City celebrate Taylor century with exciting Villa victory

City marked Gareth Taylor’s 100th Barclays Women’s Super League game as manager with an entertaining 4-2 win at Villa Park.

Chastity Grant handed the hosts an early lead on the counter, but City went in ahead at the break thanks to a Vivianne Miedema brace, the second a stunning long-range finish.

The scores were level again inside a minute of the restart after a Laia Aleixandri own goal, but Mary Fowler’s deflected effort saw us regain the lead before the hour.

Jess Park tapped home a fourth to give City some breathing space, with an excellent day at the office capped off by the return of Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw and debuts for new signings Kerolin Nicoli and Aemu Oyama.

What happened

City were boosted by the returns of Shaw and Naomi Layzell to the matchday squad, but the Blues were dealt a blow before kick-off when Laura Coombs was forced to withdraw from the starting XI.

The visitors weren’t deterred by that late change though, with Miedema and Jill Roord both going close to an early opener.

But it was the hosts who got their noses in front, with Grant grabbing her first WSL goal when smashing into the roof of the net on the counter.

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It was harsh on a City side who had looked the more likely to score in the opening five minutes and Gareth Taylor’s side immediately began our pursuit of the equaliser.

Leila Ouahabi almost found Aoba Fujino with a teasing ball across the face of goal soon after, before Fowler fired over from the left-hand-side of the area in a lively opening 15.

But City’s best chance of the early stages fell to Roord, when she dragged wide from around the penalty spot after Miedema had cut the ball back to her fellow Dutch international.

The Blues were beginning to turn the screw, with a deep Fowler corner striking the woodwork soon after, but the pressure would eventually tell in the 28th minute.

Trying to play out from the back, Danielle Turner’s loose pass across the Villa defence was cut out by Miedema, who needed no invitation to fire home her third goal in as many matches since her return from injury.

City smelled blood, with Fujino forcing Sabrina D’Angelo into a smart save at her near post as the game ticked over the half hour mark.

But once again it was Miedema who took centre stage, handing us the lead for the first time in spectacular fashion.

Turning on a sixpence around 25 yards from goal, the forward curled an exquisite effort into the top corner of the Villa net past the despairing dive of D’Angelo.

It was a world class finish from a striker in a rich vein of form, with City going close to a third before the break when Roord glanced a header just wide of the mark.

It had been one way traffic heading into the break but the scores were level once again inside 60 seconds of the restart when Kirsty Hanson’s cross was deflected into the City net by Aleixandri.

Cruel on the Blues, but a topsy-turvy game continued to deliver as we regained our lead before the hour.

It came from Fowler, one of City’s liveliest players after the break, who cut inside and saw her deflected effort fly into the corner of the net from distance.

A hint of fortune with Villa’s Maz Pacheco off the field with injury at the time, but richly deserved given how well we’d responded.

Number four would follow after the hour to give City some breathing space as Park ghosted into the box to poke home Kerstin Casparij’s cross and complete a brilliant move.

Miedema was denied a hat-trick by D’Angelo soon after when she headed a looping ball too close to the Villa stopper’s grasp, before she was replaced by the returning Shaw.

But Villa weren’t going down without a fight, as Ayaka Yamashita had to tip away a Hanson cross which threatened to sneak in from the right, before an excellent Casparij block denied Noelle Maritz from close-range.

The hosts thought they'd pulled one back in stoppage time when Paula Tomas fired home, but the offside flag cut the celebrations short.

It would prove one of the final acts of the game, as City picked up an important three points ahead of an exciting double header against Arsenal in the WSL and League Cup semi-finals.

How we lined up

Gareth Taylor made four changes to the side who beat Manchester United in Wednesday’s League Cup quarter-final, with Ayaka Yamashita, Jess Park, Jill Roord and Vivianne Miedema all starting at Villa Park.

Yamashita’s goal was shielded by a back four of Kerstin Casparij, Laia Aleixandri, Rebecca Knaak and Leila Ouahabi, with Yui Hasegawa sitting in front at the base of the midfield.

Jess Park and Jill Roord completed the midfield three, with Aoba Fujino and Mary Fowler on the flanks and Vivianne Miedema leading the line.

Villa XI: D’Angelo, Mayling (Maritz 76’), Patten, Nobbs, Daly (C), Turner, Leon (Salmon 65’), Hanson, Baijings (Taylor 65’), Grant, Pacheco (Tomas 54’).

Subs: Talbert, Robinson, Parker, Nunes.

City XI: Yamashita, Casparij, Aleixandri (C), Knaak, Ouahabi, Hasegawa (Oyama 81’), Roord (Blindkilde Brown 81’), Park, Fujino (Kerolin Nicoli 76’), Fowler, Miedema (Shaw 76’).

Subs: Annets, Layzell, Prior, Murphy.

Up next

City welcome Arsenal to the Joie Stadium in our next WSL fixture on Sunday 2 February.

Kick-off is set for 12:00 (UK), with the match available to watch live on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.

We’re down to the last remaining tickets for the fixture, click here for more information.