-muscled her defender and shot high to beat Korpela from a narrow angle. The City youngster had looked sharp all game and so deserved a goal for her efforts in the match.

The game finished 3-1 with City’s rally in the final 45 minutes proving too much for Everton on the night.

The Blue Girls will be hoping to avoid a repeat performance when the two sides meet again at Wembley in less than a month’s time.