Manchester City and Birmingham met for their rearranged Women’s Super League clash on Sunday and the visitors were dominant in their victory.
Birmingham were unable to host the tie at Solihull Moors following an FA ruling that the pitch did not meet regulations. Instead both teams travelled to St George’s park, home of the England national teams, for the 2pm kick off.
Team news
Birmingham
Hampton; Scott (c), Brougham, Mace, Holloway, Whipp, Mayling, Littlejohn, Walker, Napier, Murphy
Manchester City
Roebuck; Houghton (c), Bronze, Greenwood, Morgan, Coombs, Mewis, Weir, Kelly, Hemp, White
Embed from Getty ImagesHow it went
Gareth Taylor’s team were keen to show that having a majority of the squad freshly returned from international duty was not going to affect them. The Sky Blues enjoyed the majority of possession from the off.
Birmingham were forced to defend deep in their own half, which they did successfully before a Sam Mewis header put the visitors ahead in the 40th minute.
The teams went in with the hosts trailing 1-0 at the break. The second half began with a brief spell of Birmingham possession, however normal business quickly resumed.
Embed from Getty ImagesMewis doubled the visitors’ lead from a corner in the 51st minute. Lauren Hemp added a third just three minutes later from a wide angle, however the forward did appear to injure herself in the process.
Caroline Weir capped off the scoring with a 63rd minute goal to finish the afternoon in style for the away side. Birmingham’s defence withstood wave after wave of attacks to prevent any further damage before the final whistle.
Both managers made substitutions possibly with an eye on their teams’ next fixtures. Emma Kelly, Chloe McCarron and Mollie Green came on for Lucy Whipp, Emily Murphy and Ruesha Littlejohn respectively.
Taylor used all of his five available substitutions. Georgia Stanway, Rose Lavelle, Aoife Mannion, Abby Dahlkemper and Millie Davies were all brought on for Mewis, Hemp, Chloe Kelly, Steph Houghton and Ellen White respectively.
Stand out performance
Mewis was exceptional for Man City. With two goals and an assist, the No.22 was keen to put any injury concerns behind her.
Since making the move to Manchester, the midfielder has proven to be worthy of the attention surrounding her. The American’s height has made her a key presence during set pieces whilst her dominance in the middle of the field has allowed her to set goals up for several of her teammates.
Up next
The hosts of today’s fixture will next welcome Arsenal, however it is unlikely that the match will be played at Solihull Moors.
Joe Montemurro’s side put four past Aston Villa and will be looking to close the gap to Manchester United.
Manchester City will next feature in Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Serie A side Fiorentina.
