Man City’s late win sends WSL title statement to Arsenal

MANCHESTER, England — The message from the Manchester City supporters was clear. “We’re Man City, we’ll fight ’til the end!” was the defiant cry from the stands as coach Andrée Jeglertz’s side closed in on a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Liverpool that moved them to within touching distance of the Women’s Super League (WSL) title.

Before Rebecca Knaak’s stoppage-time winner secured three priceless points, it had started to feel like it could be one of those days for City. A combination of missed chances, below-par performances and some inspired goalkeeping from Liverpool’s Jennifer Falk made for a tense atmosphere at the Joie Stadium, where City needed a win to put themselves in firm control of the title race.

Having suffered a shock defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend, the WSL leaders had squandered the opportunity to seal top spot in front of their fans. But, when Knaak’s header squirmed through Falk’s gloves and into the back of the net in the 91st minute, the celebrations in this pocket of East Manchester were fit for any title party.

City goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita — who had dyed her hair sky blue for the occasion — ran the length of the pitch to celebrate with her teammates, many of whom piled on top of Knaak as she lay prone in the penalty area. City had furnished the home fans with flags to mark their team’s memorable season, and they waved them proudly as music boomed from the PA system.

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For months it has felt like a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if’ City would secure their first league title since 2016, such as been their dominance in the top flight over the past eight months. The defeat to Brighton last weekend offered a sliver of hope to third-placed Arsenal – – who now have three games in hand on City, owing to their participation in the UEFA Women’s Champions League — but it now feels inevitable that the WSL trophy will soon be making its way to Manchester.

Even if Arsenal win all of their remaining games, a victory over West Ham United on the final day will be enough to get City over the line. This season has been littered with outstanding performances from Jeglertz’s side and, while their latest outing does not fall into that category, the most important thing at this stage of the campaign is simply getting the job done.

Jeglertz had spoken before Sunday’s game about the importance of leaving the pitch with no regrets, though the City boss might have needed to reiterate that message to his players at half-time. In spite of the prematch pyrotechnics, the hosts lacked an early spark against Liverpool, with the visitors — spearheaded by the battling Aurélie Csillag — enjoying the better of the first-half chances and even hitting the post through captain Grace Fisk.

Jeglertz admitted postmatch his team were “a little bit disappointed” with their performance before the break and the uptick in intensity was immediately apparent from the restart. The prolific Khadija Shaw — on the fringes of the action for much of the first half — became a constant handful for the Liverpool defence, while Lauren Hemp fizzed in a deluge of delicious balls from the left in a performance which earned her the player of the match award.

When, with less than half an hour to go, Falk denied Brazil international Kerolin what had seemed like a certain goal, City could have been forgiven for feeling fortune was not on their side. But, having squandered promising positions in title races past, this iteration of City is made of sterner stuff and their perseverance was rewarded when Knaak made the breakthrough in the first of six minutes added time.

“We obviously wanted to make a statement in the league today because we were so frustrated with last week’s performance,” Hemp told Sky Sports postmatch. “But we’ve been working hard all week and it’s what this group deserves and it gives us confidence going into the [FA Cup] semifinal next week. Now we can sit back and watch a few games unfold.”

Arsenal, who are now 11 points behind City, will play twice in the WSL before Jeglertz’s side face off with Chelsea in the FA Cup next Sunday. Should the Gunners slip up against either Brighton or Aston Villa, City will go into their cup clash as champions, with the potential to land an historic double this term.

They boast a 100% home record in the WSL this season, having won nine from nine at the Joie Stadium and each of their two matches at the Etihad. That City’s win over Liverpool came against former manager Gareth Taylor only added to the sense of triumph for the champions elect, with chants of “Gareth, what’s the score?” ringing out at the full-time whistle.

“We always seem to find a way to win a game,” club captain Alex Greenwood said in her address to supporters after the game. “That’s been our mentality throughout the whole season. We like to keep things exciting.

“I stood here 12 months ago having a very different conversation. Standing here now, we have a very exciting few weeks ahead.”

With one hand now on the WSL trophy and the opportunity to make it to Wembley on the horizon, it is certainly hard to argue with that.