City edge five-goal thriller to better St Polten in Vienna

Having beaten holders Barcelona 2-0 in our opening Group D assignment followed by a last-gasp 2-1 success at Liverpool three days before, confidence was high heading to Viola Park.

Alanna Kennedy opened the scoring with a thunderous strike from all of 25 yards which represented her first in Europe before the hosts equalised close to half-time through Melanie Brunnthaler.

St Polten then took the lead shortly after the break through Kamila Dubcova’s sublime strike, but Aoba Fujino equalised moments later with her first since signing this summer.

The match was finely poised heading into the closing stages before Mary Fowler popped up with brave header in the 80^th minute to secure the success and a further three points in Europe.

By winning in Austria’s capital, we’ve also extended our unbeaten start this season to eight matches in all competitions.

WHAT HAPPENED

Gareth Taylor made six changes from the team who started our dramatic 2-1 win at Liverpool which included a full debut for Academy graduate Codie Thomas at right-back.

The 18-year-old was immediately at the heart of a strong attacking move which saw her skip past a challenge, drive forward and tee up Chloe Kelly.

Her cross was cleared into the feet of Fujino who teed up Kennedy, with the defender unleashing an unstoppable rocket into the net from all of 25 yards.

It represented the Australia international’s first goal for City since a 6-0 win over Birmingham in May 2022 – well worth the wait.

Kennedy’s rocket lit up Viola Park and we immediately pressed for a second with Jess Park‘s cross deflected towards goal by Jennifer Klein before Carina Schulter scrambled back and tipped the ball around the post.

The following exchanges remained even, but St Polten’s press and touch-tight marking created a couple of openings which were quickly extinguished by well-timed defending, first by Thomas then by Kennedy.

Taylor had again praised the attacking options at his disposal ahead of the fixture and two of his front three almost grabbed another in a matter of minutes when Fujino slammed off the post after Schulter denied Laura Blindkilde Brown, before Fowler’s whipped effort from the edge of the area clipped the crossbar.

But the hosts delivered a sucker-punch with five minutes of the first half remaining when an in-swinging corner towards the front post pinballed around the City box, allowing Brunnthaler to poke home from close range.

Neither side made blisteringly quick starts to the second half, but Fowler almost sparked the game into life when her impressive strike from range looked certain to find the top corner had it not been for a jaw-dropping save by Schulter, who tipped the ball over the bar.

The third goal of the game did arrive soon after though, and it was St Polten who found it when Dubcova produced a sublime piece of skill to flick up a cross and fire into the roof of the net on the spin.

That seemed to spark the visitors into life as City harnessed any frustrations to equalise soon after.

It came from a Kelly burst down the right, with the winger then firing a cross towards the back post where Fujino was waiting to slam home her first for the Club.

St Polten had lost their opening Group D assignment 2-0 to Hammarby, but were enjoying a seven-match domestic unbeaten run ahead of the match and continued to show their quality when Melike Pekel drove towards goal, but her final pass just evaded Valentina Madl who had created space inside the box.

With 15 minutes remaining, those of a St Polten persuasion among the 3116 at Viola Park ramped up the noise with the match finely poised heading into the closing stages. 

They were soon silenced though in the 80th minute when Lauren Hemp delivered a viciously whipped corner towards the centre of the six-yard box where Fowler bravely rose highest to head home.

That was the last goal on a crisp, thrilling night in Vienna as City’s fine momentum at the start of 2024/25 continued.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH:  MARY FOWLER

The scorer of the crucial winner, Fowler picked up the UEFA Women’s Champions League Player of the Match award. 

She led the line excellently and was a real threat on the wing in the second half before showing true bravery to score the fifth and final goal of the match.

HOW WE LINED UP

Gareth Taylor made six changes from the team who started our dramatic 2-1 win over Liverpool last time out and there was a debut for Academy starlet Codie Thomas at right back.

Joining the 18-year-old in defence was Alanna Kennedy, Alex Greenwood and Leila Ouahabi who protected Khiara Keating in goal.

Yui Hasegawa was at the base of midfield alongside Jess Park and Laura Blindkilde Brown in the engine room.

Mary Fowler led the line with Chloe Kelly operating on the right wing and Aoba Fujino on the left.

City XI: Keating, Thomas (Aleixandri 63’), Greenwood (C), Kennedy, Ouahabi, Hasegawa, Park (Shaw 46’), Blindkilde Brown (Roord 63’), Kelly (Hemp 63’), Fowler, Fujino.

Substitutes: Startup, Coombs, Casparij, Prior, Murphy, O’Carroll.

St Polten XI: Carina Schulter, Mikolajova (Krznaric 64’), Wenger, Mattner, Brunnthaler, Hillebrand, Krizaj, Klein, Zver (Madl 64’), Pekel (Glibo 88’), Dubcova.

Substitutes: Sieger, Abiral, D’Angelo, Johanning, Vracevic, Schumacher.

WHAT IT MEANS 

The victory in Austria means we remain top of Group D on six points after two matches.

WHAT’S NEXT

City’s final assignment before the autumn international break is a meeting with Aston Villa at the Joie Stadium on Sunday 20 October at 12:15 (UK).