Bunny brace secures City's first away win of the season

City dominated the first half, and we went into a deserved lead with a Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw header just before the half-time interval.

Shaw grabbed her second sooner after the restart, before a Lauren Hemp strike capped off a tireless performance at Brisbane Road.

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WHAT HAPPENED

Buoyed by last weekend’s victory over Leicester, it was City that were on the front foot in the early stages of the game.

And we nearly had the breakthrough inside two minutes, as Chloe Kelly ran to the by-line, before she crossed the ball to the far post to Lauren Hemp.

The winger was unable to generate enough power on the header on this occasion though, as it bounced into the gloves of Rebecca Spencer.

Tottenham responded when Ellie Roebuck had to make a quick decision to slice the ball away from the onrushing Ellie Brazil, with the Spurs forward unfortunately stretchered off after the collision.

Taylor’s side continued to pile on the pressure and after Hemp was fouled on the left side of the pitch, Kelly’s free-kick was met by Esme Morgan, who’s her header glanced agonisingly wide of the post.

Some neat build up play around the box resulted in Laura Coombs passing the ball to Hemp, who’s dinked finish landed just wide of the Spurs net.

Moments later, Deyna Castellanos pushed forward from deep before she struck a powerful effort, which stung the palms of Spencer, with the Spurs defence scrambling the ball away before Hemp could meet the rebound.

It was Yui Hasegawa‘s turn to go close next, when her shot deflected just wide of the post and out for a corner after good work once again from Hemp.

But from this set piece City found the breakthrough. Greenwood picked out Shaw from the corner, and the Jamaican guided her header across the goal and found the net.

Tottenham tried to get back into the game before half-time, as Ashleigh Neville met a cross but her shot went high and wide of the post as City went in with the advantage.

Two minutes after the restart, City carried on where we left off, as Shaw dispossessed James, latched on to Coombs’ pass in behind and struck a fierce effort into the bottom corner, to double our advantage.

Shaw nearly made it a hat-trick, as Coombs, again, slid the ball across to the striker but her snatched effort bobbled wide of the goal.

The home crowd increased the decibels inside the stadium, as Neville passed the ball in the direction of Spence, but she could only hit her effort high of Roebuck’s goal.

But the game was put to bed soon after when the impressive Coombs picked up the play and found Hemp, who cut away from Turner before finding the bottom corner from a tight angle to make it three.

Kelly almost added a fourth with two chances late on, but one strike flew wide of the post and the other was calmly collected by Spencer in the Tottenham goal.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: KHADIJA ‘BUNNY’ SHAW

The Jamaican striker had big shoes to fill this season following the retirement of Ellen White, but her brace this afternoon demonstrates how swiftly she has adjusted to that responsibility.

Her fourth and fifth strikes of the campaign make her the WSL’s top goalscorer so far.

WHAT IT MEANS

A victory for City keeps us climbing the table as we move to fifth place in the WSL table at time of writing with six points from four matches.

HOW WE LINED UP

Gareth Taylor named an unchanged side from the team that beat Leicester City 4-0 last weekend at the Academy Stadium.

Ellie Roebuck started in goal, with a back four of Kerstin Casparij, Laia Aleixandri, Alex Greenwood and Esme Morgan protecting her.

Yui Hasegawa started in front of the defence, with Deyna Castellanos and Laura Coombs played further forward, linking the midfield to the attack.

Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw took her position as striker, with Chole Kelly and Lauren Hemp supporting her on the wings.

Spurs XI: Spencer, Turner, Bartrip, Zadorsky (C), Ale, James, Summanen, Spence, Neville (88’ Obogagu), Bizet (88’ Karczewska), Brazil (7’ Naz)

Subs: Korpela, Pearse, Cho

City XI: Roebuck, Casparij (86’ Ouahabi), Aleixandri, Greenwood (C), Morgan, Castellanos (81’ Angeldahl), Hasegawa, Coombs (81’ Losada), Kelly, Shaw (81’ Fowler), Hemp (86’ Blakstad)

Subs: Maclver, Stokes, Houghton, Raso

MATCH STATS

• Gareth Taylor has now won five of his six meeting against Tottenham. (W5 D0 L1)
• Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw’s brace takes her to five goals in four matches this campaign - cementing her place as top goalscorer.
• The City striker also now has 14 WSL goals in 13 starts.

UP NEXT

City take a break from league action in midweek as we host to Blackburn Rovers in the FA Women’s League Cup.

Kick-off at the Academy Stadium is at 7:30 (UK) on Wednesday 26 October.

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