Manchester City forward Khadija Shaw is confident that her side's 4-0 rout of Women's Super League bottom-feeders Leicester City will provide the necessary springboard from which City can launch a title challenge.
Gareth Taylor's side underwent a significant squad overhaul in the summer and have suffered a painfully rough start to the new season with successive away defeats to Aston Villa and defending champions Chelsea.
Sunday's victory at the Stadium of Light offered something in the way of hope that City might be finally up and running. Taylor could take plenty of positives from his side's performance, including a brace from Shaw and an impressive debut from summer signing Yui Hasegawa, who crowned the afternoon with a late goal from outside the area.
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Shaw did not downplay the significance of securing their first win, which lifted City to eighth in the table. Focus is now set on building momentum to propel City back into the title hunt.
“We wanted to bounce back,” Shaw said. “It is time to get points on the table.
“We knew that this game was very important and we wanted to use it to build some momentum going forward into next week.”
Shaw has proved critical to any momentum building and duly secured her fourth and fifth goals of the season on Sunday. The forward acknowledged her impressive form but insisted that sustaining success hinges on more than her goal-scoring exploits.
She said: “I’ve been working hard, I’ve been pushing myself and I’ve been doing the things that I know I am capable of doing. If I continue to keep it simple and work hard, I know that the goals are going to come.
“Overall, it is a team performance and we have just got to keep going.”
City will be looking to secure a first away win of the season when they travel to Brisbane Road on Saturday to face seventh-place Tottenham Hotspur.
