Bristol City ended a recent bad run of results with a comprehensive 4-0 win over high-flying Crystal Palace.
First-half strikes from Chloe Bull and Abi Harrison gave the Robins a two-goal lead at half-time, before Aimee Palmer and a second for Harrison wrapped up all three points for Lauren Smith’s side.
Palace failed to trouble the City defence throughout and were reliant on moments of individual brilliance from Siobhan Wilson to create any half-chances.
Having not won in any of their last three in all competitions, the win sees Smith’s side remain in sixth, but only two points behind third placed London City with a game in hand.
The Vixens wasted no-time with Ffion Morgan combining well with Gwen Davies, before her cut-back found Bull on the edge of the box, who curled into the far corner with less than a minute on the clock.
Just after the quarter of an hour mark the lead was doubled as Melissa Johnson broke down the left before crossing into Harrison who steered her effort past Emily Orman in the Eagle’s net.
City should’ve gone three ahead minutes later as Orman failed to gather Harrison’s volleyed effort only for Johnson to steer her effort from close range wide of the post.
Moments before the half-time whistle Aimee Palmer played Harrison through the Eagle’s defence, but the Scottish striker opted to pass to Bull who’s first time effort was well blocked to keep the score at 2-0 at the interval.
Seconds into the second half Harrison nearly got her second, her volleyed effort from the edge of the box looked to be dipping in but was tipped over the bar by Orman.
But after a string of corners, it was Palmer who finally added the third, curling in directly from a corner with the aid of the wind to leave the Palace defence helpless.
With less than ten minutes to play, Harrison finally managed to grab her second, dancing through the Eagles defence with ease before powering in to stretch the lead to four and secure the three points for City.
Talking points
Melissa Johnson at her best
Eagle-eyed fans will have seen Johnson post on Instagram about her recent trip to Anfield and today operating from the left-flank she put in a performance Sadio Mane would’ve been proud of.
The forward had the beating of Leanne Cowan all afternoon, beating her countless times in the first-half and on another day would’ve had a couple more assists.
If you were being hyper-critical you could say the former Sheffield United striker still needs to improve her finishing at the HPC as she spurned a golden opportunity from close range in the first half.
Fluidity in possession pays off
It was almost impossible to work out where half of the City team were playing today, such was the freedom of the attacking players when in possession.
Harrison played across the front three inside the first 25 minutes while Morgan enjoyed a spell as the centre-forward and Chloe Bull frequently popped up in advanced positions from midfield.
The freedom seemed to surprise Palace in the early stages and allowed for a number of really exciting attacking moments from the Vixens that were a joy to watch.
City manage to conquer the high-press
Last time out in the Championship, City failed to deal with Charlton’s high press and were undone as the Addicks ran out 2-0 winners, but today it couldn’t have been much different.
Satara Murray seemed back to her best and with Palmer and Davies dropping deep to receive the ball they were able to navigate around the press with ease.
Credit has to be given to the quality of Charlton’s press as Fran Bentley, Aspin and Murray were given little to no time and space to pick a pass but the put any doubts to bed.
Emily Orman deserves plaudits
It’s odd to compliment a goalkeeper on the wrong end of a fairly heavy defeat, but Orman deserved praise for stopping this being an even heavier defeat.
In the first half she denied Davies in a one-on-one situation while also thwarting Harrison in the second half with two acrobatic saves.
The conditions were not ideal for keepers, especially from set-pieces in the second half where the Vixens were floating the ball to the back-post with the aid of the wind.
How is goal of the season going to be decided?
Spare a feeling for whoever chooses these sort of awards as with plenty of the season yet to be played, there’s already plenty of spectacular strikes to choose from.
Palmer has now scored twice directly from corner this campaign, Morgan has once as well while Harrison has an impressive catalogue of strikes especially the 40-yard effort against Lewes.
Bull’s curled effort to open the scoring was also superb so it may well require a public poll to decide and even then, I doubt a decision could be unanimous.
Abi Harrison is a cheat code
Not much else to add, Harrison has been superb all season and today was no different as she scored another two great goals.
You’d have to imagine that her excellent form won’t have gone unnoticed by clubs in the WSL and with City looking destined for another season in the second tier, they may have a fight on their hands to keep her at the HPC.
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