City begin League Cup campaign with sweet Toffees triumph

Jade Rose’s first-half strike, her first for the Club, gave us the lead before Yui Hasegawa doubled our advantage shortly after the break.

Vivianne Miedema then extended our advantage with a well-met header with just shy of 15 minutes remaining before Hikaru Kitagawa scored the Toffees’ consolation in the closing stages.

It means Andrée Jeglertz’s side have won three games in succession in all competitions and sit at Group A’s summit in the League Cup.

WHAT HAPPENED 

A beautifully observed minute’s silence in Matt Beard’s memory preceded kick-off following the former Liverpool and Chelsea manager’s sad passing four days earlier.

City then started brightly and Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw was  kept out brilliantly by Emily Ramsey on 20 minutes after she collected Leila Ouahabi’s cross and stung the goalkeeper’s palms from close range.

But our pressure would eventually tell minutes later when the Spanish defender’s corner caused chaos inside the Toffee’s box which allowed Jade Rose to control and prod the ball home for her first Blues goal since her summer arrival.

Fellow preseason acquisition Eartha Cumings was making her City bow during the clash and she made a smart save in the closing stages of the first half before we were somewhat let off soon after when Honoka Hayashi volleyed over from all six-yards.

Jeglertz’s team responded well though to the spell of Everton pressure and came the width of the post away from doubling our lead when Grace Clinton fizzed the ball off the woodwork.

Despite our slender lead at half-time, Everton were still very much in the contest but City found a precious second 10 minutes after the interval.

The industrious Hasegawa intercepted a Robinson pass out from the back before Vivianne Miedema’s effort deflected into the Japanese’s path who then tucked into an empty net.

With 15 minutes remaining, Miedema headed our third into the top corner after good work by Iman Beney down the left but Everton reduced the deficit in the match’s last action when Kitagawa curled an unstoppable effort into the top corner.  

COOL CUMINGS

Making her City bow, Eartha Cumings impressed on debut and showed why the Club added her to our goalkeeping contingent in the summer. A calming presence throughout, she also made a string of impressive and smart saves and was helpless to prevent Kitagawa’s unstoppable curler. 

GOAL FROM A ROSE

Rose is off the mark! Having already impressed with her defensive capabilities since arriving from Harvard University ahead of the campaign, the Canada international showcased her ability in both boxes against Everton by netting the opener. Remarkably her outing against the Toffees was only her third real professional club appearance but she’s settling into life well at City.

THREE IN ROW

After narrowly losing our opening game of the season to Chelsea, City have now responded in the perfect fashion – winning each of our three matches since. That started with a hard fought triumph over Brighton before putting five past Spurs in a 5-1 success in London. Now with our Toffees win under the Blues’ belt, we’re starting to find our groove under Jeglertz.

HOW WE LINED UP

City XI: Cumings, Prior (Wienroither 83’), Rose, Ouahabi (Greenwood 61), Layzell, Hasegawa, Blindkilde Brown (Thomas 83’), Beney, Coombs (C), Clinton (Fujino 60’), Shaw (Miedema 46’). 

Unused substitutes: Yamashita, Keating, Casparij. 

Everton XI: Ramsey, Fernandez, Hayashi, Ishikawa, Ladd (Mace 60’), Momiki, Pacheco (Kitagawa 77’), Robinson (Wheeler 60’), Stenevik (Holmgaard 60’), Van Gool, Vignola (Payne 59’).

Unsued substitutes: Groves, Jones, Oyedupe, Snoeijs, Weir.

WHAT IT MEANS 

The win at the Joie Stadium means we have three points in Group A after matchday one.

UP NEXT 

City’s next assignment is a meeting with London City Lionesses in the Barclays Women’s Super League on Sunday 27 September, with kick-off scheduled for 12:00 (UK) at the Joie Stadium.

Tickets for the clash and all home WSL matches can be purchased here.

Next Fixture

All fixtures

Sun 28 Sep

Barclays WSL

Man City

12:00

BST

London City