City twice battled back from a goal down before snatching a precious three points right at the end of the game, as Ellen White struck against her former Club with a matter of minutes remaining after Georgia Stanway and Lauren Hemp had cancelled out a Christie Murray penalty and Louise Quinn strike.
On a challenging day, which also saw Taylor forced to field another depleted squad, the Head Coach expressed his delight and pride.
“It was a huge win,” he reflected. “It’s really important. We’ve seen some of the results today and yesterday and you’ve just got to keep doing what you do.
“I thought it was an interesting game. We were never ahead until late on.
“They’ve got a new manager and they completely changed in terms of what they do.
“We gave them some openings which was unfortunate and need to be better in that respect – they’re an aggressive side but the character we showed to fight back was amazing.
“It’s a really good team. To come here today and do that against - probably a team people expect us to win against - but you get the new manager bounce and thought if they play like this for the rest of the season they won’t stay in that position for long.”
“At 2-2, I’d have still praised the team for their efforts but it was brilliant to get a win and it shows that if you keep trying to play the way we do, the success will come. I was really pleased.
“If we can be in touch of the European spots around the break, we’ve done well.”
City’s three goals arrived courtesy of three passages of quality football: a long-range screamer from Stanway, an inch-perfect Hayley Raso delivery and Hemp header and a beautifully-worked winner with Vicky Losada and Bunny Shaw combining well for White to sweep home.
Though several players were playing out of position, Taylor was impressed with each players’ contribution and was delighted to see their efforts rewarded.
“These players – whatever the position that play in – they need to bring what they bring and Bunny did that,” he added.
“She was a handful, made balls hers with her brute strength and it was a great pick out for the goal - a quality ball and a good finish for Ellen.”
“It’s Ellen doing what she does. She’s fantastic in that and at times she might not look like she’ll score but take her off at your peril!
“We lost Demi after the international break and Georgia’s great. When Lucy was due back, I had ideas of her playing higher and finding the best areas for her but I challenged her and she’s on board with it.
“She needs to affect the game – no matter what position – and she did that. Her mindset’s been good in this recent period, making the best of these situations.
“It’s a real string to players’ bows to do that and I think Laura Coombs was quality too. It’s not her best position but the way she brought continuity and managed the second balls, I thought she was good today.”
Taylor also explained the absences to Lucy Bronze, Keira Walsh, Janine Beckie and Jess Park with Bronze having initially been set for her first minutes of 2021/22.
“Lucy was withdrawn because of a precaution under test and trace guidelines,” he said.
“We can’t say much more at the moment and just need to monitor the situation and test the players.
“When I last spoke to the press [she was set to play]. We did another test on matchday -1 which we always do. That’s the situation there.
“Keira and Janine have tested positive so they have to undergo isolation which has been set. That happened late yesterday morning - the lateral flow is different to the PCR; not all the tests were always positive.
“Fair play to our medical staff who have worked tirelessly to make sure we’re doing the right things. That leaves us with a bit of a battle.
“Jess Park had a migraine so it was backs to the wall but I can only take my hat off to the players in that respect.
“We’re low on bodies and we also had to look after Hayley who had a groin problem.
“It’s no secret the situations we’ve had, this recent one and the injuries sustained. We could put another team out with those absent. It’s incredible really.
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“The squad will be small for these final two games but it’s important that all the praise goes to the players.
“The Club have been amazing in the last 24 hours, the amount of communication to do the right things to enable people to be safe.
“It’s not ideal because the players want to be with us but it’s been a real credit to everyone involved that we’ve come away with the deserved win and the way we’ve handled ourselves in this situation.
“We got that win before the international break and backed it up with another. It’s great. We just need to keep going.”
