The 23-year-old leapfrogged Nikita Parris in the Club’s scoring charts, with a hat-trick against Nottingham Forest in the Women’s FA Cup Fourth Round, increasing her tally to 64 goals.
The forward achieved the feat in 170 appearances, having joined City as a teenager back in 2015.
Having made debut from the bench aged just 16, she scored in her second game in sky blue, sealing a Continental Cup win at Everton.
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That 2015 campaign saw the youngster make her mark in the first-team and after helping the Club to a maiden Champions League qualification, she was rewarded with the Rising Star gong at the End of Season Award celebrations.
She went on to play a key role in the 2016 double-winning campaign, scoring six goals in 11 games, including a stunning hat-trick at Sunderland and a Nissan Goal of the Season winner – a sensational long-range strike against Liverpool, which beat off competition from Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, Yaya Toure and Toni Duggan.
Stanway then helped Cushing’s side to a first FA Cup success the following May, having penned her first professional deal with the Club in January, and starred the following year with 11 goals in 28 games (including a super strike to snatch a 2-2 draw against Chelsea) and earned a place in UEFA’s Women’s Champions League Team of the Year.
Further individual acclaim would follow, as she scooped the PFA Young Player of the Year prize, after clinching a cup double in 2019, scoring against West Ham in the FA Cup Final at Wembley and converting the opening spot-kick in the Conti Cup penalty shoot-out triumph over Arsenal.
She put pen to paper on a new deal at the Club that same year and has continued to flourish. She played a crucial role, as City retained the FA Cup in November 2020, netting in extra-time to edge Everton before Janine Beckie made it 3-1 in the final moments.
Having represented England at youth level, winning World Cup bronze at Under-20 level after captaining the U19s to a third-place finish, she is also a fully-fledged senior star for her country. Unsurprisingly, she scored on her senior debut against Austria in November 2018 and has four Lionesses goals to her name.
Though she has been employed in a variety of positions over the past few seasons, deputising in the defensive roles when needed, with nine goals in her last eight games, including a Goal of the Season winner with her remarkable effort in the 3-2 win over Birmingham, she is rekindling her best form.
Her goalscoring accolade at City marks further cause for celebration on an already-glittering career for a player who has been tipped to achieve great things.
Congratulations, G.
