Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw extended her goalscoring run to six goals in five games and Lauren Hemp ran around the red shirts for fun, in the 2-1 win against Liverpool.
City made nine changes from their Continental Cup 6-0 defeat over Blackburn Rovers midweek, with right back Kerstin Casparij and Esme Morgan the only two players to feature in both starting line-ups. It was Gareth Taylor’s unchanged WSL side for the third time in a row.
Liverpool opted for seven changes from their Cup outing against Leicester with Shanice van de Sanden on the bench, returning from injury.
The visitors put City goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck under pressure early on, with the relentless chase and high press of Melissa Lawley, Stengel and Missy Bo Kearns causing problems for the City back four.
Shaw created the first chance on goal - heading a deep cross on target within the first 15 minutes which Liverpool goalkeeper Rachael Laws did well to stop. Kearns replied with an early shot skimming just wide of goal, attempting to catch City goalkeeper Roebuck out.
High energy from Liverpool’s Emma Koivisto gave Hemp no time on the ball, chasing the City attack down to force the hosts back into their own half. Hemp skipped between three red shirts to slot a through ball to Shaw and an inside foot finish flew straight into the bottom corner to give City the lead in the 22nd minute.
City were nearly punished by poor decision-making from Roebuck when her pass to Yui Hasegawa was intercepted by Kearns near the penalty spot but it was recovered by the City goalkeeper with a diving save.
Hungry for more, Stengel stole the ball off Alex Greenwood’s toes, took a touch and found the equaliser thirteen minutes after going behind with her third goal of the season. Within minutes, Liverpool were under attack with Shaw’s effort rolled just wide of the post, giving the Reds a goal kick and a moment to breathe.
The second half started with the same intensity as Hemp fired a shot straight into the goalkeeper's hands from the edge of the box. Kelly followed up with a drilled cross from the right that unfortunately escaped Hemp and Lauren Coombs at the back post.
City's attacks kept coming as Shaw retook possession at the halfway line and fed the ball to Kelly who tucked it into the path of Hasegawa for her first touch shot. It bounced off a red shirt into the path of Hemp, whose header was cleared off the line by Campbell.
But it was the substitute, Hayley Raso, who retook the lead for City within minutes of replacing Kelly. Shaw’s ball bypassed three Liverpool shirts and fell into the path of Raso. The Australian took a shot that was well saved before the 28-year-old found the net from the rebound.
The closing minutes of the game saw two clearances off the line as Laws stopped Hemp's header from extending their lead. While at the other end Morgan denied a Liverpool equaliser in a messy box attempt by Matthews.
