Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor lauded the impact of super-sub Chloe Kelly after his side’s 6-0 win over Birmingham bolstered their chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
Taylor’s team were left frustrated by a stubborn Birmingham defence in the first half but Kelly replaced Hayley Raso at the break and scored one and assisted two of the six second-half goals that relegated Birmingham from the Barclays FA Women’s Super League. Georgia Stanway bagged a double with Lauren Hemp, Alanna Kennedy and another substitute in Laura Coombs also getting on the scoresheet to put City in pole position to secure third spot ahead of local rivals Manchester United.
Taylor said: “I think sometimes you try to influence a game with more changes and sometimes the more changes you make, players had just started to find their rhythm and then you take them off the pitch. We were concerned that Chloe (Kelly) who had played all three games, having to come back from the injury that she has had.
READ ALSO: The Manchester City striker that Gareth Taylor believes can get even better
“Hayley (Raso) had a lot of space at St Andrews, and that is her game. She is very quick and this was a little bit more in between. I think the change worked.
“It gave everyone a fresh impetus and the players starting to enjoy it. Lucy (Bronze) started overlapping and the combination between Lauren (Hemp) and Chloe was really apparent.”
Stanway broke the deadlock before the floodgates opened with Kelly at the fore as City leapfrogged United to sit two points clear of their neighbours in third spot ahead of Sunday’s season finale. Taylor was enthused with his side’s ability to show their ruthless side after the break, putting six past Blues keeper Emily Ramsey inside 30 second-half minutes.
He added: “It is easy to take your foot off the gas and take liberties and too many touches but we handled it pretty well. We made a couple of errors but considering the players were really disciplined it shows me that we are moving into that area of dominating games that I’ve always been looking for.”
To follow the action and sign up for The FA Player’s live Barclays FA Women’s Super League coverage visit womenscompetitions.thefa.com
