A ruthless second half display saw the home side cruise to victory at the Academy Stadium, with five different players on the scoresheet in Caroline Weir, Khadija Shaw, Lauren Hemp, Jess Park and Ellen White.
Following a difficult run of results, which had yielded just one win in all competitions since our 4-0 triumph over the Toffees in the FA Women’s Super League season opener, Taylor was delighted with the manner of performance on Wednesday night, asserting it was no less than his side deserved.
“I’m pleased,” he reflected. “I think when you look at the games we’ve not been successful in this season, I think we’ve played well.
“We created similar in terms of the opportunities we’ve had tonight – we just haven’t forced the ball over the line.
“If you look at our performances this season, the way we’ve played and built through the phases has been good – it’s just our box play and final third play which has been inconsistent.
“We’ve scored five tonight, six against Leicester, four on the opening day but then we’ve also had some ones and zeros.
“Sometimes that can happen in football and at the end, we were pretty clear in opportunities and scored some really good goals.
“It’ll always be about what happens at the top end of the pitch and I’m always confident we’ll have enough good quality play to get through to the final bit and then it’s just a case of taking your opportunities and moments.
“Tonight’s a good night because sometimes you get that and other nights you don’t get what you deserve but the level of performance for me is always a big one where you can take perspective and look at what we’re trying to achieve.
“I thought we played well in spells. We showed our superiority when it mattered, scored some really good goals created good attacking play on the flanks with Janine [Beckie] and Lauren and then Jess came on and gave us fresh impetus as well. I thought overall it was a really good performance.
“It’s a really pleasing performance tonight. We weren’t fluid in every moment of the game – we had to sustain some attacks from Everton and certainly when the game was 1-1 or 2-1, it was close – but I think you could see the players relaxing a bit more when we scored the third goal and then it was just a case of how many we were going to get because everyone was playing with real confidence.
“The good thing about working in the way we do is that we have a process and we can gauge success or not, but we know the game is won in both boxes and that’ll never change.
“It’s just making sure there’s perspective from us in terms of our performances. I always look at the performances.
“We tried a new system tonight, which we only had a couple of days to practice. We always look to build from the back where possible.
“Everton put us under high pressure on a number of occasions and at times we were able to beat that. It gave us good options that shape in the front line.
“The results are obviously massively important and this one tonight just gives everyone a lift going into the international break and I think we deserved it. The girls worked really hard.”
Taylor also reserved praise for teenage debutant Ruby Mace, who completed the full game, earning her first minutes for the Club since her summer move from Arsenal.
“She did great,” he hailed. “We saw in this player that there’s a bright future ahead of her and we try to manage the right conditions for her – ideally in a home game to make it as easy as possible.
“We can’t forget that she’s a young player but she took it on and played with real maturity tonight.
“I thought she had an excellent performance.”
With the players now heading off on international duty, Taylor spoke of the importance of finishing the latest run of fixtures on a positive note, and kicking-off City’s 2021/22 Continental Cup journey with maximum points.
“It’s great we’ve gone into an international break with a good performance and good result,” he concluded.
“It’s just a case now of hoping players come back in a good physical condition and a good mental condition as well after the international break. We’re looking forward to going again.
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“We take every competition in the right manner. We want to be successful in every competition we go into and that’s the case with this one.
“We know we’ve suffered in another competition and given ourselves an uphill battle in another one so this is one we look at.
“I think this game will potentially have a big say on who goes through to the qualifying rounds so I think it was really important that we got a good level of performance, which we had, and then obviously the result as well, which is great.”
