The Australian winger crafted yet another assist – her fourth in eight games – in Sunday’s five-goal thriller at Birmingham, clipping the ball in for Lauren Hemp to level at 2-2.
Despite missing a chunk of the season through a shoulder injury, summer recruit Raso also has two goals to her name and is proving to be one of Gareth Taylor’s most exciting attacking threats, causing havoc down the right flank.
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Fellow Matilda Kennedy is delighted for her teammate and close friend and believes there is plenty more to come from her forward counterpart.
“I’m really happy for Hayley,” she said. “That’s what I knew she was capable of and it’s what everyone is seeing now.
“She hadn’t really had the opportunity so I was really excited when she came on [against Aston Villa] and did really well, scoring two goals and getting an assist.
“She’s an exciting player to watch and hopefully, there’ll be many more moments like that throughout the season.”
Kennedy herself returned to action at St Andrew’s, as City snatched a dramatic win late on, having missed the last two games with a thigh strain.
Though the centre-back has experienced a stop-start few months in Manchester through injury, a positive international break trip back home provided a welcome boost for the defender.
Rejuvenated and reflective, the 26-year-old now hopes to kick on – both on a personal and collective level – with City looking to end 2021 with two wins from our remaining two games: a crucial Continental Cup clash against Leicester and league visit of Reading.
“The mood in the camp is good,” she added. “We had a nice international break – we got to spend a little bit of time with family, which was nice – and then it’s always exciting to come back, ready for a fresh start.
“Australia’s international games [against the USA] were two good tests for us – one of them was a loss but in the second one, we did well to come back in the final minutes to get a draw.
“The most important thing for me was seeing my family. It’s been a tough year for myself and for everyone.
“In 2021, the most important thing I’ve learned is to lean on those people close to you and be kind to each other.
“Those relationships have always been important to me but even more so this year – be grateful every day for the people you have around you.
“It’s been good to be back with the girls, although compared to Australia, it’s freezing! That was a little bit of a shock…
“We’ve got a bit of momentum from the last couple of games and hopefully, we’ll carry that through to Christmas and get some more wins behind us.”
City face Leicester on Wednesday 15 December (19:00) and Reading on Sunday 19 December (14:00).
Check out mancity.com and our official app for coverage of each game, while tickets for all home games are available.
