Manchester City Women Ruthlessly Thrash Ipswich

Manchester City Women put on a merciless display against Ipswich Town to book their place in the quarter final of the FA Cup. Pauline Bremer, Georgia Stanway and Jess Park all scored hat-tricks after Laura Coombs had opened the scoring as City strolled to a 10-0 victory.

The holders were always favourites against their lower division opposition and manager Alan Mahon wold have been forgiven if he’d rested a few of his main players, with the top of the table WSL clash with Chelsea on the horizon, however Karima Benamur, and Tyler Toland were given an opportunity to shine alongside Park and Coombs.

And, in a match that was reminiscent of the men’s team hammering of Huddersfield Town 33 years ago, once the blues grabbed the first goal there was no stopping City from running riot. Coombs’ opener on 19 minutes was quickly followed from Bremer and Park, giving City a 3-0 lead after just half an hour of the game gone. That came after Bremer had earlier hit the bar with a looping header and Park’s first-time shot was saved at point-blank range by Town keeper Nikita Runnacles.

Bremer’s first came after good work from Hemp and the German cut inside the defender to rifle home, while Park’s first of the day came from the edge of the penalty area. The visitors were lucky to only be three down by the break and it was a matter of damage limitation for the Suffolk club in the second half, a task they failed miserably.

Within five minutes of the second half, Bremer had her second before Stanway got in on the act to score her first of the match seven minutes later, tapping home Janine Beckie’s cross to make it 5-0. Bremer thought she’d secured the match ball all to herself on 64 minutes, completing her hat-trick following a fine one-two on the edge of the area before finishing with style.

Stanway wasted no time in trying to catch the German up by scoring City’s seventh moments later as the shell-shocked visitors failed to keep City at bay. England youth international Park then took command, scoring two goals in three minutes before Stanway completed the scoring, and her own hat-trick with four minutes to go with a rocket of a shot that flew past the keeper for City’s tenth.

So two wins for Mahon in his first two matches, but the big test will come next Sunday as Chelsea visit Manchester for the big top of the table clash. The blues will go four points clear of the Londoners should they secure the three points and put them firmly in pole position for the WSL title.

Final Score: Manchester City Women 10-0 Ipswich Town Ladies