A dominant performance from Nick Cushing’s side sealed a three-goal win and a clean sheet against the Vixens.
Claire Emslie opened the scoring in the second half, followed by a Nadia Nadim penalty and a superb strike from Caroline Weir at the Stoke Gifford Stadium.
What happened
With five points from six already in the bag, City flew out of the blocks keen to cement their place at the top of their Continental Cup group.
In the opening moments of the clash it was clear that City were the dominant side, enjoying a majority of the possession and occupying the Bristol half relentlessly.
The first chance of the game fell to City after 17 minutes when Nadia Nadim neatly offloaded the ball to Georgia Stanway who fired one of her trademark long-range strikes from the edge of the box. The Under-20 England star looked close, but her effort slipped just inches wide of Sophie Baggaley’s goal.
As confidence increased, Stanway tried her luck with a further three attempts at the target which were unsuccessful in breaking deadlock.
City returned from the break with energy and fire, leading to our first goal. Former Vixen, who scored in our last meeting at the Stoke Gifford stadium, Claire Emslie, sent a curling cross from the edge of the box towards the far corner. It looked destined for the goal, and took a slight deflection off Bristol defender Gemma Evans to take us into the lead.
The floodgates were opened.
The next goal came just minutes later when Emslie, a continuous threat to her ex-club, was brought down in the box by Poppy Pattinson. Nadia Nadim stepped up to take the penalty and converted from the spot.
Nick Cushing’s side sealed the win with a superb shot from Caroline Weir. The Scot picked up the ball in the Bristol half before and takes a thunderous shot which found the top corner in beautiful fashion to mark her first goal for the club since joining from Liverpool in the summer.
How we lined up
Ellie Roebuck started in goal for the first time this season shielded by a back three of Jen Beattie, Gemma Bonner and Steph Houghton. Keira Walsh occupied her defensive midfield role alongside Caroline Weir, Georgia Stanway ad Tessa Wullaert, while ex-Vixens Claire Emslie and Lauren Hemp flanked Nadia Nadim up front.
What it means
City’s win over Bristol adds another three points to the tally and sees the Blues sit at the top of their Continental Cup group on eight points.
Up next
Next, City return to the FA WSL as they travel away to face Everton Ladies on Thursday 20 September.
