Manchester City 2-1 Everton: Hosts go top of WSL with win

Manchester City moved top of the Women’s Super League and maintained their push for the title with a victory over Everton.

City were in complete control throughout and knocked the ball around in slick passing moves as Everton were reduced to sitting back and trying to prevent the deficit being extended.

The Toffees were unable to do that, though, and Lauren Hemp doubled City’s lead after the break when she curled past Courtney Brosnan.

However, Hanna Bennison soon reduced City’s lead with a wonderful effort from distance, the ball cannoning off of the crossbar and into the net.

The hosts ensured that did not turn into a fightback, though, and quickly regained momentum to see out a dominant victory.

The win means Gareth Taylor’s side are three points ahead of Chelsea having played a game more, although their title rivals have a game in hand.

Chelsea travel to Leicester City on Sunday at 18:00 GMT.

Convincing performance strengthens title push

This was never going to be one of City’s more troublesome tests, but it was a convincing win regardless and another positive move as they look to pip Chelsea to the title.

Despite letting a goal slip, City were dominant and outclassed Everton in every area of the pitch.

The hosts finished with 70.8% possession, producing 22 shots to Everton’s five.

They enjoyed freedom inside the visitors’ third, switching the ball from left to right as they looked to open gaps for Shaw to exploit.

Jess Park, who spent last season on loan at the Toffees, provided a more direct threat, carving her way through the defence with neat dribbles and setting up chances for her teammates.

Everton spent much of the game having to sit deep in the face of City’s tireless pressure, and when they did go forward they were often thwarted by Yui Hasegawa at the base of City’s midfield, cleaning up stray balls to prevent them sustaining possession.

The visitors were lucky to not have goalkeeper Brosnan sent off in the first half, the referee failing to spot that she strayed outside of her box to stop a Shaw effort with her left hand.

While it was not always the most exciting display, City’s measured approach – sticking with their possession-based style and not rushing in the final third – proved to be the difference as they calmly got the better of Everton.

It could very well have descended towards a nervy end to the game after Bennison’s goal, but they held the ball impressively to stop Everton gaining any more ground.

With just seven games remaining in the division and City entering the weekend level on points with Chelsea, more wins like this will be crucial if they are to prevent Chelsea winning a fifth successive title.