Rebecca Knaak’s late strike saw Manchester City beat Liverpool 1-0 and take a step closer to the WSL title.
Andree Jeglertz’s side needed to bounce back after defeat to Brighton last weekend, and made hard work of their victory.
Liverpool goalkeeper Jennifer Falk had made a string of wonderful saves – particularly in the second half – but could not keep out Knaak’s stooped header in added time.
It sends Man City nine points clear at the top of the WSL, with Chelsea now unable to catch them. However, Arsenal have three games in hand after their Champions League exploits, and if they win all of them, the title race will go down to the final day.
However, if the Gunners draw or lose any of their remaining three fixtures, Man City will be crowned WSL champions without having to kick a ball.
All of the final day games on Saturday May 16 will be shown live on Sky Sports, as Arsenal travel to Liverpool while Man City are at West Ham – their only league game left to play. Sunday’s results mean we will have a new WSL champion for the first time since Arsenal in the 2018/19 season.
Man City come through tough Liverpool test
Man City’s final home game of the season saw them welcome back former head coach Gareth Taylor, and it looked like the Liverpool boss – who twice went close to bringing the WSL title back to the club – was going to have a big say in where the trophy ended up.
The Reds had the better chances in the first half, with Denise O’Sullivan and Grace Fisk going close early on. Man City had their first shot in the 26th minute, but lagged behind their opponents in the stats after a nervy opening 45 minutes.
But some tactical tweaks at the break saw Jeglertz’s side come racing out of the traps, registering four shots in the opening ten minutes compared to three in the entirety of the first half.
Knaak celebrates after scoring her late winner for Man City
Lauren Hemp was key in all of Man City’s attacking play, but despite linking up well with Khadija Shaw, the latter could not turn home the fizzing crosses.
Falk too had a big hand in keeping the hosts at bay, denying Kerolin and Shaw, among others. Liverpool also offered their own warning at the other end, but Beata Olsson sent her free header wide.
And as six minutes of added time were shown, it was Knaak who diverted a corner past the goalkeeper to put Man City within touching distance of their first leg title since 2016.
Jeglertz: This group is special
Man City head coach Andree Jeglertz on Sky Sports: “It’s a lot of emotions, the first half we struggled a lot. They are good, they’re making it difficult for us.
“The second half was much better. We dominated, even though they had some opportunities too.
“There’s something with this group. We never give up. We will always work so hard and find a way to win. That determination is there all the time. It’s why we’re here with three points.
“It’s always an opponent doing something a little different than what we expected. We’ve been through that before. They pressed us hard but also overloaded us in a couple of situations.
“We’re working so hard, we have been since July last year. Everything is up to us – we’re not playing the best football we have ever done but that’s how good teams win games anyway.”
Hemp: We wanted to make a statement
Player-of-the-match Lauren Hemp on Sky Sports: “They were very good, they caused us a lot of problems, especially at the start.
“It’s hard to compose yourself when a goal like that goes in. I thought we took the level up in the second half and in the end we deserved it. We’ve worked so hard this season and moments like that make it all worth it.
“But there’s still one more game to go, one more game next week to get us into the FA Cup final and the pressure gets piled up, but this team’s incredible. I’m so happy to be part of it.
“We wanted to make a statement in the league today because we were so frustrated with last week’s performance.
“We’ve been working hard all week, it’s what this group deserves. It gives us confidence going into the semi-final next week, and now we can sit back and watch a few games unfold.”
Story of the match in stats
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
