As the small but proud band of travelling Crystal Palace supporters at the King Power Stadium on Sunday, waving their two extra-large blue and red flags in the air as their players celebrated in front of them, soaked in the moment of witnessing their team win a Women’s Super League game for the first time, the Leicester City head coach, Amandine Miquel, standing 50 yards to their right, was making a very honest admission.
“I felt today some of us maybe underestimated their team and we shouldn’t, because the league is very strong and there is no easy game,” Miquel told the Guardian, discussing her Leicester players’ performance in their 2-0 defeat to the new kids on the block in the WSL. And if they did underestimate Palace, they surely weren’t alone.
After all, the team heavily tipped to go straight back down to the Championship had only served to reinforce their status as favourites for relegation by conceding 11 goals in their opening two matches. But after Sunday’s performance in the East Midlands, anybody who thought 4-0 and 7-0 defeats in their opening two matches at Tottenham and at home to Chelsea were a sure sign that newly promoted Palace were doomed to fail this season will be having a rethink.
For Laura Kaminski’s side, this was no backs-to-the-wall, smash-and-grab away victory. It was a well-deserved, sophisticated win built on hard work off the ball, quality in possession and two well-taken goals from the 23-year-old former Leicester forward Annabel Blanchard.
“Annabel was outstanding for us last season and I’ve had to keep her feet on the ground with that, because she left the Championship as probably one of the best players that I think the Championship has ever seen, but transferring that into the world stage of the Women’s Super League is extremely difficult,” Kaminski said. Blanchard scored 11 times in 17 starts in the Championship last term as Palace won the second-tier title.
“I think she’s had a rough two weeks, she’d had a bumpy ride in the first two league games, but she has really shown she can transfer this into the WSL. I’m so pleased and proud for her because I know how much those goals meant to her and to us as a group.”
It was not only Blanchard who impressed, however. The former Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Gotham FC forward Katie Stengel, a summer signing for Kaminski’s side, had the confidence to set up Blanchard’s opener with a backheel, and her movement was a constant threat for Leicester. Only a terrific fingertip save from Janina Leitzig prevented Stengel from adding to the scoreline. At 32, Stengel’s experience could be invaluable to Palace’s survival bid. But there is also a blend of youth being given a chance to shine in the top flight by Kaminski and grabbing that chance with both hands.
The 18-year-old England youth international midfielder Lexi Potter, on loan from Chelsea, performed like a seasoned veteran in the heart of the visitors’ midfield, displaying clever positioning, orchestrating moves out from Palace’s own half with her composure on the ball, and looking every bit the accomplished No 6.
“What a talent,” Kaminski added. “We’re very lucky to have her here. Maturity is the key word.
“She’s taken key steps today. There have been key things that I’ve been working on with her, for example one-on-one duels, headers and the gritty side of the game. We’ve been working on that behind closed doors. And she’s come on leaps and bounds. She really applied that well. In previous weeks her performances weren’t quite where she wanted them to be but we backed her and I’m so proud of her as well.”
There were other standout performances too, not least the commanding presence of the Denmark defender Katrine Veje on the ball at the back, and after only three games, Kaminski’s team will be encouraged by the fact they have now already won as many league games – one – as last season’s newly promoted side Bristol City managed in the entire campaign.
They still have a long way to go before they can forget about the threat of relegation – at least 15 points has been something of an unofficial benchmark for survival since the WSL became a 22-game season – and Kaminski was determined to stay level-headed when speaking post-match.
“I was asking the players to stay steady when we lost so now I certainly won’t be asking them to celebrate too hard,” she said. “It’s one game, but we need to take the positives and really keep trying to improve.”
It was only one win but the statement that it will have sent to every bottom-half team, that Palace are not just going to roll over and slink back to the Championship, is one that their relegation rivals would do well to take note of.
