The Dutch defender dispatched City’s third in our 3-0 triumph at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon in what was her first-ever goal in a Manchester derby.
She teed up Vivianne Miedema for the goal prior and has assisted the likes of Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw in previous derbies, but never quite found the back of the net herself.
Until today as she helped City move 11 points ahead of second-place United with three Barclays Women’s Super League games to go.
MATCH REPORT | UNITED 0-3 CITY
“I don’t think I can describe in words how great it is to win this game at Old Trafford which we know is never going to be easy,” said Casparij.
“But with the title race and everything that’s going on, it was such a great win so I’m so so pleased.
“I manifested it [scoring] before the game. I really wanted to score in the second half in front of the fans.
“I’m so happy that I did and it’s always so special to score but to score in a derby is an extra little thing.”
Her two goal involvements today mean Casparij now has double digits for the season with three goals and seven assists, her most rewarding campaign in Blue to date.
And the 25-year-old was quick to attribute her eye-catching Player of the Match performance to her hard work off the pitch.
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But also reminded that not matter how much hard work her and the team are putting into the title race, City will take it one step at a time.
“I think things have clicked into place,” began Casparij.
“I get a lot of confidence from the manager and from the girls. We’ve got such an incredible group so that gives me a lot of confidence to get forward.
“But I’ve also been working really hard individually, outside of training with the Club, doing extra, having people around me to help me get better.
“So I think it really pays off. I’m very pleased with that and hopefully keep this form going.
“We [will] take it game by game as we’ve done before. We knew before Christmas what could be the tricky parts going into the second half of the season, the final stretch of a title race.
“And it’s taking it game by game, staying really humble but also working on things that we can still improve because we can still improve our game and not get carried away with a win like today.
“And I think we’ve managed to do that really well. And it’s up to Andree to do that and up to me and Alex as leaders of the group to keep everyone calm and focused on the next game.
“Because Birmingham away in the FA Cup is not a given so we’ve got to show up there as well.”
Watch Casparij’s post-match interview in full via the video above...
